Atari 2600 Reviews H-L

The early stages are short and easy, gradually easing you into larger, puzzle-like configurations. You'll have to contend with creepy-crawlies, pitch-dark areas, and "lava walls" deadly to touch. H.E.R.O.'s graphics are sharp and the gameplay requires a great deal of skill., but a few flaws dampened my enthusiasm.

When you drop down into a lower screen, certain hazards appear suddenly and are hard to avoid, forcing you to take a very slow, deliberate approach. It also sucks when you run out of dynamite, and are forced to slowly chew through walls with your laser beam. The stages are thoughtfully designed but repetitive in appearance. Although not as memorable as Pitfall, H.E.R.O.'s sharp graphics and interesting stages make it worth a try. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

As in the movie, Michael is slow but relentless. You never know when he's going to suddenly appear in a doorway or at the edge of the screen. Better yet, his appearances are punctuated by an excellent rendition of the spooky Halloween theme song. If he grabs hold of a victim, you're treated to gratuitous gore bordering on hilarious. A lot of people lose their heads, and the spurting, pixelated blood is over-the-top. Halloween's gameplay is a little slow but there are some subtle nuances.

Michael's movements are predictable, and with good timing you can lead children right past him. Occasionally you'll find a knife which allows you to briefly turn the tables on him. The lights on the top floor occasionally black out, adding additional suspense as you "feel" your way around in the pitch dark. Jack-o-lanterns track your "lives" on the top of the screen - a nice touch. My biggest gripe is that Michael appears too often which minimizes the suspense factor. Halloween isn't the best game in the world, but fans of the film and game collectors should be fascinated by it. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

Your pixelated Master Chief looks great as he scuttles around and engages in shootouts with gangs of ruthless aliens. He can only fire left or right, but aliens can fire in any direction and their bullets whizz by at high velocity. Fortunately the responsive controls make it possible to dodge bullets and slip through crossfire situations. Your foes come in a remarkable variety of shapes and sizes, and even in low resolution you'll recognize many familiar alien species.

The landscape is sparse but there are scattered trees, generators, and cannons. A critical power-up is available for your gun, shield icons provide one-hit protection, and you can find special boots that let you run twice as fast. It's tempting to dismiss Halo 2600 as a clever novelty, but this is one of the more addictive and intense titles I've played on the system. There's plenty of technique involved, although memorization helps too.

Destroying the oversized boss enables the "legendary mode". Unfortunately, the only difference is that you move much slower, prompting my friends to deem it "molasses mode". Lacking randomization, scoring, and a password feature, Halo 2600 comes up short in terms of replay value. Still, the frantic action is great fun while it lasts. This makes you wonder how other modern franchises might fare on the 2600. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

Hangman's gameplay is entertaining but it gets old in a hurry. The graphics are very blocky but the letters are easy to read, and the alphabet song plays as you cycle through them. The "hangman" himself takes the form of a monkey hanging from a pole by one arm. I can only assume that Atari had some kind of misguided policy against lynching people in their games. The difficulty switches can be used to institute a 20 second time limit, which I highly recommend. . © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

Roaming the house are three spiders (blue, orange, red), a bat, and a ghost. The creatures are well animated and I love how the spiders' legs twitch. These creatures are deadly to the touch, but thankfully you get nine lives. Each floor contains six square rooms, but locked doors make it a challenge to find your way around. Holding the skeleton key lets you move freely from room to room, but you can't hold it and the urn pieces at the same time. A scepter makes the bat and spiders oblivious to your presence, but it won't protect you from the ghost. Evading the monsters by running is possible, but they have a way of ganging up on you. Since the bat steals your items, it's often good strategy to let a spider bite you instead.

