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I review games... How original...

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Oh Dear! I broke my stick!

Well isn’t this a little awkward, today’s subject for review, my recently acquired Datasoft Le Stick, has just stopped working. I have popped open the bottom to get at the wires to see what was going on and my worst suspicions were confirmed. Due to how you use the Le Stick, violently jerking it from side to side, it really does a number on the internal wiring where they all coalesce into the controller cord which leads to wires being severed. Datasoft tried to mitigate this by placing the wires
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

5
 

Goofin' Around in Minecraft

I've been playing Minecraft for a long, long time, close to eight years now. But I've always been stuck with very crappy hardware to play it on so I was never really able to enjoy it to the fullest. But that all changed when I got my new computer after my laptop seized and died. It's quite a shift, going from 25 fps on a good day to 145 at the very least, and actually having a playable framerate with shaders on. I've lost my appetite for survival mode or even mods so I just build, its an excelle
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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The Intellivision II (Is it even worth it?)

Videogame consoles are rarely ever small, it doesn’t matter which generation you’re looking at whether it be the first, the eighth, or anywhere in between, these things are monstrous. But a game console rarely ever stays large, as technology get’s better and smaller, the consoles shrink with it, couple this with revised designs, and cheaper parts, and you have the birth of the slim console. A slim console is a console that is sold several years after its original release in a smaller more conden
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Cosmic Conflict/ 2076 Star Command (Magnavox)

The Odyssey 2 was unfortunately lacking in many key genres its competitors dominated in, in today’s case the ‘F.P.S.S’ or the First-Person Space Shooter. As far as I know the odyssey 2 only had one (please correct me if I’m wrong) and that game is Cosmic Conflict, or 2076 STAR COMMAND as the cartridge states boldly. Sadly this game emphasizes why the Odyssey 2 struggled, in my opinion, it’s not a bad game but I would hesitate to call it a ‘good’ game. Almost all of the Odyssey 2’s competitors ha
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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A little help

Happy Monday! I recently got this Taiwan Cooper cart from Venezuela for one reason, the picture on the back. Sadly the game on the cart is not the game shown on the back of the box, an odd misprint. Does anybody know what game this is? It looks like some sort of Missile Command/Atlantis clone, and like all Taiwan Cooper boxes the description makes absolutely zero sense, so no help there. Any help would be appreciated, because I'd really like to play this game, it looks and sounds fun. If you wer
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Lock 'n' Chase (M-Network)

Sorry about missing the review yesterday, I've been under the weather recently. I managed to get this review out for you guys today, because I like ya, and you deserve it.   We’re back in Mattel territory with Lock ‘n’ Chase which just so happens to be another Pac-Man clone. Lock ‘n’ Chase was one of the several Mattel games that were released both on the 2600 and on the Intellivision. While the Intellivision version was a slow and monotonous mess with unresponsive controls, the 2600 version
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Sir Lancelot (Xonox)

Well now if this isn’t a sight to behold, we’re back in the land of Xonox. These guys produced some of the most advanced, and beautiful games on the 2600, and they packaged them in a very unique way. When it comes to exotic cartridges Xonox has the competition beat with their Double Ender cartridges, each side has a different game and the things are massive. Playaround also did double ended cartridges but we don’t like to talk about them, since Xonox did it first and they did it best. I have on
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Miner 2049'er (Tigervision)

Hooo boy! How did they get such a good game THIS stupendously wrong? The Miner 2049'er that was released on the Colecovision was fantastic whereas the version we got on the 2600 is rather legendary for it's inferiority for it's home computer and Colecovision counterparts. I saw this game cheap on Ebay and thought to myself 'why not?" and bought it... I put it in my 2600 and was immediately disappointing, this was nothing like what I was expecting, I'd played the Colecovision version and was expe
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-ups (Parker Brothers)

Kid’s games are exceptionally difficult to make, which is why so many of them are terrible. Many companies vie for the tried and true method of making a few cookie cutter minigames and plastering a well-known children’s character/icon on it. Some companies like Humungous Entertainment and Disney found ways to make kid’s games that kid’s will actually enjoy playing; they’re complex without being too difficult  and not too easy to the point of being condescending. Unfortunately this is 1983 and we
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Mountain King (CBS Electronics)

I’ve debated whether or not I should review this game for some time, due to its complexity, but I’ve decided that now is the time. There are advanced games for the 2600, Solaris, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Dragonstomper being excellent examples, but there is one that I think beats them all out in terms of volume, and complexity. Mountain King is one of those OG games that never seems to get talked about anymore, kinda like Miner 2049’er or the Jumpman series of games, games that were big for a
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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The week of rarity!

I’ve had a little idea… How about I do another week of, but instead of reviewing games that I own, I review games that I will NEVER own, ever. And what games would these be? How about some R10 games! Due to the fact I’d have to pawn off my kidneys to even afford a single one of these cartridges I’ll have to forgo the “Own It to Review It” rule I’ve been working under. Unfortunately many of these R10 games are there simply to them having a rare cartridge shell, I’m looking at you Xante, or being
DoctorSpuds

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Threshold (Tigervision)

Threshold (Tigervision)

Originality in games is not a dead concept though it is getting harder and harder to find as more and more games fill the same genres while attempting to stand out from the rest with a unique concept, visual style, gameplay element(s), or some mix of the three. Some games succeed at originality and other don’t, but the game I’m looking at today isn’t even trying to be original, in fact it almost seems to relish how generic it is, but it shouldn’t have been this way. Threshold is a game made by O
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Grand Prix (Activision)

The main thing that I find characterizes these ‘Avoid-It’ games is simplicity, these games are simple therefore anybody can pick them up and have a good time with them, and because they’re so simple I think I’d be forgiven for giving many of these a single paragraph review, so without further ado lets review Grand Prix.   I believe James Rolfe (AVGN) said it best “It’s a bunch of kazoos flying through a cabbage patch…”, and I rather agree with him. The cars, while simple in design, are colorfu
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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I've created a monster!

