Atari 2600 Reviews P-Q

Five games in one, Party Mix was originally released as title #10 in Starpath's innovative line of tape-loading games. Putting the paddle controllers to good use, Party Mix lives up to its name with impressive graphics, decent music, and hilarious multi-player mayhem. These split-screen games are designed for two-on-two action, but can also be played one-on-one. Needless to say, the four-player action is wilder and often comical. The first game, Bop-A-Buggy, is a race between two large, oddly-shaped vehicles across several screens of obstacles, with a finish line at the end. The paddle controls are very sensitive but provide pinpoint steering. With four players, the other two competitors can fire missiles to slow their opponent's progress. Tug-Of-War is just as you'd imagine, with players mashing their fire buttons continuously to maintain the upper hand. It'll absolutely kill your hand, but with four people going at once, you'll all be laughing your asses off. In the Wizard's Keep, wizards on the left side of the screen shoot fireballs at targets that move down the right side, and timing is crucial. The fourth game, Down The Line, takes place in a factory. One player picks colored packages off a conveyer belt and hands it to his partner who must place them on the correct belt on the other side. The packages come pretty fast so there's no time to rest. The final game, Handcar, puts each pair of players on one of those two-man railroad carts where one guy needs to push a handle down while the other pulls up. Both players must be well synchronized to gain momentum. Any one of these fine mini-games could stand on its own, so having all five in one package is a real bargain. Party Mix can be yours if you purchase the Stella Gets a New Brain CD. Check it out. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

In the early 80's Phoenix drew crowds at my local bowling alley. This innovative shooter featured five unique waves culminating with a dramatic showdown with a colossal mother ship. Keep in mind that this was before bosses were so common (and overused). I broke my piggybank to get the Atari 2600 version, bugging my mother to drive me to Toys R Us so I could buy it. The game cost me $36, and adjusted for inflation, that's over $4,800 in today's currency. And worth every penny I might add. Phoenix boasts some of the sharpest graphics and varied shooting action you'll find on the 2600. The first wave consists of eight small birds in formation which are fairly easy to pick off. The second wave is similar, but it's actually easier because it supports rapid-fire shooting (just hold down the button). These waves feature high-pitched, oscillating background audio effects which sound exactly like what a flock of birds would sound like in space. The third and fourth waves feature larger birds swooping across the screen. You can shoot off their wings, but only a direct shot is fatal. When both wings are shot off, new ones sprout, which is a pretty impressive visual effect. I wish Atari had put some beaks on those birds. The fifth screen reveals the imposing mother ship. Although it doesn't have the small birds flying around it (as in the arcade), it's still quite satisfying to wear down its hull and blow up that freaky alien in its interior. From there the waves recycle and the birds become slightly more aggressive. Don't forget you can pull back on the joystick to engage your shield. The game's single skill level is its main liability, and you get too many lives (five plus one at 5K). Experienced players will need to defeat the mother ship a few times before the real challenge kicks in. Phoenix deserves extra credit for its incredible artwork, of which I had a poster of in my bedroom for many years. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I respect Pitfall for the groundbreaking title it is, but I suspect this oldie is a little overrated. You play the role of Pitfall Harry in a jungle composed of 255 contiguous screens. The game is clearly built around one clever mechanism, and that is your ability to swing over hazards on a vine. It was cool in 1982, but is it still fun in 2011? Yes, as a matter of fact it is! I also love that "Tarzan yell" sound effect. Other hazards include quicksand, tar pits, snakes, fire, scorpions, crocodiles, and rolling logs. Like most Activision titles, the visuals look crisp and well defined. You earn points by snatching up treasure, and it's always satisfying to snag a gold bar or diamond ring. The jungle layout is exactly the same each time you play, but that's okay because the real challenge lies in exploring all the screens within the 20-minute time limit. Casual players will deplete their three lives long before time expires, but experts love to see how far they can get. You can travel towards the left or right, but the left is a lot easier. In fact, you may want to keep separate high scores for heading in each direction. Just don't make the mistake I did and try to use the trees in the background as a point of reference, because their spacing changes with each screen. In addition to providing exotic fun, Pitfall also teaches some valuable lessons in outdoor safety. For example, you can jump on a crocodile without fear of harm - but only if its mouth is closed. Pitfall is challenging at first, but eventually the action becomes monotonous - even mind-numbing. It seems like you're doing the same three things over and over again. Also, I've never been sold on the idea of those scorpion-infested underground routes. They're supposed to provide strategic shortcuts through the game, but there's no treasure down there and some lead to dead ends. Unless you map out the screens or have an excellent memory, you're better off staying the hell out of there. Pitfall is not as great as some of my friends remember it to be, but its classic status was never in doubt. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

