Another of my older reviews that I apparently never posted here to AtariAge. This was originally posted and still to be found over at Jose Q's Emuviews website, this review is of one of the many games that made me want the Atari 7800 back in the day and is one of the elements related to video games in my life to help create my online alias today. I present to you my original review of the Atari 7800 arcade port of Crossbow!

Title = Crossbow

Platform = Atari 7800 ProSystem

Genre = Shooter (Can use a lightgun!)

Released = 1987

Players = 1 

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When Atari released their 7800 Pro System, they promised to the masses true arcade quality and sound for the home. Several conversions on the 7800 live up to this claim. One such game is a personal favorite of mine. That game is none other than Crossbow…

You and a band of your trustworthy friends set out on a trek across dangerous landscapes and adventure to seek out and destroy an evil wizard who has stolen all the treasure of the land and claimed himself ruler. So begets the story behind this masterpiece. The graphics, sound, and game play were excellent on the arcade. So how does this console conversion stack up? Let’s get to it…

The basic idea behind the game is that you take the role of protector to your “friends”. You choose the scenes by shooting at colored boxes on the bottom of a map screen. Depending on which colored block you shoot after which scene will depend on where you go next. Then a scene will appear where your friends will walk across the screen one at a time, (usually...). As they walk across the different scenes, they will face dangers such as bats, flying lava, arrows, lightning…etc. It is your job to prevent your friends from perishing by shooting those items which threaten your friends’ survival. Sometimes it will be necessary to shoot at some objects in order for your friends to even cross the scene. This only sounds easy until you start to get to some of the more difficult levels where so much is happening all at once. The archers at the drawbridge are good example of this; all those little thin arrows can be hard to take down at once.

The graphics in Crossbow are some of the best I have seen in any Atari system of the time. Although not really listed on the cart...the game is considered a Super Game class for the 7800. Almost all the scenes are created exactly as the arcade version in every detail. The resolution isn't up to the arcade version but we are talking about a console version here. However, all the animations from the arcade are included in the 7800 version. About the only scenes which do not look quite up to par with the arcade are the river bridge scene and the statue room just before the final boss. Although in my opinion, the final boss scene looks better than the arcade version if that is possible.

The play control in this game was originally to be used with the light gun accessory which was for sale separately. Crossbow on the other hand can be used with either the light gun or the joystick controller. I must admit that I have never played this version with the light gun. But I am pleased to say that even with joystick controllers, I find the game is more than responsive and doesn't really require the light gun. I would imagine that with the gun the feel of the game would more closely match the actual arcade feel. But again, I do not feel that a player needs the light gun to enjoy the game thoroughly.

The sound is the only blemish on the surface of this game. Since the 7800 basically uses the same sound as the 2600…the sound basically “bytes” in most games on the 7800 or sound exactly like the 2600 as the 7800 version of Crossbow does not use a separate Pokey sound chip in it. But I am pleased to tell you that it certainly makes very good use of what it does use. There isn’t any music but that isn’t to say this is a bad thing. Music in a game like this would distract you from what is most important, which is the sound of the critters that come after you. Each creature or object on the screen that poses a danger to your friends has a separate sound to go with it making it easier to know what’s coming. Some sounds may be repeated for different things in the game, but they aren’t repeated within the same scene.

But all this sounds like a good game. Is Crossbow a good game? I believe it is. If you’re into the shooters of that era (think Operation Wolf), then this game certainly fits within as being a fairly unique title. The game play is very smooth although sometimes you feel as if it is taking forever for your friends to cross the screens. The challenge is also an area where the game will be a mixed bag to players. For me I find that it isn’t all that difficult once I have played it for a while. I have so far been able to defeat the wizard at the end a total of about 4 times in a row. But I own this cart and have played it quite a bit. There are some monsters which always come from the same side of the screen and roughly at the same intervals. That makes prediction an easy thing on some scenes. On others however, things can be random and change in their attack speed. The Jungle scene frequently will get me from time to time on that.

Over all I would say that the 7800 version of Crossbow is favorite console conversion of the title I've played. Overall, if you can find this game anywhere! You should grab it and perhaps pay the premium they may ask. I still feel the game is worth the $40 or so that was spent to get it back in 88. I hope you find it to be the same for you.

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Graphics = 10 (For the Atari 7800 it is a very detailed game with all scenes from the arcade presented intact)

Sound = 9 (It is the standard TIA sound but the use of different sounds for each enemy is quite nice)

Controls = 7 (I find the joystick controls to be more than playable, though a light gun might give better control)

Challenge = 8 (The game has a lot of enemies that can attack your friends, learning the enemy and sounds is a must)

Replay = 6 (Once you know the most direct path to the castle and learn the enemy patterns, there isn't much to come back to other that higher scores)

Overall -^CB^- grade = 8 (Another solid 7800 arcade port faithfully brought home!)