Cosmic Swarm: A piece of garbage.

[Atariperson23]

Here's a new rule: If a game is less than 50% complete, a pornographic game or a piece of absolute garbage, the game will not get a full review. Why? Because you don't need me to write a full-on rant on how Firefly deserves an F, when you already know in your heart what Firefly will get. Anyways, out of the 495 games i've played, Cosmic Swarm is amongst one of the very worst. Why? Because the control system is extremely horrid (The fire button rotates your ship AND makes you fire, making a clear shot 99% impossible. Also, if you miss some yellow ship, the game ends.) That makes this game usually way too short and convoluted to get anything close to playable. Cosmic Swarm might have been OK if the control system was more salvageable- but no, that would be FUN, so that can't be allowed. I want to write an ode to Cosmic Swarm, but I can't get anything that rhymes with... Pfffftttt. So with no fun at all, some of the worst controls ever on a 2600, some graphics stolen from Asteroids, and originality in all the worst ways possible, Cosmic Swarm gets a D- for the box art alone. I have no idea what John Bronstein was thinking when he designed this game. Not very pleasant thoughts, I bet.

 

(Just the box art prevents Cosmic Swarm from getting an F)

[neotokeo2001]

I think that if the player ship had a faster fire rate and was locked at the bottom of the screen, like Space Invaders or Demon Attack, it would be a decent game. But you are right, as is the game is killed by bad control.

[Atariperson23]

1 minute ago, neotokeo2001 said:

I think that if the player ship had a faster fire rate and was locked at the bottom of the screen, like Space Invaders or Demon Attack, it would be a decent game. But you are right, as is the game is killed by bad control.

True, true. Someone should make a altered version of Cosmic Swarm, because Cosmic Swarm definitely had some promise. It's sad that the control had to made the game so awful.

[ave1]

I actually enjoy Cosmic Swarm when it's played with a controller you'd never think would be any good for this type of game:  A mouse. 

 

I have some footage of myself playing the game with a Commodore 64 mouse, and it was challenging and actually pretty fun.  Here you go (go to 16 min 38 seconds into the video):  

 

[high voltage]

5 hours ago, Atariperson23 said:

Here's a new rule: If a game is less than 50% complete, a pornographic game or a piece of absolute garbage, the game will not get a full review. Why? Because you don't need me to write a full-on rant on how Firefly deserves an F, when you already know in your heart what Firefly will get. Anyways, out of the 495 games i've played, Cosmic Swarm is amongst one of the very worst. Why? Because the control system is extremely horrid (The fire button rotates your ship AND makes you fire, making a clear shot 99% impossible. Also, if you miss some yellow ship, the game ends.) That makes this game usually way too short and convoluted to get anything close to playable. Cosmic Swarm might have been OK if the control system was more salvageable- but no, that would be FUN, so that can't be allowed. I want to write an ode to Cosmic Swarm, but I can't get anything that rhymes with... Pfffftttt. So with no fun at all, some of the worst controls ever on a 2600, some graphics stolen from Asteroids, and originality in all the worst ways possible, Cosmic Swarm gets a D- for the box art alone. I have no idea what John Bronstein was thinking when he designed this game. Not very pleasant thoughts, I bet.

 

(Just the box art prevents Cosmic Swarm from getting an F

Why discriminate against porno games? X-Man is an excellent game, I got the worlds high score. Beat 'em and eat 'em is a good Kaboom type game, the woman swallows, what's not to like.

[Tempest]

Cosmic Swarm is alright.  Not a great game, but it was Commavids first effort.  I had to learn how to play it to review a prototype of it that surfaced.  It's nothing I would have bought back in the day, but the concept is at least unique.  You can see my review here: 

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/cosmicswarm/cosmicswarm.htm

[+KaeruYojimbo]

15 hours ago, Atariperson23 said:

If a game is less than 50% complete, a pornographic game or a piece of absolute garbage, the game will not get a full review.

 

9 hours ago, high voltage said:

Beat 'em and eat 'em is a good Kaboom type game

 

Agreed. Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em is quite fun.

 

Cathouse Blues/Gigolo are also good. I did a post for Old School Gamer about them a couple of years ago.

https://www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com/gigolo-and-cathouse-blues-for-the-atari-2600/

[Foxsolo2000]

I agree that it is as hard as hell but once you get used to the controls its not as bad as you make out and believe me I have played some turds in my time.

[Foxsolo2000]

In fact I will go further and rate Skin Diver as probably the worst game ever released for the 2600 as it is totally unplayable.

 

[roadrunner]

Cosmic Swarm ain't that bad once you learn how to play it. Underrated gem

[+thegoldenband]

I just rolled the score on Cosmic Swarm on B/B difficulty, and I noticed that every so often I'd get random bonuses of 100-200 points when I shot an enemy.

 

There didn't seem to be any pattern to it, though, except that I think it only happened when I shot the bottom of a box carried by a termite (in other words, the thing that turns the playfield red and lets you destroy previously-placed boxes).

