I can’t imagine who thought that someone would need to add story exposition to an arcade classic. After all, arcade gaming rules are built on a simple principle – jump in, get a high score, put in your initials.
But Atari managed to put an interesting twist on its modern take of the 1979 arcade game Lunar Lander. What started as a game of precision – landing a spacecraft perfectly on a platform for the best score possible without crashing – has suddenly turned into an interesting tale, crafted by the developers at Dreams Uncorporated (Cris Tales).
The end result won’t exactly be everyone’s cup of tea, especially those that just want to pop in something for a scoring affair. (For that, we recommend the arcade version in Atari 50.) However, for those seeking something different – and a little bit compelling – Lunar Lander Beyond just might shoot you into the stratosphere.
A Story To Tell
The game tells the story of the Pegasus Aerospace Corporation, a group that specializes in planet exploration, sending craft to land carefully and find out more about where they’re going. You’ve got four different craft and pilots to choose from, each with their own specialties and techniques to master.
As you proceed from planet to planet, the story continues to unfold. It’s got more to tell than we ever expected, which is both good and bad. The bad part is that it takes away from the nature of the arcade game, adding padding where it wasn’t even necessary. But the good part is that it’s a bold and original move – and for those that stick with it, it pays off really nicely.
The planets themselves do offer a challenge, and there’s also the mental part of the game to consider, as the pilots can easily lose their minds if you don’t take care of them. (Space can be a weird place, what can we say.) So it’ll definitely keep you busy throughout, though the general landing mechanics do stay true to the original game. Which is nice, and definitely requiring a bit of patience.
That said, I do wish some competitive angle was explored here. It would’ve been nice to have leaderboards or maybe even some multiplayer – yes, versus landings – to keep things moving. As it stands, however, this is a neat step forward, and though it isn’t for everyone, Lunar Lander Beyond deserves an audience that will appreciate its lore.
Into the Swell-Looking Universe
To go along with its story arc and challenging gameplay, Lunar Lander Beyond also benefits from a solid presentation – one that goes above and beyond the basic design of the 1979 game.
The universe itself is filled with great planet details, all lovingly animated with their small challenges. The characters themselves also have quite a bit of detail, and the use of colors is simply unbeatable. It goes above what we normally see from Atari’s Recharged collection, though it would’ve been ideal to have the original arcade game included.
There’s also good music snippets, along with involving sound effects and great character dialogue. Again, it doesn’t really seem like all this was necessary for something as simple as Lunar Lander. But it adds a lot, and some players may find absolute thrill from that. It’s better to take a big stride forward, because even if you make some mistakes, you still have progress.
A Perfect Landing?
Lunar Lander Beyond will likely leave some players torn. It has way more story and build-up than needed, and doesn’t rely on the sheer arcade basics we remember from the original game. In fact, the original game not being included feels like a bit of a loss, because, um, we should see where the humble beginnings lie, right?
But there’s more than enough here to make up for that, including a stunning visual design, a neat pilot sanity aspect and the same great gameplay that we mastered so long ago in arcades. I actually don’t mind more companies trying approaches like this, provided they remember where they came from with it. Never hurts to have a complete package.
Beyond is definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of the original, or Atari goodness in general. Everyone else, well, do your research.
GAMERHUB RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) JOYSTICKS
Thanks to Atari for the game code!
