Enduro [Atari 2600] – Review
March 16, 2013
Larry Miller’s first game for Activision was the unique shoot ‘em up Spider Fighter.
Not a racing game per se, Enduro is more of a driving game. Pitting players against the passage of time, changing weather conditions, and an endless amount of traffic, the objective of Enduro is to drive forever. To do so, players must pass a requisite amount of cars before the end of the day. Should this objective not be met, it’s game over.
Driving in tougher weather conditions was challenging. The snow blanketed everything around while the early morning fog shrouded the road and gave little time to evade traffic. The weather changed abruptly and it was kind of funny to all of a sudden see the environment turn stark white.
With my brief time playing Enduro, I didn’t develop a fondness for it as I have with other Activision games. It’s still a well-made game and with more time, I’m sure I’d enjoy it more. If I’m looking to play a racing/driving game on the Atari 2600 though, I’ll stick with Dragster.
This screenshot shows that completing day 2 will require passing 89 more cars.
Enduro was designed by Larry Miller and released for the Atari 2600 in 1983. Driving 250 miles or more in the Activision Anthology version will unlock the “Roadbusters” patch. The original requirement was to drive 5 days or more.
Dolphin [Atari 2600] – Review
March 15, 2013
The lighthearted concepts of these games are refreshing.
Matthew Hubbard’s Dolphin is adoration in video game form. His fondness for what is considered one of the smartest animals on the planet shines through in sonically innovative gameplay and a manual that reads like an educational children’s book.
Controlling the eponymous dolphin, players must move swiftly to evade the stalking squid and dart through schools of seahorses. Catching waves, represented by inequality signs, can provide an essential boost.
The most interesting mechanic in Dolphin is its use of sonic cues. Before a wave, a school of seahorse, seagulls, etc. appear on screen, the player will hear a sonic cue. With some time, differentiating these cues allows one to forecast what is appearing and how to react. It’s a very cool mechanic and its implementation in this game specifically is well done.
Dolphin has no goal other than attaining a high score. Lacking stages, players play cat and mouse (squid and dolphin?) until their lives are depleted. While its core gameplay mechanic is functional and fun to adapt to, and the game plays well, only high score fiends and dolphin enthusiasts need apply.
Evading the squid meant changing direction, and often.
Should it be played on Activision Anthology, scores of 10,000 to 25,000 points will unlock patches and a gameplay mode. These requirements are much easier than what players were originally asked to do to earn patches – 80,000 points and south of 500,000 points.
The Activision Decathlon [Atari 2600] – Review
March 14, 2013
It’s even got the Olympic theme song!
Designed by David Crane and published by Activision for the Atari 2600 and a cavalcade of other platforms around 1983, The Activision Decathlon hit the market right around the time Konami’s Track & Field was hitting the arcades. Lesser known no doubt, The Activision Decathlon is a fantastic game and a sublime blast with human opponents (up to four!).
As it is a game from the venerable David Crane, there wasn’t really the question of whether or not it would be good. Thus far, I’ve only played one dud from him and that was Laser Blast, which is still a decent game. What makes this game work so well though is the simplicity of the Atari 2600. For most games on the platform, the only control option was the joystick and a single red button. As was the case, this game is easy to pick up and play and I only had troubles with one event – the pole vault, where I needed to press the button twice – once to set my pole and again to eject myself. Even then, I realized what I had to do by my final attempt.
With ten events, the game offers plenty of differentiation while not having to stray to obscure events. Most every event involves rapidly flicking the joystick back and forth while some, as mentioned, require a button press or two. Easily the most difficult event is the 1500-meter race. It takes about four minutes of flicking the joystick/analog stick back and forth. The same motion done for four minutes doesn’t sound so tough, until you pass the 100-meter marker and are hit with a wave of deflation realizing what you’re in for. All events, even that one, are simple and fun so this was a blast to play in the competition.
Run Forrest, run!
Unlockable in Activision Anthology are three patches. The bronze, silver, and gold medal patches are unlocked with 8,000, 9,000, and 9,400 points respectively. Not included in the compilation was the original commercial featuring Kim Kardashian’s stepfather, Bruce Jenner.
Crackpots [Atari 2600] – Review
March 13, 2013
Dan Kitchen’s first for Activision.
Potsy, the rooftop gardener of a high-rise in Brooklyn has encountered an infestation of spider-like bugs and he’s determined to keep them from entering in through the windows. His solution is to say bombs away to his potted petunias.
