AGH Atari 2600 Review: LASER BLAST by Activision Before the megahit Pitfall! made him famous, legendary game designer David Crane had this little game in his stable. Laser Blast was the opposite of nearly every space game at the time. Instead of defending your planet, aliens have already taken over; you're just trying to get it back from them. The game has you flying above the surface and attacking the ground forces with your ship, which can hover in the air and fire in three directions. The enemy units, which attack in groups of three, can fire in five directions, and have a radar unit to lock on to you, so you have to keep moving while firing. Once you kill all three units, you move to the next stage. At first you can fly low to avoid their radar, but as you go along, strong force fields will push you higher and higher up the stratosphere. The the units move lightning fast in later levels as well. The interesting thing is that whenever you get hit, you fall to the ground. But while doing so, you can steer your falling ship -- kamikaze style -- and take out one of the units if you guide it properly. Laser Blast has some nice features, but there really isn't much variety, in its gameplay. It's pretty much a dodge-and-fire action shooter. The graphics are not up to the standards that David Crane set in later efforts, and the same can be said about the sound effects. Nevertheless, Laser Blast is a simple and addictive game... just not one of Activision's finest. Title Laser Blast Publisher Activision System Atari 2600 (VCS) Graphics 7 Sound 7 Gameplay 7 Overall 7 Reviewer Adam King