AE: Playthrough

AE (c) Broderbund Software 1982 for the Atari 8 bit line of computers
An interesting take on the classic space shooter genre, where the player's ship is at the bottom, trying to destroy all invaders coming from the top. Here, it comes with the added element of user-defined height of projectiles, depending on how long the player holds the FIRE button, and making the projectiles explosive, capable of taking out multiple targets. It feels as if Space Invaders, Galaga and some gunning game had a kid..
Unfortunately, the result of such an awkward threesome is a black & white kid. I think that this fact alone is this game's biggest detriment, as it really makes differentiating actionable objects (enemy ships and projectiles) from static background quite difficult, putting some extra eye-strain on the player.
Yes, I think the devs should have made this using a lower resolution, but implementing at least a few colours instead. The game may have been more playable. Anyway, I'd say it's a solid addition to the genre, just not one I would be capable of playing for a prolonged period time.
Using the Atari800Win PLus emulator (www.a800win.ata...) with standard Atari 800XL settings (XL/XE / 64kB RAM / PAL mode).