💾 Archived View for germination.systems › ~vidak › old-blog › 2013-02-28-chelnovatomic-runner.gemini captured on 2022-04-28 at 18:00:09. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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author: admin
generator: pandoc
title: 'Chelnov/Atomic Runner'
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admin
2013-02-28T03:24:37+00:00
[{.alignleft
.size-medium .wp-image-602 width="300"
height="210"}](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR3.gif)Let's
face it--Contra/Probotector costs a lot of money. For a game with such
simple concepts, its popularity has, ironically, rendered it
prohibitively difficult to access in order to play. If you, like many
others, are stuck in this predicament, worry no more, because a
reasonably inexpensive equivalent exists which harbours just as much
artistic quality.
The name of this title is *Atomic Runner*, outside of Japan. Originally
an arcade game, its transition to the Sega *Mega Drive* saw it undergo a
host of changes both in form and in substance. Both *Atomic Runner*'s
game-play and plot were altered (supposedly for the startling similarity
that the original Japanese arcade game bore to the Chernobyl
nuclear-reactor meltdown), but this rendered it a far superior game
according to the critics
(Sega-16Â [review](http://www.sega-16.com/2010/02/atomic-runner/) and
[forum
discussion](http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?14598-Atomic-Runner-is-pretty-good-(review)),
[GameFAQ
review](http://www.gamefaqs.com/genesis/586036-atomic-runner/reviews/review-110299),
[Krooze's
Haunt](http://krooze.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/atomic-runner-gen-review/)).
[{.alignright
.size-full .wp-image-604 width="274"
height="211"}](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR1.png)With
impressive mid-life-cycle Mega Drive parallax scrolling, and large (if
only *slightly* repetitive), colourful backgrounds and bosses, \_Atomic
Runner \_sports very solid game-play. Against many run-and-gun games
(and indeed many shoot'em ups) \_ARÂ \_really does hold its own. The
myriad of power-ups and environments through which to peruse are
interesting, and the overall theme of the game, a synthesis of ancient
cultures and ultra-modern technology, is well-executed.
It's both an opportunity and a shame that this game has been overlooked,
because its developer, Data East hasn't really been remembered for any
of its [fun and imaginative
games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_released_by_Data_East).
I might return to Data East and go through its history.
[{.size-medium
.wp-image-603 .alignleft width="300"
height="205"}](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR2.png)The
only issue that is commonly identified with *AR* is its length. Because
the game is so short, Data East correspondingly made the obvious
decision to crank up the game's difficulty a fair amount. This shouldn't
surprise anyone, though. This was a fairly frequent design formula for
many developers, as computer memory and system processing limitations
virtually *bound* them to making short, difficult games.
If the reader needs some persuasion, they should find their attention
directed to the following video:
\[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk-7ro1tnY\]