Lost Luggage (Apollo)
.thumb.jpg.2b3224b3fbb6279b59b123ee6b29aaff.jpg)
Entry posted by DoctorSpuds
394 views
Alright, this is it, the final game from Apollo that I have yet to review. I have stated multiple times that I have absolutely zero interest in reviewing Lost Luggage on several occasions, but it seems now I have no choice. Honestly the only thing that spurred this decision was something that I saw in the manual, so let’s not dawdle and let’s just review it; I’ve done 10 of these already I have nothing to fill the first paragraph with at this point.
(Apollo)noopeningscene_3.png.8a0e1882496f0a8b7e77220dbb7949e8.png)
There are elements of this game’s graphics that are absolutely fantastic, and others that are a little bit meh. The overall layout of the screen is confusing, there are two blue men shuffling around in a green room with a baggage handling machine. I’m being led to believe that this whole setup is also situated outside the airport as I can clearly see the planes flying about in the sky and landing behind what I assume to be wall on the horizon. The colors themselves are nice and vibrant but the whole screen is laid out in just the weirdest way. What I really like though is the luggage itself, the fact that Apollo managed to get six independently moving objects on the screen, coupled with the player controlled sprites without a hint of flicker is amazing, and the animations that play when the luggage bursts open and reveals a menagerie of clothing articles including the first ever video game bra and panties are just enjoyable to watch. This game is also the second game I’ve ever encountered that has slowdown, if you let a full screen of luggage burst open, six in total, the clothing will be very slow in getting off the screen, and the accompanying sound effect will go on much longer than it normally would. Oh, and speaking of sounds…
(Apollo)noopeningscene_4.png.f33cef402cc596104635987f430a73ad.png)
These sounds are utter crap. The jingle that plays at the start of the game is absolutely dreadful, it sounds like somebody plinked on a MIDI keyboards for 15 seconds and called it good. All the other sounds but one are just a bunch of blips and chirps. When a piece of luggage burst open, and the clothing vacates the vicinity you’ll hear a garbled mess of high pitched nonsense that would work in smaller amounts but with Lost Luggage it plays for much too long and is just torture to hear.
(Apollo)noopeningscene.png.518ea3cb084721adc83530d9b2e75474.png)
Lost luggage would best be described as Kaboom but with a second dimension added it. I think this is the only Kaboom clone on the 2600 that actually tried to do something different with the formula rather than just copy it and add different graphics. You have just gotten of your flight and are waiting at the baggage claim for your bag, suddenly the machine goes berserk and it’s up to you to keep all of that lost luggage from falling onto the floor and bursting open, revealing people’s unmentionables. Honestly it’s a solid setup, but the execution leaves a few things to be desired, all that the game is, is Kaboom except you can move in all the cardinal directions using a joystick. You simply cannot use a Paddle controller since the luggage doesn’t fall straight down, and it might hit the sides of the screen. I think this game was shifted around a bit in development since the artist rendition on the back of the box is more interesting than the game itself. It shows the exact same layout of screen except the guys you control are situated in the green walls, catching the luggage there, if you ask me this would have been a far more enjoyable game. Imagine Kaboom but you control three guys, one for each wall, with th paddle, and you have to prevent suitcases from leaving the screen, and there could be options for up to three players, that would have been a fun game, this game is just a slightly altered Kaboom with worse controls and Terrorist Suitcases, yes TERRORIST SUITCASES, if there was ever a thing to date this game it would be the fact that airport terrorism is used as a gameplay mechanic. They’re just instant game overs since they’re suitcases packed with explosives and if they hit the ground they blow up the airport, and you die.
(Apollo)noopeningscene_1.png.738bcb030272cbb489b36410519cbd54.png)
I don’t particularly like this like this game, if you couldn’t tell, I think this game is boring, then it gets frustrating, the difficulty curve is a corner, and pressing the action button resets the game. I don’t get any satisfaction from this game; even watching various articles of clothing vacate the screen gets boring after a while. Lost luggage was released in 1981, the same year as Kaboom, I don’t know if Lost Luggage was released first but Kaboom did it right, right from the start, there is no ‘one more time’ feeling with Lost Luggage, unlike with Kaboom. Unfortunately this is not a cheap game, for what you’re getting. The cheapest loose cart onj Ebay at the moment is sitting at $8.49 with the most expensive being $24. The only boxed copy currently listed is sitting at a pricey $55, though cheaper ones have popped up here and there, I got my boxed copy off of Amazon of all places for $18, and I wouldn’t recommend paying much more than that. This game goes to the Collector’s Zone without a doubt.
(Apollo)noopeningscene_2.png.5b7b10aeeaa8138cb89249e413f06e74.png)
-
2
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
3 Comments
Recommended Comments