Computer Gaming World, December 1983
- Tag Archives Atari 800
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Dragon’s Eye, Atari 400/800
While I often think of the home computer gaming era beginning with the Commodore 64, that’s really not true. While the Commodore 64 was arguably the best of the 8-bit computers, it was also one of the latest. Platforms like the Apple II, Atari 400/800 and even other Commodore computers such as the PET and VIC-20 were around years before the Commodore 64. Dragon’s Eye is from a time just before the Commodore 64 was released and was available for the Atari 400/800, Apple II, and Commodore PET.
Dragon’s Eye is an early fantasy role-playing game. It features a quest in which you must retrieve the Dragon’s Eye amulet before its evil power corrupts the land…or something like that. From a map of the lands (the “Seven Provinces”) you can select the area in which you wish to explore. From there the game transitions to a side view. From this view exploration will be done, battles will be fought (combat is turn-based as combat in any RPG should be), items will be found and other typical FRPG things. The game is largely open ended and you can explore wherever you want. However, there is a time limit…you must find the amulet before it is too late.
Dragon’s Eye was released by Epyx (one of the great early publishers of computer games) in 1981. There are no re-releases I am aware of so you you will have to hunt down an original or resort to emulation for this one. It will look best on the Apple II or Atari 8-bit as you will be dealing with monochrome graphics on the PET. Not that graphics are all that important in this game.
Screen shots above are from the Atari 8-bit version of the game.
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Jumpman
Jumpman was an early action platform game released in 1983. It was released initially for the Atari 8-bit then ported to the Commodore 64 and a little later to the Apple II, PC (DOS) and ColecoVision (never released?). It was somewhat similar to and inspired by Donkey Kong which is even mentioned in the ad.
Jumpman was written in an age where it was still common for some guy to write a game in his basement (or wherever) and take it to a publisher. This was the case with Jumpan. Epyx, at the time called Automated Simulations, was transitioning from publishing strategy games to more action oriented games. They were branding these action games under the Epyx label. With Jumpan’s success, the company changed its name to Epyx and published a number of awesome games over the years.
Atari 8-bitThe idea of the games is that you are progressing through various floors of a building diffusing bombs. Jumpman can jump (of course) and climb up and down ladders and ropes (though ropes are one-way). Hazards include bullets and other obstacles unique to each level. The biggest threat always seems to be falling though.
Both the Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 versions of the game were very good. The Apple II version was inferior and that’s somewhat ironic given that the initial development of the Atari version was done on the Apple II. The PC version is somewhere in between. The ColecoVision version is supposedly based on the Commodore 64 version but I don’t think it was ever released. Instead it got the ‘lite’ version, Jumpan Jr.
Commodore 64Jumpan was one of the best games of its type (far better than Donkey Kong in my opinion). If you are fan of classic games then this one is definitely a must play. Track down the Atari or Commodore 64 version. Original disks aren’t too hard to find but given the age you may want to stick with emulation. Make sure you have an appropriate controller though as its more fun with a proper classic style joystick.