Review Date: January 24, 2021 Release Date: Christmas Season, 1982 Platform: Atari 800 Developer: Activision Genre: Shooter Anecdotes: Ah, good old River Raid. I remember playing it when I was little. However, we didn’t have a 2600. The cousins had one, but not this game. So how did we play it? Simple. Another cousin had… Continue reading River Raid
Tag: 1982
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
Review Date: January 23, 2021 Release Date: December Something, 1982 (I’m just phoning in this performance) Platform: Atari 2600 Genre: Action Adventure, allegedly Anecdotes: Occasionally, my aunt (not the mother of the earlier mentioned cousins) would throw family parties just to show off the grand record collection that filled an entire closet. However, what do… Continue reading E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
Bats
Review Date: January 22, 2021 Release Date: Appeared in Antic Magazine in December 1982, but no exact date given Platform: Atari 800 Genre: Yes. Anecdotes: One day, when I was little, my dad got us a cassette drive to go with the Atari 800. We had a cassette or two, but I can only remember… Continue reading Bats
Nautilus
Review Date: January 21, 2021 Release Date: Autumn 1982 Platform: Atari 800 Genre: ????? Anecdotes: Synapse made such a great game in Shamus, so we thought, why not try out another Synapse game? It sounded like a good idea, so my dad somehow acquired Nautilus. It was on cassette, labeled Nautilus (0-109), give or take… Continue reading Nautilus
Choplifter
Review Date: January 20, 2021 Release Date: May, 1982 Platform: Atari 800 Genre: Who knows? Anecdotes: Sometimes, as kids, we just got bored of playing the same games over and over. That meant it was time to go play some pickup baseball out in the yard or hop in the swimming pool, but what did… Continue reading Choplifter
Pitfall
Review Date: January 19, 2021 Release Date: April 20, 1982 Platform: Atari 800 Genre: Nonlinear Platformer Anecdotes: Now THIS is the game I remember going over to the cousins’ house just to play…until we bought our own copy. We even tried to turn the backyard into various Pitfall screens; you can imagine how that went.… Continue reading Pitfall
Chicken
Review Date: January 18, 2021 Release Date: Sometime in April 1982, but it really depended on your typing speed Platform: Atari 800 Genre: ? Anecdotes: Back in 1982, video gaming was still a niche thing. However, it was popular enough to have its own magazines, even before the days of Nintendo Power or Nintendo Fun… Continue reading Chicken
Ms. Pac-Man
Review Date: January 17, 2021 Release Date: February 3, 1982 (I used the arcade date because it was exact) Platform: Atari 800 Genre: Puzzle Anecdotes: Good God, did we have a lot of fun hours with this game or what? This game was pure fun. In my house, there were three basic ideas we went… Continue reading Ms. Pac-Man
Shamus
Game Basics: Review Date: January 16, 2021 (Revised on March 26, 2022) Release Date: A Glorious Day in 1982 Platform: Atari 800 Publisher: Synapse Developer: Synapse Genre: Shooter THIS is the game that really started my love of gaming. I was addicted to this game. I memorized everything about this game by the time I… Continue reading Shamus