Asteroids Atari 2600/VCS

One of my favorite games on the 2600, Asteroids uses the hardware well to create an addicting game with a fun premise. Everyone like space shooters, and the idea of being a rogue fighter pilot is classic. It's almost as if the display could actually be a representation of a futuristic ship, something of a remote-control Ender's Game type situation. 

After a few practice runs, I managed to roll the score over twice and get 247,940 points tonight. My strategy is pretty basic: I never fly around, just spin and shoot the closest asteroid. Getting the angles right is key, but the game remains challenging. I never have more than 10 lives stored up, and when one life is lost, a few more tend to follow. 

Asteroids is reason enough to own an Atari, and it and Missile Command are available on most of the Atari reproduction consoles and collections.

In some ways, I like this version better than the arcade original. The arcade game tends to be about keeping 1 asteroid on the the screen and farming UFOs. That's not how you play the one on the Atari, and in that sense it's a much better game. Having to farm UFOs (or spiders in Centipede) can only hold one's attention for so long, and I think that's the reason game with progressive levels (Missile Command, Galaga, Galaxian, Pac-Man) continue to be more popular.

There is no reason to ever be bored if you own Asteroids for the Atari 2600. 

Venture

Venture is like Berzerk but worse. It's still a fun game, and it's theoretically an adventure, but so is Berzerk if you want it to be. It was released in 1982, but it probably could have been better than it is. 

Still, there is an unmistakable, hard-to-define quality that keeps players coming back for more in Venture.

Will.i.Am sums up retro gaming

"I remember Joust and then Q*BertC, right with the graphics started getting better and then there was Pole Position and Mike Tyson Punch-Out. That's when Nintendo started coming in. I loved Duck Hunt. Do you remember Gyromite? What was that all about? And then Zelda came out. That's when I was like it's all about video games. Zelda. Did you save the princess yet? Did you get the fairy? Where's the fairies at? Wow, that was like the dopest. And there was that little pond that you had to go to get some more lives and stuff. I loved that. I mean, that's my childhood from just video games."

My favorite part is when he says, "Wow, that was like the dopest." He also discusses a back alley "arcade" his "friend" used to scam people out of pocket change.

Cool interview, you can read it on http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/tech/gaming-gadgets/will-i-am-video-games/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6 of all places.

Pixel Art: Zelda II Atari

Most people don't know that a prototype of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was developed for the Atari 2600.

Berzerk Atari 2600 Review

Berzerk and Frenzy are two of the best video games ever made, but unfortunately Stern went bunk and these classic have not appeared in subsequent anthologies because of licensing issues. Stern launched an agressive marketing campaign to demonstrate how arcade gameplay could exist in the home on the 2600.

This sort of marked the beginning of the end, as home consoles began to make more financial sense to most gamers and children. Nowdays, arcade are relics and littered with ticket games--if they even exist at all.

The only upside is that you can own Berzerk in your home for Atari. The only problem is that this version fails to capture the perfection and depth of the original. It still constitutes a great game in its own right, and it features more options and gameplays than the arcade DIP switches. My personal favorite option is turning evil Otto off, which makes the game much easier and allows for truly epic marathon games.

The original Berzerk featured 64,000 possible mazes, the main drawback of the Atari version is that only a handful of maps exists. Still, you get to lead a lone hero through a nightmarish electric mall avoiding robots and fighting for great justice.

You can score this cart for peanuts, so it's a must for any Atari collection. I just wish this game made it on to some of the anthologies. Considering it hasn't, it might just be the best reason to own an actual 2600.

I'll never get tired of zapping killbots.

Krull Atari 2600 Ad

Krull is a great game for the Atari 2600. I posted about it two years ago when I discovered the game and spent a while conquering its quests.

Although it's difficult to read, the bottom right section of the ad pretty much explains the entire game... kind of a bummer actually. In any case, the desire for realism in games is present, with the box claiming to really "take you there," i.e. inside the movie. The movie sucks, but this game remains a true classic.

Play Kaboom Online and Kaboom Atari 2600 Box Scans

I found this really good port of Kaboom! today and I've been playing for the last 30 minutes :D

The Atari 2600 has some awesome paddle games, and Kaboom is one of the best. The concept is so simple, catch the bombs before the hit the ground and explode, but the challenge and fun are top-notch.

This was another masterpiece by Activision, and it would spawn countless other Arcade and TI-83 clones.

Freewebarcade has a really nice Kaboom flash game, and this makes me want to search for an Atari 2600 Web-based emulator. In any event, you can bide the time until then saving the city from the crazy person in Kaboom!

It might seem primitive, but anything that was actually fun to play in 1981 was a great game. Kaboom! truly stands the test of time, like dozens of other Atari 2600 masterpieces.

