I wanted to share my two game reviews from the Space Time Play anthology: Defender and Asteroids.
This was two attempts at writing more theoretical and media-historical reviews where each game is considered from a specific angle. I.e. reviews with a little more reflection that your usual game review.
I also experimented with using time lapse images to illustrate how the games change character from the beginning to the end of each level.
To give away the conclusion, I think that Asteroids ultimately does not work, but that Defender is wonderful. Conversely, I think the Asteroids review is the most successful review.
Some quotes:
Defender: “… Defender is an exaggerated version of the early 1980s arcade game in all its virtues: a large number of possible ways to fail, extremely unforgiving and no rewards beyond a high score and a few smart bombs. The purest arcade game.”
Asteroids: “… Asteroids is a nostalgic game of the future, but the actual future has better games.”