

Asteroids is an arcade space shooter released in November 1979. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The objective of the game is to destroy both, asteroids and saucers. The triangular ship can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. Once the ship begins moving in a direction, it will continue in that direction for a time without player intervention unless the player applies thrust in a different direction. The ship eventually comes to a stop when not thrusting. The player can also send the ship into hyperspace, causing it to disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen, at the risk of self-destructing or appearing on top of an asteroid.
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Character
Plot-driven, grave, earnest and cool.
- character-ledplot-driven
- gravecomic
- earnestironic
- cooloverwhelming
- intimateepic
Who loves it, who doesn't
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“Is this Atari's best work?”
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“Is the nostalgia doing the heavy lifting?”
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“Is it the best shooter game of its decade?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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About the game
- Platforms
- Arcade, Apple II
- Developer
- Atari
- Publisher
- Adventure International, Sega, Taito, Atari
- Released
- November 17, 1979
- Modes
- Single player, Multiplayer
- Perspective
- Bird view / Isometric
- Time to beat
- 1 h rushed · 1 h main story · 1 h completionist
IGDB rating 8.2/10 from 86 ratings.
Screenshots
Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on TasteBuds Other media included when they land close.
Yie Ar Kung-Fu 198486% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Both plot-driven, earnest, grave.
World Karate Championship 198582% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Frogger 198181% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, grave.
Solarian II 198880% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Galaxian 197980% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Millipede 198280% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Galaga 198180% alikeBoth plot-driven, grave, earnest.
Countdown 198257% alikeTelevision · Both plot-driven, cool, earnest; this one is more contemporary.
Initial D Legend 1: Awakening 201456% alikeFilm · Both grave, earnest, classical in form.
Often played with
Similar games per IGDB. Opening one adds it to TasteBuds