This port is flawless and uses the mouse very well. Check out the box scans on 8-Bit City before you get a high score! The servers are down (this game was ported in 2002), but I just scored a 775. The challenge increases quickly to truly test your reflexes and skill.

Play Missile Command Online!

Missile Command is my favorite arcade game. It's challenging, the graphics are awesome, it flashes a lot, and you don't kill on the offensive. Your role is purely defensive, and I like that.

The game has a really fascinating history, the developer even had nightmares about nuclear war during creation.

Originally, the game was going to be a huge cabinet with external LED boards like a pinball machine, but the design was scrapped in favor of the materialistic approach that the world would spend thousands of quarters attempting to beat.

The Atari 2600 version isn't bad, but why not head over to Missilecommand.com, the official site and play their web-based version? The controls are great; you can fire from any turret like in the arcade, or let the game choose the closest turret. I nice option addition for this web-release!

Krull

I needed a new Adventure game for the 2600. Something epic and exciting. To this end, I spent the night playing Krull (for the first time). Dave Staugas designed Krull, and it launched in 1983 (about 1.5 months after the titular movie was released). I haven't seen the movie (though I've always wanted to) so this review won't be informed by anything in the film.

The game is divided into 4 mini-games. On the first board, you hastily marry your pregnant girlfriend only to have a brigade of angry rainbow robots attack. This is by far the most enjoyable part of the game; however, the monsters will eventually swarm your princess and take her away to the Rainbow Castle to be tortured. You can literally fight the robots for days (a sun rises and sets at the top of the screen). Alternately, the player can simply let the robots capture the princess right away, but one won't receive any points without slaughtering some rainbow robots.

The second stage consists of a horse ride across the plains. Suspiciously, two heros ride across the green fields of Krull. Who is this mysterious companion? Sometimes the hero's horse gallops over "glaives" (boomerang throwing stars) and extra men; tapping the button at the correct time will pick up these items. The player needs as many glaives as possible because these allow the player to defeat the final boss, so stock up!



After the brief horse ride, tremble in fear because oh shit it's a giant spider. This stage repeats the same 8 notes over and over and over again, obviously in an attempt to "create tension" (induce suicide). Spider "webs" will wash across the screen. Touching a web results in loss of control for several seconds as the wave pushes you away from your goal. This level is conquered by jumping over webs, avoiding the spider, and reaching a white square on the web. This action causes a cocoon to appear which marks the location of the Rainbow Castle. Then the player must jump to the cocoon and jump around until one exits the level. In addition, if the on-screen hourglass empties, the spider will launch into a berzerker rage and attack instantly.

Fuck this level. The webs create patterns that prove almost impossible to dodge in certain situations (the webs flicker, so the screenshot only displays 2 of the 6 "web waves"). By the time you are free from one wave, a wave spawns in the opposite direction. When you are free from that wave, another spawns in the original direction. This continues back and forth and so on. Sometimes I found the location of the cocoon, but, no matter how hard I tired to exit the level, the game refused to let me exit. Time ran out. I died. The hero moves frustratingly slow in the web, and I literally threw my controller a few times (don't worry, I threw it onto a pillow :) Nothing like a nice video game rage to get the blood pumping.



If the player does manage to get past the spiderweb (despite being annoying, sometimes it's really not that hard, other times...) he or she then returns to the horse-riding level for another chance to snatch some glaives and extra lives. During the first 2 hours in which I played Krull, sometimes after this second horse level, I would lose a life and return to the spiderweb. Other times, I reached the Rainbow Castle. It was extremely confusing, but after researching the game I've discovered that the sun at the top of the screen serves a purpose: the Rainbow Castle "teleports" at sunrise; leaving the spiderweb level at the wrong time caused those perplexing deaths. The player does not have much time in the spiderweb level, so good luck waiting while that pixelated sand drains away. A better strategy might be to exit and hope for the best (time will always be running out). If the player doesn't find the Rainbow Castle, at least the horse stage will allow him or her to (maybe) grab some glaives and extra lives.

The Rainbow Castle rises from the ground like an acid trip from hell. The flashing animation is the highlight of the game, but the majestic architecture houses a dull interior. In the final stage, the player battles a wild savage for control of the imprisoned woman. One must throw the glaive and slowly break away the prison to save your wife and unborn child. However, if you fail to catch the glaive, or if the savage catches the glaive, your weapon is gone. When the glaives are gone, the battle can't be won. The player must exit the final boss room, return to the spiderweb, ride around on a horse, and collect more glaives. (The exits are not actually located in the lower-right and lower-left as the manual says: I exhausted several minutes trying to exit at the bottom of the screen. Instead, the player must exit slightly above the bottom of the screen...) When the princess is rescued, she transforms into a fireball which must be hurled at the wild man to "end" the game and restart at the next-highest difficulty--the standard Atari routine. However, if one misses the throw, the level again becomes un-winnable and one must return, yet again, to the spiderweb.

