Le Geek - Retrogaming Reviews

Rating
Graphics:	4
Sound:	4
Control:	5
Depth:	5
Overall:	4.5

River Raid

By: Carol Shaw
Published By: Activision
Released: 1982

River Raid seems like a simple game—fly down a river shooting enemies and occasional bridges, while avoiding the river banks and keeping refueled.

However, the execution is nearly flawless. The graphics are crisp and colorful, the control is spot on and the game never seems to repeat or end! Most Atari games have two to four screens at best—due to memory limitations—so to have an entire river to explore was pretty impressive in 1982.

While modern shoot 'em ups make River Raid seem quaint, it's still thrilling to see how far you can go, as the enemies get deadlier and numerous, and the river becomes more and more treacherous.

- Ben Langberg

Difficulty Switches. With difficulty switches in the a position, missiles streak straight ahead. With switches in the b position, you can control the direction of your missiles after they have been fired by "steering" them with your Joystick Controller.

If you reach a score of 15,000 points or more, you are eligible to become an official River Raider. Simply send us a picture of your TV screen showing your score along with your name and address, and we'll send you an official River Raider emblem. Score the maximum one million, and all points on the screen will be replaced with exclamation points. If you ever do manage to score the ultimate, please send us a photo. Such an achievement will certainly rank you as one of the world's greatest video game competitors!