Being Atari's third installment to the 'Classic's Series' (Tempest 2000, Missile Command 3D, Defender 2000,) Defender includes the 'Original' version, a 'Plus' version, and of course, the '2000' version. In addition, Defender has three 'easter eggs.' Reportedly, they are all hidden games, the first of which I've already tried! After playing any version of Defender, if you have the opportunity to enter a name for the high score, enter 'Nolan '. (Be sure to put a space after it.) When you see the high score table, you'll also hear a sheep. Now, in addition to being able to choose Original Defender, Defender Plus, and Defender 2000, you can choose Plasma Pong. Think of it as Pong with the Virtual Light Machine in the background and really cool sound effects.

Original Defender is just that, in all it's glory. Out of the three classics currently available on the Jag, Defender is the most accurate. As far as I can tell, this game is exact. Perfectly reproduced graphics, sound, and game play. If you have a ProController, you can even set the controls the way the original coin-op had them (the joypad only moves up/down, there's one button for reverse, one for thrust, hyperspace, blasters, and smart bombs.) This game is really hard!

Defender Plus is alot like the original with updated graphics, faster game play, and more violence. Defender Plus is a total blast-fest. The plus version introduces bosses, the ability to fly in reverse, and a new weapon... Lightning Laser! This is great. Wait until four or five enemies are on screen and hit your Lightning Laser. The lightning seeks out the enemies in a fraction of second, totally obliterating them. Watch out though, Lightning Lasers are limited. Your ship and most the bosses are now prerendered, and the mountains and background have this funky warped looking effect going on while you play. In addition to the bosses and new weapon, you also have the option of using AI droids. Much like the AI droid in Tempest, these stick around your screen hunting out enemies. What I really use them for, though, is to save my humanoids. If you destroy an enemy that has hold of a humanoid, the humanoid falls. If he falls far enough without you catching him, he dies. The droids will catch him for you. That way, you go along your merry hunting expedition. When a droid catches a humanoid, it'll bring him back to you so you can set him down.

Defender 2000... of course, you expect better graphics. Defender 2000 is completely prerendered with multiple layers of parallax. Everything's bigger in this game, including the play field. It's two screens high, and much, much wider now. The radar takes up the entire top section of the screen, but is transparent so you can see what's going on behind it. As with Defender Plus, you have the ability to move backwards in this game. Just keep the fire button held down (it probably is anyway) and press the joypad the other direction. You are now flying in reverse. Don't over do it, though. You don't want to back up into a bad guy. The game keeps smart bombs, which do accumulate level to level, but droid are now earned as power-ups. Other power-ups include shields, a second droid, Lightning Laser, turbo Lightning Laser, and warps. The droids are exactly the same as in Defender Plus. They fly around you, shoot and stray enemies, and collect your falling humanoids, and whenever you carry a humanoid below your ship, they fire, too. Try carrying around three or four of them! Shields are just that. They'll protect your ship from two shots. Lightning Lasers are now droids that fire automatically for you whenever an enemy appears on screen. Turbo Lightning Laser fires up to 15 lightning shots per second (wild!) If you collect four warp power-ups, they'll take you to the bonus warp zone. Much like the second warp zone in Tempest 2000, you travel down this blue tunnel, trying to stay on the green path. This time, however, it's much easier, but I still like the original warp in Tempest much better. Every five levels cleared will take you to the next area and replenish your humanoids. If you do ever lose all surviving humanoids (whether you shoot them yourself, or they're captured) you get warped to these outer space/Twighlight Zone levels where tons of mutated aliens swarm at you like Kamikazes. It's incredibly tough, and you have to endure it until you can clear the next fifth level (5, 10, 15, etc.)

Graphically, the original game is exact. Just a handful of colors and black backgrounds. Defender Plus shows off some nice prerendering, especially where bosses are concerned. Defender 2000 is blissful prerendered joy! Everything here, form the cities, to the deserts, to the enemies, looks fabulous. I'm not sure if the humanoids are prerendered, but they look great anyhow. Control is tight, with easy access to the few things you need to play this game. Defender 2000 supports both the regular joypad and the ProController. With all the graphics and control this game has, though, it surely goes fast. I mean this thing flies with blazing speed. It's ultra smooth and has no apparent slow down. Game play is fantastic, but I am a little concerned with the strange learning curve. If you pop the game in and immediately start playing Defender 2000, you'll probably get to level four or five very easily. As soon as you get past that, though, it seems incredibly hard. It will only take around ten to fifteen minutes to get a feel for how to play the game well, but that initial easiness throws you off, alot.

Along with the graphics, the sound on this cart' is great. Sound effects, especially laser blasts and the 'electric shock' sound from your shields, are superb. There are also voice overs during the game with comments like 'Cheers mate!' when you save a humanoid and 'Dude!' when you capture a power-up. The soundtrack was done by Imagitec Design, the same folks that did the soundtrack for Tempest 2000. It follows the same industrialized/techno beat that adds to the experience instead of distracting from it. The soundtrack even includes a techno version of Beethoven's Fifth during the bonus rounds. I would love to see the Defender 2000 soundtrack show up someday on CD, like the Tempest soundtrack did.

If you're the kind of person that hates great game play, awesome graphics, adrenaline pumping action, and awesome music, you won't want to waste your cash on Defender 2000 (but then, you probably aren't reading this review!) If you own a Jag, there's no reason not to buy this game. It simply has the best of all worlds. The only minor drawback would be the unusual learning curve. Otherwise, this game is simply incredible. It has definitely earned its place among Tempest 2000 and Missile Command 3D, and will very likely be remembered as one of the greatest games of all time.

RATINGS (out of 5):

OVERALL ****3/4