A little context to this blog

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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:...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...