Atari - Lunar Lander: Beyond - Official Gameplay Trailer (playable demo starts today on PC)

[PowerDubs]

 

[Zonie]

No remake can do the original justice. The sound, visuals, and feel of the original in it's standup cabinet with the throttle lever, lighted bezel, arcade noise in the background and even the vibrating speaker grille on some cabinets from the deep bass of the thrust. Nope. Cannot recreate or better that.

[+sramirez2008]

11 minutes ago, Zonie said:

The sound, visuals, and feel of the original in it's standup cabinet with the throttle lever,

 

11 minutes ago, Zonie said:

the deep bass of the thrust.

One of the best coin-op games ever. If you have never played it and come across one at an arcade, do yourselves a favor and give it a try. It's a cool experience for the very reasons that @Zoniedescribed above. This was my era of gaming and I'm glad I was around to play these games when they first came out. I'm also greatful for all of the arcade owners that continue to maintain and operate their establishments today. They deserve our patronage. 

[Zonie]

2 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

 

One of the best coin-op games ever. If you have never played it and come across one at an arcade, do yourselves a favor and give it a try. It's a cool experience for the very reasons that @Zoniedescribed above. This was my era of gaming and I'm glad I was around to play these games when they first came out. I'm also greatful for all of the arcade owners that continue to maintain and operate their establishments today. They deserve our patronage. 

If anyone here lives in the Phoenix Metro area, There was and may still be one at the AZ Science Center.

[Lord Mushroom]

32 minutes ago, Zonie said:

No remake can do the original justice. 

This is not a remake, though. It is a sequel. Again, I think it looks better than I could have expected. I had better raise my expectations.

[+bent_pin]

51 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

 

One of the best coin-op games ever. If you have never played it and come across one at an arcade, do yourselves a favor and give it a try. It's a cool experience for the very reasons that @Zoniedescribed above. This was my era of gaming and I'm glad I was around to play these games when they first came out. I'm also greatful for all of the arcade owners that continue to maintain and operate their establishments today. They deserve our patronage. 

Probably why The Great Mr. Curt included it with the Flashback 2. It's the first game I fire up whenever I turn one on. I ordered a copy of L.E.M. from the AA store to go along with it. Looking forward to doing a video on all the great games dedicated to real space exploration and Lunar Lander will be the star attraction, of course.

[+Stephen]

5 hours ago, Zonie said:

No remake can do the original justice. The sound, visuals, and feel of the original in it's standup cabinet with the throttle lever, lighted bezel, arcade noise in the background and even the vibrating speaker grille on some cabinets from the deep bass of the thrust. Nope. Cannot recreate or better that.

Exactly.  I remember way back in 2004 or so.  I had a projector hooked up to a 100" screen.  My computer and game systems were all hooked up to it.  I ended up really sick with a flu, and I sat and played on that massive projector, for almost 6 hours straight - MONOCHROME Lunar Lander in MAME connected to VGA input of said projector.  So yeah - the original is fantastic.  Anything else can be a new game though - the original does not need added to or improved, or recharged, or added Neon and pixel explosions (or synthwave).

 

While here, I'll just drop a little nugget that Geometry Wars and all clones thereof are just a wireframe re-implementation of Robotron 2084 with lots of sparkles.

[GraffitiTavern]

Looks great! Having individual pilot characters for the space shooters was something I hoped they would do in one of the space shooters. The original was very simple in concept, I almost wished they gave this game original branding as a modern space shooter with more varied gameplay and story.

[GraffitiTavern]

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

While here, I'll just drop a little nugget that Geometry Wars and all clones thereof are just a wireframe re-implementation of Robotron 2084 with lots of sparkles.

Maybe the first one has similarities, they are both twin-stick shooters, but the sequels aren't very similar beyond that. Dimensions(third one) at least has completely differ level design, an emphasis on power-ups and enemy variety, and multiple goals/modes

[KainXavier]

The story-based approach definitely has me interested, and I appreciate all of the visual and gameplay nods to Atari's other games.  I'm guessing Lunar Lander: Beyond will command a higher price point than the Recharged games, but I think that's fair given the game's ambition.  I'll have to check out the PC demo to see if it's something I'd like.  Also, kudos to whomever put that trailer together.  It's rare that I actually get excited about the product being advertised.

 

@Stephen

I would argue that Geometry Wars has more in common with Black Widow and Smash TV than it does Robotron.  There are no people to rescue, and it's more about surviving an ever-growing horde of enemies.

