Asteroids (Atari 2600) (How To Beat Home Video Games 1)

[hufer95]

Technique really makes a diff. in this game. What i do is:

1. Never teleport.

2. shoot down asteroids from big to being destroyed in just a few bullets really quickly.

3. watch the way asteroids are flowing towards, left orr right. then go the opposite direction with a little burst of thrust.

4. ALWAYS go the the center of the screen before killing the last bit of asteroid. it'll keep you from getting killed by the asteroids that show up in the next level.

[gillz107]

..... I actually played this game when I was a kid.... and I NEVER knew the ship had a shield function!!!

*Facepalm*

[charlestonchewy]

@gillz107 there was a shields feature. The trick with that is don't use it for over a second, otherwise the ship will blow up. 

[sputnik6492]

Got asteroids and space invaders for my Atari....wat else do i need? The detail could be a little better though.

[glitchedgamer]

I can't wait to make my friends gasp!

[behnamasid]

I miss my childhood.

[arttu98]

@behnamasid me too

[MattTheSaiyan]

A nice port, even though the asteroids look more like somebody painted a bunch of potatoes.

[chaosdragon1212]

is this based off that mini game in san andreas?

[daarrii]

@chaosdragon1212 no,the minigame is based of this

[gjc82071]

There is really no "method" for beating this game, other than staying in the middle of the screen/shooting your butt off. After that it all comes down to endurance, LOL. Longest I ever played was probably like around 6+hrs. I wanted & got 1,000,000 points. I had like 50+ ships. I'd save/sacrifice them for pee breaks. I remember my thumb was tired & numb. Oh well, it's a hazard of hard core gamers. No pain, no gain! :-P

[mspeter97]

yeah all of my friends are wow of my skills now!

[InvisblSkratchPiklz]

Nice! My buddy growing up had this and Moon Patrol. We used to dose acid and play the two all night long, great times! Oh, to be the 80's and 90's again.

[MrSaturn33]

...Seriously? What about the trick where you leave only one tiny asteroid left, and keep waiting for the UFO to rack up points? Everyone knows that!

[gjc82071]

@MrSaturn33 It's also good to get in a "restroom break". You will probably lose a ship or 2 (or not), but less than if you had a full screen of asteroids. I usually just stay/ed in the center. As a kid back in '82, I "Flipped" (1 million points) the game several times in a 5hr sitting. Had like 50+ ships. Periodically I had to "sacrifice" a few for "pee breaks", & to eat/drink. "Ma, hey Ma? MOM! can ya PLEEZE gi'me a sam'ich an'a glass of Kool-Aid? I got a high score go'in! Ma? MOM!...."

[MrSaturn33]

@gjc82071 Wow, the Atari REALLY could have used a pause feature...Come to think of it, I think there's a way to mod it and make it have one!

[gjc82071]

@MrSaturn33 Sure could of. As for any mods, yea, maybe "now", but that was in the early 80's, pretty much pre-mod, era, ya know? Definitely beyond the technical ability of most 10yos anyway. I know the 5200/7800 have pause buttons. Most, probably all, emulators (which I primarily use now) have pause functions also. About emulators, I often think of what it would be like to go back to 1982 with a modern PC, emulators & all the games for them. Probably mind blowing to say the least.

[braincrisp1]

I was so disappointed when I got this for my 2600. Nothing like the arcade version. Moreover I recall there were like 768 versions you could play.

[gjc82071]

@braincrisp1 Really? Actually, I thought it was a great 2600 game. Granted, not like the arcade, but still cool & fun. I remember getting this as a kid for Xmas 29yrs ago! I remember playing it in the family room. Wow. Where does time go? Anyway, I mean, it wasn't as bad a conversion as....Ugghhh....Puke-man, I mean "Pacman"! Donkey Kong disappointed me. (also remember getting it Xmas of 82) Semi-Fun but boring/too easy, only 2 boards. @ least 3 would have been cooler/more challenging.

[braincrisp1]

@gjc82071 True, it wasn't all that bad. I just thought it was kind of corny the way the rocks were all colored and how they didn't rotate around like in the arcade game. And as for comparing to Puke-man, yeah...a way better game. Puke-man was just plain aweful. Donkey Kong was a disappointment too. Some of my favorites were Missile Command, Haunted House, Dragster, Indy 500 and Breakout. Man, I must have gone thru 30 broken joysticks "back in the day."

[gjc82071]

@braincrisp1 You know Asteroids (arcade) was "Vector" graphics right? (vs Pacman, Donkey Kong, etc being Rastar). Can't really duplicate Vector (back then). (Vectrex console had a separate monitor). Haunted House! Wow. As a kid, playing with my younger cousin, I remember actually getting "scared" (just a little). You like many same games I do. I remember buying Indy 500 (special paddles). Hey, are you into emulation at all? I have EVERY Atari game & console on my PC + USB Atari joystick.

[TheStratostar]

Take a look at the BIT.TRIP CORE Control Boss.

