| Atari Corp. | llamasoft | Out Now |
Game Description
Defender 2000 is a conversion of the popular arcade classic, Defender. Defender 2000 consists of 3 different games: Classic Defender, Defender Plus, and of course Defender 2000. As you have control of a state-of-the-art numero uno ship in Earth's fleet. Your job is to protect the miners and their vital work. You can receive power-ups and earn your way to bonus levels that are fairly similar to Tempest 2000 (as Jeff Minter and Llamasoft worked on this one).
Graphics
The graphics are very nice in Defender 2000. While they are not amazing they are very sharp and detailed. The backrounds are well done for the most part and the foregrouds graphics and ships are detailed and well done. They did a nice job here.
Sound
Jeff Minter worked on this one so you know that the music was quite well done. The music is upbeat and of a very high quality. While the tracks are not quite up to Tempest 2000's, nothing is and the tunes are some of the better ones that have appeared on the Jaguar. The effects are also very impressive, as the zaps and bangs are all of a very high quality. Another great effort by Minter!
Gameplay
The play in Defender 2000 is pretty precise and can be very fast as you can send your ship at extremely quick speeds throughout the game (though you will end up running into a enemy ship). The play is pretty tough to elaborate on, so I'll be pretty brief, its in all pretty good, though not perfect. Certainly much more than adequate!
Overall
Defender 2000 is a very nice additional to the quality 2000 series (which just added Breakout 2000 added to it), and is a extremely enjoyable game. Did it live up to the extremely high expectation that were set forth, I don't know as they were so high. Regardless, it is a quality title and is certainly worth a look. The 2000 game is great and I even enjoyed the barebones Classic version. Nice job Llamasoft!
Graphics: 9 Sound: 9.5 Gameplay: 8.5 Overall: 9