Tag: Arcade Classic

Categories
3 out of 5 Maze Miscellaneous Arcade SNES

Pacman

Publisher: Namco

Designer: Namco

Type: Maze

Platform: SNES

Release Date: 1980

Rating:

After a rather disastrous experience with the Atari version of Pacman, I decided to see what the SNES version was like, and whether it was any easier. Well, my judgement is that it is, though there is still the problem that Pacman can be pretty difficult to control. I guess the reason for that is because once you start him moving, he just doesn’t stop. However, with this version, I did manage to complete the first level, so I guess I can say that it is certainly better.

This game does look a lot more like the version that you would see in the arcade parlours though, and it certainly runs much better as well. The graphics do match the original game, and of course, the ghosts each have their own personality. One thing I noticed is that they don’t all pile out of their inner sanctum at once, which can make it a little tricky. It is also tricky when you find yourself snookered.

Another thing that I noticed is that the maze changes slightly as you progress up the levels. Once again, I’m not sure if that is what is supposed to happen in the original, but it certainly gives this version of the game some more flare to it. However, as I mentioned, it does happen to be difficult, especially since Pacman isn’t as controllable as one would like him to be. Yet, I guess that just adds to the thrill of the game.

Categories
Atari Platform

Mario Bros

Publisher: Nintendo

Designer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Gunpei Yokoi

Type: Platform

Platform: Atari 2600

Release Date: 1983

Rating:

Yeah, I really had to comment on how bad the Atari 2600 games really looked, especially since it does happen to be an 8-bit machine, and the games that appeared on other 8 bit machines (cough, c64, cough) were so much better looking. Still, I guess we are still looking at the really early days of the video game era so, well, I guess we can’t expect too much to come from these home machines.

Yet, this game certainly is nothing that you would expect to come from the Mario franchise. All you seem to do is to kill nasties and not even that. There are like three platforms and some nasties appear on them (as well as other rather, well, blocky, objects that I have no idea what they are supposed to be, but they didn’t kill me so I guess that is alright) and you have to knock them off the platforms by jumping into them from underneath, and then jumping onto the platform and kicking them off.

Actually, I do vaguely remember these old handhold games that we would get when we were kids (or should I say other kids would get because my parents never saw the point in forking out money for such things – so was the deprived childhood that I had – and I will point to the fact that that phrase is dripping with sarcasm) and this game was among them. I’m not going to go into details of these games because, well, I’m talking about Mario Bros from the Atari 2600.

Look, the game wasn’t bad, graphics aside, and it wasn’t too hard either. However, I certainly would be expecting anything on the level of other games from the period though, although this was a very, very popular machine.

Anyway, I can refer you to the Wikipedia article for more information on the game, and you can also go to a site called Moby Games, which also has a bit of a write up.

Categories
2 out of 5 Atari Maze Miscellaneous Arcade

Pacman

Publisher: Atari Inc

Designer: Atari Inc

Type: Maze

Platform: Atari 2600

Release Date: 1982

Rating:

I probably shouldn’t be too harsh on the Atari 2600 considering that it not only is an 8-bit machine, but it was also really really popular. The most common joysticks that I found when I was a kid happened to be the Atari joysticks, not that they were good mind you. In fact, they were pretty bad, and quite prone to breaking. However, let us consider this game, which ironically was the most popular game on the machine.

However, imagine driving a car when your breaks don’t work (not that I would encourage you to test it out because you are likely to cause more damage than to). Well, that is what it was like playing this game.

Honestly, I found that once I sent Pacman in a direction it was really, really hard turning corners because, well, he would just go, and go, and then run into a ghost.

Yeah, controlling this game was an absolute nightmare. Sure, maybe it was designed that way to make the game a little harder, not that I can recall playing it on any other machines, at least in the not too distant past. However, I did attempt to play this game, and it was a nightmare, even if it was simply because I couldn’t make sharp turns, stop, or avoid the ghosts.

