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KangarooPosted on Tue, September 20 2005, by Dan Loosen |  |
 | Of course, this is Atari's answer to Donkey Kong. Climbing up to the top of a tree to save your baby kangaroo is probably more noble and ecologically friendly than Mario climbing a building to save his girlfriend though. It's hard to deny how fun it is to punch monkeys though! I used to play Kangaroo non-stop after I picked it up for a rummage sale in the mid-80's for a quarter, and looking back I don't really understand why. Sure, the game has some appeal and some challenge, but I really don't understand why I liked it so much now. The graphics are no where near good, not even for the 2600. Your Kangaroo looks sort of like a Kangaroo... or maybe a rabbit. I think I would have been completely confused had this game not... [Read More] 2 Comments |
Lock n ChasePosted on Tue, September 13 2005, by Ethan C. Nobles | |
 | Need a different game of Pac-Man? Why not play this Intellivision "exclusive" instead of the Atari Pac-Man? After Namco released Pac-Man on an unsuspecting world in 1980, everyone and his dog rushed to develop a maze-chase game in hopes of getting filthy rich. In 1981, Data East jumped on the "me, too" bandwagon by releasing Lock 'N' Chase, a game clearly influenced by Pac-Man, but offering a novel enough gimmick to keep things interesting and to prevent the company from getting sued. While there were more than a few horrible maze games r... [Read More] 2 Comments |
SolarisPosted on Tue, September 06 2005, by Rebecca Pinkoski | |
 | This game takes Star Raiders to another level with graphics and gameplay never before seen on the 2600. It has yet to be surpassed! At this point I'd like to list my 5 favorite Atari games: Raiders of the Lost Ark (I'm serious!) Ballblazer, Adventure, H.E.R.O., and the number one all time fave, Solaris, which I began playing in my early high school days, 1990-ish. This was the last Atari game my family ever acquired (I have since gotten a few more on my own, but getting a new game was much more memorable in the pre-internet days.) To this day I'm not q... [Read More] 3 Comments |
California GamesPosted on Mon, August 29 2005, by Dan Loosen | |
 | How many systems was this game ported to? Well, as you count them up in your head, check out one of the most amazing versions of the game. Coded in only 6 weeks! I bought California Games when a local toy store was going out of business in the early 90's just because it was really cheap and I still would sometimes drag my 2600 out to play. My friend had rented the NES version and really liked it in the 80's, and although I never played it, I was interested. I didn't have much hope for the 2600 version, but I figured that for about a buck it was probably worth it. Was it ever! The game opens with the famil... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
Strider IIPosted on Tue, August 23 2005, by Lawrence Armstrong |  |
 | So you want to play Genesis games on your ST? Why? Here's another conversion you can play without needing "game system." Strider 2, which can rarely be found on other systems, made an appearance on the Atari ST. The ST was blessed with many similar arcade conversions and various Capcom titles. The original Strider was also available on the ST, although, in my opinion, this is much more fun to play than the first Strider game. After inserting the floppy disk, the title screen comes up. You will immediately notice that the music track is the exact same as... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
CoconutsPosted on Tue, August 16 2005, by Darryl Brundage | |
 | This game will drive you crazy! All you've got to do is avoid that stupid monkey and hope you don't get hit by a coconut... Hmm... Thought I'd use a different adjective there, right? :) Telesys, R. I. P., I say thy name with reverence. This 2600 software company emerged at the wrong time, not long before the video game crash of 1983 - 1984, which was a shame, as they were quite a fine company...so much that I pretty much place them up there with my other favorite 2600 companies of Activision, Imagic and Starpath. They only created half a dozen games, and, aside from not spending mi... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
Go FishPosted on Mon, August 08 2005, by Ethan C. Nobles | |
 | "Swimming around and eating fish while avoiding jellyfish, larger fish, eels and that nasty ol' shark might not seem like the makings of a great game, but [Bob] Montgomery has added enough fantastic elements to this title to truly make it special." The Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition (OKGE), which was held for the third year on June 18, 2005, is a wonderful thing, indeed. In addition to meeting fellow Atari enthusiasts (there aren't that many of them in my neck of the woods, after all), the folks from AtariAge.com are on hand with plenty of homebrewed games for sale. This year, I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of Go Fish! by Bob Montgomery on the day AtariAge released it at the OKGE.... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
Out of Memory?Posted on Wed, August 03 2005, by Joseph Burke |  |
 | So, you wish you could upgrade the memory in your Atari 400? Well, it's easier than it sounds (apparently.) Take this walk down nostalgia lane as Joseph Burke gives us the details of his memory upgrade. First, some background. Back in 1979, Atari released the 400/800 line of home computers to much fanfare. It was the first machine to use sprites in games (player-missile graphics in Atari-speak). The 800 was released in memory configurations ranging from 8k-48k, the 400 with either 8k or 16k. Some other differences between the two machines included an IBM Selectric typewriter inspired keyboard on the 800 as opposed to the cheaper (and harder to use) flat membrane keyboard on the 400. Th... [Read More] 2 Comments |
AstroblastPosted on Tue, July 26 2005, by Ethan C. Nobles | |
 | What would happen if Space Invaders and Asteroids got married and had kids? I think that Astroblast would be the result... Astroblast is a fairly typical M-Network game. What I mean is M-Network made a lot of high-quality games for the Atari 2600, yet they have somehow failed to be recognized as honest-to-goodness classics on par with some of the titles released by other third-party developers such as Activision and Imagic. While Astroblast may lack the "classic" label slapped on other games, it's a heck of a good title and it's well worth adding to any 2600 lib... [Read More] 2 Comments |
If Consoles Were Hot DogsPosted on Sat, July 23 2005, by Gregory D. George |  |
 | Some people don't get it. Some people will never get it. The Jaguar *IS* more powerful than the SNES and Genesis. The Jaguar *IS* a 64-bit machine. The games *ARE* 64-bit even if they don't look it. Maybe this will help the so-called "experts" understand... If you're an Atari Jaguar fan, you know how often this "Jaguar is 16-bit because it has a Motorola 68000 CPU!" nonsense pops up. Self-proclaimed "experts" think the "proof" that the Jaguar isn't 64-bit is by looking at the quickly ported games like Cannon Fodder, Dino Dudes, Pifall, Brutal Sports Footb... [Read More] 3 Comments |