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Mark plays... Gyruss on Atari 8-bit with other console footage (HD)
In this video I am trying to play Gyruss on the Atari 8-bit home computer range (800XL/130XE) and I talk a bit about the game, life, the universe and everything on the side.
It is a very fun game and belongs right up there with my all-time favorites (time pilot, gyruss are right up there). I have footage playing from my earlier Gyruss videos that can be found below:
Gyruss on Colecovision, Nes and Arcade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX-927rqnIw
Gyruss on C64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwEHSPmIgIc
Intro music by ZombieAndy1979
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZombieAndy1979
Comments
I wondered why I had a sudden urge for a white chocolate covered Oreo!!!
:) Nice work, Mark. Gyruss has always been one of my favorite shooters.
I was thinking the same thing, though I also like the gameplay. I probably played Gyruss a lot more than Tempest.
I was thinking the same thing, though I also like the gameplay. I probably played Gyruss a lot more than Tempest.
Oh, I agree, the gameplay was simple, but compelling. To me, though, there are certain games that are defined by their music or sound effects (the famous bassy "doot" "doot" "doot" of Space Invaders, for instance), and Gyruss is one of them. It's a classical, pulse pounding soundtrack that is properly mated to the speed of the action. Great design there, especially since it's very unlikely such matching was in the code itself!
As for the comparison to Tempest, that's apt. Gyruss is a simpler Tempest. I love Tempest, but it can certainly be hard. Coincidentally I recently (finally) got a custom spinner for my Atari Jaguar, so I can finally play the excellent Tempest 2000 the way it should be played! There were of course many knock-offs of Tempest, such as EA's Axis Assassin, but not many (any?) knock-offs of Gyruss I can think of...
I was thinking the same thing, though I also like the gameplay. I probably played Gyruss a lot more than Tempest.
As for the comparison to Tempest, that's apt. Gyruss is a simpler Tempest. I love Tempest, but it can certainly be hard. Coincidentally I recently (finally) got a custom spinner for my Atari Jaguar, so I can finally play the excellent Tempest 2000 the way it should be played! There were of course many knock-offs of Tempest, such as EA's Axis Assassin, but not many (any?) knock-offs of Gyruss I can think of...
now im jeoulus.. tempest 2K was about perfect.. Im a true fan of Tempest and would love an upright but $500 for beat up or $100o for nice is just to much.. it was only lacking a great ocntroler.. i was so close to a custom one many times.. but never did it. Neat they ahve the ability to use one built into tempest 2k, like theere was plans for a spinner.
That's the issue with Gyruss. It's a great stand-alone game, but it's inevitable that it gets compared to Tempest. Rather unfortunate, and I'm not sure if the similarity was intentional.
I'd much more compare it to Galaga but I see the resemblance with Tempest. In tempest you are locked to a grid and can only shoot appoaching critters. I'd compare tempest with beam rider.
I'd much more compare it to Galaga but I see the resemblance with Tempest. In tempest you are locked to a grid and can only shoot appoaching critters. I'd compare tempest with beam rider.
To be fair, you're locked to a grid in Gyruss and can only shoot approaching critters too, it's just that the grid is invisible and also doesn't change--it's always the same circle-like grid, versus Tempest's more varied webbing. Honestly, I don't see how Gyruss can be seen anything other than a simpler Tempest--it's the same concept, just distilled, i.e., no zapper-like kill everything construct, just regular shooting. It's sort of like the polar opposite of how Arkanoid evolved the Breakout formula, Gyruss kind of simplified the Tempest formula. Interestingly, both took different approaches to similar ideas and both ended up standing on their own as classics for it.
In any case, I agree that games like Axis Assassin and Beamrider were certainly more direct translations of the concepts in Tempest, among all the other clones...
I never really got into Tempest or the clones. Like I said, Gyruss was my favorite of the lot. The gameplay of Tempest is cool to me on an abstract level, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe just a bit too abstract for my tastes!
That said, it definitely has that definitive classic arcade vibe to it, right along with Asteroids, Battlezone, etc.