AtariAge - 2007 Midwest Gaming Classic Preview

We recently found a few extra boxes for the recent Atari 5200 homebrew release Adventure II, and we're going to make available ten boxed copies at the show! These will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if you weren't able to obtain a copy when they were available in our store, this is your chance! The boxed copy of Adventure II includes:

• Adventure II box
• Adventure II game cartridge
• Adventure II manual
• Parchment envelope containing four hedge maze map cards
• Metal skeleton key
• Adventure II magnet
• AtariAge magnet

Beef Drop is a port of the popular arcade game Burgertime, which Ken first ported to the Atari 5200 and 8-bit computers. 7800 owners are in for a special treat, as Ken has assembled a limited number of 7800 Beef Drop cartridges, complete with a POKEY sound chip for much better audio than the 7800 can produce without this chip. The 7800 version also features better graphics than the 5200/8-bit version, making the 7800 version the definitive release of Beef Drop.

Beef Drop began life as an April Fool's joke in our Atari 5200 Forum and quickly turned into a real homebrew development effort! For all you wanted to know about Burgertime and more, please visit burgertime.info. We held a Beef Drop Label Contest to design an original label for Beef Drop, and the contest was won by Henry Lee. Henry's label design graces the label and manual, with additional artwork featured inside the manual. Beef Drop includes the cartridge and 12-page, full-color manual.

After an absence from our store, we will have a limited number of copies of Beef Drop for the 7800 available for purchase in our booth. These copies are numbered, and will be part of the last batch of Beef Drop for the 7800 to feature the built-in POKEY sound chip!

Squares! is a new ColecoVision homebrew game by Harvey deKleine. Your objective in this fast-paced game is to aviod the other bouncing squares and to stay alive as long as possible! To start the game, you select one of the five difficulty levels. Below your score at the right of the screen are indicators for the quantities of invincibility credits, hyperspace credits, and squares remaining. If an enemy hits you, you lose a square. If you have squares available, one will eventually appear near the top-left of the screen (or press the left fire button to make one appear instantly). The game is over when you have no more squares available.

Catch the treasures to be rewarded with an extra square or invincibility and hyperspace credits. Press the left fire button to become invincible for five seconds (if credits available). Press the right fire button to be moved to a new location (if credits available). The first bonus stage is at 15,000 points. Treasures will appear quickly, one after the other.

We will have 20 copies of Squares! available for purchase at the Midwest Gaming Classic!

Fans of the classic Atari arcade game Warlords will be pleased to learn that Bryan Edewaard has developed a version for the Atari 5200 titled Castle Crisis. In this fast-paced game, up to four players can compete against one another or computer opponents. Using your shield, you must capture and launch fireballs against an enemy's castle, while protecting your own castle from enemy fireball hits. Gameplay mechanics and graphics mirror the arcade, with additional gameplay options available, adding variety to an already great game. This is simply one of the best arcade ports available for the 5200.

Castle Crisis features a professionally printed box, label and manual. The Castle Crisis artwork created by Manu Pärssinen was a result of the Castle Crisis Label Contest held on AtariAge. Castle Crisis supports up to four players on a four-port 5200 system, and even supports 5200 paddle controllers if you have them, for a more authentic arcade experience. If you're a fan of the arcade Warlords, or of the popular 2600 version, you owe it to yourself to buy Castle Crisis!

We will have ten boxed copies of Castle Crisis available for purchase at the show!