---

author: admin

generator: pandoc

title: 'Chelnov/Atomic Runner'

viewport: 'width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes'

---

admin

2013-02-28T03:24:37+00:00

[![AR3](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR3-300x210.gif){.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-16 [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/)).

[![AR1](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR1.png){.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) \_AR \_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.

[![AR2](http://jumpnshoot9000.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AR2-300x205.png){.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:

\[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk-7ro1tnY\]