|
|
Atari A to Z (Pete Davison) - 04/07/2022 |
An arcade port of slightly unclear origin (and even less clear release status), Xevious is a competent conversion of Namco's arcade classic, possibly adapted from an unreleased Atari 5200 cartridge that was under development in 1984. Let's Play! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6LKifv_FDs |
| As long as there's no dload here, you can find the model 5200 cartridge in the 5200 section. Anyway, I'm not sure there was an 800 version other than imports of the 5200 cart modified to run on 800. The best import was done by "Glenn The 5200 Man" and adds a 128 color title screen plus numerous firing control options.
Xevious was the first arcade title to have a TV commercial on the broadcast networks. I saw it myself and never forgot the slogan "Are you devious enough to beat Xevious?". The wiki says commercial also had the line "the arcade game you can't play at home". Arcade graphics were hypnotic, almost as good as 16 bit. Home version is nowhere as good, in large part because the screen is turned 90 degrees, but still an ok game. Groundbreaking feature of Xevious is the appearance of the "bakura" or "bacura" looks like the Space Odyssey Monolith 1:4:9 spinning on its Y axis, this was like the first enemy in a game which teased you into shooting at it but turned out to be indestructible so you must dodge. |
| A truly fine translation of the coin-op version, Xevious for the 8bit is a smooth scroller with excellent sound effects. A nicely packaged piece of fun waiting to be enjoyed. In the 'old days', we couldn't wait to get our hands on coin-op ports to our beloved Atari's. This one did not disappoint while others, such as Zaxxon and Galaxian, just didn't make the cut. Have fun saving the world on this game. Better on an 8bit Atari than through an emulator. That's my personal opinion, of course. |
| | | | |