Asteroids: Recharged Review

Game: Asteroids: Recharged
Genre: Action, Arcade
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows), Xbox, Atari VCS and PS4)
Developer|Publisher: AdamVision Studios, SneakyBox | Atari
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US Everyone
Price:  US $9.99 | UK £7.99 | EU € 9,99
Release Date: December 14th, 2021

Review code provided with many thanks to Stride PR

The Recharged series from Atari returns with another arcade classic Asteroids. Originally released all the way back in 1979 to arcades. The infamous title would make its mark pretty quickly by selling over 700,000 arcade units. It would end up being one of the most memorable hits from the space shooter genre and would go on to be ported to multiple consoles. It would also be the inspiration for games to come.

It may not look like much today but Asteroids was hugely popular for many reasons. A simple pick up and play arcade title that I have thoroughly enjoyed on ports such as the Gameboy Color, the Atari 2600 and of course the arcade original which I would only get to enjoy at gaming conventions. Let’s see if Asteroids: Recharged plays a fine homage to this game’s great legacy. 

Arcade Legacy

The Basics 

If somehow you never got to experience Asteroids in any of its incarnations let me give you a quick summary. You play as a small triangle in the centre of the screen which is actually a spaceship. Your mission is to shoot all of the asteroids around you, racking up as high a score as possible. As you shoot the rocks they will break apart and move around the screen at a faster velocity. Asteroids are not your only problem though. UFO-like space ships will also fly across the screen attempting to shoot you down. But if you hit them first you gain more points. You can move your ship about to avoid collisions, but, you also need to adjust your ship thrusters so it doesn’t continuously float into space making it more vulnerable to a collision.

If things get too wild you can take a gamble with the hyperspace button which will warp your ship to a random spot on the screen. Possibly to safety, or possibly into danger. So use it only as a last resort. A simple arcade formula, that’s pick up and play and would last a few minutes or as long as the loose change in your pocket. Asteroids to me is a slow burn of a game. It’s kinda hard to pick up initially as the game today feels a touch slow. But like a lot of arcade games of this era, once you get to grips with the mechanics, before you know it you have played multiple rounds and you’re chasing your own high score. 

Recharged

Recharged adds some extra spin on the arcade formula that still feels loyal to the original but somewhat fresh to fans old or new. In this version, you only have a single life to get as high a score as possible, unlike the original where you have the typical three life approach. The main difference in the gameplay is when you shoot a UFO you can grab a weapon power-up which adds more excitement to the experience and also helps out in a pinch.

Weapons include a spreader shot, a railgun and a neat barrier that reflects shots back at enemy ships. There are also rocks you can shoot which create black holes that suck in anything that gets caught into it. Other than that this is essentially the Asteroids formula. To me, it’s still as entertaining today as it was. Even if I wasn’t even alive when it first launched. 

A Familiar Template

Like the rest of the arcade games featured in the Recharged series, this title follows a very familiar template. The controls and game mechanics are clearly displayed on the game’s pause screen. The game runs well on both handheld and TV modes. The graphics have a neon flavour to them, Megan McDuffee once again features on an excellent arcade induced score. You can submit your score to the online leaderboards and of course, all the content featured can be played in local co-op. Just like the other titles, if you need a break from the arcade mode you can indulge in 30 challenge missions to test your skills and also make you familiar with the game’s powerups a little quicker.

This template is fine and I would even say the price is right for this game. But by sticking to this formula it’s not really giving the games much of an identity to stand out. It puzzles me that these titles never feature the original arcade game or even include just a little section about the history and legacy of the game in question. 

Conclusion – In Space, Everyone Can Hear You, Pew Pew

If you’re a fan of Asteroids, love your retro games or need a game to enjoy in short bursts. Asteroids: Recharged is easy to recommend. The Recharged series may be starting to show a repetitive formula but it’s a design that works. There could be room for improvement but it gets the core gameplay right. Asteroids: Recharged is a fun arcade game and for most gamers, that’s all that counts.

Final Verdict: I Like it