Adventure - What am I missing?

[silverpoodleman]

Hey folks -

 

I'm about two months into my own Atari 2600 revival, have upwards of 180 titles, and spend way too much time reading through new and archived forums (and other computer based Atari time wasting - searching eBay, reading reviews, visiting every Atari site, and hunting for information on games I want to buy).

 

I also spend much time playing all these game. One game I keep coming back to is Adventure. According to everything I read, it is one of the best games in the storied history of the 2600. In fact, the most recent poll of atariage.com rates it as the BEST 2600 game ever!!!! (#49 of Ataritimes.com).

 

Exactly what am I missing? Don't get me wrong - I love the 2600 and find the game design to be incredibly creative, humorous and, well, neat. I also love the simplicity of games like KaBoom!, Super Breakout - hell, even Pong!

 

OK, so there is this square dot as the main character and I'm okay with that. I got the story - rather thin, but acceptable. I understand the mission and what I'm supposed to do.

 

Nonetheless, I just don't get it. Can somebody please explain why this game is as highly rated as it is? I'm not trying to be thick here - remember, I am a 2600 fanatic - but it seems that the love for this game may be more sentimental than actually based on Gameplay, Graphics (obviously) or Advanced Gaming Theory and Apllication.

 

I am asking for help here, so please do not GET ANGRY for my ingnorance. I should also say that I understand the sentimental value of one of these games (after my father lost the physical ability to bowl, we bought 2600 Bowling, which is a pretty awful game but we used to play it together and I still love it. Same thing with games like Sky Diver, Human Cannonball [though my father never did either of thes..wait a minute - I guess he did], Black Jack, etc.,).

 

So, please - help me find reasons to try this game again and get excited about it (like everyone else seems to be).

 

Thanks for your help.

[Road_runner]

Hey folks -

 

I'm about two months into my own Atari 2600 revival, have upwards of 180 titles, and spend way too much time reading through new and archived forums (and other computer based Atari time wasting - searching eBay, reading reviews, visiting every Atari site, and hunting for information on games I want to buy).

 

I also spend much time playing all these game. One game I keep coming back to is Adventure. According to everything I read, it is one of the best games in the storied history of the 2600. In fact, the most recent poll of atariage.com rates it as the BEST 2600 game ever!!!!  (#49 of Ataritimes.com).

 

Exactly what am I missing? Don't get me wrong - I love the 2600 and find the game design to be incredibly creative, humorous and, well, neat. I also love the simplicity of games like KaBoom!, Super Breakout - hell, even Pong!

 

OK, so there is this square dot as the main character and I'm okay with that. I got the story - rather thin, but acceptable. I understand the mission and what I'm supposed to do.

 

Nonetheless, I just don't get it. Can somebody please explain why this game is as highly rated as it is? I'm not trying to be thick here - remember, I am a 2600 fanatic - but it seems that the love for this game may be more sentimental than actually based on Gameplay, Graphics (obviously) or Advanced Gaming Theory and Apllication.

 

I am asking for help here, so please do not GET ANGRY for my ingnorance. I should also say that I understand the sentimental value of one of these games (after my father lost the physical ability to bowl, we bought 2600 Bowling, which is a pretty awful game but we used to play it together and I still love it. Same thing with games like Sky Diver, Human Cannonball [though my father never did either of thes..wait a minute - I guess he did], Black Jack, etc.,).

 

So, please - help me find reasons to try this game again and get excited about it (like everyone else seems to be).

 

Thanks for your help.    

926466[/snapback]

 

 

This may sound stupid... but I could spend hours playing space invaders. Personaly I hate Adventure. My wife thinks it's ok, i guess... I will ask her and let you know.

[+Cafeman]

You are missing having not played it 25 years ago! Imagine that, instead of having tons of 2600 games, you have but a few VCS cartridges. All of them are twitch-based arcade-action games such as Breakout, Kaboom, or Combat. Maybe you have Hangman and Video Chess too. But then there is Adventure ... with many screens to explore and semi-smart creatures to outwit or deal with, and a new game every time you start option#3.

[Road_runner]

Hey folks -

 

Exactly what am I missing? Don't get me wrong - I love the 2600 and find the game design to be incredibly creative, humorous and, well, neat. I also love the simplicity of games like KaBoom!, Super Breakout - hell, even Pong!

