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BristlesPosted on Tue, January 23 2007, by David Sherwin |  |
 | Here's a game where the main character actually does WORK! (Mario just bops around in the mushroom kingdom.) Bristles is a mix between Mario and Make Trax, and it's pretty fun! In the mid- '80s, First Star Software produced some of the most memorable characters for the era's home computer systems with its addictive series of games: there was Rockford, the star of the enduring Boulderdash series; Flip and Flop; the spies of the Spy vs. Spy trilogy; and then, of course, there was Peter the Painter, the hero of the maddeningly difficult game Bristles. Peter and his friends may have faded into obscurity after the com... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
GravitarPosted on Fri, January 19 2007, by Brendan Onfrichuk |  |
 | Atari, always trying to do something new... Asteroids was still pretty big, but it got pretty easy manuvering your ship around. Now, what happens if they add gravity and a story?! I didn't have the luxury of playing Gravitar when it first came out but I did first get it a couple of years ago. This is a highly original game on Atari's part and has become something of a classic 2600 title, even if the arcade original did not become "extremely" popular. This game came out in 1983 right before the crash so we're lucky it got out before that happened. Everybody kept telling me that Gravitar is an awesome game and I just had to see wha... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
AvalanchePosted on Mon, January 15 2007, by Darryl Brundage |  |
 | This is what happens when you've got an okay idea and someone else takes it and makes it their own. Did Activision make any original games!? This was one of Atari's earlier and very obscure (especially nowadays) coin-ops, and you'll find out why. Back in the early days of arcade games, without a lot of memory or much power or anything, most of the first offerings to arcades were pretty simple, and Avalanche is no exception. Unfortunately Atari screwed it up by making it too difficult, which is probably why it wasn't exactly a big hit. Here's a game that sort of falls into the ... [Read More] 1 Comment |
Jr. Pac-ManPosted on Tue, January 09 2007, by Dan Loosen | |
 | Finally a Pac-Man game on the 2600 that no one could complain about! It's got tons of scrolling mazes, lots of nuance, plenty of toys to eat(!), and multi colored ghosts (or monsters if you prefer.) In fact, the only problem with the game is that it may be TOO good! Wow-zer! This port of the arcade game is hands-down my favorite Pac-Man on the 2600, beating out Pac-Man by quite a bit... and that's a story for another day, why I actually like Pac-Man more than Ms. Pac-Man, but I digress... The graphics in Jr. Pac-Man are great, and all of the insane gameplay from the arcade version is here... with the option to rid yourself of some of the pesky ghosts. This gives you the chanc... [Read More] 1 Comment |
Brutal Sports FootballPosted on Fri, January 05 2007, by Bruce Clarke |  |
 | So who is tired of the ultra real games like Madden 2007? Whatever happened to the fun, medieval football games like Pigskin Footbrawl or Super High Impact? Here's one of the more fun sports games on the Jaguar. I don't enjoy most team sports games; they usually seem pretty boring to me. Something like Madden will put me to sleep faster than a bottle of Nyquil. However, there's one such game for the Jaguar that I can recommend to even the non-sports fans: Brutal Sports Football. I once tried BSF a few years ago and decided that I didn't like it, but recently I decided to give it one more try. This time I decided to spend some time trying to learn the con... [Read More] 3 Comments |
Crystal CastlesPosted on Mon, January 01 2007, by Brendan Onfrichuk | |
 | When the original arcade game was released, it was a graphics powerhouse. Few companies had done "3D" game using 2D hardware! Atari must have been crazy to try to port Crystal Castles to the 2600! Crystal Castles is based on the arcade game of the same name. Before I played the game the name of it gave me a completly different idea of gameplay. I imagined that it would be some kind of adventure or rpg with a sword wielding hero making his way through castles. Now you can see how shocked I was when It turned out to be an arcade game with a bright boot wearing bear making his way through castles. I didn't know what to think when I saw the label on the car... [Read More] 4 Comments |
WabbitPosted on Tue, December 26 2006, by Ethan C. Nobles | |
 | Apollo did have a knack for coming up with weird ideas, didn't they? Is this an innovative game, or just another one of the thousand "me too" games that was released in the 2600's heyday? The most effective way to describe Wabbit to most dedicated 2600 fans is to simply say, "It's from Apollo." Yes, this 1982 release from Apollo is about as mediocre as fans might expect. Yes, Wabbit has a unique concept (like a lot of Apollo games), but it comes across as something that will distract for a bit you from the really good games in your 2600 collection, but not much more than that. As I said, the concept behind Wabbit is a... [Read More] Make the first comment! |
H.A.A.G. Expo 2006Posted on Sat, December 16 2006, by Darryl Brundage |  |
 | Darryl's back to give us the lowdown on this Houston video arcade game show! His full report and photos are included. Good ol' annual H.A A.G. (Houston Area Arcade Group) expos: they're a great way to have a good time by playing video and pinball games of your youth, and all set on free play, after paying $15 for a one day ticket (or $25 for a weekend pass). Not to mention games that you might have missed -- or just never played, for what... [Read More] 4 Comments |
SwordQuest: EarthworldPosted on Mon, December 11 2006, by Brendan Onfrichuk | |
 | While some might say the SwordQuest challenge a good promotional idea by Atari, others might say it was a total disaster. Only three games were complete, one became especially rare and sought-after by collectors, and the prizes... Well that's a story for another day. Here's the game that started it all: Earthworld. It certainly seems like a bold undertaking. Back in 1982 when this game came out Atari had a great idea. They would make a sequel to Adventure and have a contest to go along with it. If you could solve the puzzle and complete the game you had a chance to compete for the prize, a jewel encrusted gold talisman worth $25,000. This must have been pretty cool to be a part of back in the day. Unfortunately I can only play the game now. But If I had the chance I woul... [Read More] 3 Comments |
GalaxianPosted on Tue, December 05 2006, by Ryan Genno | |
 | You remember the prequel to Galaga, right? Strange how the sequel surpassed the original in just about every way. Including people's memory! (And let's not forget that Galaxian is a pseudo-sequel to Space Invaders!) Galaxian will go down in history for not only being the first ever video game to use true colour but also for having some very impressive Artificial Intelligence thanks to some tricky aliens that were tough to kill. Galaxian may be older game now but it is still a huge legend in the gaming world and it was another mega hit for Namco. So how did Galaxian do on the 5200? Not too good unfortunately. In the game it's your mission to destroy a larg... [Read More] 6 Comments |