I'm finding that I spend more time playing the downloadable arcade games for the next-gen consoles than the retail releases. It's much more the case on the 360 where Geometry Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade, Rush'n Attack, Pac-Man CE, and just recently a new Missile Command will easily monopolize a few hours of my time, but I expect the PS3 to catch up as time goes by. I think it's the get-in-get-out quick action that lures me. It's a nice change of pace to be able to load up a game, play it for 10 or 15 minutes, and be done instead of having to schedule a few hours of time to spend on a retail game. Not to take anything away from the retail releases, but I do enjoy the DLC from Microsoft and Sony quite a bit. Xbox Live is far superior to the Playstation Network so far with many more titles and a free trial version for almost all of them, but the recent release of Super Stardust HD on the Playstation 3 goes a long way.
Super Stardust HD is an updated version of a game I've never heard of, but your initial reaction will probably be, "Oh, this is a really pretty Asteroids played on a rotating sphere." That's not inaccurate, but it does sell the game short a bit. You do shoot a lot of asteroids and aliens, but your ship is armed with three different guns that are all upgradable. You've got your rock smasher for the regular asteroids, the ice breaker for the big ice chunks, and the gold melter for the gold boulders. Each planet has a theme rock and a huge boss UFO, but you'll still be switching weapons regularly. Super Stardust HD has some impressive visual pinache and the framerate never drops no matter how many asteroids and UFOs are bouncing around on screen (the asteroids do collide and bounce off each other). It may feel easy in the early levels, but it will very quickly become complete chaos later on. You'll get plenty of use out of those screen-clearning bombs. For $8 you can't go wrong especially since the Playstation Network is largely a barren wasteland for good arcade games.
Comments (10)
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And this is a fireworks show?
No.
C'mon.
Patriotism and dedication to our freedoms is not expressed in this.
Posted by inplainview | July 5, 2007 4:11 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 04:11
In case anyone cares to know, these game originated on the Amiga and was created by Team17.
Posted by Stephen | July 5, 2007 5:53 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 05:53
Actually no. Stardust is a shoot-em-up computer game for the Amiga 500, released by the Finnish company Bloodhouse (now Housemarque)in 1993.
The Team17 was the publisher for Super Stardust to amiga and CD32
Posted by Anonymous | July 5, 2007 9:39 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 09:39
The Amiga was awesome, I had a 3000 w/ 68060 CPU and 128 megs of RAM ...
The PS3, however, is not awesome. It is an overpriced and unsupported "game" system that has no .. games.
Posted by Torgo | July 5, 2007 12:33 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 12:33
Wtf did this have to do with Fireworks or the 4th of July?
Posted by Crawlgsx | July 5, 2007 1:20 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 13:20
Fireworks are big, multicolored light shows with explosions.
Super Stardust HD is a game that features big, multicolored light shows with explosions.
Posted by Travis Meacham | July 5, 2007 4:13 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 16:13
That doesn't have anything to do with fireworks. Since Xbox 360 was mentioned, I'm surprised Boom Boom Rocket wasn't even mentioned: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/boomboomrocketxboxlivearcade/
Posted by Bob | July 5, 2007 10:18 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 22:18
To Anonymous:
I never said anything about Stardust. I said >THIS
Posted by smlong426@yahoo.com | July 6, 2007 12:11 AM
Posted on July 6, 2007 00:11
Stardust on the AMIGA was Amazing for its time. I had The original for my Ami 2000 and then the AGA version when it was released for the 1200. Both were great. Sound was amazing. I had NO idea they "ported" this concept over to the PS3. I can't wait to play it!!! Let Nostalgia reign!
Posted by Alexis Delgado | July 6, 2007 5:54 PM
Posted on July 6, 2007 17:54
First and foremost the author, Travis Meacham, never states that this game is an expression of "freedoms" via the PS3. He simply states a fireworks show is bright-lights and big booms, which coincidently occurs on the 4th of July. Stop getting all bent over something that wasn't even said people.
Second, I don't even see the game itself as being a fireworks display, I see it as Asteroids on steroids. It looks fun and impressive, and as mentioned, the $8 price makes it a must buy.
Posted by Justin | July 8, 2007 4:52 AM
Posted on July 8, 2007 04:52