 

 

 

I am asking for help here, so please do not GET ANGRY for my ingnorance. I should also say that I understand the sentimental value of one of these games (after my father lost the physical ability to bowl, we bought 2600 Bowling, which is a pretty awful game but we used to play it together and I still love it. Same thing with games like Sky Diver, Human Cannonball [though my father never did either of thes..wait a minute - I guess he did], Black Jack, etc.,).

 

So, please - help me find reasons to try this game again and get excited about it (like everyone else seems to be).

 

Thanks for your help.    

926466[/snapback]

 

OK... I'm ESG169 on ebay and you bought a bunch of loose games from me as a matter of fact a few weks ago.

 

Great to see you are getting back into it all!

 

My wife said that it's a game of "follow a path" or something like that.. It's like a treasure hunt etc.... She also said that you need the instruction manual.. You need to read it and follow the rules etc...

 

Here on AA they have the manuals available to Download I think.

I hope that bit of nothing I just rambled on to you helped in some way or another.

[supercat]

Can somebody please explain why this game is as highly rated as it is? I'm not trying to be thick here - remember, I am a 2600 fanatic - but it seems that the love for this game may be more sentimental than actually based on Gameplay, Graphics (obviously) or Advanced Gaming Theory and Apllication.

926466[/snapback]

 

Adventure can at times be frustrating--I'd probably like it better if the bat wasn't allowed to grab items you were carrying--but it is nonetheless fun to play even today. One has to play it long enough to get a feel for the maps (which are weird but make sense in their own way). Threading one's way through the mazes can be like doing one of those funny little twiddle puzzles. Not exactly hard, but something that still feels good when done. The dragons provide a nice level of challenge--if you try to run away from them, you'll usually succeed, but running past them is apt to be much dicier. Having objects get swiped by the bat can be annoying, but there's often a certain logic to figuring out where the bat goes with them which can be an interesting challenge in its own right.

 

Adventure isn't perfect, but it's got as much substance--if not more--than a typical Quake level.

[uosipa llamxew]

I was the same way until a week or two ago. I never played it back in the day and I just didn't get it! I think I finally understand though, and I'm intrigued!

 

You are on a quest to find the grail, chalice, whatever you want to call it. The game is different every time, so if you fail once, it may not be so the next time. Keys open doors to castles, magnets attract items out of reach, bridges let you cross where you couldn't before, bats take away anything you hold, dragons eat you whole unless you slay them with the sword! Heck, it's like a pre-Nintendo Legend of Zelda that's always different!

 

Read the manual... give it a couple of tries. It's really kind of cool!

 

Just for the record, I think I posted just a couple of weeks ago just the same, "I don't get it!"

[yuppicide]

I remember when this kid Adam got Adventure for his Birthday. I wanted that game so bad. It's one of the earliest Role-Playing Games I can remember.

 

What did I get for my Birthday?! TWO copies of Adventure. Yeah, that's right. Two people bought me the same game.

 

Plus it was the first game I knew of to have an Easter Egg in it.

[jetset]

Remember the phrase..."To each his own"

Not EVERYBODY loves Adventure. Just like not EVERYBODY hates 2600 PacMan. Back in the 2600's heyday it was *the* game you just had to have.

Personally I love Adventure, but my fave has always been Kaboom.

[NE146]

You are missing having not played it 25 years ago!  Imagine that, instead of having tons of 2600 games, you have but a few VCS cartridges.  All of them are twitch-based arcade-action games such as Breakout,  Kaboom, or Combat. Maybe you have Hangman and Video Chess too.

 

Actually not even Kaboom... Activision was still sort of a gleam in the eye. It was more like Combat & Hangman and the other first crop Atari staples were the norm when Adventure had the most impact

[Cootster]

I'd have to consider it at least a bit over-rated myself. I mean I like it, but I wouldn't put it on my top 50, and it was the 3rd (or 4th) game I ever owned, so there is some sentimental value there. . .

 

I think the love it gets around these parts has a lot to do with the randomness and intricacies of the program. It has more hacks than any game other than Space Invaders or Pac-Man because people like to fool around with the engine and expand it. Some of those (such as Haunted Adventure, Indenture, etc.) are great and would have been my favorites if they'd been on cart back in the day.