 

Anyone know what triggers the bonuses? The manual alludes to it but plays coy.  I thought it might have something to do with shooting at an angle, or shooting the blue one, or shooting a termite when it's on the edge of the screen, but in all cases I got a bonus under different conditions so it can't be those things -- or at least, it can't only be those things.

 

Had Cosmic Swarm as a kid, BTW, and I think it's OK -- a C-minus game, give or take. Desperately needs a difficulty progression or something to spice it up, though, because once you've played it for a minute, you've seen everything it has to offer.

Edited December 26, 2021 by thegoldenband
correcting the record (it now appears I didn't get any 300-point bonuses, only 100/200)

[BydoEmpire]

I always wanted that game, after seeing it in a home video game guide I bought back in the day, but never found the cart in the wild or on eBay for a price I was willing to pay.

[JayAre]

6 hours ago, thegoldenband said:

Anyone know what triggers the bonuses?

Here's how bonus points are earned in Cosmic Swarm.  It's an awkward system, so I think it's best explained using examples.

 

You can earn bonus points every time your score approaches a multiple of 100.  I'll use a score of 100 to illustrate this.  So, you receive bonus points when your score reaches either 101 or 102, as long as your score doesn't touch 100.  In other words, you have to jump over the 100-point mark.  Specifically, in order to receive 100 bonus points, your score needs to reach 101; and later in the game, it needs to reach 201, 301, 401, etc.  In the case of a score of 101, you can do this in one of two ways.  The first is by having your score reach 98 and then hitting a termite for 3 points; and the other way is by reaching a score of 99 and then hitting a termite for 2 points.  The way you score 3 points is by hitting a termite that is carrying a block (if the bottom of the block is hit).  And you score 2 points by hitting a termite that is carrying a block (if the bottom of the block is not hit).

 

And finally, to receive the 200-point bonus, your score needs to reach 102; and later in the game, it needs to reach 202, 302, 402, etc.  In the case of a score of 102, there's only one way to do this, which is by reaching a score of 99 and then hitting a termite for 3 points.

Edited December 26, 2021 by JayAre

[+thegoldenband]

@JayAre Thank you so much, that's perfect! It makes a ton of sense in retrospect, particularly as I seemed to notice it whenever I was approaching a score boundary and then suddenly passed it by a wider margin than I expected.

 

Definitely a strategy to use if/when I try to loop the score on A/A difficulty, as it could save a ton of time.

[JayAre]

3 hours ago, thegoldenband said:

@JayAre Thank you so much, that's perfect! It makes a ton of sense in retrospect, particularly as I seemed to notice it whenever I was approaching a score boundary and then suddenly passed it by a wider margin than I expected.

 

Definitely a strategy to use if/when I try to loop the score on A/A difficulty, as it could save a ton of time.

You're very welcome.

 

Cosmic Swarm isn't for everyone, but this scoring system definitely adds an interesting twist to the game.  It's pretty unique in that you have to keep an eye on your scoring, and then adjust your strategy to arrive at a certain score and finally, shoot a specific target to receive the bonus points.  I think it can make the game more engaging.

 

And you're right; with this strategy, you'll score points much quicker, as you'll receive bonus points of either 100 or 200, where the regular scoring in the game is in increments of only 1, 2 or 3 points at a time.

Edited December 26, 2021 by JayAre

[+thegoldenband]

3 hours ago, JayAre said:

Cosmic Swarm isn't for everyone, but this scoring system definitely adds an interesting twist to the game.  It's pretty unique in that you have to keep an eye on your scoring, and then adjust your strategy to arrive at a certain score and finally, shoot a specific target to receive the bonus points.  I think it can make the game more engaging.

 

And you're right; with this strategy, you'll score points much quicker, as you'll receive bonus points of either 100 or 200, where the regular scoring in the game is in increments of only 1, 2 or 3 points at a time.

I have a fair amount of affection for Cosmic Swarm. It was one of the more unusual games we owned, and really stood out even then (the cartridge's form factor helped too). The controls, and the need to shoot the bottoms of the blocks, imprinted pretty well on my muscle memory.

 

I wish I'd come across more CommaVid games back in the day, as they're all interesting. The fact that they were developed on a Tandy Color Computer, my childhood machine, adds an extra layer of affection.  CommaVid and Avalon Hill are two of the more underappreciated developers.

 

I'll need to do that A/A difficulty run at some point. Have to let my hands rest first, though -- the B/B run took 108 minutes until I looped the score, and by the end I was in a bit of pain!

[English Invader]

I've just been playing this game and once I got the hang of the controls it became quite compulsive.  It's definitely a shooter that requires the player's attention and not one for the "button masher".

 

I used to have this game when I was a kid.  It was part of the 32-in-1 cartridge that was bundled with the Junior console back in the early 90s - it was called Ant Party under that repackaging.  This and Stampede are the two best games on the cartridge IMO.