Demon Attack

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Imagic

Not every game on the Magnavox Odyssey2 is bad, but when you see an awful port like this one, it's easy to see why Atari was the video game leader for as long as it was. This version of Demon Attack wouldn't really be considered bad on its own, but when you compare it to other shooters of the time, including the Atari 2600 version of the same game, this isn't very good. At first glance, it also looks dull - there aren't a ton of enemies on the screen to avoid fire from. On the Atari 2600 version, there are only three enemies on the screen at a time as well, but the game is much more interesting visually that you don't notice it as much. This version is still challenging, though, but seemingly because of poor design than anything else. Unlike most 3rd person shooters, including the Atari 2600 version of this game, when you fire in Demon Attack, your bullet is always parallel with your ship. So let's say you shoot, then move to the right, the bullet is also going to move to the right. If you're shooting at a ship almost at your level, you're essentially putting yourself in harm's way in order to potentially shoot it down. You can't fire and quickly move to dodge enemy fire because your bullet will also move. So, you're stuck there, out in the open, just to take a shot. This "moving bullet" concept felt awkward and I never really got used to it or grew to like it in any way. Based on what I've seen when compiling the average scores, it doesn't look like I'm alone in feeling that way. If you want to play a fun version of Demon Attack, get the Atari 2600 version. It came out a year earlier and it's much, much better.

Review added: 12/28/2022