There are five different Zones: Sigma Delta, Black Hole, Sun, Worm Hole, and Save the Earth, each containing some 15 levels, all of which look the part. Syrox Developments, Ltd has dispensed with the black and white vector graphics and instead brought the game bang up to date with some extremely colorful 3D backgrounds. Even though the game is played in 2D (you are not allowed to cross the 'camera line'), the objects and backdrops are depicted in 3D and with a D3D compliant 3D accelerator, Asteroids looks decidedly lucious. We're not talking mesmerizing but it's a world apart from Vector graphics. Some good use of Alpha blending meant that explosions looked impressive and the lighting effects weren't all that bad either (not that they'd light up a night sky though).

On a side note, we feel that the maximum 640x480 resolution allowed is a bit below par. What's wrong with pushing a 3D card to go to the higher resolutions that they are now all capable of? Or how about at least offering 32-bit as well as 16-bit? There are D3D compliant cards such as the nVidia TNT and Matrox G200 that support this feature so it would have been a welcome touch.

Those of you without a 3D card needn't worry because the software renderer is actually pretty spot on as well. Not as crystal clear and a bit rough around the edges but for those of you with fairly powerful Laptops, some fun can be had. In fact, until 3D accelerators start to appear on Laptops then games such as Asteroids (bearing in mind the short battery life of Laptops) are extremely viable.

For the 1990s they've given the game a new look and a story to go with it. But is Asteroids what we really, really want? Or is Activision trying to cash in on the Christmas rush? Yes indeed this '90s version of Asteroids may have been gentrified on the surface but underneath all those graphical effects, it's the same old story in terms of gameplay. Not that we're complaining mind you. But it's just that it doesn't quite rub us up the same way as it did in 1979. No, it fits nicely into the 'I'll play this for 15 minutes as I have nothing better to do other than Minesweeper' category. Again, this isn't an all-out criticism. There's no denying that Asteroids is fun (if only short-lived and in small doses) but it's not exactly deep, engaging, immersive or even meaningful. We can't imagine most gamers wanting to play from start to finish. There's no real long lasting appeal. Perhaps the addition of real multiplayer options would have given the game some replayability (like Sub Space). Without any LAN or Internet options, the only other type of 'multiplayer' game is a two-player method where both players are on one screen. Actually this is the very same option that was possible on some modified version of the original Asteroids arcade machine.