Collection essentials #29: Communist Mutants From Space (2600)

 

Here’s a game that is mainly on here because of its title. COMMUNIST MUTANTS FROM SPACE!! What a name! That’s as cheesy an ‘80s title as it gets! I was immediately tickled when I saw this among Keith Messier’s batch of Atari games that he gifted me.

In addition, the game behind the name, luckily, is actually pretty good. It’s one of many games heavily inspired by Space Invaders and other shooters from its day. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing during the game itself that references Communism at all, really. You have to shoot down all the bad guys in the cluster at the top of the screen and dodge them as they swoop down to try and get you (like in Galaga), and you have to keep firing at a pretty good pace because the “Mother Creature” behind them will keep spitting out new minions during a given round until you manage to destroy her. There are a variety of very welcome options to tweak the gameplay and difficulty to your liking.

Despite being a good game, I have to admit I probably wouldn’t consider it essential if it wasn’t for that amazing title. Now, come on, say it with me one more time nice and loud…COMMUNIST MUTANTS FROM SPAAAAAACE!!

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