[Philflound]

Not over rated at all. In fact I downloaded the Adventure Plus from here and have been playing it for the past week every other day. New mazes, dragon's are harder, better graphics. I just love the concept of Dungeons and Dragons and have always loved fantasy rpg games, no matter how bad the graphics were. In fact I love the handheld mini D&D game and the electronic D&D game. Too bad you couldn't rescue a maiden in Adventure. That would be something.

 

Phil

[uosipa llamxew]

I'm sure the chalice could be hacked into a maiden, and you could return her to her castle.

[+SpiceWare]

It was a very original game at the time. Also Dungeons & Dragons was really popular when it came out. My brother, sister and I spent the summer collecting aluminum cans to buy it.

[Robert M]

Adventure is great because...

 

1. It has random item placement for game mode 3.

 

2. The enemies are free agents. They go about their business even when you are not around. Absolutely revolutionary! Many modern games still don't do this simple concept. Instead we are forced to endure scripted encounters. Nothing is scripted in adventure. Adventure is an environment, a system if you will. The objects, agents (dragons and bat), and you are all thrown in together and stuff just happens. Its great!

 

3. The magnet:

- It gets things out of walls. An absolutely brilliant solution to a problem changing the annoying dropping habits of the bat into a quest objective: Bat drops the key in the wall, now you need to find the magnet first.

- Use it with the bridge to pass through "impassable" walls. There are some weird transdimesional passageways just begging to be found.

- Use it with the sword to fight dragons in a new way. (Predates the Half-life gravity gun by what 25 years!) Freaking revolutionary!

- Use it to lock a key inside a castle of the same color trapping anything that happens to be inside at the time.

 

4. The Easter Egg! I remember my brother found the magic dot, and we were all "WTF?" and then we received the issue of AA magazine that showed us what to do with it. Awesome!

 

5. The catacombs.

 

6. Take a ride in a dragon stomach and see the world.

[shining slade]

I remember being at my friends house playing this game for hours! It was cool back when it came out and is still. However that damned bat can really piss you off at times! I actually got stuck inside a wall a couple of times because I was using the bridge and the bat came and took it! I waited for awhile to see if he'd bring it back but when he did come back he had a different item. I ended up having to reset the game! This ever happen to anyone else??

[Mezrabad]

Emergent gameplay, maybe? Nothing in the design or the instruction manual that says "Grab a magnet and travel with the bridge downwards though the whole map". How about moments when the bat flies through with the arrow and kills the dragon for you? How about when you get swallowed by a dragon and then the dragon gets picked up by the bat and you fly around the universe?

 

Playing that game late night in whatever year I got it was very exciting for me. Here was a multi-screen universe in which "going" somewhere meant having to go through other places. There was "travel time". Having to "go find the black key" to get in the black castle by searching for it "somewhere else" gave the game a sense of "place". This wasn't a game I was playing on my TV, this was another place in which I was moving around in by controlling a square using a mechanism hooked up to my TV, which I saw through my TV.

 

I was taking part in a quest in a place that existed beyond my living room. Honest.

 

This game was designed to be a graphic analogy for the first text adventure game "Adventure". Warren Robinette described it as such in a powerpoint presentation which I can no longer find . He said he wanted to translate typed phrases like "go north" into a simple joystick direction. "take object" or "drop object" translated into the simple act of bumping into something or pressing a button to drop it. Instead of typing "use sword to slay dragon" you actually did it. Likewise to use a key. You weren't selecting an action from a menu, you weren't typing in the correct verb-object combination you were doing it. Think about it: no lifebars, no menus, no inventory screen, no overlays of any kind, just you and the environment in which you struggled to survive and triumph. Any other games come out like that recently? Yeah, Ico. Any others? None that I can think of.

 

There were also other things wandering around this little universe performing functions outside your range of perception. If you leave an object out, the bat might take it and replace it with something else, perhaps an object much less needed than the one you left when you go looking for it. Dragons wander around looking for something to guard. You may think, "okay, the dragon is guarding x, I'm safe from that one" but suddenly you see the bat fly by with x and the dragon chasing it. Suddenly the dragon is now chasing you and you don't have your sword? What do you do? How do you trick him? Can you grab the bat and "convince" the bat to pick up the dragon and "save" you?