Anyway, you can find more about this version of Pacman on Wikipedia, and there is also an entry on Pacman’s very own wiki page. Actually, as a point of note, if you type Pacman into Google, you will find a playable Pacman Google doodle.

Categories
2 out of 5 C64 Shoot-em Up

Avenger

Publisher: Commodore

Designer: Commodore

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release Date: 1982

Rating:

For some reason, the file that this game happened to be in was called Avenger (which as it turns out, is the correct name). Okay, considering that this does happen to be an old C64 game, I wasn’t expecting it to have anything to do with those Marvel characters, or collecting pieces of the infinity stone to defeat Thanos. Rather, I wasn’t actually sure what this game was actually about. So, when I fired it up, you can probably imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was space invaders.

Look, I shouldn’t be too harsh on the game because it is actually one of the original arcade games, and I have played it a few times. I won’t necessarily say that it is easy though, especially since as you go up levels it does tend to get harder and harder. Then again, the more that you shoot, the faster they become. Apparently this started as a bug in the game, but because it worked so well, the original designers decided not to fix it.

However, I have to admit that the game is, well, boring. Like, yeah, its space invaders, and there is only so much of this game that I can play before I want to go and do something else, or even play something else. Still, it is certainly something to remember for posterities sake (and no doubt this isn’t the last time I’ll be writing a review of this game, though it will probably be on a different platform).

So, I guess the reason for the name change is that Commodore (who released the game) didn’t actually have the rights for the original title, so they ended up making their own. Anyway, there is a brief article about this game on Wikipedia, for what it’s worth.

Categories
4 out of 5 C64 Shoot-em Up

Attack of the Mutant Camels

Publisher: Llamasoft

Designer: Jeff Minter

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Rating:

This is one of the classic games of the Commodore 64 and I have to admit that it is absolutely awesome. Oh, and it is pretty hard as well, not impossible, just pretty hard. Basically, you are flying a space ship (and honestly, what else would you be flying in a shoot-em-up) and there are these massively gigantic camels heading towards you that shoot bombs out of their eyes. Oh, and occasionally they also fire smart bombs, which means that they home in on you.

You have energy levels, which does actually make it somewhat easier (otherwise it would be massively impossible because avoiding those bombs, and those smart-bombs, is a challenge in and of itself). You also have three lives, which really helps as well, but the problem is that first of all, these camels aren’t easy to kill – by no means. You simply have to bombard them with bullets, and as they get weaker they change colours until you finally kill one. Yet, there is more than just one.

The other catch is that these camels are moving slowly across the screen, and when they reach the edge of the screen it is basically ‘game over man, game over’. Yeah, when that happens, it does not matter how many lives you have left, your base has been destroyed and you might as well start over again.

This game is full-on fast-paced and is honestly one of those amazing games that I remember from my youth. Oh, it also has a two-player mode, though I don’t believe you attack them at the same time (which would have been much, much easier mind you). Yeah, this game rocks.

Oh, it also appears that this game has made it into the Smithsonian as a museum piece, at least according to the games Wikipedia article. Another thing I discovered from this same article is that you can find the source code for the game up on Github, which is also pretty awesome (though it was written in assembly). In fact, the popularity of the game has warranted it an article all of its own in the Old School Gamer Magazine. Oh, and in case I forget, you call also find out more about it on Lemon 64.

Categories
2 out of 5 Shoot-em Up

Alley Oops

Publisher: Artworx

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Rating:

It seems that people will turn anything into a shoot-em-up, and this game is a case in point. Well, it could also be an attempt to make a bowling simulator by somebody who, halfway through, decided to give up and make a shoot-em-up instead because, well, they are just so much easier to write (and you can see my Java version of Space Invaders as a case in point).

The game itself starts during World War I where you guide your futuristic plane across the skies shooting down, and attempting to avoid, Anyway, yeah, it is basically a bowling game, but instead of doing what you would normally do in a bowling game, you instead have to shoot pins as they come flying at you. There are a number of lanes which you can move across, and the pins come down these lanes randomly, so you need to move across the lanes to hit the pins. Oh, your weapon is a bowling ball, but you probably guess that already. There are otherways of scoring points as well, but I guess that is enough.

