Meteorites

Meteorites for the Atari 5200

Meteorites is an action game for the Atari 5200 released in 1984 by Electra Concepts. The game is essentially a clone of Asteroids and has players controlling a ship with the goal of destroying the numerous meteorites that appear. Meteorites was designed to be used with Electra Concepts' Masterplay 5200 Interface which allowed digital joysticks (such as those designed for the Atari 2600) to be used on the Atari 5200, however it will also work fine with the standard 5200 analog joysticks.

In Meteorites players attempt to earn as many points as possible by destroying the many meteorites that appear. Players control a triangle-shaped ship equipped with photon cannons; similar to Asteroids, the ship is controlled by rotating left or right and using thrusters to accelerate the ship in the direction it's facing. Shooting a meteorite with photons will split into multiple, smaller meteorites; once a meteorite is small enough, shooting it will destroy it. Once all meteorites are completely destroyed, the game proceeds to the next, more difficult wave of meteorites. In addition to the meteorites, alien ships also appear from time to time; players can shoot the aliens for bonus points, or simply avoid them (destroying the alien ships isn't required to complete a level). In addition to the photon cannons, the player's ship is equipped with a hyperspace ability: if the player is in trouble, it can be used to instantly transport the ship to another part of the screen, however it's not guaranteed that the arrival location will be any safer.

Points in Meteorites are earned by shooting the various meteorites and aliens as follows:

• Large Meteorite: 20 points
• Medium Meteorite: 50 points
• Small Meteorite: 100 points
• Large Alien Ship: 200 points
• Small Alien Ship: 1000 points