ballyalley Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 As well as my own list of favorite cartridges (which I just uploaded in a separate posting), there was a column in the Arcadian newsletter that reviewed games too. "The Game Player" was a review column from the "Arcadian" newsletter that ran for twenty-one columns. It reviewed a total of thirty-nine games, only five of which were cartridges. The rest were all games that were sold on tape. The reviewed games are: Tape Reviews (34) ----------------- 1) Adventure - Astrogames 2) Astro Analyst- Educational Software Systems 3) Astro Terror - The Tiny Arcade 4) Candy Man - L&M Software 5) Castle of Horror - Wavemakers 6) Caterpillar - H.A.R.D. Software 7) Collision Course - Wavemakers 8 ) Defense Professional - Astrogames 9) Dungeons of Dracula - Wavemakers 10) Exitor's Revenge - L&M Software 11) Flying Ace - Wavemakers 12) Galactic Hitchhiker - H.A.R.D. Software 13) Gamma Wars - Tiny Arcade 14) Gate Escape, The - Wavemakers 15) L.T. - Wavemakers 16) Lost in Space - Edge Software 17) Memomax - Educational Software Systems 18) Metro Attack - Astrogames 19) Micro Pac - H.A.R.D. Software 20) Morse Code Trainer - Educational Softwear Designs 21) Music - George Moses Co. 22) Nam-Cap - New Image 23) Nautilus - L&M Software 24) Night Bombers - Astrogames 25) Omega Valley - The Tiny Arcade 26) Paper Chase, The - H.A.R.D. Software 27) Peter Piper - Astrogames 28) Road Toad - Esoterica, Ltd. 29) Secret of Pellucitar - L&M Software 30) Super Pac - Astrogames 31) Super Slope - Esoterica, Inc. 32) Tic Tac Tollah - H.A.R.D. Software 33) Vindicator - The Tiny Arcade 34) Wah's Revenge - Astrogames Cartridge Reviews (5) --------------------- 1) Cosmic Raiders - Astrocade 2) Ms. Candyman - L&M Software 3) Sea Devil - Bit Fiddlers 4) Sneaky Snake - New Image 5) Solar Conqueror - Astrocade "The Game Player" column made its appearance in the last issue of volume 4 (number 12), October 1982 with this prelude: The following is a new feature in the ARCADIAN, that hopefully will appear on a monthly basis. It is entitled: "The Game Player," authored by Michael Prosise of Greenbelt, Maryland. He will be reviewing for our readers a different game each month, by one on the many ASTROCADE software manufacturers, much in the manner that a movie reviewer reviews a movie. The game reviews are varied and interesting. Of the thirty-nine total reviews, only five feature cartridge titles. The other reviews are for games or amusements released on cassette, NOT to be confused with 'type-in' programs distributed on tape. This much attention is paid to games released on tape because it was the best way to get new games in 1982 for a system whose library of cartridges never reached above several dozen actual releases. Some of these reviews are overenthusiastic, most all of them are lenient on mediocre software, perhaps giving us a glimpse that sometimes Astrocade users were taking, and accepting, just about anything they could get their hands on. Read these reviews with an eye for the history of the Astrocade computer/console, its software, and its user base. You'll find that the Astrocade lives up to its underground reputation: users supporting users. Through the trenches this system kept on marching, gaining software for users that would not let their systems cover with dust. These reviews document the struggle to hit upon the good that comes with the bad so that the waterways of software could keep on flowing. I compiled all of these reviews into a text document called, "Astrocade Game Reviews Compilation: 'The Game Player,' By Michael Prosise." This document can be downloaded here: http://www.ballyalley.com/documentation/reviews/astrocade_reviews.txt If you read this though, be warned, you just might to be forced to figure-out how to play tape games on your Bally Astrocade console! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I was just playing Solar Conqueror, Pac man, and Ms Candyman and decided to see if I could find any reviews and found this. Thanks for posting. Solar Conqueror is actually kind of fun, sort of Asteroids-like. I've also been enjoying Pirate's Chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbee Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I just like to see some videos review of these tape games, is it run o Mame? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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