Asteroids

Asteroids: Classic Arcade Space Shooter

Discover Asteroids, a classic arcade space shooter video game released in 1979 by Atari, featuring high-speed asteroid fields and challenging gameplay.

What is Asteroids?

Asteroids is an influential and groundbreaking arcade space shooter video game designed by Ed Logg and released by Atari in 1979. Set in an asteroid field in outer space, the player controls a triangular spaceship using thrusters to rotate it and accelerate it in any direction across the screen. The object is to shoot and destroy the asteroids ranging in size while avoiding both collisions with them and being hit by their fragments when they are shot. The asteroids move faster as the game progresses, and some can shoot back at the player's ship.

With its physics-based simulation, impressive graphics, and challenging but intuitive gameplay, Asteroids became an instant classic. It was Atari's best-selling game of all time, iconic of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Its vector graphics technique allowed high-resolution graphics not seen before in video games, while the physics gave each rock its own personality. Despite the simple controls, navigating the constantly bombarding asteroids took skill. Splitting the larger rocks into faster moving smaller ones that moved erratically added to the challenge. Gameplay was smooth, addictive, and difficult to master, appealing to players of all ages for years to come.

Asteroids helped move video games forward as an artistic and entertainment medium. It sold over 70,000 arcade cabinets and proved hugely influential on game designers, with many clones and inspired games released even decades later. Its balance of complexity and approachability set a standard for action video games, and cemented Atari's standing as an innovator in the industry. Even today, despite changes in graphics, Asteroids remains a classic and one of the most well-recognized video games of all time.

Asteroids Features

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