Adventure Atari 2600 Review

[Atariperson23]

OK, I've reviewed Solaris and Combat, which are two true masterpieces. And E.T wasn't that bad. But today, I review Warren Robinett's 50 year old "masterpiece", Adventure. Adventure was one of the very first games with more than one screen. Pac-man, released three years later, has one screen. So does Breakout and Pong, and a ton of other games. Adventure also has the first "Easter egg" which says "Made By Warren Robinett" and it's one of the first games with a discernible ending. 

Gameplay:B+

I found the game play to be a little bit lacking, due to the fact that it could be beaten in under fifteen minutes. Adventure is also extremely lackluster in variation mode 1, also variation mode 2 isn't bad. Variation mode 3, however is incredible. It has thrills, moments of impending doom, and everything you could possibly want in a extremely old game. I don't suggest mode 1, it's trash, it plays a game Zimag would make. Mode 2 is kind of light on game play but delivers mediocre thrills, but once you memorize where everything is and avoid the bat, game play is so-so. Mode 3 is no pushover, and it offers plenty of new stuff to the table, and it's actually a quality game! Although, I can't recommend mode 3 for beginners. However, in spite of few flaws such as a castle being locked and then unlocked, Adventure manages to deliver joy to your dusty wood grain console.

Originality:A

This game was one-of-a-kind. It was something new on the market and not ripped off some obscure arcade title. The programming is also remarkable considering the fact that Warren Robinett had to work two games at the same time (BASIC Programming and Slot Racers) It's a shame Warren Robinett only did four games (Elf Adventure was his fourth), because this game shows that he was a video game master. The setting is extremely authentic, the story line and plot is authentic, the game play is authentic, even the sound effects are authentic. It is blatantly obvious Adventure was not inspired off any existing game. Wow. Just wow. And this is even more impressive considering the fact that nearly all the games of that time were inspired off another game.

Graphics: B

Yes, graphical limitations cannot be helped. But some of the colors are a hot mess. I mean, purple with gray is not a good idea. Neither is red with gray. Or red with white. Some of the colors may bleed your eyes out. But considering how archaic this game is, the graphics were actually 2-3 years ahead of the time. And, the even more impressive part was that this cartridge used 4KB. In comparison, good games today use 4GB, 4 MILLION times the size of Adventure. Yet Adventure still boasts 32 (or 33) playfields. Which, even by today's standards, is nothing short of incredible. And it gets a thousand times more incredible when you hear this game was made on a console with 128 bytes of memory. In short, this game is nothing short of a technological achievement. But what's even more remarkable is that this game manages to make the objects somewhat realistic (I mean, even though the dragons look like ducks, you could still recognize them with a tinge of imagination)

Sound Effects: B+

Sound effects are minimalist and relatively soft on the ears. There is no music, but that's not my concern. My concern is that sound effects are a little too simple. I mean, they're just two different notes at most! However, if sound effects were elaborated, the gameplay would not be as good. But why couldn't Atari wait until 1982 to make it 8KB? That way, everything could've been elaborated, including the sound effects! It's actually a big shame that sound effects weren't good enough, because sound effects sometimes makes the game remarkable (Gyruss and Pitfall II) And I feel like Adventure had a chance to not be so archaic if it didn't have so archaic sound effects.

Final Grade: B+

Technically speaking, Adventure is insanely advanced. It doesn't deserve to be on the Atari 2600, maybe the 7800 at least. I mean, this game is hard to make on the Atari 2600 with 32KB, let alone 4! It took Warren Robinett one year to make this, and that's short. I would really like to see the original source code, if that's possible. But gameplay speaking, it's... still good. But don't try mode 1 unless you're an absolute beginner, try mode 2 for moderate but fun thrills and mode 3 for the best thrills. Do I recommend it, though? Absolutely. Definitely. 102%. 

 

[keithbk]

Play level 5 of "Another Adventure" when you get the chance. Would love your thoughts.

[Atariperson23]

1 hour ago, keithbk said:

Play level 5 of "Another Adventure" when you get the chance. Would love your thoughts.

Incredible graphics. I'm impressed. I may actually review that game next.

[+cvga]

Nice write-up. I'd be interested in knowing more about you. How old are you and when did you get your first atari?

 

Also, 4GB is about 1 million times greater than 4KB. I know you know that, just a simple math mistake.

[Rom Collector]

"Warren Robinett's 50 year old "masterpiece"

 

Isn't it 40 years?

[atarifan88]

8 hours ago, Rom Collector said:

"Warren Robinett's 50 year old "masterpiece"

 

Isn't it 40 years?

That's what I was going to say!

