Apple II keyboard operated games

[raycomp2]

I have an Apple II but no joystick so I am looking for some keyboard operated games.

I have a few games on disk that came with the system but they all seem to be joystick only ones.

Does anyone have keyboard operated ones they would recommend?

Thanks,

Ray

 

[BassGuitari]

Offhand I know Galaxian, Pac-Man, Sabotage, Threshold, and Stellar Invaders can be played with the keyboard (I was just playing these a couple of days ago). Sabotage really needs a paddle, though.

Obviously, text adventures and RPGs will use the keyboard. Zork, Akalabeth, Adventureland, Ultima, etc...

Why not get a joystick?

[raycomp2]

Obviously, text adventures and RPGs will use the keyboard. Zork, Akalabeth, Adventureland, Ultima, etc...

 

Why not get a joystick?

I'm not keen on text adventures or RPGs and I haven't found any UK based apple II compatible joysticks.

There are ones from France £50 and the USA £34 which seem a bit pricey but I might go for the one from the USA.

Thanks for the list.

Ray

[cybernesto]

You can play Lode Runner with the keyboard by pressing Ctrl-K.

[The Usotsuki]

Donkey Kong too.

[shoestring]

Karateka is designed to play on keyboard.

 

In fact I'm not even sure you can even play it with a joystick on the Apple II.

 

Other games I remember playing on a keyboard.

 

Wavy Navy, Moon Patrol, Carmen Sandiego, Swashbuckler, David's Midnight Magic, Dig Dug, Hacker, Aztec.

[raycomp2]

Thanks guys.

I think that is enough to be going on with.

I have put most of these on disks and they are all working fine.

Ray

[Polymorph]

Karateka is designed to play on keyboard.

 

In fact I'm not even sure you can even play it with a joystick on the Apple II.

 

Other games I remember playing on a keyboard.

 

Wavy Navy, Moon Patrol, Carmen Sandiego, Swashbuckler, David's Midnight Magic, Dig Dug, Hacker, Aztec.

 

Erm... you most certainly can play Karateka with a joystick on the Apple II - in fact I couldn't imagine playing it any other way!

 

Karateka on the Apple II has the added bonus over most other systems of the time in that joysticks have 2 buttons (one for punch/one for kick), whereas most other systems only had one button sticks (where a random kick/punch was thrown?).

 

I know you have a heap of games mentioned so far, but one more is Speedway Classic which I was playing only the other day with keyboard. :-)

 

Cheers,

Mike

[shoestring]

Keyboard was the only way I knew how to play those games because in high school, there weren't any joysticks however, I do recall playing Choplifter on a joystick in 3rd or 4th grade.

 

Most home systems with a standard Atari joystick port only had 1 fire button which made control difficult especially for arcade conversions. It's ironic that the C64 was used mostly for games whilst the Apple II was considered the more serious, educational machine and had a joystick with a second button.

 

Usually space was often employed as an alternative means for a second button. Some programmers came up with an alternative control system on the standard joystick which either worked really well or not at all.

Edited November 8, 2016 by shoestring

[barrym95838]

My favorite keyboard arcade-style game was Apple Panic. Easy to play, but a bit more difficult to master. I still have my hi-score of 152,520 written down on a paper somewhere in my attic.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/gallery/album/1777-old-scans/

 

Mike B.