Atari 2600 Friday’s #43 – Skiing

At least there’s no abominable snowman…right? There’s no abominable snowman, right? guys?

The Story: Skiing, as close as you can get to the real thing….and NO abominable snowmen.

From the Manual: “Now you can ski all year long without worrying about tight boots, cold hands, long lift lines–or whether it snows! Skiing by ACTIVISION challenges you with a wide variety of slalom and downhill runs, designed for everyone from amateur to pro. Even if you’ve never been on a pair of skis, you can be a champion skier with Skiing by ACTIVISION. Read these instructions to find out how to make record-breaking runs without getting wrapped around a tree or crashing into a gate.”

From the Box: “For one daring skier at a time. Step into your skis and defog your goggles. A wide variety of slopes – from gradual warm-up runs to high-speed Olympic thrillers – lies in wait, with never an icy patch or exposed rock to worry about. You can ski all day (or night) without getting frostbite, and you never have to wait in a lift line! See if you can get through the slalom gates in record time. Learn to jump the treacherous moguls and dodge the trees hurtling by as you race downhill. Whether you’re an experienced snow skier or just someone who’s always wanted to try, Skiing by Activision is as close as you can get to the real thing – without leaving the comfort of your home.”

The Gameplay: Games 1-4 and 6-9 will always be the same every time, games 5 and 10 will be randomized each time you start up the game. To start skiing, move the joystick. Tap it left and right to change direction left and right all the way to horizontal. You will move fastest when your skis are pointed straight down. Slalom: Run through the gates as fast as possible, try not to hit anything or you will lose time getting back up. In slalom mode, the red button resets you to the top of the course. Downhill: Race down the hill as fast as you can, no gates to worry about. Red Button will not reset you in downhill mode and instead makes you jump.

The Controls: Joystick Left/Right to tip skis and change direction.

Post Review: It’s about what you’d expect from Atari 2600 Skiing. It is actually pretty good and feels like an early version of Ski Free, look that up too if you don’t know what it is. Slalom was dead on. left and right alternations to get through the goals. You can move further to the side by tilting more. There really isn’t a whole lot to say here, the screenshot describes it better than any text wall can.

High Score: Slalom Course? – 35.59

Skiing was one of the games that you could win a patch by sending in a screenshot of fast times. “To qualify, you must run slalom course 3 (Game 3) in under 28.2 seconds.”

Atari 2600 Friday’s #42 – Space Cavern

Prometheus the game?

The Story: Space Adventurers land on a planet and explore its caves full of dangerous aliens.

From the Manual: “You are in command of a Mark XIV intergalactic star-cruiser in an uncharted quadrant of outer space. You land on a mysterious planet riddled with a subterranean maze of tunnels and caverns inhabited by savage Electrosauri whose horns generate electro-molecular charges capable of disintegrating you and your crew. Your photon ray pistol is activated by the joystick and the fire button. The iridescent eyes of the electrosauri light the cavern walls with eerie flashes as they stalk you, their horns crackling and sizzling. If even one blast of electro-molecular energy strikes you, your skeleton will glow inside your body as the bio-molecular compounds of your body disintegrate. WARNING: Beware the savage attack of the shaggy marsupods.”

From the Box: “You command an intergalactic star cruiser that has landed on a mysterious planet riddled with smoky caverns inhabited by savage Electrosauri whose horns generate deadly electro-molecular charges. The Electrosauri stalk you, their horns crackling and sizzling. If even one blast of energy strikes you, your skeleton will glow as you disintegrate. “

The Gameplay: You start with 4 men and gain another every 20,000 points, with 4 being the max at any time. The game can be played with two players, but they alternate turned. Supposedly there are 48 variations to choose from. Annnnnnnnd, that’s all the information in the manual. I’m assuming this is a shooter going by the screenshot, so let’s get started, I guess.

The Controls: Joystick Left/Right to move. Down to fire right. Up to fire left. Red Button to fire up.

Post Review: This game is slightly unforgiving and somewhat easy. The enemy fire can be slightly hard to dodge, but they move in somewhat random predictable ways. I say random because sometimes they would go crazy and others just move up and down in one spot. Predictable because My best ‘strategy’ was to stand almost in one spot and shoot up, left or right when an enemy appeared. Speaking of which, you definitely have to watch all three directions, but points only come from those above you. Sometimes you can get hit immediately after spawning, so it’s easy to go through all 4 lives quickly depending on how you play and your luck. Space Cavern, a shooter that makes you watch 3 different directions…

High Score: 4245

Atari 2600 Friday’s #41 – Private Eye

Jinkies, it’s time to do some sleuthing.