[charlieRicketts]

this is nothing. try it on harder settings: 6B, 32A. On these settings the asteroids move all over the place. On 32A, you also have to deal with alien ships. Also, how do you use the shield? On my game all you can do is fire with the button, turn with the joystick, and when you push the joystick down your ship warps to a random location.

[justin76pa]

I think most people watched the video in hopes of seeing an end screen.

[OutlawTomFantastic]

Wow, some people took these games too seriously I guess.

[jwaffe]

make your friends gasp with the flip technique!

[zaphod77]

The ufos don't show up unless you set the difficulty switch to the A position in this version. This, of course, changes everything.

[darkflameq]

First game i ever played, lol

[fliping2ninja]

lol i love this it's really funny

[blackandblue10]

You forgot the Spaceships in expert mode!

[royalsteven]

I like assteroids. But it is pretty much sef explainotairy -_-

[luchibass1]

Do you really need a guide for such a simple game?

[HipHop1981]

@luchibass1

Simle? it gets freaking hard after a few waves.

[09PumpkinSpice90]

I notised the music. ._.

[CFkimahri]

The Atari version of asteroids looks like a clone i had called Hemorrhoids...

I'm not joking.

[acolyteman]

Where are the UFOs? Was this video edited prior to being posted?

[kittendeathsquad]

sounds like the jaws music in the backround

[nephildevil]

so how did you do the special featurs had the atari joysticks not just one button?

[WrestlingHeretic]

Just one button for firing. Left on the joystick meant rotate left; right on the joystick meant rotate right. Forward was thrust, and backward was the special feature.

[TheDiabloKnight]

love this game! this, defender, donkey kong, space invaders, and sadly pac man are my favorite atari 2600 games that i own..really wanna get mario bros, tapper and joust tho, those are some of my favorites as well

[knightni73]

I turned he score over in this game.

[kamesan]

I still have this game. This never gets old!!

[royalsteven]

Old skool! I remember in later, better looking versions u cool move the ship also. That was more exciting.

[Alexltavares]

I used to love to put this game in black and white mode and turn up the color/contrast full blast on my TV. Trippy trails when you'd fly the ship fast!

[efraingonzalez]

yes i did the same and i was many hours in the night playing when my parents sleeping!

[kittendeathsquad]

same here

[efraingonzalez]

it was my first game i had i was 9! i love arati mopre than other video games, it was the happy 80s, thanks for posting

[Alexltavares]

This was my first game when I was 9 also ('81)! That and combat. :)

[brianchristie]

I remember buying this for the good 'ol 2600 when I was a kid and shocked at how different it was from the arcade version. I mean colored rocks??? I want my transparent black and white! Oh, and remember there were like 120 different versions to choose from? So strange...

[19Bigfoot85]

I personally dont need any of the special features, shield for example, but lets say that there is a person in the ship, but if I had hyperspace, id just jump my ass back home!

[geniepowerz]

this game is so freakin easy

[flipponzin24]

But it's freakin fun!

[meyerphillip]

@geniepowerz Play it with ufos and u gonna get pwned!

[nakamawarrior]

The sheild is good, but i play without it, i maxed out the score 7 times in the same game, after awhile it gets totally too easy, even my girlfriend has maxed out the score a few times

[MINESWEEP2k]

He's right, you know...the shields are the best feature, but hyperspace isn't that great, and flip is okay, but it's best used if you're daring.

-MINESWEEP

[Mindraker1]

Hyperspace and flip are completely unnecessary if you have shields. As a kid, with shields, I remember flipping the counter twice, then mom called me for supper. I was so upset.

[laesperanzapaz]

wow. thsi is.....shit.

[Forummaster2]

I hate that hyperspace feature. Every single time I use it, I lose a ship.

[johnhbarclay]

What a rubbish version of a classic arcade game.

[NotATube]

Never played this version, but the asteroids' behaviour appears *very* different to the arcade original's. (e.g. vertical movement, rock-splitting behaviour, etc). I assume this was due to the 2600's severe technical limitations.

[lamancha2]

I remember reading about how they programmed the 2600 version; the game treats the asteroids as two or three groups of two or three sprites, and alternates between them (or something)

[locotronix]

never liked the static ship. but when you move your ship its even worse.

[figment1988]

this game's good. but if you use a sega genesis controller and have a quick finger, this game's really easier (i know, it might be cheating. but then again, it's interesting)

[jackbox1971]

I was terrible at the arcade version by I managed to turn over the score on the 2600. My friends and I held "Atari Olymipades" and I'd always take the gold in Asteroids and Space Invaders... I guess we hadn't discovered girls yet.

[xfiles20001999]

OH MY!! i thought it was all im my head!! thank you for saying that the score flipped!! i knew i wasnt dreaming it!! I was in the ZONE when i flipped the score.

[ThemeMusicC]

Those were actually pretty decent tips.

[NotATube]

They would probably work well on this version, but not on the original arcade version, because the asteroid movement/splitting behaviour is quite different...

[videogameknowitall]

This is a really cool game!