Seaquest

Seaquest is yet another stellar arcade-style game from the folks at Activision. The game successfully combines elements of Defender and Choplifter and tosses it into the ocean. You pilot a submarine that rescues divers while fighting off huge fish, man-eating sharks, and enemy submarines. You have a limited supply of oxygen and a maximum capacity … Read more

Explosive Diarrhea Review for the Atari 2600

Episode 17 – This week on the show I review Explosive Diarrhea, a homebrew game for the Atari 2600 released by Packrat Video Games and designed by Chris Reed. Take control of a family of rednecks with food poisoning, guiding them to the nearest outhouse! It’s as much a conversation piece as it is a … Read more

Replacing the PCB in Your Atari CX-10 “Heavy-Sixer” Joystick

Atari joysticks are very simple devices, and as such there isn’t much that can go wrong with them. Their Achilles’ Heel however is the metal domes that, when pushed down by the joystick or fire button, complete the circuit to register the input. Over time, these domes wear out and lose their elasticity, drift out … Read more

Midnight Magic

This game makes the earlier Video Pinball for the VCS look downright awful. Midnight Magic’s colorful, high-resolution graphics and realistic ball physics make its predecessor look like something from the previous generation. The game features a single table with more plausible dimensions (long and narrow) and more realistic-looking round bumpers. The play field is still … Read more

Spider Fighter

Sometimes I don’t understand where designers came up with their game ideas back in the classic era. In Spider Fighter you are charged with protecting your fruit orchard from legions of spiders who steal your fruit, which you do by shooting at them with a “bug blaster”. The bugs attack in waves. Each wave begins … Read more

River Raid

The mother of all vertically-scrolling shoot-em-ups! In River Raid, you control a fighter jet flying at low altitude over a river, shooting tanker ships, helicopters, and other planes while keeping a close eye on your fuel level. Not only can your plane move from side to side, but you can also speed up and slow … Read more

Bowling

In general, bowling is not a game that translates well into the world of video games. I would guess that most gamers could count the number of entertaining bowling games across all platforms on one hand. It is therefore surprising, especially considering the fact that most sports games on the Atari VCS are horrible, that … Read more

Oink!

Activision is famous for the quality of their VCS titles, but this game is just awful. Oink! has been described as “breakout in reverse” because instead of removing blocks, you are replacing them. You play as each one of the Three Little Pigs, protecting your house against the invading wolf. The wolf blows your house … Read more

Golf

I would never suggest that it would be easy to create a golf game on the Atari 2600, but the system is definitely capable of a better offering than this. Golf isn’t a horrible game, but it could have been a lot better. The developer did an admirable job of trying to re-create the feeling … Read more

California Games

California Games was not only a launch title, but was the original Lynx pack-in game. Developed by Epyx, a company known primarily for its compilation sports titles, California Games will feel instantly familiar to those who have played any of their previous releases. The game features 4 sports; BMX biking, surfing, half pipe skateboarding, and … Read more