Oh no! It's Zaxxon 2!
Written: Sep 09 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: impressive 3D animation
Cons: illogical gameplay; awkward controls; annoying sounds; blocky graphics, very repetitive
The Bottom Line: It may look better than Zaxxon, but it sure doesn't play any better.
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| Chad9976's Full Review: Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom for Atari 2600 |
One of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played for the Atari 2600 was Coleco’s port of Zaxxon. That was a game with quite possibly the worst excuse for 3D I’ve ever seen, even for a game of this primitive generation. Playing Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom I was initially impressed because it seemingly nailed the 3D environment. However, the game is full of so many other flaws that it’s just as annoying as the game it’s supposedly an improvement upon.
PRESS FIRE TO START
Basing a game on the pulp fiction sci-fi hero Buck Rogers is completely arbitrary in the case of this game, since its just an ordinary space shooter with a brand name. Planet of Zoom is an early attempt at a forward-flying shooter in a seemingly three dimensional world. You steer a spaceship which is located on the bottom of the screen. Pushing up the joystick increases your speed and pulling back slows you down. You’re able to roll left and right, but your overall range of motion is surprisingly limited.
There are only two stages in the game: the first involves flying above the ground of a planet wherein you must fly between two poles while occasionally blasting some enemies. The second stage is a generic space shooter where convoys of UFOs fly into the screen from behind you, ascend to the top, then make a U-turn and head back at you. If you’re able to wipe out enough of them you then fight the “Mothership” which is clearly ripped off from the Tie Fighter in “Star Wars,” only it’s pink. This ship requires two hits instead and after destroying it you start at the original stage with the difficulty increased and a new color scheme.
There are nine levels to the game, and reaching the final stage is achievable since the game is extremely high-scoring and 1-ups are doled out quite often. What’s ironic is the game seems to become a little easier as you progress in the first few rounds, but then quickly becomes difficult again. But it’s a Sisyphus game, so you can imagine what happens if you beat Level Nine.
PLAYER 1 – READY!
I like fast action games that rely on dexterity and quick-thinking. Sometimes playing a game that relies on your wits can be just as fun as a game of strategy and cunning. Buck Rogers would be a perfect example of this had it actually played as it intends to. The problem isn’t with the graphics or play control, but with the gameplay itself.
Firstly, what is the point of playing slalom in a sci-fi shooter game? Wouldn’t it be enough to just fly around the ground and shoot enemies while dodging incoming fire? Couldn’t a space ship just fly over these “electron posts”?
Actually, this stage would have been genuinely fun had the game’s sense of fire control been remotely logical. I always liked games that enable automatic firing by simply holding down the button. However, as fast and continuous as your firing may be, it appears that your shots do no travel very far at all. If you shoot and release they travel much further. This comes in handy during the second stage when the enemy fighters are way out in the distance. But even on the surface-skimming stage, continuous fire doesn’t seem to be enough to plow through enemies directly in your path. It’s illogical, not to mention infuriating, not to be able to shoot something DIRECTLY in front of you!
The other major flaw with the game comes during the second stage in which the old Kamikaze rule is in effect – twice. Since swarms of enemy fighters will suddenly fly onto the screen seemingly from behind and below you, in such great numbers, without any rhyme or reason. The chances of you being hit from the rear from an enemy are quite high. I tried to pick up on a pattern so as to avoid this but after much experimentation I concluded their point of entry is completely and totally random. The best you can do is to keep moving across the screen.
As annoying as it is to be hit from behind, the only thing worse is being hit head-on despite the fact you are holding down the fire button. I have actually seen my shots travel through the enemy as it was heading straight for me. In fact, I have seen my shots randomly pull to the left or right as if caught by gravity. Supposedly, this is a 3D effect not unlike that of Zaxxon, but here it’s even more random and bizarre.
JOYSTICKING
It’s a good thing Buck Rogers has decent controls or the game would be completely unplayable. In fact, it’s actually quite surprising how responsive the character is to your commands. It moves to the left and right quickly and smoothly, and you really do feel as if you are speeding up and slowing down as you push and pull on the joystick.
The only problem lies with the game’s fire control. As I’ve mentioned, it’s mind-boggling how you can hold down the button for continuous fire and STILL not hit any enemies. This flaw might be more accurately considered a problem with the gameplay than the play control, but it’s so annoying it’s worth mentioning again.
SPRITES & PIXELS
Very few games for the VCS were able to successfully depict a three-dimensional plane. Buck Rogers comes quite close with its surface-skimming stage, as it’s able to bring layers of the background to the front surprisingly fast. However, it’s the actual objects such as the electron posts and aliens that kill the illusion since they look so blocky and poorly-rendered.
The game also suffers from some of the worst screen flicker I’ve ever seen. As commendable as its attempt at 3D is, the fact no objects on the screen can move without flickering to the point of invisibility, makes the game difficult to look at. Perhaps if it were placed on a larger chip that could handle the memory demands this wouldn’t have been a problem. In fact, the game has a tendency to go into slow motion because of all the moving objects on the screen. During these times, it becomes entirely too easy (talk about shooting fish in a barrel).
CHIPPED TUNES
The aural component to this game is fairly generic and unremarkable. It utilizes a lot of stock Atari sounds, the type which are prevalent in shooters of this genre. However, there is one particular sound that makes the game nearly unplayable: the constant beeping of the countdown siren which increases in pitch and frequency as time runs out. This is completely unnecessary since there is a bar across the top of the screen to show how much time you have left. This banshee-like alarm is probably meant to make the game seem intense, but all it does is make the player anxious and angry by this pointless annoyance.
INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE
I found myself replaying Buck Rogers mostly out of frustration than enjoyment. In fact, many mediocre games have this type of replay value where you feel you can’t walk away from it until you beat it. Once I was able to get a feel for the awkward gameplay and block out that annoying siren I realized the game was just repetitive. Nothing changes from the first stage to the last; it just increases in difficulty to the point of being unplayable.
GAME OVER
I really wanted to like Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom because on the surface it’s a marked improvement over Zaxxon. However, it has its own unique flaws that keep it from being a truly fun and challenging game. It seems like just a few tweaks would have gone a long way.
Recommended:
No
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Chad9976
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Member: Chad Polenz
Location: Albany, New York
Reviews written: 656
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