Megalextoria

Riddle of the Sphinx for the Atari 2600 (1982)

Riddle of the Sphinx was released by Imagic for the Atari 2600 in 1982. This is an action adventure game in which you play the role of the Pharaoh’s son as he attempts to lift the curse of Anubis, God of the Dead. To do so, you must visit a series of temples in the desert and make the correct offerings.

This game plays somewhat like a vertically scrolling shooter. You wander around the desert fighting off thieves, scorpions and other enemies while finding treasures and an occasional oasis to replenish your water. Your primary weapon is a sling with which you can hurl rocks at your enemies. When weakened because of wounds or thirst, your ability to fight becomes more limited. One particularly unique aspect of the game is that it made use of two joysticks. One was used for most basic game activities like movement, slinging rocks etc. The other was used to select a variety of special objects that you could find and use. Such objects had limited use and include: a jug for thirst, tannis leaf for healing, spade for digging for treasure, and a shield for protecting yourself.

There are three game variations that have progressive levels of difficulty. The variation you choose affects things like what objects you start with, how many treasures you must find, how many offerings you must make at the various temples, etc. There are a number of specific treasures to find but, for example, in the first game variation you can finish the game without finding them all as your goal is to simply make it through the game with as many treasures as possible.

For the time, this really wasn’t a bad game. However, it does not hold up particularly well today as an adventure game and it is kind of short with limited replay value. At least it has three variation for some variety. It’s probably worth checking out if you are interested in Atari 2600 games. It is available on no other system and was not re-released in any way as far as I am aware. A real cartridge shouldn’t be too expensive or you can try it via emulation. Just remember, you need both joysticks.