Xonox was truly an oddball publisher, being the only other company besides Playaround to release double ended cartridges. Much like Telesys Xonox' game rarity varies wildly as well due to the fact they also released some 'single ender' cartridges, which are pretty self explanatory. For example, the Spikes Peak/ Ghost Manor double ender, which is the one I used in this review is only a four out of ten on the Atariage rarity scale, while the Spike's Peak single ender is a nine out of ten. Xonox on
This game I think will be the hardest for me to review... I can't decide whether I like it or if I hate it, if it's well done or poorly done. I'm caught in the middle and I don't really have an answer. This game fills a void in the Atari library, that void being firefighter games. The only other firefighter game on the Atari was Imagic's aptly named Fire Fighter, which is regarded as the weakest game in Imagic's stellar lineup, can Towering Inferno trounce the mighty might of Imagic? I think it
I would describe Commando Raid as a decent mix of Atlantis by Imagic and Atari's Missile Command, and is among the better games released under the Vidtec label. I will not deny this game's quality of programming since it is indeed high, at least when compared to other games from Vidtec. This was actually the final game I needed to complete my Vidtec 'collection', does that ever happen to you? You need a rather common game to round off a publisher set, and it's probably the most common one they p
This game is so weird... It takes a concept that should never be made into a game, spelling, and made it into a game.This is one of the few third party educational games for the 2600, though I would say it accomplishes neither of the criteria to be an educational game, that being educational, and fun. This game learns you nothing and is not fun to play.. So what is it!?... Say it with me!! Crap, Crap! CRAP!! Who thought this was a good Idea? Was Vidtec U.S. Games dumping ground? Was Vidtec to U.
Space Jockey is... a game... I think that's truly the highest praise I can give it, It does nothing new, it does nothing special, it is the most vanilla side scrolling shooter on the system. This is rather saddening since this game was programmed by Garry Kitchen... The same Garry Kitchen who programmed Keystone Kapers, Pressure Cooker, and Donkey Kong, I don't know what happened, but to see such creativity boiled down to something so basic is rather sad to see. Your first clue as to the basenes
Why was this game made? I have no idea... but I do know that Sneak 'n Peek from Vidtec/ U.S. Games, is one of the worst games for the system. I mean... Hide and go seek on the 2600? This kind of formula wouldn't even work today. I'm gonna keep this one short, because this game just makes me mad.
Graphics... Now this is what makes me angry! Why does this game have some of the best visuals on the system?!? The opening screen is a large well brawn house with smoke smoothly rising from the chimn
Who's ready for disappointment? Because I'm gonna review every game that was released under the Vidtec label. The games will be...
Space Jockey
Word Zapper
Commando Raid
Sneak 'n Peak (Ugh)
Towering Inferno
Not in that order... Expect some of these reviews to be rather short since in some cases I don't have too much to say, but hey... it's content...
One game makes me want to break it? Find out soon!
Desert Falcon is an incredible technical achievement, to be able to get Zaxxon style gameplay on the 2600 was thought to be impossible, so impossible that the legendarily butchered 2600 version of Zaxxon bore no resemblance whatsoever to to it's arcade inspiration. How Desert Falcon managed to get smooth isometric scrolling, is beyond me, but since the game was a red box release it's fair to assume that technical know how of the 2600's hardware was at it's peak. I have fond memories of this game
This rather obscure game from Imagic, despite the silly box art and silly name, is quite good. Now this is a game that couldn't be made for the Atari 2600. Only the Intellivision's beefier hardware could handle all of that horizontal scrolling, though I think it would have done well on the Colecovision as well. In this game you play as Clarence, on half of a recently shipwrecked couple who washed up on a tropical island, Doris the other half of the couple is swiftly being dragged away by the ba
Here's a forgotten classic, lost to time. Montezuma's revenge was one of the earliest platformers on the market, it had many ports to many different systems, but I'm going to focus on two ports of this game today, the one released on the ill-fated Colecovision, and the one released on the ill-fated Sega Master System. This is the first Third Generation game I've reviewed so far, but I'll still give the Colecovision a fair shot when compared to the superior SMS. First things first... these games
OH YEAH! Now here's a game I can get behind! I love me some Demon Attack. This classic game from Imagic is regarded as being one of the best games released for the 2600, I'm tempted to agree with that statement, but but there's competition afoot. The 2600 wasn't the only console to receive Demon Attack, the Intellivision also has Demon attack in it's library and I think it might just be better than the 2600 version. There was also a version on Odyssey 2 but I'm not paying that much for Demon Att
Tank Brigade otherwise known as Tanks But No Tanks falls under the same category as Strategy X as being so challenging that it's addictive. This game was put out by Panda inc.. Panda was definitely one of the lesser known publishers on the 2600, mostly because most of their games were either stolen or licensed from Sancho. Several of their games were later re-sold by Froggo, yeah this is the level we're at here. I don't know if this game was stolen from Zimag, or if Zimag stole/licensed this gam
Oh boy here we go! Star Ship, a game that was so bad when it came out in 1977 that It was removed from sale by Atari in 1980, and Atari almost never pulled games from sale so you know it's gotta be bad. I will be cutting this game a lot of slack in this review though, due to the fact it was released in 1977 as a launch title, and we all know that many of these games have not aged well at all, with perhaps the exception of Indy 500. This game is a first person space shooter, now that sounds aweso
This is going to be a comparison piece between the three most popular console ports of Q*Bert from the second generation of game consoles. We will be comparing the Atari 2600, Mattel Intellivision, and Colecovision ports of Q*Bert. Despite all being the same game there are a hefty amount of differences between the three. But the outcome of this review is not certain. since all the versions have their own strengths and weaknesses. Let's start with the graphics.
