Comments on: Not Just Astrotraining: Astro Tripper PC

By: RobF

RobF — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:55:44 +0000

Hah, sorry man. I take a bit too much for granted in that regard I guess.

Yeah, MS is more a twin stick arena shooter. Single screen, 360 degree shooting and increasingly troublesome enemy spawns as the levels progress. Its sequel Empires is what happens when a twin stick arena shooter takes out anything that made the first Mutant Storm great and replaces it with level after level of shooting lots of nasties for little reward. Massive disappointment to me, the latter.

Weirdly though, both the PomPom duo are very much games of their time. A point when PC games didn’t really have this sort of spread of arcade style games we’ve got now. I consider both Space Tripper (more so) and Mutant Storm really important games in the PC heritage. They’ve both been bettered multiple times now, but PomPom were out there doing this stuff (and doing it well) when it really was totally unfashionable. I remember loading up MS for the first time and thinking “how *do* they do this? That’s incredible”.

They’re still pretty solid (it’s that word again!) after all these years, which is why I can’t really rag too much on Astro Tripper despite it being ST in fancy pants. If anyone’s not played them before, they’re definitely worth a punt on. Geometry Wars et al may have refined the formula, but there’s still a place in my heart for both of these franchises.

By: bookwormat

bookwormat — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:31:18 +0000

Thanks RobF. I guess that explanation is very helpful if you played both Defender and Robotron. ;)

Anyway, I found demos for both space trigger and mutant storm. Most significant difference seems to be that Mutant Storm has short, one screen levels while Space Trigger levels consist of multiple(3-5) vertical screens. Ship feels more heavy in Space Trigger and both games use different control schemes.

By: RobF

RobF — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:52:15 +0000

bookwormat said:
Also, what are the main differences between the *-tripper and mutant storm series?

*Tripper is based on Defender, Mutant Storm on Robotron.

By: bookwormat

bookwormat — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:16:38 +0000

That you cannot jump into individual levels makes me sad.

Also, what are the main differences between the *-tripper and mutant storm series?

By: RobF

RobF — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:47:09 +0000

Anonymous Coward said:
So…does it play any different than the original? (I bought both tripper and mutantstorm back in the day for play on my old mac…) Or is it just…glowy-ier?

It doesn't play drastically different, no. It's essentially a hi-res remake of the original.

I actually prefer the original over this, it's somehow less garish and hard on the eyes due to the (now) smudgy lo-res-ness of it all. I appreciate the amount of work that goes in to doing something on this scale, but man, it's quite the ugly thing texturewise.

By: Scandalon

Scandalon — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:08:33 +0000

So…does it play any different than the original? (I bought both tripper and mutantstorm back in the day for play on my old mac…) Or is it just…glowy-ier?

By: TeeJay

TeeJay — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:27:51 +0000

(ps. does ‘gonzo’ games journalism exist?)

By: TeeJay

TeeJay — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:26:43 +0000

We some new labels for a start. I can hardly believe there are only two “genres” of games journalism (“old” and “new”). How unimaginative.

By: Gnarl

Gnarl — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:00:38 +0000

“Why am I so lonely?”

Well, at least he’s a part of something bigger now.

By: Digit

Digit — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:52:10 +0000

This games is ace btw, I have the original and it’s a pretty slick shooter. :) The battleship level is nuts and the level prior to the one shown with the cubes is probably one of the hardest levels I’ve played.

By: qrter

qrter — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:06:23 +0000

God.. I really hate New Games Journalism..

By: TeeJay

TeeJay — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:17:15 +0000

This thread inspired me to have a “quick” blast on Mutant Storm…

…which lasted two hours! :D