I've been running a blog over on Atariage.com for a while now and I've come to the realization that I need to spread out a little more. So with that in mind I will be posting my reviews here on WordPress. I hope you all can find enjoyment from these ancient games just as I... Continue Reading →
Halloween (Wizard Video) Atari 2600 Game Review
Look I know it’s not the season for scary games, but every season is a good season for Atari, so without further ado… Halloween. Halloween suffered the same fate as Mystique and Playaround’s offerings. Due to the adult nature of the games they were hidden behind the counter and only taken out if the customer... Continue Reading →
Wall Ball (Avalon Hill) Atari 2600 Game Review
Okay so… When it comes to video games, or ideas in general, Original doesn’t always mean good. Sometimes it’s down to the execution of said idea, or the idea was just stupid in the first place. The realm, pertaining to gaming, where you see this most often in with game controllers, we’ve all seen some... Continue Reading →
Video Olympics (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
It is very rare, in fact I daresay it has only happened once, where a game comes out that entirely kills the previous generation of games/consoles. In fact it only could happen once, and only in a market dominated by a single game… Pong. 1972-1977 was the age of Pong and Atari and Magnavox were,... Continue Reading →
Home Run (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
It is generally understood that many 2600 game simply don’t hold up, especially the earlier ones. Usually this was due to the fact that these were the first of their kind ever released on home console and the console itself was a very limiting factor. I initially wasn’t even going to review this game because I... Continue Reading →
Vampire: Master of Darkness Sega Game Gear Game Review
There are few classic games series as well known as Castlevania. The original trilogy on the NES is infamous for its difficulty and is still beloved, and the SNES version is regarded as one of if not the best game in the series. Castlevania wasn’t just limited to Nintendo consoles early on; it had releases... Continue Reading →
Cosmic Corridor (ZiMAG) Atari 2600 Game Review
There are many words I can use to describe Cosmic Corridor, 953 to be exact. This is the final game from Bit Corp. (That I know of) that I have yet to review, and it is quite possibly the worst. In fact I would go so far as to say Cosmic Corridor, or Space Tunnel... Continue Reading →
H.E.R.O. (Activision) Atari 2600 Game Review
Hype. I don’t get it, I don’t get it one bit. I constantly hear from my coworkers about the newest game they’ve pre-ordered and I just can’t help but wonder, “what if the game sucks? You just wasted 60 dollars on a game you’ll never play more than a few times.” I know I’m one... Continue Reading →
Commando (Activision) Atari 2600 Game Review
Late Atari Activision was one of the most ambitious yet misguided… things that ever happened for the system. After petering out in 1984 Activision decided to release a string of games for the system, and don’t forget, the NES had been out for three years at this point and the Genesis was right around the... Continue Reading →
Pinball for Windows (Impressions Software) Dos Game Review
Continuing with my trend of reviewing old PC games I present to you what is at first glance the most unimaginative piece of crap you’ve probably ever seen. Pinball for Windows by Impressions Software is just one of hundreds of crappy pieces of software shoveled out for the ‘new hotness’ Windows 3.1. The box boasts... Continue Reading →
Omega Race (CBS Electronics) Atari 2600 Game Review
There is nothing worse than a common game that is locked behind an obscure peripheral. In the case of most Atari games with these obscure peripherals you can still play the game normally since these things only act as a substitute for the standard controller. Milton Bradley Games and many of the games slated to... Continue Reading →
Super Space Invaders (Taito/Domark) DOS Game Review
Oh look, another Space Invaders game, woo, how fantastic. A cursory search of Space Invaders on MobyGames will net you over 250 results and that’s not counting the rip-offs. Space Invaders might just be one of the most copied formulas in the history of gaming, hell almost a quarter of the Atari 2600 library (not... Continue Reading →
Harrier 7 (Avantage) DOS Game Review
Budget titles always have been, and always will be, mixed bags. You might get a hidden gem of a game or you might get stuck with a bunch of trash. I honestly don’t know how it was back in the 80’s with computer and console gaming being a bit more of a fledgling market, or... Continue Reading →
Nova 9 (Dynamix) DOS Game Review