So, what did I think about this game? I guess my comments have basically told you everything you need to know, and that is basically that I wasn’t all that impressed. Okay, it is fun for a while, but it is just one of those simplistic games that you pretty much get sick of pretty quickly. Mind you, my initial reaction was ‘seriously! You have got to be kidding me!’.

Mind you, I have had a lot of difficulty actually finding any information about this game because, well, there certainly isn’t a Wikipedia entry, not a C64 Wiki entry either. However, I did find some vague information on Lemon 64, and of course somebody has posted a video of it up on Youtube.

Categories
5 out of 5 C64 Puzzle

Boulderdash

Publisher: First Star Software

Designer: Peter Liepa

Type: Puzzle

Platform: C64

Release: 1984

Rating:

I remember that this was a favourite game of my family back in the days, and honestly, it certainly has a unique quality about it. I would basically describe it as a puzzle game, namely because you are given a level and your job is to collect the correct number of diamonds (or more) without getting killed. Getting killed comes about through a number of ways, the major one being a boulder falling on top of you. However, you also have butterflies (which explode into diamonds when killed) or fireflies (which just explode), and while they initially seem to be something to avoid, it becomes pretty obvious, pretty quickly, that you need to use these things to complete the level.

Yeah, this game turned out to be pretty challenging, and of course the levels get progressively harder as you move through them. Not only that but you also have a time limit, which means you simply can’t really dawdle through these levels. Oh, and I should also mention that it can be pretty easy to ‘snooker’ yourself in this game, and one minor mistake can result in you not being able to complete the game.

Initially there were two games released, but then I remember another version appearing that was basically 16 games, which meant hundred of levels that would no doubt keep the most avid fan occupied for years. Of course, I’m not really one of those ‘most avid fans’ but in my mind the game is still pretty fun. Oh, I probably should also mention that this game was ripe for a construction set, which means that I shouldn’t have be all that surprised that so see so many levels appear afterwards in a collection that was no doubt put together by some keen programmer.

Oh, and I probably should also mention that it seems as if this game hasn’t died out over the years either, if the Wikipedia page, or the official website, is anything to go by. Then again, nothing beats the simplicity of the original. Oh, and if you are interested, there is a lot more information about the game on the C64-Wiki page as well.

Categories
4 out of 5 Game Shoot-em Up

Time Pilot

Publisher: Konami

Designer: Yoshiki Okamoto

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release: 1984

Rating: undefined

A lot of games that were converted from the arcade machine to the home computer really didn’t come out all that well, no doubt due to the limitations of the home computer. Well, it wasn’t the case with this game. Then again, the game is actually quite simple when considered. Basically, the story goes that you are from the future and a number of your comrades have been scattered throughout history and it is your job to travel back in time to rescue them.

The game itself starts during World War I where you guide your futuristic plane across the skies shooting down, and attempting to avoid, various planes from the time. You will also encounter people hanging from parachutes – these are the guys that you are attempting to rescue. There is a timer at the bottom that once the time runs out then a ‘mothership’ will appear that you have to shoot down to allow you to progress into the future.

Mind you, I’ve only made it as far as the Vietnam War (passing through World War I and World War II). That is probably because once you get to Vietnam you suddenly have helicopters that fire guided missiles, and I am sure if I put more effort into it I could probably defeat that level as well. There are two more levels after this one, though I have never been good enough to be able to get that far.

This is one of my favourite arcade games, though like a lot of these games I can’t necessarily claim that I am really any good. I guess I liked the idea of flying around World War I in a futuristic fighter shooting down bi-planes, though it isn’t like shooting fish in a barrel as it sounds, because it turns out that that the weapons on the biplanes are actually quite capable of shooting your plane down, which means it is probably a pretty good idea to avoid those bullets, and of course bashing through the planes doesn’t work all that well either.

You can find some hints and tips on Strategywiki, and of course, you can always go to Wikipedia for a more, unbiased, account of this game.

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