Although Krull does provide some fun and sense of adventure, it fails on many levels. The first stage is by far the most enjoyable, yet the player spends the majority of the time on the spiderweb level (definitely the most frustrating). Logic fails to provide a reason why the player must continue returning to the spiderweb. Arachnophobes, this game is not for you. Replaying the first stage (without the woman, obviously) would encourage the player with actual gameplay instead of torture. The final boss mechanics also prove idiotic. Because the spiderweb level is the first real challenge in the game, requiring the player to return to the silky slums essentially ends the game.



Krull is almost beautiful, but all the shiny demonic Rainbow Palaces and smooth horse animations can't save this butchered cart. But perhaps I'm not looking deep enough into the symbolism: despite all the video game action, the most constant factor remains the solar cyle. While the player battles for love, the heavenly spheres continue their endless dance, the spider continues to hunt, and the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. So too with Krull.

ADVENTURE 2600

I've already written extensively about Adventure 2600. I blogged the first article in March, The 2600 Adventure of Zelda. In this article I explored the connection between Adventure and The Legend of Zelda, and I argued that Zelda owes most of its mechanics and feel to Adventure. Soon after, I reviewed the fantastic remake, Adventure 2600 Reboot pioneered by SlashX. This time, however, I'd like to actually focus on Adventure 2600.

Part of Adventure's charm is its impressive creation date: 1979. The suits at Atari told Warren Robinett not to make the game because it couldn't be done. There simply wasn't enough room for a real Adventure in 4k of data. Robinett proved them wrong and still had enough free space on the cart to produce a nice big "fuck you": he included his name in a secret room. His action is both a rejection of Atari's tyrannical authorship attribution policy (no designers were credited for their work) and the creation of the first video game Easter egg. This act of defiance is worthy of a folk song. I'm already writing it in my head: it could involve some programming contest with the devil in which Robinett wins by producing Adventure and Satan loses with the "Basic Programming" cartridge also produced in 1979 (programs on this cart can only be 63 characters in length, have fun).



Although its background and conception are interesting and complex, the plot of Adventure remains simple and archetypical: a wizard stole the chalice (Holy Grail) and you have to retrieve it. There are bats and dragons. Well, that's the official story, and, like the simple graphics, the player is free to imagine what the escapades of their heroic square symbolize. What does the square do once the kingdom is saved? What kingdom is this? Where is the wizard? Why is the world so small? We'll never know the answers, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Some games you can be a valiant night on a righteous quest to save the land. Other times you are a sneaky rogue or dragon poacher. The possibilities only end with your deteriorating adult imagination!

It's difficult to determine if more gamers played Adventure around its release or in more recent times thanks to Atari collections, emulators, and TV plug-ins. My first experience with Adventure is worth noting: the year is 2003 and I am a college freshman. I had always heard of Adventure, and vaguely remembered seeing it played as a kid, but had never paid attention and didn't know anything about the game. My friend Ryan and I were exploring the city, reveling in our recent emancipation from parental constraints, and, of course, we ended up at Wal-Mart. Now, if you'll think back 6 years you might remember that A/V Atari TV adapter joysticks were all the rage. We see one that looks fun: it has Missile Command, Adventure, and other classics (and several not-so-classics). Back at the dorm: we try to play Adventure. We have no idea what the fuck to do. Ryan grabs the sword and accidentally kills a dragon. We reach the first hyper maze (blue) and explore for about 5 minutes, but we don't find our way out of its treacherous perplexity. We switched to Missile Command.

Fast Forward to about 10 months ago. I had just moved to a new city and was craving a new adventure. Naturally, Adventure came to mind and I traveled far and wide searching for the same cheap TV aracade stick I played Adventure on years earlier. After visiting every store in town (Toys 'R Us, Wal-Marts, K-Marts, etc.) I caved and downloaded Stella and the rom. Still confused, I managed to beat the game in about 20 minutes (on Quest 1, which is pretty pathetic). A huge wave of disappointed washed over me: the game was pathetically small. However, after quick internet research I discovered that the game has OTHER MODES!

