Your planet is under siege by an unending hail of asteroids, bombs, and space debris. Your simple mission? Blast all of this stuff, or dodge it. But you're toast if a bomb hits the ground. (M Network [Mattel], 1982)

Not one of Mattel's finest titles for the 2600, Astroblast is a loose adaptation of Astrosmash, a game originally released for Mattel's Intellivision console. The graphics are clunky even compared to such bottom-of-the-barrel entries like Atari's Pac-Man and Combat, and the game play isn't really compelling enough to bring one back for more. Really, overall, a bit of a disappointment.

Rating:  Ten cents - approximately how much one of these cartridges is worth today.

Megamania

The sky is falling! Or so it seems. As this game is subtitled "A Space Nightmare," you're not battling aliens here, but ever-descendig and evading waves of such ordinary items as bow ties, hamburgers, dice, and so on. Unlike so many other Space Invaders variations, you won't die the moment the attacking forces reach ground zero - but you could, if they slide horizontally right into you. (Activision, 1982)

Activision, much like the Odyssey 2 game designers, always knew how to put enough of a twist on "formula" games to keep the litigious wolf from the door, and this is another classic example of that - not to mention an annoyingly addictive little game.

Rating:  Four quarters - a couple of minor irritants, but mostly a compelling and addictive game.

Galaxian

As with the classic arcade game, you're fending off numerous attack waves of an advancing alien fleet, trying to pick them off one by one while trying not to allow the space creepies to return the favor. (Atari, 1983)

Relatively faithful to its namesake, Atari's Galaxian only suffers in the graphics department, but the game itself is good, if perhaps too easy. It's a little bit like Atari's version of Dig Dug - you're more likely to make it to the tenth level, get bored, and turn off the machine than you are to end the game by losing all of your "lives."

Rating:  Two quarters - worth playing, but could use some more work.