From Evercade cartridges and mini arcade machines, to compilations and standalone releases on consoles and PC, the games of Japanese developer Toaplan are starting to give Doom and Skyrim a run for their money, appearing on seemingly every platform imaginable. 

This now includes Atari consoles, as influential shoot-em-up Tiger Heli gets a surprise port that’s playable on the Atari 2600+ and 7800+, as well as the original 7800 console itself. 

Tiger Heli is Toaplan’s very first shoot-em-up, originally released for arcades all the way back in 1985. Specifically, it’s a vertical shooter that puts players in control of a military style helicopter.

You have two bombs that can be used in a pinch, something that was extremely innovative when the game first released 40 years ago. In fact, as you can see from the superb Toaplan video below (I would also recommend the ‘How to Get Good at Shoot Em Ups in 7 Days’ video), it was actually the first game in the genre to introduce what has since become a customary power-up.

In addition to your bombs, players can add extra firepower by unlocking two additional “Mini Helis”, which fire bullets vertically or horizontally depending on the colour.

You can earn additional lives by scoring a certain number of points, and by shooting special blocks dotted around each level. This is especially handy given the game has no continues.

There are even some secret scoring boosts that are really fun to discover and further test your skills and accuracy. Finding these are key to climbing the leaderboards found on various fan forums.

As you can probably tell by now, Tiger Heli isn’t the fastest, flashiest, or most complex shooter around, but there’s definitely more to the game than initially meets the eye.

It’s tame compared to the bullet hell shooters of today, but the slower, more deliberate pace gives you that split-second longer to process what’s going on and plan your route accordingly.

Indeed, success in Tiger Heli is achieved by memorising where enemies appear, drawing enemy fire, picking when to attack, the best time to use your bombs (if at all) and experimenting with different power-up combinations. 

The uncomplicated nature of the game coupled with that hidden layer of depth beneath the surface is why I believe Tiger Heli is a great shoot-em-up for beginners. Not because it’s easy, mind you, but because it teaches you invaluable skills that will hold you in good stead when playing more complex shooters. 

Indeed, the Atari version of Tiger Heli has really made me appreciate this iconic shoot-em-up, having previously only dipped in and out of the game when sampling it as part of bigger Toaplan bundles.

It helps that the Atari 7800 version is a surprisingly competent and fairly accurate port, performing far better than the old NES version that launched back in the 1980s. It’s a big upgrade on the NES release!

It’s certainly not arcade perfect, featuring slightly scaled back visuals and fewer enemies on occasion, but it runs incredibly smoothly, sounds great, and has that same addictive gameplay.

My biggest problem with Tiger Heli is that it’s quite short, featuring just four stages that loop back when after you reach the end. However, this is more of an issue with the game itself, and not the 7800 port.

One issue that is specific to the Atari version crops up when playing on the 2600+. When using the regular one-button joystick controller, you can’t manually detonate your bomb. Bombs will automatically detonate when hit by a bullet, so it’s not a complete write off, but you lose the ability to control when to go nuclear, so to speak. I would recommend grabbing a two-button Atari CX78+ controller, although this will obviously cost you some extra cash.

If you’re looking for a perfect port of the original arcade game, then Tiger Heli for the Atari 7800 isn’t it. 

However, if you’re collecting new Atari releases and reissues for the 2600+ and 7800+, then Tiger Heli should be an instant addition. It’s a fantastic port of an equally superb game, and might just be the best of the new wave of Atari releases.

VERDICT: 4.5/5