Which console has the b
Time for the Intellivision! AD&D has got to be my favorite game for the Intellivision. This is one of the granddaddies of adventure games so the plot isn't too compelling. Here's the entire plot in one sentence: Three archer dudes go to the legendary Cloudy Mountain to recover the Crown of Kings from the evil Winged Dragons. It's a nice basic plot that sets you up for the game. Now if your expecting the complexity and depth of the D&D board game you will be sorely disappointed since this
This game shouldn't have been made. A game based on a 1980 movie that was based on a forty year old TV show, this should not have happened, and it's almost a crime for it to be this good. I've never watched the show, even though as I'm writing this I'm staring a a two VHS Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe set that I bought forever ago and still haven't watched, so I'm going to be remedying that soon. I've also never watched the movie, but from what I've heard I'm not missing much. But there is
I bought this game expecting the European version, which is the version that had the only other voice sampling apart from Quadrun. What I didn't expect though, was 'I Want My Mommy', a game released in America by Zimag. The version I own is a Taiwan Cooper bootleg which as far as I can tell is exactly the same as the Zimag version. I know these Taiwan Cooper bootlegs aren't known for having very pertinent box art but Open Sesame takes the cake as far as I'm concerned. The box art shows The Tramp
Telesys wasn't known for making very good games, their quality was hit or miss at the best of times. Coconuts unfortunately is a big 'ol miss, in more ways than one. This game takes a similar concept to Telesys' other smash hit game, Fast Food and tweaks it a little, I'll get to that in the game-play section, since I feel this review may be lacking some length to it, at least in the long run. Oh... and don't expect me to review extremely rare and expensive games, like Demolition Herby, or Ram it
This game is just plain awful. Game-play , sounds, and graphics are just plain awful. I will attempt to make it more clear in this review just how this game sucks. Data Age weren't known for making the best games, or even average games, in fact they mostly made crap. Games like Sssnake, Bugs, Airlock, and Journey: Escape, tend to be on the bottom of the barrel when it comes collecting, apart from Frankenstein's Monster, for some reason that game has gotten rather expensive. But despite all of th
I'm feeling lazy today, so I'm just going to review Atari's Bowling. This has got to be one of the most basic games on the 2600, both in game-play, sound, and graphics. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I find that the game gets it's message across rather well, that message being bowling. Sorry If this is a short review but there isn't much TO review... onto the graphics.
Minimal doesn't even begin to cover this... This game almost has no graphics. Two lines for the lane... ten squares
This game is a glorious mess. And despite being one of the most commonly mocked and disliked games in the Atari library, I don't mind it. Let me just say this up front, I don't think that this is a 'Pac-Man' game, I think it's a Pac-Man style game. Same name different game, each share similar game-play and graphics (Sounds are not applicable here), but Atari Pac-Man shook things up a little bit. Also like the other mainstream whipping boy E.T., this game was rushed to completion, and also suffer
This game oozes unique. It is if not one of the only shooting gallery style games on the system, we're not counting Task Force by Froggo since it's the same code. The game was put out by Spectravision (Spectravideo in Europe) who are mostly known for Chase the Chuckwagon, Mangia and Bumper Bash, when it comes to rarity these guys are all over the spectrum. Thankfully Gangster Alley is one of their more common games, and I can see why. The game is quite fun for the first few minutes then it's fla
This review may be a bit biased because I actually like this game, a LOT! I like the simplicity of the game and how it achieves what it sets out to accomplish... Which is golf on the Atari. Many golf games from this generation take after golf on the NES, top down perspective, selectable clubs, wind, and giving the green invisible hills and bumps to bring the game more complexity almost verging on simulation(I'm Looking at you Intellivision Golf). I like Atari Golf because it has none of those th
Oh... This is gonna hurt. Yar's Revenge, contrary to popular opinion I don't like this game, I never have and I don't think I ever will. People tout this game for it's originality, which it does have, I won't lie about that, but I simply don't like it. I think there are tons of better games for the Atari that simply don't get the recognition they deserve,If had to place Yar's revenge on a list of 'Best' Games for the Atari It would be right near the bottom if on the list at all. I'll try to keep
Now... Here's a weird one. This game as far as I can tell is not a bootleg or a slightly modified version of an already existing game this game is original. This game was originally put out by Bit Corporation over in Europe, and some way or another it made it's way over to America. I'm lucky enough to own a slightly rare NTSC Taiwan Cooper bootleg of Mission 3000 A.D., but I know reproduction carts were sold not too long ago. Nevertheless this game remains an enigma, nobody really knows who prog
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