[Atariperson23]

On 12/6/2019 at 9:16 PM, cvga said:

Nice write-up. I'd be interested in knowing more about you. How old are you and when did you get your first atari?

 

Also, 4GB is about 1 million times greater than 4KB. I know you know that, just a simple math mistake.

I am in my late thirties, my first Atari was at 5, and my first game was Seahawk. Also, thanks for the correction.

[8th lutz]

On 12/6/2019 at 7:43 PM, Atariperson23 said:

OK, I've reviewed Solaris and Combat, which are two true masterpieces. And E.T wasn't that bad. But today, I review Warren Robinett's 50 year old "masterpiece", Adventure. Adventure was one of the very first games with more than one screen. Pac-man, released three years later, has one screen. So does Breakout and Pong, and a ton of other games. Adventure also has the first "Easter egg" which says "Made By Warren Robinett" and it's one of the first games with a discernible ending. 

Gameplay:B+

I found the game play to be a little bit lacking, due to the fact that it could be beaten in under fifteen minutes. Adventure is also extremely lackluster in variation mode 1, also variation mode 2 isn't bad. Variation mode 3, however is incredible. It has thrills, moments of impending doom, and everything you could possibly want in a extremely old game. I don't suggest mode 1, it's trash, it plays a game Zimag would make. Mode 2 is kind of light on game play but delivers mediocre thrills, but once you memorize where everything is and avoid the bat, game play is so-so. Mode 3 is no pushover, and it offers plenty of new stuff to the table, and it's actually a quality game! Although, I can't recommend mode 3 for beginners. However, in spite of few flaws such as a castle being locked and then unlocked, Adventure manages to deliver joy to your dusty wood grain console.

Originality:A

This game was one-of-a-kind. It was something new on the market and not ripped off some obscure arcade title. The programming is also remarkable considering the fact that Warren Robinett had to work two games at the same time (BASIC Programming and Slot Racers) It's a shame Warren Robinett only did four games (Elf Adventure was his fourth), because this game shows that he was a video game master. The setting is extremely authentic, the story line and plot is authentic, the game play is authentic, even the sound effects are authentic. It is blatantly obvious Adventure was not inspired off any existing game. Wow. Just wow. And this is even more impressive considering the fact that nearly all the games of that time were inspired off another game.

Graphics: B

Yes, graphical limitations cannot be helped. But some of the colors are a hot mess. I mean, purple with gray is not a good idea. Neither is red with gray. Or red with white. Some of the colors may bleed your eyes out. But considering how archaic this game is, the graphics were actually 2-3 years ahead of the time. And, the even more impressive part was that this cartridge used 4KB. In comparison, good games today use 4GB, 4 MILLION times the size of Adventure. Yet Adventure still boasts 32 (or 33) playfields. Which, even by today's standards, is nothing short of incredible. And it gets a thousand times more incredible when you hear this game was made on a console with 128 bytes of memory. In short, this game is nothing short of a technological achievement. But what's even more remarkable is that this game manages to make the objects somewhat realistic (I mean, even though the dragons look like ducks, you could still recognize them with a tinge of imagination)

Sound Effects: B+

Sound effects are minimalist and relatively soft on the ears. There is no music, but that's not my concern. My concern is that sound effects are a little too simple. I mean, they're just two different notes at most! However, if sound effects were elaborated, the gameplay would not be as good. But why couldn't Atari wait until 1982 to make it 8KB? That way, everything could've been elaborated, including the sound effects! It's actually a big shame that sound effects weren't good enough, because sound effects sometimes makes the game remarkable (Gyruss and Pitfall II) And I feel like Adventure had a chance to not be so archaic if it didn't have so archaic sound effects.

Final Grade: B+

Technically speaking, Adventure is insanely advanced. It doesn't deserve to be on the Atari 2600, maybe the 7800 at least. I mean, this game is hard to make on the Atari 2600 with 32KB, let alone 4! It took Warren Robinett one year to make this, and that's short. I would really like to see the original source code, if that's possible. But gameplay speaking, it's... still good. But don't try mode 1 unless you're an absolute beginner, try mode 2 for moderate but fun thrills and mode 3 for the best thrills. Do I recommend it, though? Absolutely. Definitely. 102%. 

 

I have an explanation about Atari waiting till 1982 to make 8k game cartridges. I think there was no video game game console that had 8k game cartridges including the intellivision. That means there was a cost issue.

 

Adventure is a 40 year old year and the 2600 started to have 4k games in 1978.The 2600 had 2k games in 1977 when it was released and expecting a 8k version of Adventure when it came out is not realistic considering the time frame.

 

What also needed to be looked at it seems like 40 years ago, it is very likely 2600 programmer considered making a bank switched 8k game.