Cosmic Ark |
Atari 2600 |
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Review by Matt Paprocki |
Imagic |
Shooter |
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Graphics: 7 |
Sound: 5 |
Gameplay: 7 |
Overall: 7 |
So, you've managed to conquer Atlantis in the memorable 2600 classic, well, "Atlantis." What's next? How does space sound? Switching between two game screens for variety, "Cosmic Ark" has some great moments, but some slightly unfair gameplay knocks it down a notch.
The second screen involves a smaller spacecraft floating just above the surface and taking various life forms into the mothership. There is some nice variety here from humans to a nice stock of animals. You'll also see the creatures slowly get sucked up by the tractor beam, a nice touch. But the questions still remain: What are they doing with all of these things and where do they put them? The asteroid field is a fair challenge. The hunks of space rock slow down for a split-second before they make contact giving the player just enough time to counter-attack. The abduction scene is rather mundane until the protective lasers come into play a few levels in, and that's when things go wrong. Lasers, raising and lowering themselves on the side of the screen, occasionally spit out some sort of death ray that will split the smaller ship into pieces. There is almost no way to know when the beam will fire and when it does, you couldn't possibly dodge it. The idea is there, it just isn't executed properly.
As simple as the initial screen is, it's easily the better of the two. You can easily establish a rhythm and the reaction time required to make it out alive is insane. If the lasers were just a little more manageable in "suck people up" mode, this one would be a blast all the way around. Still, this is a worthy follow-up that just misses the mark established by the original. |