This ‘enhanced’ remake of Dan Gorlin‘s Choplifter was released for Atari XE computers by Atari Corporation in 1988. It features improved graphics, but with pretty much the same gameplay as the original.

Choplifter XE is not as frustrating to play as the original Atari 8-bit version, but it again seems to fall far short of its potential.

The graphics are messy in this remake, and an opportunity to improve the gameplay I think has been missed.

Overall, while Choplifter XE is playable to some degree, it definitely lacks variety and longevity. And, compared to the Nintendo Famicom and Sega Master System versions (both released two years prior to this), it is way behind the curve. In fact, you have to ask why Atari even bothered remaking it for the XE, if they were going to put so little effort into it.

We’d have to wait for Choplifter II in 1991, and Choplifter III in 1994, for someone to finally unlock Choplifter‘s true potential.

More: Choplifter on Wikipedia