Atari 2600 Reviews R

This jet fighter game straddles the line between simulation and arcade, but the results mixed. You embark on five missions of increasing difficulty and view the action from just behind your triangular plane. Radar Lock begins with a nice runway sequence before switching to a nice blue horizon with passing clouds. When engaging the enemy, multiple brightly-colored planes appear, darting around unpredictably. I've seen up to four planes on the screen at once, and they look pretty good. You can bank and accelerate, but thankfully, altitude is not a factor. The dog-fighting action would be pretty weak if not for the fact that you can switch between three different weapons on the fly using the right joystick. Your standard weapon, and easily the most effective, is your rapid-fire machine guns. The guided missile weapon is a disappointment - it's not only hard to use, but unreliable as well. Your third option is a limited supply of "proximity missiles", which can obliterate planes en masse. Unfortunately, you must time their detonation perfectly or risk blowing yourself up instead. I found switching weapons in the heat of battle to be awkward, but a two-player mode lets a second player assume the weapon responsibilities. Enemy planes fire missiles periodically, and the best means of escape is to move the joystick like crazy. Radar Lock game is a tough game, and I couldn't even make it past the third mission. It seems like the hardest part is just getting the enemy planes to appear on the screen. After the first mission, they tend to be elusive, sitting at the radar's edge while you wrestle the joystick to bring them into range. The situation becomes even more aggravating when your fuel is running low. I do like how you must refuel at the end of each mission by docking with a fuel tanker - it's not too hard and spices up the gameplay. I also like how the black and white switch can be used to pause the game. I doubt that Radar Lock will appeal to the casual player, but those looking for a challenge should appreciate it. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

If the artwork on the label is any indication, this game looks and plays just like the movie! Okay it doesn't, but Raiders of the Lost Ark does a commendable job of combining live action and puzzle solving. Like the film, the gameplay involves bartering with merchants, exploring temples, avoiding snakes, outrunning thieves, and locating a hidden map room revealing the location of the Ark. Outfitted with his trusty whip and trademark fedora, Indy is well animated and bears a striking resemblance to Harrison Ford. Snakes slither nicely down the screen, but the rest of the graphics look either painfully abstract or just awful in general. Characters like the thief, raving lunatic, and giant spider look so appalling that you'll need to consult the manual just to know what you're looking at! It's a good thing programmers don't do their own artwork anymore! The Indiana Jones theme loops at the beginning and end of the game, but otherwise the audio is sparse. The unusual control scheme requires two joysticks: one to control Indy and one to manipulate your inventory. You can carry six items at a time, and typical items include a gun, key, parachute, watch, shovel, and various artifacts. It's interesting to explore new areas, but the screens can be incredibly irritating to navigate. Tsetse flies paralyze you, floating lights imprison you, thieves steal your items, and falling off a cliff is a regular occurrance. Trying to determine the purpose of each item requires a great deal of trial and error. Back in 1982 I was astonished when my little sister blew up a wall with the grenade, revealing a huge cave! Years later she admitted that she had peeked at the hints in the back of the manual! While graphically challenged and often frustrating, patient gamers will appreciate the intricate complexity of Raiders. There is a true sense of accomplishment when you finally uncover the Ark. Yes, it's possible to love this game, but you really need to try! © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

Like most people, when I hear "Ram It" I think of the music video performed by the 1986 L.A. Rams football team. Compared to that national embarrassment this unrelated bargain bin cartridge isn't half bad. The screen consists of colored bars lining each side that gradually "grow" inward at varying rates. You move a cannon (called a "Ramroid" in the manual) up and down the center, shooting rapidly left or right to wear the bars down. The graphics aren't particularly enticing and the audio is heinous! It sounds like a baby banging on a toy piano and I couldn't hit mute fast enough. At that point my friend Chris advised me to put the Ram It video on loop to provide suitable background music (good call). The controls are responsive and it's fun trying to keep the bars at bay. There's no "ramming" involved, so why the hell did they name it that? When the bars converge on center they can seal you off, and once all the bars are grown (or gone) a bonus is awarded and you proceed to the next round. After playing Ram It for a while some strategy unfolds. If you completely eliminate a bar, it doesn't return, so it can pay off to keep shooting until a bar is gone. If you line up perfectly between bars, you can shoot two at the same time, which is satisfying. Occasionally a bar will start to flash which can be completely destroyed with a single shot. Be sure to go after these "bonus bars" whenever you spot one. The action is mildly addictive and reminds me of Turmoil (Fox, 1982). The controls are a little touchy, making it hard to position your Ramroid with precision in the heat of the moment (perfectly normal for a man my age). If you find yourself playing Ram It for more than four hours straight, please stop, because frankly it's not all that good. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.