 

THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE THIS when it came out. NOTHING. Not at home at least. Sure, there were text adventures on your TRS-80 or Apple ][ which you owned if you were lucky enough to have a parent into personal computers, or even Aklabeth if you were really lucky.

 

But, an in-color graphic arcade adventure? Simple enough to play an entire game of in 10 or 15 minutes? NOTHING LIKE IT.

 

It was simple. It was elegant. It was the first. It had endless replay value for me then and now.

 

Maybe it isn't for everyone, but respect the design in its historical context and that should be enough to make you go "cool" even if it doesn't make you want to play it for hours on end.

 

damnit, I took too long to write this so some of my babbling is redundant. live with it and grow.

[supercat]

6. Take a ride in a dragon stomach and see the world.

926587[/snapback]

 

In Adventure 2, I once managed to be carrying the bat when I got stuck in the dragon's stomach, so I was dead, the bat was carrying me, and I had some ability to steer the bat. Did that ever happen in the original?

[Foxsolo2000]

Yes, that was one of the smart tricks that I discovered some years ago, piloting the bat. The best trick though was locking the dragons and the bat in the secret room for they couldn't get out once in.

[moycon]

EVERYONE loves Adventure!!

 

I definately think it's rated so high by us old folks because face it, the pickings were slim back in the day and Adventure was outrageously cool. Sure it might not look like much, even back then, but the random generated levels kept the game fresh and as such there was a real sense of exploration. I used to play for hours. Keep in mind this is back when being able to control something on a TV screen was a jaw dropping experience as it was. People would buy a game like Hangman or Football, because HEY! You were controlling something on TV! Wow! Many of the early games that get hardly any play these days are bottom line not all that fun, but Adventure, even after 30 years is just that...an Adventure, it seemed like every time you played a game you would discover something new. Hell even today people discover new things about that game. Give it a try again on LVL 3.

Edited September 7, 2005 by moycon

[+Random Terrain]

Adventure was fun for a while and so was Superman, but E.T. was such an improvement over those games that it's hard to go back to them. I'd rather play a flicker-free adventure game and I don't really like mazes, so E.T. is perfect for me.

 

I would rather play Adventure or Superman over the un-hacked so-called adventure games, Pitfall and Pitfall II though. I like 'smart' enemies, randomness, and and replayablity, so games such as Pitfall and Pitfall II are nothing but paperweights to me.

Edited December 17, 2007 by Random Terrain

[Damon Plus]

Why I think Atari 2600 Adenture is so fun: by Warren Robinett

 

http://www.ataritimes.com/features/ataritop20_6.html

 

Enjoy

[silverpoodleman]

This may sound stupid... but I could spend hours playing space invaders. Personaly I hate Adventure. My wife thinks it's ok, i guess... I will ask her and let you know.

926478[/snapback]

 

Hey, I'm with you. I play in the dark, sitting in my reclining "control chair" saving the world againa nd again wile listening to Thelonious Monk. I'll tell ya, if you're looking for an escape, there it is!!

[silverpoodleman]

OK... I'm ESG169 on ebay and you bought a bunch of loose games from me as a matter of fact a few weks ago.

 

 

Hey there "Fishing Derby, Solaris and GI Joe Cobra Srike" selling guy -

 

good to hear from you - I still value the $0.99 solaris cart I got from you as a great buy. It was (still is) in mint condition.

 

I appredciate your feedback and I'll check out your current game listing.

 

Take care

 

Marc

AKA Silverpoodleman

[silverpoodleman]

You are missing having not played it 25 years ago!  Imagine that, instead of having tons of 2600 games, you have but a few VCS cartridges.  All of them are twitch-based arcade-action games such as Breakout,  Kaboom, or Combat. Maybe you have Hangman and Video Chess too.  But then there is Adventure ... with many screens to explore and semi-smart creatures to outwit or deal with, and a new game every time you start option#3.

926485[/snapback]

I thought it was something like that. Boy, it seems that so many people have such strong memories to this game. I've been telling my daughter why I only had twelve 2600 games growing up - They were expensive and I only got new games for birthdays and special events. So yeah, I understand the attachment.

[Damon Plus]

I played the game for the first time 2 years ago, and I really love it! It´s a pretty complex and deep game for a 2600, and it´s easy to appreciate the effort they made in 1980!