This well constructed sequel did a fine job extending the Pitfall concept while providing that "thrill of discovery" classic gamers crave. The first thing that stands out about Pitfall 2 is its lively, harmonized musical score that plays throughout the entire game. Thank goodness it's so incredibly catchy, because otherwise that looping tune might drive you to throw your TV out the window. Apparently a special chip was implanted into the cartridge to allow for such high quality audio. Unlike the first game, this one takes Pitfall Harry deep into the bowels of the earth. The rich visuals feature multi-tiered caverns, underwater rivers, and even waterfalls. The game feels expansive but retains that distinctive Pitfall look and feel. You'll encounter bats, condors, electric eels, poisonous frogs, and familiar albino scorpions (reprised from the first game). Pitfall 2 has no timer and there's no concept of lives. There are periodic checkpoints, and you have a score that's frequently docked for mistakes. If the first game was horizontal in nature, this one is very, very vertical. Expect a lot of climbing and falling. In one particular shaft you even travel on a hot air balloon to reach high ledges. My only frustration with Pitfall 2 stems from Harry's inability to duck. Low-flying bats and birds are constant hazards, and it requires perfect timing (and luck) to run under them without catching a wing. At one point you need to dodge about 12 of these in a row, and it's frustrating. Then again, the game would probably be entirely too easy if you could duck. As it is, Pitfall 2 is addictive and satisfying, making me wish a Pitfall 3 had been produced in the same exact style. Developer David Crane clearly pulled out all the stops with this one, and the result is an exciting adventure that really pushes the limits of the system. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Now available for the first time thanks to the good people at Atari Age, Pleiades is one of those games programmed "back in the day" but never released. According to its instruction manual, Pleiades is the unofficial sequel to Phoenix. If I had to hazard a guess as to why Pleiades never saw the light of day, I'm guessing it's because no one could pronounce its freakin' name. Anyway, this fun but uneven shooter features three completely unique stages. In the first, you control a cannon on a planet surface shooting aliens flying in various formations. The aliens move fast and drop a ton of bombs, but their movements are annoyingly choppy. Occasionally one will crawl across the bottom, leaving a wall that you can poke holes in. There's some scenery on the planet's surface, but nothing particularly impressive. The off-key "music" that plays during this stage is simply awful. The second screen resembles the mother ship sequence in Phoenix. This particular mother ship is large but chunky, with three trap doors that randomly open and close on its underbelly. Timing your shots, you must nail a little star that moves left to right across the center of the ship. Meanwhile, large birds swoop down, drop bombs, and block your shots. Like the first stage, it's moderately fun but over too quickly. The third screen is easily the most difficult and time-consuming. Your job here is to guide a slowly moving, triangular ship up a pyramid-shaped course while avoiding scattered obstacles. This is where you'll lose 90 percent of your ships. Especially near the top of the pyramid, the airplane-shaped obstacles are too densely packed to avoid, and it grows frustrating. Pleiades is still worthwhile to play, thanks to its fast action and sheer variety. I also appreciate the fact that it keeps the high score displayed on the screen at all times. Note: Despite what the manual says, set the left difficulty switch to B for a normal game, and A to practice. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

