There's nothing more exciting than the return of a legend. 40 years ago, an arcade game blasted into arcades with so much downdraft that gamers shielded their eyes in disbelief. It was Toaplan's first-ever shoot-em-up game, bringing Navy Seals-esque action to gamers' hands, and a title that skyrocketed the company's success throughout the rest of the 80s and well into my childhood years in the 9os.
You might have seen it with a Taito badge if you grew up in Japan or a Romstar logo if you grew up in the States, but today, Tiger-Heli sits proudly in my Atari 7800+ as part of the PLAION REPLAI 40th Anniversary Collection, and it plays better than ever.
I've been putting Tiger-Heli through its paces in the office to see just how well the game plays on the Atari 7800, and to see if this arcade classic can still hold its own 4 decades later. It's time for bullet dodging, bomb dropping, tank evading madness to ensue - let's check out my review!
- Cost: $29.99 /£24.86
- Release Date: Available Now (US & Canada)
- Play Time: 2-4 hours
- Available From: Amazon, Atari
Checking Out Tiger Heli
As a regular at places like NQ64 and other arcade bars, I still test my skills on old arcade games like PAC-MAN and Space Invaders far too often than my bank balance would like. I love the feel of arcade games, the simplicity of them, the thrill of knowing that one wrong move and it's game over. It's that tension that they create that makes you forget about everything else that's going on in life, with the only goal in your mind to get to the next stage.
Tiger-Heli brings all that and more to the table, or my desk, in this case. It's a brilliant mixture of arcade gaming and the army commando vibe that was all we thought about when I was a kid in the 90s, right from the moment of watching Small Soldiers and the Army Men from Toy Story.
It's fast-paced, and you have to think at least three moves ahead in order to avoid the many bullets that fire your way!
The game comes back to us now from the depths of the 80s via PLAION REPLAI, a global publisher of retro software and hardware, and of course, the mighty Atari, who I would like to thank once again for sending me their 40th Anniversary Press Pack of games including Avalanche, Countermeasure II, Dark Chambers and Super Circus Atari, all of which are compatible with the original Atari 7800 and the two newer Atari Machines, the 7800+ and the 2600+.
For the purposes of this review, I'm using the Atari 7800+, and I'll be touching on the console in a moment.
What's In The Box
Tiger-Heli has been developed from the ground up to work on Atari consoles, but that doesn't just mean that they've played with the graphics and ported it to a nice-looking cart (although that last one is one of the main reasons for this section existing...).
Atari have created a box with their timeless and iconic artwork on it, which makes me feel like I've stepped right back into 1986. The box is an absolute masterpiece; in a world where everything is plastic and the game cards more often than not don't have games on them, it's great to pull back the cellophane wrapper on a cardboard box and open it up to find an instruction booklet and secondary game box inside.
The gameplay, as you might imagine, requires you to have the reflexes of a cheetah and the tactical mind of Napoleon.
The instruction booklet has all of the backstory and controls that you came to know and love from opening up games as a child and ramps things up perfectly for playing the game itself. The game cartridge box is snug and houses the cartridge perfectly. Both mirror the artwork on the main box itself, though I've always found it odd that the game art went to the back of the console and didn't remain on show like it did with the N64 or the SNES.
A Note On The 7800+
I just want to touch on the Atari 7800+ for a second, because it's a brilliant console to set up and use with all the mod-cons we need in today's gaming world. Sure, if you've got an old CRT like me in your office, then you can easily just hook up the original 7800, but Atari are catering for the massses here, those gamers who want to relive classic titles on their 4K TVs that only have a HDMI slot on them, and the ones who grew up thinking that wired controllers were a thing of the past.
It's an incredibly light console and comes with a USB-C power port, HDMI port, and a 4:3/16:9 ratio switch on the back. On the front, you'll find power and pause buttons, as well as select and game rest on the opposite side. It also comes with a wireless controller too that, while ultra simple, is so pleasing to use.
I like the fact that the controller comes with a screw-in thumbstick for the middle of the D-pad. It makes the whole thing feel more arcade-like, and the grooves for your thumb to rest while button-mashing are also super pleasing. The controller is very light too, and it embodies that simplistic gaming nature that I've been banging on about for this entire article so far. No screenshot modes, no turbo or home buttons - just good, old-fashioned A, B, and move controls. What's not to love!
