Desert Falcon is a slanted scrolling shooter, with a perspective similar to the arcade game Zaxxon. You control your feathered friend with the intent to hunt down and slay a giant sphinx. As you fly - or trot - your way to the boss, numerous enemies try to stop you (most of whom are in the air). You can pick up various items on the ground, and these will help you build up Super Powers, such as Air Bombs (a.k.a "smart bombs"), Warps, and Invincibility. The slanted 3-D perspective doesn't work very well with the 2600 here. It's hard to maneuver around structures because of the way they're drawn, so it's unnecessarily hard to avoid collisions. The shots the enemies fire are also a problem, since they project no shadow; it's always hard to tell how high in the air they are. Lastly, your "super powers" (most of which are actually completely useless) don't do much to help you out, because it never fixes your main problem - You move around too slowly in this game. Not only does that slow down the pacing of the game, but you can't properly defend yourself from attacks on higher difficulties; everyone outruns you! Overall, the Atari 2600 bites off more than it can chew here. I commend Atari for being ambitious and offbeat with this title. But in this instance, it just can't compete with its Atari 7800 counterpart, especially since all the sounds and music are exactly the same in both ports. It's hard for me to hate this one, though; the whole game is so strange, it's fascinating. If this game is anything at all, it's a curiosity. But if you try it out, be absolutely sure you get the manual, or you'll probably be stumped.Read full review
Great game and is a classic for sure. Aim for the sphinx.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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