Pole Position is the grandfather of all racers, and while this arcade hit had to be certainly scaled down for the Atari 2600, it's still challenging and addictive. The illusion of speed is quite convincing despite a complete lack of scaling scenery. The background is sparse, save for some mountains and clouds, but you won't even notice them in the heat of a race. Your car is multicolored, but oncoming cars don't look nearly as good. They first appear as yellow blocks on the horizon, and inexplicably morph into castles as they approach. At least the transition is smooth, so if you ram into one, you can't blame the game. Pole Position's solid gameplay makes up for its shabby graphics, thank goodness. You begin each contest with an easy qualifying lap, which becomes tedious after a while. Once the real race gets underway, your car accelerates automatically, and the fire button fuctions as the brake. Pushing up and down on the joystick allows you to shift gears between high and low. The game really keeps you on your toes. Although oncoming cars only appear one at a time, they change lanes unpredictably, so keep your thumb near the brake and approach cautiously. No roadside scenery means you can always drive off the road, but it will slow you down. You begin the race with a 59 second time limit, but your time is extended as you complete laps. Realistic sound effects include passing car engines and squealing tires. I like how the game keeps a running score at the top of the screen. This version of Pole Position is tougher than it looks. Try to reach 50,000 points and you'll see what I'm talking about. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

The French company Ebivision has a checkered past when it comes to producing new video games for the 2600. Their titles tend to be either highly innovative (Marlin's Walls) or awfully derivative (Pesco). Power Off falls more into the latter category. The screen consists of eight red platforms connected by ladders and patrolled by robots. You control a tiny man trying to gather 16 blue blocks spread among the platforms. Please don't confuse this with the 50 other Atari 2600 games that share the same premise. There's really nothing interesting about Power Off. Heck, the fire button doesn't even do anything! Once I started playing however, a funny thing happened - I couldn't stop. Just clearing the first screen required far more technique and strategy than I initially gave this game credit for. It's hard for several reasons. The robots tend to move side-to-side over the ladders, so your timing needs to be impeccable to scale one untouched. It doesn't help that it's aggravatingly difficult to line up properly with each ladder (not unlike Ebivision's Alfred Challenge). Even more frustrating is the fact that no matter how many blocks you've collected, once you die the screen is completely repopulated! I can't tell you how many times I dropped the "F" bomb playing this game, especially after getting snuffed out with just one block remaining. I do appreciate the innovative scoring system however, which rewards the player for picking up consecutive blocks (their values increase by increments). When you finally clear a screen (quite a feat), you proceed to another level with a different ladder layout and new set of robots. Power Off's graphics are clean-looking, the robots are cool, and I like how your little guy scampers around. Except for the musical title screen, there's not much audio. Speaking of the title screen, I like how it scrolls the instructions, but I detected a loss in translation when it mentioned that robots were "haunting" the rooms. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

If this game is any indication, working in a fast food restaurant is an absolute blast! Pressure Cooker lets you play the role of a short-order cook, a concept we didn't see again until Cooking Momma took the Wii by storm in 2007. Pressure Cooker lets you assemble burgers by piling tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, and onions onto beef paddies moving down a conveyer belt. The bottom of the screen shows a "checklist" of ingredients required to create the next three orders. It's possible to work on multiple burgers concurrently, but even trying to juggle two requires maximum concentration. Once a burger is complete, you carry it to a lower screen and drop it into one of three colored chutes where it's packaged. I love this game's colorful, high-resolution graphics. At the top of the screen the burgers can be seen passing over a flame in an oven before being placed on a bun. It's then transported via a series of conveyer belt contraptions. The cook looks like an old man with a chef's hat, and he's nicely rendered in several colors. The visuals are remarkably clean and the ingredients are easy to differentiate. The control scheme lets you "kick back" items you don't need by holding in the button, but sometimes you'll still get stuck with an unwanted ingredient. Sadly, the only way to get rid of it is to build a "bad" burger. A trash can would have been nice! Another minor complaint is how you have to sit through the intro tune before the action kicks in. But taken as a whole, Pressure Cooker is ingeniously designed and extremely well programmed. This is one of those quirky games that makes you glad you still have an Atari 2600. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.