So I began Quest 2 and was shocked by the bat! I'd never seen it before! Originally I felt crippled by the bat. I was always nervous that she would grab my items. The anxiety was surprisingly heavy in those early days before I had beaten the game hundreds of times. Commonly, the bat will steal your items at the exact moment before you use it, often replacing it with a dragon before you even notice that something happened. The bat seemed like an impossible foe, I couldn't fight him and my only hope, originally, was to catch her and let her hold the items that I needed to use. I later discovered the bat's secret: she can only swap items, never randomly drop them! This includes items laying on the ground or in the player's hand. She can, however, pick up any item when she is holding nothing. It was a tough battle, but, with the help of the continue feature I finally tackled Quest 2.

(In Adventure 2600 Reboot the Bat is currently glitchy: she can pick up more than one item, instantly teleport items, drop items anywhere she wants. This weekend she literally took my sword and replaced it with 4 fucking dragons. The goddamn game only has 3 dragons so I'm not sure what was going on. Cases like this are somewhat rare, but not as rare as you might think. Still, the challenge is welcome!)

Quest 3, however, composes the meat of the game. Certainly I'll revisit Quest 1 and 2, but most of the hundred-or-so hours I've played Adventure (and Adventure 2600 Reboot) have been dedicated to Quest 3, in which all the items are randomized. This typically produces an easier quest than Quest 2 because in Quest 2 the player is required to enter all 3 castles, including the "secret" room in the White Castle which is only accessible via the bridge. However, it can also generate extremely painful quests, or even impossible quests. Overall, because of the complexity and variable output, Quest 3 is the most satisfying mode Adventure has to offer. Unlike other adventure games, in Adventure 2600 your hero is lightning fast. The player can zip around the map at high-speed, fusing arcade twitch gameplay and exploration.

But playing games by oneself can grow dull, and, therefore, you should seek out fellow adventurers. This weekend, Sami and I Adventured together and I think she gained a new appreciation of the game. We didn't just play it once, of course, but, as typical Adventure 2600 session go, we played game after game after game. Together we probably saved that fucking cup around a dozen times (and I sneaked in even more games when I could). I still get a thrill from trying to run 15 screens with an item before the bat steals it.

Designers can learn a lot from Adventure. Although Adventure is small in size and relatively "simple," it constitutes a very complex and well-balanced game. The design is absolutely perfect, in a way that more complex projects can never hope to replicate. It is a perfectly balanced equation. I don't expect perfection in art, but I do expect an attempt at perfection. But above all else, like Ezra Pound says, make it NEW! Make it ambitious!

More important than appreciating Warren Robinett's achievement, however, is an admiration for the oldest hero in video games, that tiny square. One can learn a lot from the square: how to blend in to the environment, advantageously use magnetics, and, finally, understand that no matter how far and wide we adventure our reality remains small and confining. One's life may be confusing and difficult, yet one has the ability to heroically triumph under most conditions. Sometimes, like in Adventure, victory is impossible. Victory and loss, however, are both arbitrary terms created by other humans; it is through one's own deeds that one makes meaning from a randomly-scattered reality.

(article not yet proofread).

Pitfall 2

The 2600 possesses sadly few Adventure games. Pitfall 2 fails to top the sublime excitement of ADVENTURE and lacks the charm or Pitfall!. Instead, the player explores bland caverns with the most annoying "battle system" mechanic that I've ever seen. The main difficulty comes from walking under bats and vultures with pixel-perfect precision. No ducking either, just walking. An attack should have been added, or the game should have retained the "jumping over" system from Pitfall! Sure, the scorpions return at times, but most of the monsters (about 95%) are bats and vultures. You'll be timing your walks under these guys for hours, have fun! Also included are: electric eels which provide no threat and frogs which guard some ladders.

To mediate this increased difficulty, the designers included checkpoints. You'll never "die"... you'll simply move slowly back to the checkpoint, flying through walls, eschewing all logic. You'll lose points while flying to the checkpoint. The entire point of the game is to collect a monkey, girl, and ring with as many points as possible (gold provides points as well) so getting hit runs quite counter to escaping from the South American drug dealers who stashed all this gold in a cavern at the heart of the Amazon.

The beginning sunset and snappy music only mislead the player into thinking the game will be fun. Quickly, this mistake descends into the great bland Caverns of Inanity.

However, the 2600 has precious few adventure games. After you've played ADVENTURE, Montezuma's Revenge, Pitfall! and H.E.R.O., you may as well check out Pitfall 2. It's definitely not bad by 2600 standards, but fails to provide any real amusement. The game fails on a basic input/output level. It requires intense ladder-climbing and walking skills, but does not reward the player with anything other than that same snappy tune heard when gold is grabbed. It is a pretty short game, however, and with the map provided you shouldn't have too much trouble finishing this one.

In a way, the game is like a simple Legacy of the Wizard (Part 1) and (Part 2). Except without the items, interesting graphics, different characters, battle system, secrets, magic, dragons, and fun.