So, what’s new today? Well, its big box PC games, if normal game boxes weren’t big enough then these monsters will scratch your itch. Standard console game boxes are absolutely dwarfed by these behemoths, but this can have some positive effects. The artwork on some of these boxes is absolutely fantastic, and there’s something so... Continue Reading →
Marine Wars (Konami) Atari 2600 Game Reviews
We’re back again with one of the most unlikely of Atari publishers, Konami. Konami released a grand total of three games for the 2600, Pooyan (an arcade conversion), Strategy X (an arcade conversion), and Marine Wars. I’m not calling Marine Wars an arcade conversion even though there was a machine made with the same name... Continue Reading →
Mountain King (CBS Electronics) Atari 2600 Game Review
I’ve debated whether or not I should review this game for some time, due to its complexity, but I’ve decided that now is the time. There are advanced games for the 2600, Solaris, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Dragonstomper being excellent examples, but there is one that I think beats them all out in... Continue Reading →
Marauder (Tigervision) Atari 2600 Game Review
I think we can all agree that Tigervision was an all around okay company, they published some pretty excellent games like Polaris and Jawbreaker, but they also had a few stinkers as well. But apart from their incredibly rare and expensive games and their incredibly terrible games there were a few in the middle that... Continue Reading →
Street Fighter II (DOS) (U.S. Gold, Hi Tech Expressions)
Street Fighter II: The Baddest Brawl Of Them All… Well they were right about one thing.. There was a time a long, long, time ago when the battle for gaming superiority wasn’t quite as one-sided as it is today, the battle between consoles and home computers. Now I’ll admit that I know very little about... Continue Reading →
Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-ups (Parker Bros.) Atari 2600 Game Review
Kid’s games are exceptionally difficult to make, which is why so many of them are terrible. Many companies vie for the tried and true method of making a few cookie cutter minigames and plastering a well-known children’s character/icon on it. Some companies like Humungous Entertainment and Disney found ways to make kid’s games that kid’s... Continue Reading →
Bachelor Party (Mystique) Atari 2600 Game review
Dammit Mystique! I thought I took you behind the utility shed and put a slug through your miserable skull a long time ago. As it turns out I’m a fool, Mystique never dies, it is a zombie of a company, shuffling around and vomiting its wares into any store that would take it. Mystique! What... Continue Reading →
Star Raiders II (Atari Corp.) Atari 8-Bit Game Review
It’s sequel time, and boy do we have a doozy today. We all know about the Atari 8-bit line of computers that were launched in 1979 starting with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. Without question the most beloved game on those computers is without a doubt Star Raiders, it is a classic. So what... Continue Reading →
Turmoil (20th Century Fox) Atari 2600 Game Review
2600 games aren’t known for being all too complex, and that’s for a very good reason, the controller simply wouldn’t allow for it. There were a few enterprising games that came with alternate controllers or addons to make things a bit easier, the Booster Grip for Omega Race, the dual controller thingy for Spy Hunter,... Continue Reading →
Street Racer (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
Of the nine titles that Atari released in 1977 I have reviewed three of them, them being Combat™, Star Ship™, and Indy 500™, I think it’s about time to add another to that list. Now I think we can all agree that some of these titles have not aged all that well, sure they were... Continue Reading →
World End/Invasion aus der Galaxis (HomeVision/Quelle) Atari 2600 Game Review
Today we’re going to look at an obscure European game published from an obscure European publisher. HomeVision is a rare company; in fact I can’t find a single one of their games that’s priced below 200 dollars. HomeVision was the distributor of a distributor; it was created by a company called VDI to distribute games... Continue Reading →
Motocross Racer (Xonox) Atari 2600 Game Review
I think it’s about time I finally review one of my favorite Xonox titles, Motocross Racer. This is the pinnacle of pre red box programming; seriously the sheer amount of game they managed to stuff into a little 8K cartridge is amazing. I don’t really have much to say about Xonox as a company, I... Continue Reading →
Mega Force (20th Century Fox) Atari 2600 Game Review