The Story: Join Private Eye Pierre Touche on his race to catch international scoundrel Henri Le Fiend. Solve Five cases and be the respected Private Eye you always wanted to be.

From the Manual: “”Sacre bleu! I am the great French private eye Pierre Touche and I need your help. I’ve been summoned to capture the ringleader, Henri Le Fiend, and turn him over to the police. But wait — we first must find evidence against him and the stolen property. There are five cases pending, each with its own statute of limitations. A case is closed when Le Fiend is apprehended and booked. So hurry! Study the files below, grab your trench coat and meet me at Precinct 2600 — I’ll be waiting for you.” Sleuth wanted! Help Private Eye Touche navigate the city streets, parks, secret passages, dead-ends and one-ways in search of Henri Le Fiend and his gang. Evidence and stolen goods are scattered about — you’ll need to find these, too. Let the map and your memory be your guide. And let nothing go unnoticed.”

From the Box: “A Maze of Mystery. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am the great French Inspector Pierre Touche. And you? Well, enough with the formalities. Frankly, I need your help. “I’m in the throes of five phenomenal cases. Five mysteries with a central theme: Henri le Fiend, International scoundrel, first class. Last seen in New York. Soon to be apprehended and booked at Police Headquarters. With your help and a map that is now in our possession. “Step into my new 1937 Model A. I will drive high and low, through every alley, up every street, from Second Avenue to Central Park. I will find the evidence. I will find the Stolen goods. I WILL FIND LE FIEND!”

He’ll never find me! There are so many secret passages, dead-ends, and one-ways – even the stoolie who drew that map couldn’t remember them all.”

“And we lurk in the shadows, with bricks and daggers – just in case.”

Join Pierre Touche in: “Safecracker Suite” “Closed on Mondays” “Dealing in Diamonds” “Rare Stamp Roulette” and “The Big Sweep”

Cryptically Designed by Bob Whitehead. For one sleuth.”

The Gameplay: There are 5 cases to solve. They have you driving around the city and collecting evidence. Each case has a time limit and a section of the city, with case 5 being all 4 cases in one as the ultimate challenge. You search the city in Touches’ Model A, which can make 90 degree turns and jump up to 2 stories. You have to search out the stolen items and return them to their owners. You can only carry one at a time, so be prepared to move around a lot. They can also be done in any order. After you return the first item, thugs will start to appear and throw daggers at you, jump to dodge them or you will lose the item you are carrying. You can also jump to catch ‘questionable characters’ leaning out of windows for extra points or items you need.

The Controls: Joystick Left/Right to accelerate. Up to drive into an alley or park lane. The difficulty switches actually do things in this game. The left one controls cruise control speed. A for fast, B for slow. The Right one controls jump height. A for variable, be for always highest.

Post Review: It’s easy to see why this game is ignored and not very much talked about. It’s all about mapping out the cases and figuring out the best way to reach where you need to go all while contending with the jerk criminals and their daggers. There is no way I would have known what to do with case 1 without looking it up, and it still took me about 3 tries to get it down knowing what to do. Private Eye is a challenge not everyone will be willing to undertake, but is so satisfying when you actually accomplish it.

High Score: Case 1 – 95259

Private Eye is also one of the games that you could win a patch from for getting high scores or completing a certain objective. Private Eyes patch was won for finishing case 3.

Atari 2600 Friday’s #40 – Commando Raid

This basically sounds like Terminator Missile Command and the manual provides minimal information. I’ve never seen such a short and empty manual.

The Story: Okay, the entire game description is both in the manual and on the back of the box. That’s what I’m calling it, because the story they give is basically the entire game description. Which I might add sounds exactly like a Terminator movie….”Defend this AA Gun from a bunch of androids.”