Haunted House isn't spectacular in any way, but its elements combine to create a compelling dynamic. It's pretty intense as you try to find your way back to the entrance with the completed urn in hand and one life remaining. You never know what's waiting behind the next door. Complementing the action are crisp sound effects including footsteps, thunder, howling winds, and slamming doors. Your final score (if you escape) is a combination of remaining lives and matches used. Trying to convey any degree of terror on the 2600 is not an easy task, but Atari did a very respectable job with Haunted House. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

Your three fielders move in unison and can't even throw the ball. You just scoop it up and run down the baserunner before he can reach the next base. It's not as hard as it sounds because your fielders are speed demons. I like how the runner's footsteps continue long after he's disappeared from the screen. There are no fly balls but hits to straight-away center are automatic home runs. You'll want to share that little tidbit of information with your opponent or he'll be really mad at you.

The pitching is the best part of the game. You have total control of the ball and can fool the batter by having it flutter all around before catching a corner of the plate. It's also possible to hit the batter in the face, which is always a good time. I have fond memories of playing Home Run with my dad as a kid but today I find the game borderline unplayable. If you employ a few basic techniques you'll throw a shutout every time.

As an experiment I had my friends Brent and Kevin give it a try. They had never even heard of the game. To my surprise they seemed to have a great time, especially when it came to tormenting each other with those crazy-ass pitches. After that I wondered if I had been too hard on the game. But then I had Scott and Chris play and they hated it.

Scott remarked that if he had a choice between playing Home Run or being poked in the crotch repeatedly with a sharp stick, he would only reluctantly choose Home Run. Home Run is a likeable but shallow sports title that's only fun for a while. On a final note, one astute reader pointed out that Home Run is only 1.84 kilobytes in size. By comparison, MLB The Show 17 is 38 gigabytes, making it 20.5 million times larger. The question is, is it 20.5 million times more fun? I doubt it. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

The sparse sound effects are nothing but a series of monotones. Still, I can't deny that the game is quite challenging and requires some thought. The water tower is a small target on difficulty B, and downright miniscule on A. Some variations incorporate moving barriers, which test your reflexes as well as your mind. I found the difficult variations to be nearly impossible. Human Cannonball is a weak title, but had it been combined with Circus Atari, they would have made a nice package. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

The controls are fantastic. In fact, I can't recall another game with controls this responsive. Hunchy quickly scuttles up and down ladders and can even jump onto (or off of) a ladder mid-rung! The fact that he can fall any distance without getting hurt not only boosts the fun factor but adds strategy as well (catch bells while you're falling). The stage layouts are tricky and a few are just plain diabolical.

Some bells require you take a circuitous route while keeping an eye out for blue projectiles that randomly cross the screen. Once you get a feel for the controls you can whiz through the early screens with ease, but it's easy to hit the proverbial wall difficulty-wise. It doesn't help that many jumps have low clearance, which can result in hitting your head and falling into abyss. I hate it when that happens. Otherwise Hunchy II is a well-crafted platformer that will put your skills to the test. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Teddie walks slowly and can't jump. To ascend the structure you must walk up to blinking pixels and press the button. This causes a pole to appear that you can shimmy up and down on. You can also hang on the pole mid-way to avoid roving enemies. There are eight poles on each screen, and you must activate every single one of them before you can complete the stage. The characters patrolling the platforms are colorful but I have no idea what the heck they're supposed to be.

A yellow box occasionally floats around and grabbing it lets you defeat the enemy on your current platform. The second screen features Teddie's mom instead of an apple, and she's heinous. She looks like Yoda's girlfriend! Completing this roundreprises that irritating music and then... what? The game is over?! Clocking in at less than five minutes, I Want My Mommy is the shortest game I've ever completed. Note: This is an abbreviated version (for kids?) of Open Sesame. © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.

The outstanding gameplay boasts non-stop action and pinpoint control. When in possession of the puck, it moves back and forth across your stick, and your timing determines the exact angle of your pass or shot. Playing off the boards is really the key to this game. Despite having only two players on each team, passing is surprisingly effective.