Controlling Potsy, players drop his pots when bugs are underneath and do so until every last one of them is gone. The pots are infinite but the amount of bugs players can let in is not. The bugs are easy to take care of early on as they travel straight; sooner rather than later though, they begin zigzagging wildly as they crawl up the building and before long, there’s a real challenge in surviving.
Sayonara spiders!
Crackpots is an enjoyable score attack game boosted by the lighthearted concept. Designed by Dan Kitchen, it was originally released for the Atari 2600 in 1983. Scoring 17,500 and 25,000 points in Activision Anthology will unlock a patch and a new gameplay mode. Originally players had to achieve a score of 75,000 points or greater to unlock the patch, so this challenge is much less difficult.
Moonsweeper [Atari 2600] – Review
March 12, 2013
Noooooooo!
Designed by Bob Smith, Moonsweeper is another Imagic title for the Atari 2600. Released in 1983, Moonsweeper continues Imagic’s trend of technologically proficient titles on a then aging platform. It’s clichéd to say, but screenshots do not do this game justice! It’s a marvel to see in motion and the gameplay isn’t too bad either!
Tasked not simply with destroying enemy forces, players are primarily on a rescue mission. Piloting the USS Moonsweeper around the sun of Star Quadrant Jupiter, there are two arenas in which the game is played. The first, outer space, features limited options. Here the main goal is to avoid flares and other deadly objects while trying to land on the orbiting planets. Once on a planet, players glide about searching for miners to rescue. With six in tow, it’s back to space to do it over again.
Moonsweeper is a score attack game through and through and I wasn’t very good! This is a game that I foresee taking some devotion to get a respectable score. The controls bothered me slightly; I’d seem to oversteer or understeer all the time, running into dangerous objects in space or enemy fire on the planets. Nonetheless I enjoyed seeing the game in motion.
When planetside, the gameplay isn’t too far off from Beamrider.
After scoring 1,000 points in Activision Anthology, players unlock the hyperspace gameplay mode. Resembling the popular sequences from the Star Wars films, this mode works very well with Moonsweeper.
Beamrider [Atari 2600] – Review
March 11, 2013
Thanks to Atarimania for hosting this image of an autographed copy of the game.
Beamrider represents a first in my articles over Activision Anthology. It is the first game in the compilation that was not originally developed for the Atari 2600. It was originally released for the Mattel Intellivision and later ported to Atari’s platform and a host of its contemporaries. Designed by David Rolfe, it doesn’t appear that he was an employee of Activision but rather worked for Cheshire Engineering, a contractor of sorts.
Beamrider was released for the Atari 2600 in 1983 and plays like Tempest. Players control a light ship as they venture through an abstracted and simplified outer space. Riding on and jumping between five separate beams, players must destroy fifteen enemies per stage before hightailing it back to the space station and getting one step closer to the desired Restrictor Shield. The action can be confusing and hectic, but the game holds up. It’s not my cup of tea however, even though I have a preference for shoot ‘em ups. Its setting was not as quirky as some of the other shoot ‘em ups I played on this compilation and the rigidness of the gameplay (switching between the beams as in Tempest) has never been a feature that I was fond of.
Although the player never moves “into” the screen, Beamrider does portray itself in pseudo 3D.
The only unlockable in Activision Anthology is a patch. Originally, players had to reach sector 14 with a score of 40,000 or more points. Here, all that’s required is a score of 2,500 or more points on game 8.
Spider Fighter [Atari 2600] – Review
March 10, 2013
The first of two games that new hire Larry Miller would design for Activision.
It’s time to harvest the backyard garden and all the neighborhood pests know it! Larry Miller’s Spider Fighter for the Atari 2600 has players spraying various pests with repellent in order to protect a burgeoning fruit orchard. This game was a vibrant, fast-paced shoot ‘em up that put the Atari 2600, and players, to task.
Each stage begins with the fruit on the right side of the screen and the pests to the left. The pests begin buzzing and crawling about the screen trying to get closer to what they desire. With ample bug blasters, players dart around the screen and launch poison pellets at the critters in what can only be described at a machine gun rate of fire. It’s necessary though as the game’s difficulty ramps up after some time. Spider Fighter plays like a well-oiled machine and looks and sounds fantastic; utterly top-notch!
What starts out breezy, does not remain easy.
If anyone can last 180 and 300 seconds, they’re rewarded with a gameplay mode and a patch in Activision Anthology. Originally, the patch was awarded to players who mailed in a photo of a score of 40,000 points or more – a much tougher feat.