What's everyone's opinion about Mission X?

[+wongojack]

This game seems like it is really close to being a great game, but it's not quite there. Is there a "hacks" repository that I can check for game improvements?

 

Mostly, I think it needs to be faster, and just a little more graphical detail would really add. Can you ever shoot the missiles that come at you. Just adding being able to shoot the guided missiles would make this game much better.

 

This was my play list yesterday:

B&B

Atlantis

Astrosmash

Stampede

Star Strike

Mission X

Lock n Chase

Night Stalker

 

Of those, I think Star Strike was the worst. I'd played it before at a friend's house, but I didn't realize just how shallow the game really is. It almost feels like a demo. Does anyone love this game that could tell me good things about it? I like to hear about games from people who love them.

 

Mission X, Lock n Chase, and NIght Stalker - all close to being great. I wish we could get a version of NS with the stuff they had to cut put back in.

[+save2600]

I loved Star Strike back in the day and still do, though its not as frequently played. Did not have Mission X back then, but today I find it a fairly basic shooter, not enough variety and the controllers aren't exactly suited for this type of game. Played much better when I had the Sticklers installed.

Edited August 4, 2013 by save2600

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I liked Star Strike as a kid, but mostly cause it felt like the sweet ass trench scene from Empire. Mission X and Night Stalker were also childhood favs, and I still love them now, but they are both begging for upgrades. Modern games don't just linearly get faster/more difficult. They continue to develop by adding new elements. Many vintage games could benefit from these types of upgrades.

[Special Teams]

Same here - Star Strike, Nightstalker and Mission X were faves back in the day. Also, Space Battle, AD&D, Tron Deadly Discs and Bump & Jump. Those were the solo games that kept me playing for hours, and Mission X was right up there. Probably because it has fairly easy gameplay but with interesting graphics. Other similar shooter games were less visually interesting and didn't have the 3 dimensional feel of Mission X (including the altitude changes).

 

I enjoyed Star Strike for a couple of reasons: the imminent direct threat to Earth you can actually see unfolding, and also because it has an ending. You can actually WIN this game, where most games you play until you lose.

[+wongojack]

exactly the type of responses that I was hoping for - thanks guys and keep em coming

[+wongojack]

I get liking the ending on Star Strike, but that is what kinda bothered me about the game. I wish it just kept going and getting harder automatically kinda like Star Wars arcade. However, if I'd played it "back then" I would've liked the ending.

 

Writing this makes we want to play again and try on level 6. . . .

 

Are there hacks for these games?

[BassGuitari]

I like Mission X, but I agree it's "close but not quite." It's just a little too clunky IMO, but it's still an enjoyable game.

 

I don't really have an opinion on Star Strike. I haven't played it in a long time. Maybe that's my opinion right there?

 

Night Stalker is awesome, though.

[+Gemintronic]

Here's one reaction to this game:

[IntellivisionDude]

Mission X is really simplistic but i still loved it as a kid.

 

The game is much better when you have some rockin' music in the background.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUQgSD06RKE

[mr_intv]

I've always enjoyed Mission X a lot. Infact I usually follow it up with B17 Bomber. As a kid I wished Mission X was a bit more like Time Pilot or 1942. But non the less it's always been a favorite of mine on the Intellivision.

[Chuck D. Head]

I played about an hour of Star Strike over the weekend and enjoyed it for what it is. I really enjoy the increasingly jarring explosions when you destroy the red ports; It seems very visceral, almost like there was force feedback, even though it is just visual and sound. I can't seem to beat it any higher than level one, though. I will play some Mission X tonight and comment.

[mdoerty]

I liked Mission X ... but I always thought the plane looked strange when it changed altitude.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I really like Stampede. Is that weird?

[+DZ-Jay]

I really like Stampede. Is that weird?

 

Well, I liked Math Fun when I was a kid... Talk about weird!

[+DZ-Jay]

Of those, I think Star Strike was the worst. I'd played it before at a friend's house, but I didn't realize just how shallow the game really is. It almost feels like a demo. Does anyone love this game that could tell me good things about it? I like to hear about games from people who love them.

 

I like Star Strike, it was one of my favourite games as a kid. I played it all the time.

 

What's a good thing about it? Well, for starters, you fly over the Death Star trench! You can imagine how an 8 year old kid in 1980 would feel about that.

 

I was always impressed when I lost and the bad guys blew up my planet--but I was equally disappointed whenever I won and all I got was a stupid jingle. I thought I deserved fireworks or something (like in Bomb Squad).

 

The planet explosion may not be the most impressive special effect, but it was awesome for a game to even have the balls to include that as part of game-play: you're not just playing for points, you're saving your species from annihilation! Not many games in the early '80s offered that level of gravitas.

 

The controls are a bit wonky, but the manual explained that away by saying that your ship gets harder to control as it sustained more and more damage. My 8 year-old self ate that up.

