Minotron: 2112 A Retro Update On A Classic Style Game
Minotron: 2112 ($1.99) by Llamasoft is an app that has long story in gaming history. This game simulates a 1991 game Llamatron, which was played on the Atari ST. That Atari game was very similar to the 1982 arcade game, Robotron: 2084. All of these classic games have a simple purpose: roam around shooting things, find power ups, and avoid being killed.
The primary objective of playing Minotron: 2112 is to move your robot, the Minotaur, around on the screen and try to fend off the enemies coming at you. Once you have cleared the screen, you will move on to the next level. There are different critters and objects to pick up, various power ups and 4 different levels of difficulty.
This game uses the touch screen in place of the classic joystick, which I felt took away from the action of the arcade-style game. It took awhile to figure out the right placement and movement of my thumbs. Once I did, I found it easier to have my thumb closer to the edge of the screen to so I could see what Minotaur was doing. There is a haze on the screen as the figures move around, which seems intentional and adds to the nostalgia. The audio follows the retro style as well, but for some it may be a little noisy and muffled.
It appears the app store is seeing more and more retro style arcade games like Minotron. Maybe the comeback has to do with the increasing number of middle-aged and older adults purchasing iPads and iPhones. When I first played this game, I was reminded of a much simpler time in my life. We would come home after school, dish up a monstrous bowl of ice cream and sit with friends in front of the TV and play Atari for hours. Routinely, the game would not show up on the TV, until we finally figured out that someone forgot to flip the switch on the back of the set from “TV” over to “Game.”
Take a trip back in video game history and check out Minotron: 2112. If you like retro and the classics, you will not be disappointed.