What time is it? You guessed it its crappy movie tie-in time, and what disappointing movie-based game are we going to be looking at today? Krull? No… Ghostbusters? Nah! Philly Flasher?.. Hell no! Ah! Of course there can be no other than Mega Force! Who remembers Mega Force? ‘cause I don’t, this movie was a... Continue Reading →
Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an odd one to say the least. This was the only one of the four planned Disney games to be released on the 2600; it seems the market fell out from under Atari very soon after this game’s release. What year did this game release on? 1983? Oh, that would explain it.... Continue Reading →
Garfield (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
If you’ve never seen or read a Garfield comic then you’ve been living under a rock for the past forty years. Garfield is the king of Sunday comics and has been running consistently since 1978. It seems sometime in the early 80’s somebody reached out to Jim Davis or his company to make a game... Continue Reading →
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Version 2 (Wizard Video) Atari 2600 Game Review
Since I talked about it so much in the previous review it seems only fair that I review The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Version 2. This version of the game was never released even though it seems Wizard Video already had packaging planned and produced before scrapping the game to release the one programmed by Ed... Continue Reading →
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Wizard Video) Atari 2600 Game Review
Of all the licensed games that have been released I would put Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the top of the ‘least likely to appeal to anyone’ list. The Atari 2600 wasn’t really known to have much success with ‘adult’ oriented games, as we all know it appealed more to kids and teens with the huge... Continue Reading →
River Patrol (Tigervision) Atari 2600 Game Review
The year is 1986, you are a kid who just got his weekly allowance and you’re going to your local Kaybee Toys or Radio Shack to pick up a new game for your Atari 2600. The store is running a sale, 90% off all Atari 2600 games, the NES is taking the country by storm... Continue Reading →
Guardian (Apollo) Atari 2600 Game Review
Well, this is it, this is the final Apollo game I have any interest in covering. Apart from Lost Luggage I have one final game from the Apollo catalog that I have yet to review, it is their final and rarest game, Guardian. Guardian was shipped in incredibly limited numbers, mainly due to the fact... Continue Reading →
Tooth Protectors (DSD Camelot)
Well, with the advent of my UNO Cart I know have the entire NTSC Atari 2600 library at my disposal. What game should I review/play first? Hmmm, there are so many to choose from… How about Tooth Protectors from Johnson & Johnson programmed by DSD Camelot. TP is not as well known as Chase the... Continue Reading →
Berzerk (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
Berzerk is an undeniable classic; everybody likes Berzerk it seems, apart from me. I’m not a fan of Berzerk but I can’t deny its legacy. Berzerk was one of the earliest top-down shooters and also one of the earliest games to have voice sampling. Inevitably the game was ported onto the 2600 where it maintained... Continue Reading →
Night Driver (Atari) Atari 2600 Game Review
I think today I’m going to dial it back a bit; I’ve been fixated for too long on the graphically impressive or highly original. I think I’m just going to talk about an old favorite, I think I’ll talk about Night Driver. Night Driver is not a graphically impressive game, nor is it particularly astounding... Continue Reading →
Death Trap (Avalon Hill) Atari 2600 Game Review
We’re back with Avalon Hill today, and my goodness we have quite a stinker! Death Trap is one of the most lackluster shooters I’ve ever played, and I will savor every minute I spend tearing it apart. In my opinion this is my least favorite of the five games Avalon Hill released on the 2600,... Continue Reading →
Tunnel Runner (CBS) Atari 2600 Game Review
While reviewing London Blitz I recall mentioning Tunnel Runner several times as a maze game that did it right, so it seems only fitting that I go in depth as to why I think so. Tunnel Runner is the hardest game to find from CBS Electronics but is well worth it. I found something quite... Continue Reading →
Z-Tack (Bomb) Atari 2600 Game Review
It’s uncommon in this day and age for there to be zero information on something, it seems that everything has a Wikipedia page or an article explaining it somewhere. Bomb has no Wikipedia page nor does it have any articles, Bomb has nothing but word of mouth, and frankly I haven’t heard any of it... Continue Reading →
Racquetball (Apollo) Atari 2600 Game Review