I have created a monster… Perhaps it was the fumes from my previous review but recent circumstances would have led me to this sooner or later. Recently I killed my 2600 as well as one I had gotten that same day at a local game sale, a word for the wise, if you have a 6-switch 2600 DO NOT re-seat the chips it will murder the console. As a test to see if my hypothesis is correct I took a system that was at death’s door, somebody had spilled soda in it and it would only play Congo Bongo and Warploc
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Draconain (Spiceware)

Now this is a special review... Not only is this my 50th review, this is also my first Homebrew review. I actually only own one Homebrew game, and I think I have one of the best, that being Spiceware's Draconian. I love Namco's Bosconian, even though I'm not very good at it, so when I saw Draconian on the AA store I was immediately smitten. I bought it almost as soon as I saw what it was, Bosconian on the 2600, and when it arrived I was not disappointed. This has got to be one of the most advanc
DoctorSpuds

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Omega Race (CBS Electronics)

Omega Race (CBS Electronics)

There is nothing worse than a common game that is locked behind an obscure peripheral. In the case of most Atari games with these obscure peripherals you can still play the game normally since these things only act as a substitute for the standard controller. Milton Bradley Games and many of the games slated to be released by Amiga are prime examples of this, there are three games however that ARE locked behind this wall of inaccessibility, Sentinel by Atari which required the usage of an XE lig
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Snail Vs Squirrel (Bit Corporation)

This game has been on the docket for a very, very, long time, but for the longest time I was completely stumped by it. I simply couldn’t play this game properly, until recently when I sat down and just played it, and looked up the manual on Atarimania but that isn’t important, what is important is that this is one of the strangest and most unique titles on the 2600, whilst having one of the most unique titles on the 2600. Snail Vs Squirrel or Snail Against Squirrel, or just Squirrel, it doesn’t
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Combat (Atari)

What the hell… Let’s review Combat… This review is neither overdue nor actually expected I was just looking at my game shelf and thought the first six words of this review. Combat is iconic; people who’ve never even held a game controller know about Combat, it is for many people the epitome of the word videogame. Combat was the pack-in game for almost every single Atari VCS up until 1982, with the main exception being the Sears brand consoles that had Target-Fun (Air Sea Battle) as the pack-in t
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Star Fox (Mythicon)

It’s time to finish off the unholy trinity. I’ve really been dreading reviewing this one, mainly because I view this as amongst the worst games ever created. Star Fox by Mythicon is an absolute train wreck, and yes it is one you can look away from. Star Fox was the third and final game from infamous publisher Mythicon before they went belly up in 1983. While the games that preceded it, Sorcerer and Fire Fly, are virtually identical to each other, Star Fox is actually an original game, much to my
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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The RCA Studio II

The RCA Studio II

Man, I hate to do the cliché thing of calling the thing I’m reviewing ‘terrible’ right off the bat, but seriously, the RCA Studio II might just be the most woeful games console I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Just a warning, my Google-Fu is pretty weak for this console in particular, mainly because there isn’t a whole lot that exists on it, and because it was disco-ed so quickly.   I got lucky recently. At my local game store he gets all sorts of weird crap in, and by weird
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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QIX 5200 (Atari)

QIX 5200 (Atari)

Qix is a fun little arcade game than seems to defy any standard one would care to throw at it. Qix was an arcade release from Taito back in 1981 and by all accounts it was a modest success and it was all about drawing rectangles, hmmm. Qix was very slow to reach a home audience with the first home releases being for the Atari 5200 and 8-Bit computer line in 1983 with it finally reaching other consoles and computers in 1989 and into the early 1990’s, the Apple ][ version didn’t come out until 198
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Suicide Mission (Starpath)

Alright… A show of hands, who here has played Asteroids? Hmmm, okay, that’s a good number of you, who here has played the 2600 port? Oh, even more of you, that’s interesting, who here thinks the 2600 port of asteroids is a good port? Well there go a few hands, alright a few more. Who here has heard of Suicide Mission? Well that’s not many hands at all… how disappointing. Last one, who here thinks that Suicide Mission, a game that many of you haven’t heard of is as good, if not better than the 26
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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Rare doesn't mean valuable

I have a rant for you, I’m very tired and it’s very rambly but I think I may have made a few good points.   Here’s something odd that many people have a hard time coming to terms with, rarity does not equal value. When the topic of old games comes up in conversation I usually have to reiterate this multiple times, and almost every time I do this the person I’m talking to gets that greedy little gleam in their eye. “Oh, I have a Nintendo/Atari/Sega in the basement, and I have a bunch of
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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I found a weird thing

I found a weird thing

Alright so it's a Tournament 2000 by Unisonic, on its own that's not very interesting but stay with me here. The box is unlike any other I've seen, it's most certainly not a standard Unisonic box. The thing is completely unbranded and it looks like the thing was printed with ink rollers.  The console itself is the only thing that says Unisonic on it and the serial number is pretty high so maybe it was a budget thing to cut costs? Frankly its weird and cool and I'm happy to ha
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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The Official Frogger By SEGA (Starpath)

Alright folks this is going to be a difficult game for me to review today, mainly because I have a rather large bias against this game. The game today is The Official Frogger by Sega, and I have a confession to make… I kinda hate Frogger. Yes-yes-yes, get your torches and pitchforks and skewer the heretic, I know Frogger is an absolute classic, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t gel with me, I’ll try to explain it more in the review, but suffice to say, this will be a bit difficult
DoctorSpuds

DoctorSpuds

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