I spent this past weekend at the Funspot Arcade, soaking in the experience and environment of Eighties digital entertainment. With so many classic games drowning each other out, it wasn't the best environment to appreciate the sounds of these retro games. But the soundtrack to an upcoming PC game captures all these experiences with a single song.
Hello again, Gamebits readers! Last week, Hiphopguy23 presented to you five Atari 2600 games that stood the test of time. Here now is the flipside of that list: five Atari 2600 games that now stink.
5) Combat — Play this game only for nostalgia purposes. The tanks move so slowly and are frustratingly difficult to maneuver. When you do finally hit your opponent, it will feel like an act of luck more than an act of skill. Not to mention that you can often times kill you opponent "multiple" times by repeatedly hitting fire after hitting them once. No fun.
4) Raiders of the Lost Ark — Hiphopguy23 is just as excited as the next child of the Eighties to see Indiana Jones in his latest movie! However, this game did not bring the thrill back. Atari was notoriously bad at creating puzzle games (remember the awful Swordquest series?). This game is no exception. Even with the manual, you end up stumbling around confused at what Indy is supposed to do. You could look online for the solution, but then what's the point in playing? Also of note, the ending is highly unsatisfying.
3) Pole Position — First of all, Atari made a poor decision to use the joystick for this when it would have played better with the paddle. Second, two players can not race side by side which spoils the thrill. Also, the graphics are terrible; the racecar looks like a blob of pixels. The track is repetitive, there is hardly any replay value. This game is just a complete mess. Hiphopguy23 much prefers Night Driver, even though that game is not much fun either.
2) Pac-Man — Ugh. Atari really dropped the ball with this abomination. The game play is sluggish and the controls are weak. There is only one screen to navigate, resulting in boredom after a few plays. The four ghosts have no distinct personalities. Hiphopguy23 has even gotten stuck in a looping bug while playing. Atari only got a touch better with Ms. Pac-Man. If you really want the Pac-Man experience, Hiphopguy23 highly recommends Jr. Pac-Man Jr. Pac-Man is everything Pac-Man was supposed to be: slick controls, rapid play, multiple screens, and ghosts with different personalities. Highest recommendation for Jr. Pac-Man
1) Donkey Kong — Hiphopguy23 was thrilled to pick up this title after seeing King of Kong. Sadly, the Atari port was a total disaster. There are only two levels. On the first, which is the iconic girders and ladders with barrels coming at you, the pace is slow and the joystick controls are oftentimes unresponsive, resulting in many frustrating moments. When you defeat this screen, which is more relief than exhilaration, you are presented with the second screen, which is hard to describe. There are more girders and you must run until the floor drops out, while being chased by what look like ducks. This screen is easy to beat by following a boring pattern. Then you are back to the original frustrating screen again. If the arcade version were based bad, Steve Wiebe would have given up on day one.
Well, that's all! Quite the trip down memory lane. Here's till the next time that Ken allows Hiphopguy23 to come back! Happy gaming!
Hello, Gamebits readers! Guest columnist Hiphopguy23 here. Ever feel like dusting off that old Atari 2600 and getting some 2-bit action on? Well, Hiphopguy23 did just that this past Memorial Day weekend, and he is here to tell you which Atari games still hold up 25-30 years later and which should be shelved indefinitely.
5) River Raid — This game is as simple to learn as they come. Left and right move you side to side, forward will accelerate and back will brake. The button fires your gun. However, you can get caught playing this game for an hour. There seems to be an endless amount of screens to conquer and they all get progressively tougher, with narrower passageways to navigate and less and less fuel tanks available. River Raid is definitely a classic.
4) Centipede — Here is another "pick up and play" game. Fire at all the annoying bugs in your garden, including the rapidly descending centipede. The centipede and spider get faster and faster as the levels progress, making this game a challenge. Even more challenging is this game's successor, Millipede. In that game, you also have to deal with beetles, mosquitoes, ladybugs, and inchworms! Hiphopguy23 recommends Millipede if you have great hand-eye coordination and nerves of steel.
3) Mario Bros. — This is the best two-player game in Atari 2600 (with Warlords being the best four-player game). You can play Mario and Luigi cooperatively or competitively. Either way, you will have to deal with turtles, crabs, fireflies, and even ice creatures. In the competitive mode, a dirty trick is to wait under the POW switch until your opponent knocks a creature out, and then spring that creature back to life! Unfortunately, Hiphopguy23 has accidentally done that in cooperative mode as well.