 

So, in summation, Star Strike is a good game because:

 

- it's a space shooter (always a plus);

- it let's you live some childhood Star Wars fantasies;

- and it blows up your planet if you lose.

 

What else is there?

dZ.

[Chuck D. Head]

I was always impressed when I lost and the bad guys blew up my planet--but I was equally disappointed whenever I won and all I got was a stupid jingle.

 

 

Awwwwwwww. I came back here planning on posting that I forgot to mention how much I liked the little fanfare when you destroy the station. It sounds very arcade-ey.

 

I played some Mission X last night. It's ok, but there are a few problems for me. I guess I just wish there more enemies in the air. The flak is at a good challenge level, but mostly the first few (3?) levels are just dodging and bombing. Then, when the enemy planes finally appear, they fire really fast with one hit kills, so I still just end up avoiding them like the flak. It is still something I will fire up from time to time.

[+intvsteve]

<snip>

- it's a space shooter (always a plus);

- it let's you live some childhood Star Wars fantasies;

- and it blows up your planet if you lose.

 

What else is there?

dZ.

^^^^ This. I've said it before... on a big TV, the trench effect is cool. I always liked the disintegration effect when you take out the last thermal exhaust port.

[+DZ-Jay]

 

Awwwwwwww. I came back here planning on posting that I forgot to mention how much I liked the little fanfare when you destroy the station. It sounds very arcade-ey.

 

Well, it was nice, I just thought it should have been a more dramatic or exciting ending.

[+wongojack]

I really like Stampede. Is that weird?

 

I don't think it is weird. Stampede is a great game. It plays fast and actually works as the designer intended. It gets progressively challenging and is very difficult to master. Its essentially a copy of Tapper which is a great game to copy as you can really pour (pun intended) yourself into the gameplay.

[Intymike]

 

Well, I liked Math Fun when I was a kid... Talk about weird!

 

I liked Reversi...

[Intellivisioner]

I liked Reversi...

Me too, Mike.

Played it quite often with my uncle back in the days.

Mission X is not my cup of tea, but I like River Raid very much.

[+wongojack]

Here's one reaction to this game: "Video of Some Doofus Playing Mission X"

 

This review (or whatever it was) bothered me. He's making a gameplay video without reading the manual. Its not like the manual was 60 pages long, it takes less than 10 minutes to read EVERY WORD including the bits about powering on the console and inserting the cart.

 

I know some people feel that a game should be great without reading the manual; like it is some sort of ultimate test. For me not reading the manual for classic games means that I don't get to experience the game fully - which is exactly what happened here.

[Tales from the Game Room]

Mission X is the game that had potential, but feels like it was rushed out of the door to cash in. It has promise, and is okay to play, but I would rather play River Raid instead...

 

- Ash

[Britishcar]

For me, Star Strike and Mission X suffered just a bit from the "pseudo-3D" effect that also seems to infect games such as Zaxxon, Desert Falcon and the like. With a video subsystem and CPU designed originally for great 2D experiences, the "almost" 3D effect of these types of games always felt like I was dying a cheap death when I couldn't quite make out what the forced 3D algorithm was trying to do. I normally prefer true 2D games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Frogger, Demon Attack, etc. In these games, when I make a wrong sudden move and lose, I know it was my fault and not just a human interface problem or a limitation in graphics visualization.

 

Now some pseudo-3D games from that era really got it right. For example, I love playing Space Battle on the "SUPER ADVANCED" speed (start with the Blue Return to Base button on certain carts) just to see if I can beat the damn thing. This game is 3D in that you are looking out into space (Copr @ 1979!) but you KNOW when your lasers connect with one of those ships and/or when their laser smacks into your gunsight. There's no question...it's a pixel-precise live or die situation. Sub Hunt is similar in that it's "3D" but you really know whether that torpedo is going to connect or not as you "look out" at the ships. Also, the 3D concept of "diving" is there but is really just in your mind and not visual...brilliant concept.

 

I've "beaten" both of these games at their highest levels but Space Battle and Sub Hunt feel much more satisfying to win than Star Strike which is just a sort of dodge and fire, dodge and bomb feel. The Dreadnaught Factor demonstrated how you keep the game 2D but add a dodge, duck, and bomb "below" you strategy with astonishing variety in your strategic approaches that Star Strike simply lacks.

 

Now, having said all that, I think that Night Stalker is an amazing classic game from this era. I LOVE the slow, deliberative, thump, thump, thump of this game. The casual speed forces you to come up with actual strategies. If you just run and shoot and duck randomly, and assume that this is a berzerk-type of game, you aren't going to last long. The fascinating part is that with each new robot, you need to adjust or completely overthrow your previous strategy and be ready to adopt a new one. Even then, with the randomness of the grey robots and the relocating gun, you are constantly pulled out of any "comfort zone" that you manage to establish. Truly brilliant game balance. If anyone can suggest a good bunker-destroyed, invisible-robot strategy, please advise.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I'm still trying to figure out the 3D feel of Congo Bongo. I keep jumping in the water in level 2 :-(