Tiger-Heli Gameplay
The first thing I need to mention before I do anything else is the soundtrack; it might be simple, but boy, is it catchy! It's been in my head for days, and granted I've played it a lot, so it would be weird if it wasn't, but it's a great little tune. And even though it's repetitive and short, it doesn't get annoying. On the contrary, it keeps you pumped and humming along, focused on the task at hand.
The gameplay, as you might imagine, requires you to have the reflexes of a cheetah and the tactical mind of Napoleon. It's fast-paced, and you have to think at least three moves ahead in order to avoid the many bullets that fire your way. You'll take hold of the controls of a Tiger-Heli chopper (hence the name), with a mission of taking down an enemy nation determined on conquering the world.
I love how the tanks intuitively seem to know where I'm going to go every single time; it makes it interesting, and I have to time my shots perfectly if I want to get to the next stage in one piece. You'll have to blow up cars and other obstacles in some cases, but I'm sure the owners won't be arguing with you when you're the one in charge of a gnarly helicopter.
There are 4 stages to play through in Tiger-Heli, all set, as Atari rightly explains, over diverse environments. You'll fight over sea and land, battling 12 different enemy crafts and vehicles including ground vehicles, other aircraft, and turrets trying to blow you out of the sky. You'll be able to upgrade your firepower with power-ups, including throwing out bombs that defeat all onscreen enemies to give you a bit of breathing space until the next wave of attacks.
How Does It Play
When it comes to gameplay, I've got no complaints either. The helicopter moves incredibly smoothly, which is necessary when you're evading enemy fire from all angles. I used the controller both with and without the screw in thumbstick, but the thumbstick just felt more natural to me when dodging, so that would be my recommendation to you.
The position in the level you get defeated at determines where you respawn after losing a life. Lose all of your lives, and it's back to square one. It's a tough game, make no mistake about that, but then again, arcade games had to be tough back in the day because they weren't the longest games in existence. You didn't have the memory to create sprawling worlds and levels like in Breath of the Wild, so they had to be action-packed and tough to keep you trying again and again, learning the levels as you went.
The tanks and turrets know your number very quickly on in the game. If you go in all guns blazing, it'll be game over before you blink. You've got to be cunning, plan shots while you're moving, and try to outsmart the enemy. Apologies if you thought this was going to be a relaxing playthrough...
Graphics
I've already mentioned that the game has been remade from the ground up for the Atari family of systems, and it looks superb on my monitor. Let's not forget that this is a true representation of an arcade classic from 40 years ago, either; we were never going to be getting fully remastered graphics or super 3D sprites coming onto the Atari 7800. That would have ruined the feel of the game entirely; it's an Anniversary Edition, not a remake.
That being said, it's always going to be a bit of an adjustment for younger gamers wanting to get into old Atari classics. You can't go from something like Fortnite to Tiger-Heli without noticing a huge difference, and that's something that's never going to change. But for older gamers who honed their skills in arcade halls and retro fans like me who spend hours and hours trying to beat their score on The Simpsons Arcade game, then this will be a nostalgia-fuelled dream come true.
Final Thoughts
- Remade from the ground up for Atari systems
- Incredible soundtrack and nostalgic gameplay
- Fantastic box art and packaging
- Affordable price
- It's not an easy game for the reasons I mentioned in the article above, so prepare to play the same parts again and again
- There aren't any quality of life features - this is a recreation of a classic, so if you might be disappointed if you're looking for rewind and 3D sprites.
Tiger-Heli plays brilliantly, comes in a perfectly designed box, and is compatible with either your original 7800 or your newer 2600+/7800+. If you're a fan of the shoot-em-up games that Toaplan created in the '80s and '90s or are simply looking to head back to check out iconic shooting arcade games that led us to where we are now, then this release from PLAION REPLAI will tick all of the boxes.
As I've said in this article and countless times before, sometimes it's just nice to leave the item collecting behind, forget about puzzle solving, and just blast some enemies out of the sky with simple gameplay that hits the mark time and time again. It might be a little tense at times, but it's definitely great for relieving some pent-up stress!
Head to Atari to find out more about Tiger-Heli, and let us know your thoughts on the Anniversary Edition below!
