• Tag Archives Coleco Adam
  • Rocky Super Action Boxing (ColecoVision)

    Rocky Super Action Boxing (Coleco, 1983)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/171630803446/theactioneer-rocky-super-action-boxing-coleco

    If the ColecoVision had a fatal flaw, it was that many of the games released by Coleco looked beautiful (for the time) but played awful. Rocky Super Action Boxing is one such game. The graphics were very well done for the time period (1983) but the game play left something to be desired.

    Rocky Super Action Boxing was the first game based on a Rocky license and it was based on Rocky III. It was released exclusively for the ColecoVision in 1983 and was also compatible with the Coleco Adam. An Intellivision version was apparently planned but never released. The game lets you select either Rocky Balboa or Clubber Lang and you can play against the computer or another player. There are four difficulty levels that each correspond to a number of one-minute rounds (from two to fifteen). There is a point system in which you are rewarded points on where you hit your opponent (guard, head, body) so you can win based on points or via knockout. Moves consist of head shots, body shots, defensive moves for each, and ducking. Then of course you can also move around the ring to a limited degree.


    So what’s wrong with the game? While the graphics look great, movement is slow and the control is relatively unresponsive. This makes it very hard to plan out attacks and defenses in any kind of remotely strategic manner so, like many poor fighting games, it devolves into a button mashing contest. Only die-hard ColecoVision or Rocky collector’s should seek this one out.


    If you do want to play this one the only way you can is on a ColecoVision system or via emulation. It hasn’t been re-released in any form that I am aware of. While there is no direct sequel, there was another game based on the Rocky movies released in 1987 for the Sega Master System that was simply titled Rocky. It was also a very flawed game but better than this one.





  • K-Power (February 1984)

    k-power_issue_01_1984_feb-01

    Source: K-Power – Number 1 – February 1984

    K-Power was a relatively short-lived computer magazine by scholastic published in the early/mid 1980s and designed to appeal to kids. It was pretty comprehensive, covering programming, games, tutorials, new products and more on a wide variety of platforms. The February 1985 issue includes the following:

    Features

    • A Networking Guide: Reach Out & Access Someone – How and where to hook up; the lowdown on the newest modems and the latest lingo. Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at how a bulletin-board system works.
    • Pirates & Raiders – The computer-abuser subculture. In their own words: why they do it. Their peers say why they shouldn’t.
    • Konnect With The K-Net – A K-Power network hooked up by modem. Win your own modem and go on-line!
    • ‘Whiz Kids’: Networking Goes Prime Time – Computing is cool in this TV hit (even when they fake it – you can run the computer “cheat” program they use on the show).
    • For Dogs Only: Woof Ware – A spoof for computing canines.
    • The Hy Brids – A new software breed is double the fun.

    Programming

    • Hacker Heaven – Programs for ADAM, Atari, Apple, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, IBM, TI, Timex, and TRS-80.
    • Programs – You’ll have to find out what the ?????? program does; we can tell you Symphony in 3D is the latest in electronic meditation.
    • Pixel That! – Translate or improve our Word Twister puzzle and get a chance to WIN a Timex color 2068!!

    Products

    • Screening Room – Software reviews, strategy, and the latest in new products.
    • Rating Game – Reviews and views on Flight Simulator, Zork III, Ultima II, Zaxxon, and Deadline.
    • Strategy – 12 tips for tackling Archon.
    • Rising Stars – Preview the Coleco ADAM and IBM PCjr.

    Departments

    • Editor’s note
    • Compuzine – The first edition of K-Power’s mini-computer news magazine.
    • Scrolling In Dough – Big bucks, limos, and clones: one teen’s inside look at a software company.
    • Silicon Alley – Ready for the hottest scoops from the Valley?
    • Dr. Kursor’s Klinic – How to hook up your own bulletin board; how a graphics tablet works.
    • Contest – Name That Hacker and win a K-Power T-shirt!
    • Graphics Gallery – K-Power’s computer-generated centerfold poster.

    …and more!


  • K-Power (July/August 1984)

    k-power_issue_06_1984_jul_aug-01

    Source: K-Power Issue (July/August 1984)

    K-Power was a magazine oriented towards teens published in 1984. Only eight standalone issues were published until it merged with Family Computing and became an insert there. The July/August 1984 issue includes:

    Features

    • How Teen Tycoons Take Care of Business – Some savvy hackers make big dough with their computer skills. How you can, too!
    • Computer Comix – Here’s a “Gee, Whiz!” another K-Power laff-riot!
    • Computers Go for the Gold – Will computers help cyclist Rebecca Twigg or archer Becky Liggett win a Gold Medal?
    • K-Power Picks – Olympics software get K-Power’s highest rating.
    • Test Run: IBM PCjr – Forget the rest – read the best! K-Power tells you how the much-heralded PCjr really rates.
    • The Making of a Hacker – Can anyone be a hacker? According to Andrea Leptich, the answer is Yes!
    • Computer Superstars – A look at some of everybody’s favorite computer cartoon characters – Q*bert, the Zerks, Rockford the bug, and more!

    Programming

    • Hacker Heaven – A 16-page pullout crammed with programs!
    • Compucopia – Byte-size programs.
    • Microtones – A new computer-music column with programs and music news!
    • Programs – Fireworks, fireworks, and more fireworks!

    Products

    • Screening Room – Software reviews and strategy.
    • Strategy – Exodus: Ultima III – How to kill the evil Exodus and save a world.
    • The Rating Game – Space Taxi – a futuristic driving game that talks! Also, Bruce Lee, Dimension X, and more.

    Departments

    • Editor’s Note – Introducing the K-Base – a computing pen-pal system.
    • Logon – Letters from you.
    • Compuzine – The experts talk piracy. Plus, Silicon Alley and Scrolling in Dough.
    • Dr. Kursor’s Klinic – Where the word “hacker” comes from; what an RGB monitor is.
    • K-Net – The winners of the K-Power “Win-a-Modem” contest. Plus, how the K-Net works!
    • Contest – Put words in K.I.T.T.’s mouth.

    …and more!