You can ask me anytime
and I will tell you that River Raid is one of my favorite classic games of all
time, but if you ask me about the CV port of the title, I'll tell you that it's my least
favorite. I strongly believe that Activision didn't care about the quality of this port. The Intellivision and Atari 5200/XE efforts both look ahead of their time, but the Coleco version which should outclass the rest barely looks like it has any upgrades from the Atari 2600 version.
The Atari 5200 version has trees on the land and there are visible cliffs to go along with plenty of other details that make the game look great. The CV offering has no trees, no cliffs, and no detail in the plains or ships which is just unacceptable.
The INTV and 5200 both let you fly over land as long as long as you don't nail a tree which allowed all kinds of strategies and maneuvering. If you hit the land on the CV, you explode. Top that off with the miserable handling of the controller and the game is more frustrating than fun. Even the sound effects sound like they are from the 2600 version.
This game is dirt common on any system other than maybe the PC Jr. With that said, pick any other version than this one. The controls, graphics, and changed gameplay mechanics are far below the standard set by other ports on the console.
