Space Invaders is the pinnacle of the greatest
grandfather games. At the time of its release in 1978, video game
designers were limited in their resources and computing ability; ergo, they
were limited to the creative capacity that a game could contain. With
Space Invaders, though, the programmer focused mainly on the mechanics of the
gameplay. This means that the player was introduced to a fluid and
fast-paced game, offering multiple gaming styles for the player to employ.
One
of the interesting parts about Space Invaders is that it is a heavily
skill-based game, but it also invites a certain amount of strategy for the
player. When I played the game for the first time, I found myself dying
repeatedly in the later levels. This was due to the holes in the
"shield barriers" above Earth's ships that was caused by the bombs of
the invading alien force. Following the first game, I destroyed the
shields at the beginning of every game. This was done for two reasons:
first, it prevented me from relying on the unreliable shields;
second, the shields would probably be completely destroyed by the time that a
player reached 20,000 points, so it was better to gain practice without them
during the course of the game. It is the incorporation of tactical
planning into this game that makes it so revolutionary.
Of
course, it is still amusing to take an honest examination at the material.
The space invaders attack Earth by moving back and forth across the
screen with no deviances. It is ludicrous, but more
than forgivable when the time period of the game's release is considered.
The
game was an enormously popular at the time of its release, and the pixelated
"alien" remains an icon in the video game world to this day. On
a personal level, this is one of my favorite pre-1999 games, and as always, it
is a pleasure to play it.
Battlezone
Oddly enough, a descendent of this game was the first flash game
that I ever played online. The later version of Battlezone was far more
fast-paced and allowed the player to have more control. In other words,
it replaced the realistic aspect of the game and just made it more exciting.
For the modern gamer who prefers the thrill of the game over the
logistics, this change was a wise one. However, the thought-process of
the original game should first be considered.
Like the other games in this series, Battlezone was made in a time
period that had limited computing power, and this made it literally impossible
to create a game with the speed of today's games (outside of a Star Trek script
involving time travel and repeatedly bringing back dead main characters).
Because of this, the game developers decided to create a game that
simulates the movement and attack pattern of a real tank. The result was
a strategy-based game that implemented the use of physical barriers in a 3D
setting. The physical barriers, the enemy tanks, and all other objects
are displayed as wireframes, which is one of the first attempts at creating a
3D setting in a game.
The game is still considered revolutionary. If I were to
make one change to it, I would allow the bullets from the "hero" tank
to destroy the bullets from the "enemy" tank. It is quite
frustrating when you are unable to stop yourself from imminent doom, but it is
understandable given their time period that they did not do this. Because
I am guilty of preferring a thrilling game to a realistic one, this is not a
game that I would want to practice consistently, but it is fascinating to
observe and from which to learn more about the evolution of gaming.
"Oh sh...."
Lunar Lander
Given my explanation about Battlezone, is little surprise that I
did not enjoy the complexity of Lunar Lander. This is a game that
incorporates several different aspects of real intergalactic travel, including
fuel levels and the pull of gravity. These are fun parts of the game, but
it is extremely difficult to successfully land the space shuttle on the
platform. In fact, it is so complicated that NASA used this game as a
method of preparation for astronauts. If a game is complex enough to be
used seriously by rocket scientists, there might be a problem.
"That's one small step for man. One giant leap for
gamerkind."
As a gamer of many years, I have played variations of this
game. There are more and less complex versions on the Internet, but in
all honesty, this kind of game was just never very interesting to me. The
objective is to land a space shuttle on a platform, which means that there is
no real enemy outside of your depleting fuel and the heartless gravity.
Like the last game, I think it is awesome that the Government valued it highly
enough to use as a training mechanism, but I just can't imagine someone playing
this game for hours on end.
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