Spider Fighter
Atari 2600
1982
It is a frequently argued bit of science fiction philosophy that life is only made sweet by the foreknowledge that it must eventually end. While I’ve always found that line of thinking to be a load of horsecrap, I have to say that Spider Fighter makes a solid argument in favor of dying for the sake of better living.
The game is, on its face, pretty damn sweet. It is a pretty solid Space Invaders clone that moves at a face-rockingly fast clip. The action is frenetic and engagingly twitchy, and so it takes a while before you notice that the game doesn’t end.
I mean, it CAN end. If you play poorly enough you can run out of lives. However, assuming one is moderately skilled at video games, you will accumulate 1ups at a faster rate than you will die. This is damn shame, because playing the game endlessly means you aren’t playing toward a goal. Your score is meaningless because it can grow as high as you want.
This “play until you get bored” style of play curses Spider Fighter to the same fate as Laser Blast and the crappy Atari version of Asteroids. That’s darn tragic because it would be a wonderful game, one of the best available on the Atari, if only it would kill you properly.
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