The graphics, though they don't look like much, were far beyond anything else available at the time.
The Atari 2600 had a lot of limitations. The system is only capable and aware of two sprites (the graphics for characters) at a time, and each sprite is only one color. (The three sprites and multiple colors seen in this picture are evident of how people pushed the system beyond what it was designed to do.)
Graphics aside, the beauty of this game lies in the game play. The concept is simple enough: Man enters mine shaft to rescue miner, but that alone would not make a good game. In order to insure that the game is interesting the rescuer is equipped with various amenities:
- A backpack ( With integrated helicopter) allows him to fly (and surprisingly enough, he has to fight gravity to do it.)
- A Laser cannon allows him to kill bats, spiders, snakes, and other bad things that stand between himself and the miner.
- A healthy supply of bombs, to break through walls (though the laser cannon can do this as well, slowly.)
- A battery (shown as a power gauge at the bottom of the screen) which serves to limit the amount of laser-beam-shooting/flying you can do per level (and add to your score).
All in all, HERO is a great example of what a good Atari game should look like, and if you haven't played it, I suggest you do. (If you're not keen on buying an Atari, there is all ways the windows remake, it was also included on the Activation Classics disk for the PS1.)
Of course there is always emulation, yet however much I disagree with current copyright laws, I do not wish to attract legal action, so I must discourage you from emulating the game.
(Though it runs well in most emulators, including StellaDS for the Nintendo DS).
This reminds me of a jetpack minigame on Donket Kong 64. It was hard as hell until I figured out that if I flew up underneath one particular ledge and taped both the fly and fire buttons down, I was invincible.
ReplyDeleteI've never played that mini-game, though I assume that is why didi Kongs final smash is a jetpack and coconut guns on the new super smash brothers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very challenging game, which is part of the reason it is so enjoyable. A lot of atari games (even some of the greats, like Enduro) didn't actually become more challenging as you played, they just got faster.
HERO, however, introduced new obstacles with each passing level (light sources that could be extinguished accidentally, lava, snakes, moving platforms, radio active rocks (or something like that), among other things) that made the game not only more challenging but also more interesting.
The closest modern day counterpart is probably the ratchet and clank series. R&C plays like a 3d HERO, right down to the hellicopter back pack, the lasers, and the bombs (just no miners to save :-( .)
Nono, that's because one of his special moves in the game is his jetpack and his peanut popguns. (DK is the one with the coconut gun.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've noticed that speeding up on a lot of really old games.
Are all the miners already dead?
There are some miner's somewhere. But I don't know what to do with them.
ReplyDelete