Review Date: February 3, 2021 Release Date: April 1984, before the video game revival Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Activision Genre: Nonlinear Platformer Anecdotes: In my Pitfall review, I mentioned how I would play it at the cousins’ house. The setting and the gameplay were outstanding. By time Pitfall II came around, though, everyone just lost… Continue reading Pitfall II
Category: Atari 800
Summer Games
Review Date: February 2, 2021 Release Date: Unknown date in 1984, but I could presume it was before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Epyx Genre: Sports (FLIP DISK AND PRESS FIRE BUTTON) Anecdotes: I was a bit young to see the 1984 Olympics, but this game really piqued my interest. Unfortunately,… Continue reading Summer Games
Spy vs. Spy
Review Date: February 1, 2021 Release Date: Sometime in 1984 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: First Star Software Genre: Garbage Anecdotes: Having played the NES version, we got some fun out of Spy vs. Spy. I’m not sure how, but we knew who they were from MAD Magazine, even though we never read it. For this… Continue reading Spy vs. Spy
Spy Hunter
Review Date: January 31, 2021 Release Date: Crash and Burn Season, 1984 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Bally Midway Genre: Shooter Anecdotes: Every once in a while, there are games, even old games, that I have never played. I’m playing Spy Hunter blind. The only things I know in advance are that it used the Peter… Continue reading Spy Hunter
Mario Bros.
Review Date: January 30, 2021 Release Date: July 20, 1983 Platform: Atari 800 (but really, it’s the 5200) Developer: Nintendo Genre: Linear Platformer Anecdotes: Another game Nintendo released on Atari before Nintendo had its own system, Mario Bros. was the first game named after Nintendo’s mascot and most iconic character, Mario. (I had thought that… Continue reading Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong
Review Date: January 29, 2021 Release Date: 1983 sometime (exact dates have been lost to time) Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Nintendo Genre: Linear Platformer Anecdotes: We were extremely late to the Donkey Kong bandwagon. We didn’t really play it too much, but what we did play was on Nintendo’s release on their own system. How… Continue reading Donkey Kong
Spelunker
Review Date: January 28, 2021 Release Date: Unknown date in 1983 (death count after 38 years: 15,493,275) Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Broderbund Genre: Linear Platformer Anecdotes: Spelunker is the first of a handful of games that I played on the NES. I thought the NES versions were the original, but after doing some research, I… Continue reading Spelunker
Shamus: Case II
Review Date: January 27, 2021 Release Date: Unleashed sometime in 1983 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Synapse Genre: Completely Revamped Action Platformer (C.R.A.P.) Anecdotes: So, not every game on the list is a game I played at release. Some I barely played at all. Some I have never played. Then there is Shamus Case II, which… Continue reading Shamus: Case II
Pinball Construction Set
Review Date: January 26, 2021 Release Date: That day on the calendar in 1983 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Electronic Arts Genre: Creation Anecdotes: Wait, this game came out in 1983? I swear I was still playing it in 1985, even later. I played this quite a bit. As a kid, this allowed me to subvert… Continue reading Pinball Construction Set
Pitstop
Review Date: January 25, 2021 Release Date: Who the Heck Knows, 1983 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Epyx Genre: Racing Anecdotes: Racing games, even in 1983, were a popular format. Pitstop had some competition at the time, mainly coming from Pole Position. Epyx had to make their racing game stand out in some way, so they… Continue reading Pitstop