Fairchild Channel F Reviews A-Z

I'd call Desert Fox a second-rate Combat (Atari, 1977) except for the fact that it came out a year before that game. Each player maneuvers a pretty sorry-looking tank around a non-descript battlefield of mines and barriers. The tanks look awful but controls aren't bad. You can turn independently of moving, making this one of the first shooters (if not the first) to let you strafe! You can fire rapidly, and since your opponent doesn't move when hit, you can often get in several shots in a row. The action is fast but shallow as you tend to trade shots with your opponent. The collision detection is suspect and I've seen shots pass right through a barrier. The audio is minimal and there's not even a sound when you fire. The two-player action is serviceable but bland. Shooting Gallery is a single-player variation where you shoot as many "pigeons" (blocks) as you can in the fewest number of shots. Your "rifle" is an angled paddle placed in random locations on the left side of the screen. This isn't as bad as it looks (it can't be, right?). You'll need to properly time your shots but the collision detection is very forgiving. It cracks me up how the manual provides instructions for calculating your "batting average." I was told there would be no math! Desert Fox/Shooting Gallery is shooting action of the least common denominator. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

Here's a competent maze game marred by an incomprehensible user interface. Maze lets one or two players guide blocks through a randomly-generated maze that's ideal in size. You can usually "eyeball" the maze to figure out the right path, but while you're doing that your opponent may already be off and running. The game has several variations, but the game is only fun when the maze is completely visible. The invisible variations will make you miserable. Feeling your way around is a chore, especially when bumping into a wall results in an annoying buzz sound. One nice feature is the option to include a free-roaming, computer-controlled "cat". This makes the game playable solo and adds spice to the head-to-head action. Unfortunately, configuring a game requires entering a confusing sequence of keyboard and joystick commands. Even when you get it right, after one round it usually reverts to one of those dreadful "blind" variations. That's your cue to move on to another game! © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

This astonishing Pac-Man translation has got to be the high water mark for the Fairchild Channel F. Remarkably faithful to the arcade original, Pac-Man kicks off with an attractive title screen that introduces the ghosts, each of which is a different color. The main screen features a maze with a layout that's identical to the arcade. The background is white (instead of black) and the opening tune sounds distorted though still easily recognizable. The maze over-scans my television a bit, so the upper and lower regions are just barely visible. The game plays like a dream and the controls are very comfortable. The collision detection is less forgiving than the arcade, so if you're camped out by a power pill, don't wait too long to snag it. Upon getting caught by a ghost you're treated to the classic death animation and sound effect. Pac-Man is a heck of a lot of fun to play on the Fairchild. I hear there's another version with full intermissions, but as far as I'm concerned this one already goes well beyond the call of duty. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

I was beginning to think that all the games for the Fairchild had some degree of redeeming value, and then I played Space War. On the surface it looks a lot like Desert Fox, but instead of tanks you guide a saucer freely around the screen while shooting energy beams at your opponent. You can direct your shots left or right by turning the joystick. The screen is wide open except for some scattered mines and two diamond-shaped "star bases". Firing shots and taking hits drains your energy, but you can "recharge" at any time by touching either one of the star bases. This leads to endless stand-offs where both players trade a few shots before docking at their bases and returning good as new. Playing Space War is so pointless that you're probably better off doing absolutely nothing instead. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

After two minutes of playing this game my friend Chris came to the stunning realization: "Wait a minute - oh, we're airplanes!" Okay, so maybe Spitfire isn't much in the graphics department, but its dogfighting action isn't so bad. Each round begins with a plane on each side of the screen and a green control tower in the middle. After a brief countdown the planes take off and can fly freely around the screen while attempting to shoot each other down. The controls are a little counter intuitive, as you push up to dive and pull to climb. I guess it makes sense from an airplane control point of view, but on the 2D screen it would have been easier to just turn the knob. The game is pretty fun because you need to react quickly to shake an opponent off your tail. The collision detection isn't perfect but that actually makes the game more realistic. I really enjoy the crash animations of the planes spinning into the ground. You can play to any score, and there's even a one-player variation. Easy to play and competitive, this twitch shooter is usually good for a few rounds. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

This two-for-one sports title comes built into the Fairchild Channel F console. Tennis is your basic Pong clone, and it's not a particularly good rendition. The action is slow, never speeds up, and you can't even affect the trajectory of your hits. I wasn't expecting much more from hockey. The field is a rectangle with openings on each side, and there are four "paddles" (two forwards and two goalies). I was expecting to only move up and down, but in fact your "forward" paddle has full range of movement all over the field! That's right - you can walk right up to your opponent's goalie and get all up in his business! Better yet, you can actually twist the joystick to angle your paddle! As icing on the cake, you can independently control your goalie by pulling or "plunging" the joystick! I was going to characterize this unprecedented degree of control as "4D" until my friend Scott pointed out that this game falls just short of letting you manipulate time itself. Is it hard to wrap your brain around this crazy control scheme? Yes. Does it add to the challenge? Yes. The collision detection could be better but the matches are action-packed. This isn't your father's hockey game! Oh wait... it might be. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.