Player control switches automatically between your forward and goalie, and it always seems to occur at exactly the right moment. You can even get physical by swinging your stick wildly, knocking your opponent onto his backside! The computer is a worthy challenge, but nothing can beat this game's two-player action. Ice Hockey by Activision is not only a sports classic - it's even better than the real thing! © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

You get a generous supply of grenades (99) which you'll need to use against the heavy artillery. Just don't blow up that red tank, because it's one you can commandeer! The graphics are classic 2600 - chunky but smooth. Your soldier is rendered in an array of colors and I like how he sneaks around. Once you get a feel for the controls you begin to appreciate the intricate gameplay. It feels like a game of cat and mouse as you dart back and forth, getting off a shot or two before retreating. Crossfire situations are brutal. I almost broke my wrist playing this game!

You'll wade through marshes, blast open fortress doors, and cross rope bridges while being fired on by helicopters. There's a two-player mode but it's alternating only. Hey, you can't have everything. The sense of progression is limited by the sparse scenery but the difficulty curve feels just right. I dare you to score 10K! If you do, you earn a free soldier. The graphics might be considered abstract but I'll take the Pepsi Challenge against the NES original any day of the week. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

The main game variation is a two-player, 25-lap race with four tracks to choose from, including two excellent "ice" tracks. And Indy is hardly a one-trick pony. There's a terrific "crash n' score" mode where both cars race to collect "dots" on a semi-open playfield, and the action is wild and competitive. Equally fun is the "tag" variation where one car tries to remain "it" for the longest time. There are even "time trial" variations that let you play solo. After all these years, Indy 500 still remains one of the best racing games around, so grab a friend and give it a go. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Upon switching to a higher difficulty, your car not only has a higher top speed, but assumes the look of a dragster! The highlight of the game is the "crash 'n score" variations where the players dart around open playing fields to collect squares that pop up at random. My friend Steve and I had a blast playing those.

Indy 500 XE is an exciting title for classic gamers, but I have to take exception to the manual which states "More tracks, more fun!" For one thing, the tracks tend to be extremely narrow, making passing extremely difficult. In close races, the cars will constantly bang into each other, slowing the action to a crawl until someone finally breaks loose.

It's a shame there's no option to turn off the collision detection. Indy 500 XE is designed with two players in mind, but there are plenty of single-player variations that let you race against the clock. Paired with the original game, this is probably all the Indy 500 action you'll ever need. © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

One element guaranteed to catch first-timers off-guard is that these assassins actually shoot at you! Whoa - we're not in Pac-Land anymore, Toto! Fortunately, you can fire back. Infiltrate's action is faster and more frantic than most platformers, but its controls are touchy and the flickering "assassins" jump around erratically. Even so, Infiltrate is not as bad as it looks. . © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

On the downside, the ball can blend into those thick white lines, and your goalie can stray from his post at the most inopportune moments (where the [expletive] did he go?!). Sometimes it's hard to determine which defender you're controlling as well.

The contests are lively but tend to run a little too long, so you'll probably want to settle for just playing a half. My friend Steve is an actual soccer player, and he genuinely enjoyed kicking everybody's ass at this. Some single-player variations would have been nice, but International Soccer is definitely worthwhile if you're up for some head-to-head competition. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Your pod-shaped car is supposed to be some kind of all-terrain vehicle. As you cruise along the planet surface and "hop" over volcanic craters, satellites and helicopters drop bombs from overhead. The helicopter's searchlight looks cool, but it never even comes close to reaching the ground. Perhaps the pilot should consider flying below the satellite! Yes, that's right, the helicopters fly above the satellite orbit.

Your vehicle is armed with a cannon, but get this - you can't shoot your attackers! No, that might be fun, so it's not allowed. Instead, you can only shoot the periodic "diamonds" that appear in the sky. The second half of the stage takes place over water, where you'll witness enemy aircraft inexplicably bombing their own divers in the water below! Once you reach the oil rig (which is invisible half the time), you'll need to perform a complicated maneuver to bring the stage to a merciful conclusion. It only took me about 20 tries or so.

