• Tag Archives Atari 2600

  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (Atari 2600)

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/647839073393885184


    Like E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark was an adventure game based on a movie for the Atari 2600. Also like E.T., it was developed by Howard Scott Warshaw. But don’t let that scare you off as he actually made some pretty great games. The difference was that E.T. had a development schedule that was a fraction of Raiders of the Lost Ark and most other games. Raiders of the Lost Ark development started in late 1981 and the game was released in November 1982. Critics put Raiders of the Lost Ark somewhere between E.T. and Pitfall. Of course, it would be hard not to fall in that range somewhere as you are talking about one of the best games and one of the worst games for the Atari 2600.

    The player starts out on the streets of Cairo in 1936. Or at least you start off where there is an entrance room and a marketplace. From the entrance room you can reach the Temple of the Ancients from which you have two paths to choose from, each with their own obstacles. Eventually, you’ll reach the Map Room. From there you can reach a Thieves Den and Black Market where there are more opponents and items that you will need. Ultimately, after a parachute jump, you’ll find your way to the place to dig up the ark (after of course avoiding or defeating more opponents). Controls are somewhat interesting in that they make use of both joysticks. The primary joystick is used to move around and perform actions such as using the currently equipped item. The secondary joystick is used to select or drop items.

    Raiders of the Lost Ark isn’t a great game but it is a decent one and better than most movie conversions for any system. Graphics and game play are pretty average for the Atari 2600 but you’ll find the frustration and repetition isn’t nearly as bad as it is for E.T. If you are going to pick one 1980s game based on a 1980s movie than Raiders is a good choice (but maybe you prefer Star Wars). And really, both Indiana Jones and the Atari 2600 are such icons of the 1980s that you should really at least give it a try. Unlike the game, the movie is one of the best of all time. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and go watch it now.

    While many classic Atari 2600 games have been released in some form or another as parts of various collections, Indiana Jones has not been, nor is it likely to be. Licensing considerations make it impractical at best. So if you want to give this one a try, you’ll have to track down an original cartridge (not too hard) or make do with emulation.

    The first several images are from a commercial for Raiders of the Lost Ark (the game). The last image is a screen shot from the starting location.


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  • Miner 2049er

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Video & Arcade Games – Volume 1, Number 2 – Fall 1983



    In Miner 2049er, you play the role of Bounty Bob, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as he searches for the villain Yukon Yohan. This search occurs in an abandoned Uranium mine. Miner 2049er is a sort of juxtaposition of past and future. While the theme and even the title reflect gold mining in the 1840s, this is a Uranium mine and the obstacles you face are futuristic in nature. things like matter transporters and jet-speed floaters among other odd items. In addition, you will have to face various creatures that have mutated due to radiation. Only in video games and sci fi does radiation make you stronger.

    Game play is pretty straightforward. You must walk over all sections of the mine in order to “claim” it. Each screen consists of platforms and ladders. Along the way you’ll find weapons and other objects to help you in addition to the mutated creatures you must fight.

    Miner 2049er was first developed for the Atari 800 and then ported to a wide variety of other systems. Miner 2049er was unique for its time in terms of size. It was much larger than normal, especially for a platform game. Miner 2049er consisted of 10 separate screens at a time when most other similar style games only had 3 or 4. Because games for the Atari 800 were typically released on cartridge, this meant a cartridge size of 16K instead of the more typical 8K.

    The large size of Miner 2049er led to a fairly high priced game for the time. Miner 2049er initially sold for $49.99 which adjusted for inflation would be about $133 today. The Atari 2600 version was released as two separate games and in total still encompassed barely more than half the levels: Miner 2049er contained three levels and Miner 2049er Volume II contained three levels. Other computer ports were a bit easier because they were mostly on disk. Sure, you may have a bit of a load time between levels but it was much cheaper to produce that way.

    Despite the high price, especially for the Atari 8-bit cartridge version, Miner 2049er was a very popular game. It received outstanding reviews and even though the graphics were really only mediocre, even for the time, the playability was excellent. It’s truly one of the classics that every gamer should at least try. Without games like Miner 2049er, there may never have been games like Super Mario Bros.

    In addition to the Atari 8bit and Atari 2600 versions, Miner 2049er also made its way to the Commodore 64, Atari 5200, VIC-20, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Apple II, IBM PC, TI-99/4A and a variety of other platforms. There were also a couple of later re-releases on the Game Boy, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iOS. There was even an official emulator released of the Atari 8-bit version but it only worked with older versions of Windows (pre Windows 7). If you want to play it today and don’t have original hardware, the best way is probably to emulate your favorite version.

    Screen shots above are from the Commodore 64 version…because the Commodore 64 is my favorite retro platform. The ads above are from the Fall 1983 issue of Video & Arcade Games.


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  • Breakout (Atari 2600)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/190159206140/rjmacready1982-breakout


    Released in 1976 by Atari, Breakout was among the earliest arcade games. Like many early arcade games, it defined its own genre though Breakout itself was heavily influenced by Pong before it. The success of the arcade version of breakout led to its release as one of the early games on the Atari 2600 (Atari VCS).

    Gameplay, like in most early games, was fairly simple. The player controlled a “paddle” at the bottom of the screen which could be moved left and right to deflect a bouncing ball. The goal was to break all of the bricks at the top of the screen. In both the arcade and Atari 2600 versions the player could use paddle controllers which consisted of a dial that could be rotated left and right, sort of like a mini steering wheel. The vast majority of Atari 2600 games supported jostick controls and not the paddle controllers but Breakout and other games like it were popular enough for those controllers to be included with the Atari 2600.

    Breakout spawned a huge number of imitators. There was of course the sequel, Super Breakout, which was really just a modestly enhanced version of the original. Then there is my favorite contemporary imitator, Circus Atari which changed things up slightly by having two clowns bounce on a seesaw to pop baloons overhead. However, my personal all time favorite version and the version that I still think is best to this day is Arkanoid. In addition to a storyline that matters very little to the actual game play, various power-ups and obstacles are added to provide quite a bit more variety thant he original. It didn’t hurt that it had better graphics too.

    Breakout is definitely a game you should try if you never have. You may get bored with it fast but it does have a sort of addictive quality to it. Fortunately, original copies for the Atari 2600 are easy to find and it is definitely best to play this game or any like it with a paddle controller.

    Pictured at the top is the box/label/manual art for the Atari 2600 version of Breakout. It appears to feature someone playing tennis. Atari’s early artwork was awesome but it frequenly only obliquely referenced what the actual game play was all about. Screen shots are from the Atari 2600 version of Breakout.


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