2) Frogger — Yet another "jump right in" game. This game is brilliant in its simplicity…it doesn't even use the fire button! Simply navigate your frog past traffic, snakes, and logs to rest at your home lily pad. The traffic gets denser, the snakes get faster, and the logs you must jump on become shorter with each progressing screen. Like River Raid, there appear to be an endless amount of screens. You can easily find yourself playing for hours.
1) Adventure — Thirty years later, and this game is still brilliant! Hiphopguy23 recommends playing only Level 3, where all the items are randomly placed. Some random placements are impossible to beat, and you won't realize you are on one of them until you've been playing for 15 minutes. Hiphopguy23 also recommends playing with the Difficulty-A switches on, as they make the dragons faster and run from the sword. Hiphopguy23 still gets a nervous lump in his throat when the red dragon approaches!
Hiphopguy23 will be back next week with five games that didn't hold up so well. Until then, have a gamerrific weekend!
Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in Atari, a pitch that writers Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman sold to Paramount Pictures on Friday about the godfather of the video game industry, Nolan Bushnell. [Story continues]
We can always use more movies about the video game industry, but the concept for the above film catches me a bit by surprise. Of the various video game history books I've read and reviewed, the story of Atari's rise never captured my attention as much as its fall. Atari's story certainly has memorable elements and anecdotes, and Mr. Bushnell's role in the industry was interesting, but I wonder how accurate such a biopic would be when it comes to his recreational management style (ie, allowing employees to be stoned on the job).
Of even greater concern… Leonardo DiCaprio??
What's your reaction to this announcement? Good concept, bad casting? Too soon to tell?
I'm both an audiophile and a big fan of classic games. The two intersect frequently, whether I'm interviewing the founder of music group 8 Bit Weapon, downloading tunes from OCRemix.org, or inserting those same tracks into a corporate podcast.
Such musical efforts are mostly fan-driven, as it's unusual to find a professional interest in retreading old ground — publishers usually would rather pillage an old license to create soulless sequels. But Capcom has broken that trend with an homage to the gameplay and music of one of the games of my youth. The NES classic Bionic Commando is being reengineered for Xbox Live Arcade, to be released next month as Bionic Commando Rearmed. Capcom has further announced that the soundtrack of this remake is now available as a separate purchase, from either Sumthing Digital or iTunes.
It's been so long since I've played Bionic Commando (the Game Boy Color version notwithstanding) that I can't fully recognize or appreciate these new variations. But I got a real kick out of the self-parody present in the narrator's dramatic introduction:
"They lost their hero to the enemy.
They went looking for the perfect solider to rescue him.
They found some guy who couldn't even jump."
$10 gets you all 15 tracks today; another $10 gets you the game on XBLA next month.
(Hat tip to Nintendo Wii Fanboy)
This past weekend was the 10th Annual Classic Video Game and Pinball Tournament at Funspot, aka The American Classic Arcade Museum. At this event, gamers with a penchant for coin-ops of old gather to make and break records from Arkanoid to Zaxxon. Not about to miss either this landmark event or an opportunity to indulge in one of the biggest and best retro arcades in the United States, I made the two-hour trip across state lines this past Saturday to see who and what would be making headlines.
Immediately noticeable upon entering the dim hall were some significant rearrangements. I had wondered how accessible the arcade's 200+ cabinets from the Eighties would be during such an event, but the arcade staff hadn't shirk in their preparations. Along one wall of their indoor minigolf hall was lined each cabinet featured in the tournament, having been wheeled there from the general game floor. Admission to this roped-off area came with a $30 entry fee, but anyone not competing could ignore this hall entirely and enjoy the Funspot's other offerings, albeit sans the competition titles.
It was the people sitting at those units that were my initial attraction. I'd brought my copy of King of Kong with me but was unsure of the propriety of asking for autographs, as the film had represented only one person favorably, and its other stars might take offense. I asked the arcade supervisor if Steve Wiebe was in attendance. "He's not," she lamented, "but several people from the movie are." She rattled off a list of names, including Mark Alpiger, and I myself had spotted Walter Day. Ultimately the most I could muster was to grin foolishly as Referee Day walked by, which he acknowledged wth a hello. I decided, even if these gamers are celebrities, they weren't here to be famous, and I did not want to distract them from their high-scoring goals.
From across the minigolf terrain, there was little expert gaming I could witness, so I repaired to the amateur hall to enjoy some gameplay of my own. Several new machines had been added to the collection just since my last visit in September, prompting me to marvel how even a historical museum can remain new and exciting. With just a fistful of quarters, I didn't spend much time at the arcade, knowing I'd be back soon and in more gaming-oriented company. But being even a momentary witness to the stars of this niche realm made it worthwhile trek.