The second stage forces you to deal with "poison bombs" which spell instant death if you don't shoot them down at launch. That's as far as I got, but I can only assume that the subsequent stages are equally as idiotic. James Bond 007 is challenging, but only because you don't know what the [expletive] is going on half of the time. What a complete and utter waste of a movie license. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

Each wall has an opening that moves from side to side, and the varying speeds of these openings create an ever-changing maze. Consequently these provide for plenty of narrow-escape opportunities. Ain't it cool?! Yeah, and it's a blast to play! The action is non-stop and the control is dead-on. Jawbreaker takes an old theme and manages to make it exciting again. Highly recommended! © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Controlling individual band members, you march up the screen while avoiding "groupies" and "greedy promoters", rendered with atrocious-looking abstract symbols. The promoters are floating heads and the groupies are big hearts with legs. The screen displays your money total, and this decreases whenever you are touched.

This scoring system really doesn't make any sense, since you lose money as you progress. Journey Escape is monotonous on the normal difficulty, and just plain annoying on the high setting. Its novelty value may attract collectors, but the game itself is a joke. . © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

The control is quite good however, and Atari even managed to include the pterodactyl! The main difference between this and the arcade is that when enemies are defeated, eggs they produce don't settle on the platforms, but instead bounce around until hatched or caught. It sounds cheesy, but it actually makes the egg waves more interesting. Most important, the excellent two player simultaneous action has also been retained. . © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.

Junior is decked out in a little beanie cap with a propeller, and when caught by a ghost he disappears as the cap falls to the ground. The select switch lets you choose your starting maze based on a toy-shaped symbol at the bottom of the screen. These toys are really hard to make out! No matter what level you pick your skills will be put to the test, so grab your best joystick and hold on tight.

The torrid pacing requires both quick-thinking and cat-like reflexes. This game gets my vote for "most likely to shatter your wrist." The ghosts pursue you so relentlessly that you have to use the power pills as a defense mechanism! The effect of these pills doesn't last long, so gobbling up four ghosts is a rare occurrence. Heck, just clearing one maze is a monumental achievement!

As if the game wasn't hard enough, some dots become "fat" to slow you down, and wandering toys can destroy power-pills. Now that's just uncalled for. Still, Junior Pac-Man is extremely addicting and will give jaded gamers a real run for their money. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

You begin deep in the jungle, swinging from vine to vine. From there, you must survive a crocodile-infested river, armed only with a knife. Next, you're back on shore, jumping over rolling rocks and ducking under large boulders. Finally, you must leap over two spear-toting natives in order to rescue the girl.

The main character is rendered in several colors, and that alone was pretty exciting back in 1983! The jungle scenery is modest but features some parallax scrolling to convey depth. There's minimal flicker in the high-resolution graphics, and the controls are responsive.

Fans of the arcade game may frown on the level landscape in the boulder stage, since the arcade version had a slope. The ending is admittedly weak (if you can even call it an ending) but overall this is a quality title. There are two levels of difficulty, and the second one offers a genuine challenge. If you own an Atari 2600, Jungle Hunt is worth tracking down. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

Juno First is simple, fast, and fun. A large number of enemies appear on the screen at once, with closer craft scaling in and distant craft represented by pixels on the horizon. They tend to flicker when the action gets intense, but you have to be impressed by the sheer number of aliens on the screen at a given time. Not only do they move quickly, but the aliens literally spray you with missiles! Holding the fire button initiates rapid-fire, and I love how your shots slice through multiple aliens like butter! You can fly around them, but they never go away. Instead they "wrap around" the playing field, so be extra careful when moving backwards.

When my friend Chris accidentally backed into an alien, he remarked, "I didn't realize how small the world was!" Apparently he's never been to a certain Disney World attraction. Juno First is a true original, and its single skill level is ideal. If you own an AtariVox, it will save top 10 high scores (sweet). The graphics in Juno First are relatively high in resolution, but for some reason the game does seem to have a lot of electromagnetic interference. That didn't prevent my friends and I from totally digging this wild new shooter. Buy it now! © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

Kaboom's graphics look sharp, its gameplay is madly addicting, and there are some nice little graphical details as well. The mad bomber wears a black mask and changes expressions during the game. The lighted fuses on the bombs flicker, and bombs splash when they hit the buckets, which incidentally look nothing like buckets.