I get the feeling that this will be the final game I review from Apollo in a very long time, there is only one left for me to review after this and it’s Guardian and I don’t have the 100+ dollars lying around to buy it with. The game I’ll be looking at today is... Continue Reading →
Demolition Herby (Telesys) Atari 2600 Game Review
It’s time to finish this up good and proper, the final Telesys game, the only one I’ve yet to review. Demolition Herby was the final game Telesys released before packing up and vanishing from the videogame market altogether. This isn’t a very complicated game so I’ll give it a simple single paragraph review, though this... Continue Reading →
London Blitz (Avalon Hill) Atari 2600 Game Review
There were plenty of weird game publishers out there, Amiga, Milton Bradley, and Zimag are the first that come to mind. There is one publisher that I think stands above the rest, or at the very least is on par with the strangest of them, Avalon Hill. Avalon Hill made unique, innovative, and very complex... Continue Reading →
Turmoil (20th Century Fox) Atari 2600 Game Review
Everyone who’s played the Tempest port for the 2600 knows that a game such as that simply couldn’t work on the 2600’s constrictive hardware. Enter Sirius Software, under ownership of Fox, who decided to make a Tempest-like game for the 2600, and as everyone who’s played Turmoil knows they succeeded. Turmoil takes the essence of... Continue Reading →
Raft Rider (U.S. Games) Atari 2600 Game Review
The videogame market was a battleground, everybody and their grandma were duking it out seeing who could get the biggest slice of that delicious money pie. Smaller companies stuck to the burgeoning market of home computers, though some did strike into the more lucrative console market, usually with very mixed results. Larger companies though, had... Continue Reading →
Lady in Wading (Playaround) Atari 2600 Game Review
As far as I can tell nobody really knows anything about the publisher of today’s game, and the only thing I can find is an essay blocked behind a $36 paywall so that ain’t happening. Playaround is an oddity, instead of taking the hint from Mystique’s predictable end they decided to go full speed ahead,... Continue Reading →
Star Strike (Mattel) Intellivision Game Review
I have neglected my other systems for too long and it seems to be about time to remedy that. With my recent acquisition of an Intellivision II system I felt the urge to go back and play through all the games I have for it. I don’t have many Intellivision games and honestly most of... Continue Reading →
Eggomania (U.S. Games) Atari 2600 Game Review
When it comes to Catch ‘em games one reigns supreme Kaboom! But we’re not going to be reviewing Kaboom! for a while, we’re looking at one of the games it inspired. Which could be? Could it be Lost Luggage, Eggomania, Big Bird’s Egg Catch, Berenstain Bears, did I find the unreleased prototype of Kickman? (Hint:... Continue Reading →
The Challenge of Nexar (Spectravision) Atari 2600 Game Review
Spectravision! What is this?!? A Joke? Because I’m not laughing. Why? Well I’ll tell you… The Challenge of Nexar… is actually a pretty decent game; I don’t know why you’d expect me to be angry about it. Nexar is a fairly standard fake first person shooter in the same vein as Survival Run by Milton... Continue Reading →
Ram It (Telesys) Atari 2600 Game Review
And the award for the second worst game title goes to… … …Ram It! I don’t even know why they went with this name in particular because you don’t actually do any ramming in the game whatsoever. I wish I could give this game a full review but due to the simplistic nature of every... Continue Reading →
Stargunner (Telesys) Atari 2600 Game Review
Telesys was an earnest company with humble beginnings; they just wanted to make good, fun games. Unfortunately Telesys also died a very humble death as they did not find their desired success in the games market. Telesys arrived on the scene in 1982; they released six games and were gone by the end of 1983.... Continue Reading →
Quest for Quintana Roo (Sunrise Software) Atari 2600 Game Review
Sunrise was a blip on the radar of the 2600 library, they appeared, released a single game, and vanished, just like that. Even though they only released a single 2600 game it doesn’t mean they didn’t release others on different systems. They released a few games for the Colecovision, and released ports for their main... Continue Reading →
Fast Eddie (20th Century Fox) Atari 2600 Game Review
The 2600 has several single screen platformers in its library. Some are excellent like Donkey Kong, others are decent but with flaws like Infiltrate or Tron, and others just suck like Miner 2049’er. There is one platformer that I feel doesn’t get enough attention though, and that is 20th Century Fox’s Fast Eddie. If I... Continue Reading →