From the Manual: “Commando Raid is a single-player, full-color game simulating Arcade Action and designed to be played on the ATARI Video Computer System or the Sears Video Arcade. You are in defense of your buildings which have come under attack by android commando raiders. Without warning, they appear. Intent on capturing your buildings and destroying your gun emplacement. First, the troop-carrying helicopters fly in dropping android paratroopers to test your defenses. Soon the sky is filled with fluttering helicopters and wave after wave of android paratroopers. They must be destroyed! Each paratrooper allowed to land on a building destroys a portion of that building. If three paratroopers land on a building, it will be totally destroyed and must be considered under commando control. Worse still, the androids can now tunnel towards your gun emplacement. Each paratrooper who lands on that building expands the tunnel. If they are not stopped, they will plant an explosive charge under the gun. In the midst of the battle, an aircraft may appear. it will drop a devastating bomb that can destroy all buildings and the gun emplacement. You must shoot it down or at least shoot the bomb it drops. If you miss, it’s back to basic training!”

From the Box: “Commando Raid is a single-player, full-color game simulating Arcade Action and designed to be played on the ATARI Video Computer System or the Sears Video Arcade. You are in defense of your buildings which have come under attack by android commando raiders. Without warning, they appear. Intent on capturing your buildings and destroying your gun emplacement. First, the troop-carrying helicopters fly in dropping android paratroopers to test your defenses. Soon the sky is filled with fluttering helicopters and wave after wave of android paratroopers. They must be destroyed! Each paratrooper allowed to land on a building destroys a portion of that building. If three paratroopers land on a building, it will be totally destroyed and must be considered under commando control. Worse still, the androids can now tunnel towards your gun emplacement. Each paratrooper who lands on that building expands the tunnel. If they are not stopped, they will plant an explosive charge under the gun. In the midst of the battle, an aircraft may appear. it will drop a devastating bomb that can destroy all buildings and the gun emplacement. You must shoot it down or at least shoot the bomb it drops. If you miss, it’s back to basic training!”

The Gameplay: I’ll start off by saying that this basically looks like Missile command with android paratroopers. There are 8 levels of play each distinguished by a different color of enemy. Each level contains more troopers per helicopter. Two difficulty modes with either straight or steerable missiles. Every 10,000 points a new building replaces the most damaged building. That is it, literally, everything in the manual is the description and those few comments. So, I guess let’s get to playing.

The Controls: Joystick Left/Right to aim the gun. Red button to shoot.

Post Review: You only move the gun left and right to aim, then a speedy bullet fires in that direction, it can be hard to aim. You can try to take out the helicopters before the troopers, but it is hard to hit either at first, especially with no real indicator of minute aiming direction. The troopers have to be specifically hit in the body or the bullet just goes through them, no shooting the parachute. Everything moves fast and it obviously takes some practice to aim. You have one life, so if they dig their tunnels to your gun, it’s game over.

High Score: 7150

Atari 2600 Friday’s #39 – Frogs and Flies

This week we feed a hungry frog, is it Frogger?

The Story: I guess frogger got hungry after crossing that road to get home. There doesn’t really seem to be a story beyond a hungry frog, but we can imagine it’s Frogger, can’t we?

From the Manual: “The object of the game is to make frogs catch flies. Points are won by manipulating a frog so that he jumps off a lily pad and scoops up flying insects with a flashing tongue. Jump him too late, and you’ll miss. Jump him too far and he’ll land in the pond. you’ll have to wait for him to swim back before trying again. Day & night action. Catch more flies than an opponent. Or beat your own top score!”

From the Box: “For 1 or 2 players. Play for top score or against somebody else. Day or night action. Running scores displayed. Score points by catching flies on the fly with frog’s flashing tongue! Two skill levels. Both players do not have to use the same skill level. Adults can give little kids a break! Fun sounds include “splash” when frog falls in the pond, “happy croak” when flies are caught, and various “bird calls” and “cricket” sound when the game is over.”

The Gameplay: You have two frogs on two lily pads, make them jump to catch flies. Each game lasts 3 minutes, you can tell a game is near its end when the sky changes from day to night. Make your frog jump with the joystick and then press the red button when near a fly to catch it with your tongue. Don’t fall in the pond or you will have to wait for your frog to swim back to the lily pad. There are two interesting features in Frogs and Flies; whenever a frog is inactive for 5 seconds, the game takes over and controls it, and you can also give each player a different difficulty level to make it fair for kids.

The Controls: 8-Direction movement, hold the joystick to make frog jump higher. Red button for tongue.

Post Review: It’s a little hard to aim the frog, which can be taken care of with some practice. The fly has to be in front of you a little bit, right in front of your face is too close and the tongue only reaches about an inch. the flies can change direction. Another one of those interesting competitive games.

High Score: 26