Videogame Review, River Raid for the Commodore 64 Computer (Disk Form with Gold Atari 2600 Joystick)

Videogame Review, River Raid for the Commodore 64 Computer (Disk Form with Gold Atari 2600 Joystick)

It’s more of a snowy escapade compared to the Atari 5200 version and presents us with digital controller use.  That means, move or don’t move, kill or be killed, do or die.  Certainly River Raid has stretched into our imaginations as far as planes are concerned because shooters of this nature reveal so much open-air space while obstacles get in the way.  Obstacles in River Raid on the Commodore 64 (C64) include attractive red helicopters which buzz over the riversides to vividly rolling tanks shooting massive pop-up explosions.  Kids should seek parental guidance before playing something of this kind.  A lot of the visuals on this C64 version have different colors and tunes in comparison to the Atari 5200 version.  Music, and sounds to go along with its selections, are dramatic effects resembling closer things to arcade machine classics like Donkey Kong and Zaxxon.  From there being digital joysticks as opposed to the analog 5200 joysticks for the C64 I’m finding myself in less of a disposition for exchanging speeds in the atmosphere over the bodies of water with no exception of the struggle, or defense, of lining my plane between cliffs and shores.  At least the mountains aren’t so repetitive looking.  The 5200 version liked to present some of the same mountains in different glowing shades of purple whereas the C64 version here, loaded from a made-for-home disk on my 1541 disk drive, puts some of the winter’s voice along mountainous edges spread all over the fields leading from 1 to 50, and of course level 50, apart from level 1 and designed for freaks of nature, basically halts the program in extreme futures along the lines.  Some of those cliffs and shores are more difficult to handle with a digital joystick even if I’m playing this plane-to-enemies beast with a gold Atari 2600 joystick by Best Electronics.  Be careful about putting a new controller into a Commodore 64 computer though or else you may find yourself with bent needles inside the controller jack or even the controller port, too.  F1 and F3 are innovative, useful buttons.  Not only that but get this: you pause the game by hitting the stop/run button and the momentary freeze in the airborne field can be thawed out with a touch of your firing button.  At least with my Atari 2600 joystick that is.  Turning and swerving are exacted into precision although a modern gamer will probably be surprised from dealing with immediate, quick paces given to movement as opposed to the familiar analog on Xbox One or something like it today.  Playing a game like River Raid on the Commodore 64 puts enough arcade action into the mix.  What’s noticed is that my 5200 joystick lets me crawl away from cliffs and shores 200% better.  So if you’re looking for the best control and control that’s more like the future in terms of gaming then look no further than the Atari 5200 version of River Raid; however, if you’re an older gamer who grew up with simple, digital joysticks then the C64 version is the way to go, even in comparison to the relatively brisk, nice version on the Colecovision console from the early-80s.  Colecovision controllers actually have more tactical feedback on joystick functions than the original Atari 2600 joysticks, despite the fact my Atari 2600 joystick is updated with gold thanks to Best Electronics.  And so, overall, the C64 version of River Raid is better than the Atari 5200 version in many ways until you realize it lacks corners on other bits of technology.  I’d prefer using the dial-pad on my 5200 controller to put in the level of difficulty and number of players since the 5200 dial-pad technique is really personal and inviting thanks to both Best Electronics and Atari.  Especially when you hear the pops/cracks of the airplane engine in the C64 version as well as the I’m-almost-out-of-fuel sound alarm, deep and vibrating off my TV like a real-life threat, a good amount of tension for the computer game will turn heads around, if any of them are there.  

https://youtu.be/hL-vhI8f44g