I never cared for Rampage in the arcade, so my chances of liking this watered-down Atari 2600 version were pretty much nonexistent. Based on the premise alone, I must admit that Rampage sounds like one heck of a fun good time. One or two players can select between three huge monsters (gorilla, lizard, wolfman) and proceed to wreak havoc on a series of cities by bringing down skyscrapers, snatching helicopters, tossing police cars, and munching on innocent civilians. Thanks to its humorous animations, Rampage rates quite high in terms of novelty value, but its gameplay is awfully repetitive. All you do is systematically climb buildings, punch holes in them, and watch as they crumble to the ground (or in this case - blink to the ground). Grabbing people and vehicles earns bonus points and health, but they're hardly worth going out of your way for. It would be easy to belittle the graphics in this version of Rampage, but they actually get the job done very well. The crappy buildings in the foreground are composed on huge, solid-colored blocks, but the background skylines look great. Your monster looks more like a blob at first glance, but closer scrutiny reveals a nicely-animated creature. They look especially funny when chewing on people. Once your creature loses all of its life, it shrinks down to its naked human form, and it's funny to watch the embarrassed little guy slink off the screen. The control is fair, but it's hard to tell where you can or can't climb. Rampage's lackluster gameplay is its main downfall. Not only is it painfully repetitive and slow, but it's remarkably easy as well! There are 85(!) cities to trash, but after toiling through the first dozen or so, I didn't see much point in continuing. A difficulty option might have saved this game, but I doubt it. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

This innovative adventure puts you in the middle of an Egyptian desert, searching for the Temple of Ra where you intend to make an "offering". Along the way you'll encounter traders, rock-throwing thieves, scorpions, and two desert deities: the beautiful Isis and the evil Anubis. Your quest will take you past pyramids, temples, the Phoenix, and the Sphinx. Some of these high-resolution locations require specific offerings to pass. You'll discover and purchase useful items along the way including tools, treasures, and artifacts. The right joystick is used to control your inventory, but since you can hold a dozen things at a time, you won't need to do any tedious juggling. By toggling the difficulty and black/white switches, you can monitor your health, score, and time. Riddle of the Sphinx deserves a passing grade on concept alone - few adventure games for the 2600 are this sophisticated. Its graphics feature a nice white desert background with scattered palm trees, obelisks, and camels - very easy on the eyes. Your character moves across the bottom of the screen, and the scenery scrolls up and down above him, so he never really touches anything. In order to trade with merchants or sacrifice to temples, you must approach them from below. This can be problematic, because when you move downward you can't see where you're going! I recommend staying to the far left when moving "southward". The actual "riddles" can be found in the well-written manual. These provide hints as to what items each temple will accept, and they're not hard to figure out. Playing for score doesn't make much sense, since the longer you play, the more points you rack up. The main challenge is to complete game #3 in the shortest amount of time. Imagic did a decent job with this game, but I think they missed a big opportunity. By incorporating random elements or mystery items, the game would have been far more intriguing. As it is, Riddle of the Sphinx is still a fascinating journey. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

