Caverns of Mars: Recharged

If you're playing Recharged games, you already know what to expect from Atari. Another classic game has received a new look, although this time it's not quite as neon. It's still a catchy and fun concept that works even after 40 years. Now, it's just in modern graphics with great music and new possibilities.

Overall, Caverns of Mars Recharged is a fun reimagining of 1981 Atari classic. Rather than a rehash or a simple port, a lot of effort has been put into extending the original premise and giving players more to do. This score-chaser is likely to provide arcade fans with an addictive and engaging time despite some minor interface flaws.

Atari has done an excellent job with this upgrade of a classic game. If you like the original game and would like to play it with modern gameplay sensibilities, this is right up, or down, your alley.

Overall Caverns of Mars: Recharged is a solid entry in the Recharged series, not as strong as Yars Revenge but better than the Asteroids or the Breakout game. Whilst the controls can be twitchy once you get a hang of that you can enjoy it. The gameplay loop aids itself to short bursts of play but it has enough in there with the score leaderboards and missions to keep you interested and coming back again and again.

Caverns of Mars: Recharged is another worthy entry in the Recharged series. A quick pick-up and play arcade fun that will cost less than a trip back in time and a night out at the old 80s arcade. Plus, this has the added benefit of playing with a loved one, something that’s become a running theme in this series but is always welcome for local co-op fans. I liked my time with this title, but the experience feels like it stops a bit short in places and could use some extra development. This includes more level variation and upgrades and even an endless mode. As it stands, this is a decent arcade game. You may play a few times but might not return once you have had your fill.

Even if you’ve never played the original, this updated version is strong enough to stand on it’s own with no need to fall back on a legacy. This is one of the more addicting Recharged games to be released in this line, and I can highly recommend this to anyone that likes a simple and fun challenge. A great “pick-up and play” title that will take sometime to master.

Though certainly an improvement from its humble original incarnation, against a very similar indie it doesn’t measure up

Considering it's such a unique offering, I can easily say that Caverns of Mars: Recharged is one of the better Atari reboots in recent years, especially with its simple controls that are utilized in an unexpectedly complex and strategic gameplay formula.

Caverns of Mars: Recharged is exactly in the middle between bringing new things and leaning on material from the original game. Repetition is still a constant in titles from the Recharged series and it's no different here, but still, Caverns of Mars manages to entertain in an addictive way for a good few hours, just because it's simple and objective.

This is a straightforward recreation of a simple, but addictive Atari game very few people have even heard of. That’s probably why Caverns of Mars: Recharged feels oddly fresh. It feels like the kind of indie roguelike any small team would develop as its first title. It’s also a game that manages to overcome some of its flaws, namely an average presentation and questionable collision detection, by simply being way too addictive, the perfect kind of game to own on a portable.