There's even a little strategy involved. When you have all three buckets, it's a good idea to mess up intentionally just before obtaining your bonus bucket at 1000 points. This will slow down the bombs temporarily, and you'll get your third bucket right back! © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Your kangaroo looks pretty good, and it's easy to make her jump, punch, and duck. The monkeys look okay but their animation is choppy, and the square apples they hurl move in an equally jerky manner. What's great about Kangaroo is its unapologetic difficulty. There are three screens to conquer, and just reaching the third one is a major accomplishment. There's fruit to collect along the way, and ringing a bell will replenish the fruit.

Kangaroo's scoring system doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You can amass a much higher score by concentrating on the fruit instead of clearing the game levels. Kangaroo's control is unforgiving, and stepping off any platform will send you plummeting to your death, even if it's a tiny step. There seemed to be a few times when I died for no apparent reason. The sound effects are minimal, but cute jingles play at the beginning and end of each screen. Kangaroo won't impress you with its graphics, but its challenging gameplay should keep you occupied. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

The green and purple characters are admittedly huge, but then couldn't be more blocky or slow moving. The way they constantly gyrate, it looks as if they're dancing with each other for Pete's sake! In fact, if you crank up the Bee Gee's "Staying Alive" as you play, the game almost makes sense.

The fighting "action" is a complete joke, with punches and kicks that look simply heinous (what appendage is that?!). The collision detection is non-existent; your opponent can be right up against you, yet is always out of reach. If not for the scores displayed on top of the screen, you'd never even know that contact was made!

If you can convince yourself this is a dancing game with controls that transcend human comprehension, then Karate is the best game in the world. Otherwise this garbage gets my vote for worst Atari 2600 game of all time. Note: This game was reissued by Froggo in 1987. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

The chase takes place in a three-story department store that's several screens wide. He's heading for the roof, and you must catch him before a timer expires. Beginning on the lower floor, you work your way toward the elevator and escalators while ducking under bouncing beach balls and leaping over runaway shopping carts. Today we take ducking for granted, but in 1982 it was a pretty fantastic feature.

Touching most obstacles costs you time, but if that toy plane nails you in the face, you're a goner. The most memorable aspect of the game has got to be the escalators. Not only do those things look totally cool, but you will never ever get tired of riding them! Even 29 years later! They are so much fun that I never even questioned why one of them leads to the roof.

The elevator is pretty neat too, but the fact that it's so narrow makes it hard to squeeze into on the run. Oh well, I guess it just adds to the challenge. The single skill level is kind of lame, but Keystone Kapers has passed the test of time and deserves a place in every classic game collection. Hint: To save a split-second, jump onto the escalators. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

If you couldn't reach a balloon in time you could make a last-ditch effort to propel it back upwards using the kick button. It's a sound premise, but Kickman upped the ante by incorporating Pac-Man and his ghosts! That's right, Pac-Man is mixed in with the balloons, and when you catch him he gobbles the balloons right off your head for big points. How a game released by Midway could feature Namco's Pac-Man is beyond me, but perhaps that accounts for its limited home release (only on the Commodore 64).

I always wanted to own a copy of Kickman. In the late 90's a video game magazine article had a screenshot which appeared to be an Atari 2600 version of the game. That version never materialized but this prototype is probably better. It lacks background scenery but plays like a champ. The kicking controls require good timing but it's satisfying when you do it right. I don't think I've ever played another game quite like Kickman.

The only thing that sucks is that drawn-out "tooooo baaad" music that plays when you miss. Pac-Man is back along with his ghosts, and nine skill levels offer more than enough challenge. If someone would just add background graphics and trackball control this would be damn near perfect. That said, I'm more than happy to settle for this fun prototype. © Copyright 2020 The Video Game Critic.

Your job is to blast them before they reach the surface. A scanner indicates enemy position, but not altitude, unfortunately. Killer Satellites has an astounding 100 levels! So what's the problem? It's the difficulty progression. Each level is littered with more and more tiny meteors which turn the screen into an obstacle course! It effectively grinds the action to a halt and takes away from the fun. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.