Arcade Adventure – Games & Tech with the Sarkologist

Publisher: Atlantis

Designer: Mike Davis

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: Maze

Release Date: 1985

Rating:

This is another one of those awesome games that I remember from back in the days of the commodore 64. In fact, this game was also available on the Vic 20, and there was pretty much no difference between the two. Actually, come to think of it, I believe that there was a cartridge version of the game, which sort of works because it means that the cartridge could actually beef up the computer’s memory, giving the developers more space to be able to play with.

Well, you are a robber, and your job is to basically steal diamonds while avoiding the police. First of all, you have a limited number of bullets so you really need to be careful when you fire willy nilly around the place. There are also a number of locations that you can visit, including the diamond mine and the diamond store (which also have multiple levels).

However, where this game shines is that it is more than just a simple maze game where you avoid nasties and collect diamonds – otherwise, it would just be Pacman with a different skin. No, there are problems that you need to solve, such as getting the combination for the safe, and that certainly is quite tricky. The other thing is that in the mine you have ghosts, and not surprisingly your gun is completely useless against the ghost.

I do remember playing this for hours, and yeah, it is a pretty tricky game, but not as tricky as some. As I suggested, it probably falls into the category of arcade adventure because it is more than just a simple arcade game. There a problems to be solved, as well as numerous rooms that you can explore. Also, as I mentioned, there are the cops, and if they grab you (ditto with the helicopter) you are sent off to prison. However, if the ghosts nab you, then it is off to the morgue. Yeah, this is pretty cool.

Anyway, this game does have an entry in Wikipedia, but that shouldn’t surprise anybody due to its popularity. Also, you can find further details about it on Lemon64.

The Legend of Zelda

Publisher: Nintendo

Designer: Takashi Tezuka

Type: Arcade Adventure

Platform: NES

Release Date: 1986

Rating:

I’m not quite sure whether I could go as far as suggesting that this game is a proper roleplaying game, though I should point out that you do have quests, and you can not only pick up things, but you can also increase your character’s power through collecting, and buying, items. The other thing about this game is that fortunately when you die (you really don’t have that much in the way of health) is that while you go back to the start, you retain all of the stuff that you had when you were killed, which certainly does make this game a little easier.

Still, in many ways, this game does feel like it is just another arcade-style game, but I shouldn’t be too harsh on it because we are dealing with one of the original Nintendo consoles, which means that you only had two buttons on your controller. Also, the nasties that you have to battle aren’t all that fancy, but once again, I should point out that we are dealing with a rather old retro-game here.

It is fun though, despite it being pretty basic, and it certainly does look as if it is a pretty big game, which means that it is going to give you hours upon hours of gameplay. However, the instructions do point out that the nasties do get harder the further into the game you get, which sort of worried me because I found that the nasties around the start were pretty bad nonetheless. Yet, despite that, I did find out once you play it for a while you do eventually get the hang of the engine, which does make dealing with them somewhat easier.

Yeah, this game isn’t too bad, and of course, when we look at the later consoles that came about, there is certainly something to look forward too.

Anyway, you can find more information of this game (as well as the series as a whole) on Wikipedia, though I should mention that this game has a whole wikipage to itself as well, which you can also enjoy.