[ledzep]

11 hours ago, Zonie said:

No remake can do the original justice. The sound, visuals, and feel of the original in it's standup cabinet with the throttle lever, lighted bezel, arcade noise in the background and even the vibrating speaker grille on some cabinets from the deep bass of the thrust. Nope. Cannot recreate or better that.

 

Agreed.  I own one and just having it near me is irrationally satisfying, like being able to stand next to a few cubic feet of the '80s.  That bass sound was amazing back then, same for the low end of Asteroids and some of the explosions in Tempest.

 

But this new game?  Holy shit.  I mean, that looks fantastic.  I know it's too much to ask that it uses the original controllers but where in thee fuck would you be able to find an authentic-feeling thrust lever controller, hahaaha.  I like the graphics, I like the many levels, though if there were a "complaint" to be raised it is so much more than Lunar Lander that all these additions make it seem like a alternate version of Gravitar: Recharged.  Yet, whereas Gravitar: Recharged feels less than original Gravitar (too easy, slow and cute compared to the original), this game seems like it fixes some of that.  I'm not really interested in pilot characters/role playing in arcade-based games but I do like the variety.  It's a bit too close to Scramble/Super Cobra at times but that's just the trailer, I don't know how the game itself plays out.  No shitty music (or it's optioned off)?  No gigantic explosions with goddamn sparkles flying everywhere?  Tell me more.

 

Am I to understand, then, that these labels are sort of like trim levels for cars?  The Recharged label is code for too much useless flashy shit on top of original games that are too easy and stuffed balls-deep with power-ups and terrible music and they wiped out the original gameplay details?  The Reimagined label is code for ramped back expansions of original games but otherwise seem like expanded sequels that retain more of the original concepts?  And now Beyond is code for much more tolerable and interesting additions?  Too soon to tell, maybe.  I guess this Beyond idea works better with games that were so simple (yet difficult) that they were almost training levels for an expanded Beyond version.  Maybe a Battlezone: Beyond could finally get you out of that box canyon or whatever it is.

[roots.genoa]

10 minutes ago, ledzep said:

That bass sound was amazing back then

And yet for some reason, when we were discussing Space Invaders (or 2600 ports, I don't remember) here some time ago, most people did not understand I preferred the sound of the original arcade game to any port.

[Lord Mushroom]

1 hour ago, ledzep said:

I know it's too much to ask that it uses the original controllers but where in thee fuck would you be able to find an authentic-feeling thrust lever controller, hahaaha. 

PS5 controller? Or maybe you could use one of those racing setups with a wheel and gas pedal.

 

1 hour ago, ledzep said:

The Recharged label is code for too much useless flashy shit on top of original games that are too easy and stuffed balls-deep with power-ups and terrible music and they wiped out the original gameplay details?  The Reimagined label is code for ramped back expansions of original games but otherwise seem like expanded sequels that retain more of the original concepts?  And now Beyond is code for much more tolerable and interesting additions?

I think Recharged and Reimagined are both modern remakes. Sort of like something in between a remake and a sequel. Whereas the other games are just straight up sequels. I don´t think Beyond is code for anything. It is just the name of that particular game.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Lord Mushroom

[ledzep]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

And yet for some reason, when we were discussing Space Invaders (or 2600 ports, I don't remember) here some time ago, most people did not understand I preferred the sound of the original arcade game to any port.

 

I agree.  In general I prefer all the elements of the arcade originals (control panel, sound, design, gameplay) to any ports but I accept that ports will always make sacrifices.  There was something gritty about the sounds for arcade Space Invaders that I don't think the 2600 (or others) had.  I remember Star Fire having pretty cool sound, too.  And the ship engines in Space Wars were pretty bass-y along with the explosions.

[ledzep]

9 hours ago, Lord Mushroom said:

PS5 controller? Or maybe you could use one of those racing setups with a wheel and gas pedal.

 

Ya, a gas pedal might work, it needs to be a POT with a spring-loaded return, like the Lunar Lander thrust controller.

 

9 hours ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I think Recharged and Reimagined are both modern remakes. Sort of like something in between a remake and a sequel. Whereas the other games are just straight up sequels. I don´t think Beyond is code for anything. It is just the name of that particular game.

 

I'm wondering if we see more older games redone with "Beyond" added to their names, will they take the same approach as this Lunar Lander game.  I also see differences with the Recharged group of games vs. the Reimagined group (which I think are the better approach).

[Zonie]

A Lunar Lander thrust controller is nothing more than a pot with a well weighted, spring loaded lever on it.

Fun Fact. LL and Asteroids share the same cabinet. Many early Asteroids cabinets had LL side art since Asteroids was a runaway success.

Edited October 11, 2023 by Zonie