This sequel didn't arrive until six years after the first River Raid, and it has a completely different look and feel. If you loved the original game, there's a good chance you'll hate this. When my friend Chris first played River Raid 2 he lamented "Oh no! It's three dimensional!" Yes, this vertical shooter incorporates altitude into the equation, making the game more realistic but less intuitive. The learning curve is pretty steep, as reflected in the fact that there are three meters: altitude, fuel, and speed. You begin by taking off from an impressively large aircraft carrier. In addition to shooting missiles you pull back on the stick to bomb ships, tanks, and bridges. Instead of using barges to refuel, you'll pass over golden refueling planes. At the end of each stage you must land on an aircraft carrier, and I would have never been able to figure out how to do that without an instruction manual. River Raid 2 is not particularly attractive for an Activision title, and some might even regard it as ugly. Most objects are rendered in solid colors, and many are hard to discern. The game requires a lot of practice but guess what? It's worth learning! Much of the action takes place over open water as you bomb destroyers, blast helicopters, and avoid rising flak. In the river valleys you can bomb landing pads and fuel tanks as long as you maintain your altitude. You can swoop down to snag yellow fuel buoys, but this is a tricky maneuver that introduces a nice risk-versus-reward element. Despite what the manual would have you believe, the A difficulty is easier because unguided missiles allow you to fire and then bail out of the way of incoming missiles. Landing can be exciting, especially when you're running low on fuel. River Raid 2 came out too late to attract much attention, but those willing to invest a little time in this sophisticated shooter will enjoy the payoff. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

There's no question that the programmers at Xonox could whip up some pretty slick visuals on the Atari 2600. Making a playable game however proved to be more of a challenge. Robin Hood's instructions claim it has four screens, but in fact only three are playable. The first only lets you select your variation, so that doesn't count. Still, its minstrel music really put me in the mood for some medieval hijinx. Then again, when am I not in the mood for that? Our hero begins his journey in Sherwood Forest as foes emerge from behind chunky trees. The way Robin struts around in that flamboyant green outfit, you'd think he was up for Pimp of the Year honors. Enemy soldiers are decked out in more fashionable black-and-red-striped outfits. They only emerge one at a time, making this the most poorly-executed ambush ever!! Unlike the Colecovision edition of Robin Hood, you can only fire arrows horizontally. That's a pain, especially when an enemy appears above or below you. If they appear directly on top of you, you're dead, so it's a good thing you get five lives. If you exchange shots with an enemy but strike him first, his arrow will disappear in mid-air. After a certain number of kills the screen will flash, signaling that you can move on. The second screen is quite the eyeful with its narrow battlefield in the foreground and sprawling castle looming in the background. Just look at that thing! After killing a handful of soldiers the drawbridge opens and closes, allowing you to sneak through with good timing (read: luck). Once inside things get more confusing. Each of the three floors has a set of doors and some pretty amazing-looking checkerboard floors. Touching a door has random effects. Sometimes nothing happens, and sometimes you're transported to a higher floor. When a henchman appears it's bad news because you're completely unarmed. I actually managed to rescue the princess once, but I swear it was by accident. Robin Hood is an attractive Atari 2600 title but there's way too much "huh?" and not nearly enough "yay!" © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I have a funny story about Robot Tank dating back to 1983. I was returning a defective Atlantis cartridge (which inexplicably contained Cosmic Ark) to the local mall which was within walking distance. The apathetic teenager working at Soundwaves said I could exchange it for any other game. Despite having paid only 10 bucks for Atlantis I casually picked up Robot Tank which was priced at $36. As he performed the exchange I tried to behave as discreet as possible, as to not draw undo attention. Upon exiting the store I realized the police could swarm me at any time, so I had to play it cool. Upon arriving home I realized I had pulled off the heist of the century! Robot Tank is a first-person shooter similar to Battlezone (Atari, 1983) only with less realism and more style. Robot Tank's graphics are great. I recently showed this to my friends Chris and Brent and they couldn't believe it was an Atari 2600 game. The terrain undulates smoothly as your tank rolls forward and the layered mountain backdrop looks realistic. Only one tank appears on your radar at a time and it fires only when in view. Incoming missiles resemble large blocks which can either be shot down or evaded by steering them off the screen. Makes sense right? Not really! Enemy tanks tend to be slippery little bastards but it's fun to guide your shots into them. A clock on top reflects the time of day. You'll want to "make hay" during the day, because during the pitch black of night you'll need to depend solely on your radar. Tension is high as you try to hold out until dawn! But the best aspect of the game are the red alerts about random weather conditions like fog, rain, and even snow. These conditions really do affect your vision and handling. There is only one skill level. It may lack the depth of Battlezone, but Robot Tank will satisfy those looking for arcade-style shooting fun. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.