Kickman and Pink Panther prototypes

[VideoGameCritic]

A longtime reader emailed me two "new" Atari 2600 prototype roms, apparently recently discussed in an Atari Age thread.

Kickman is one I remember from the early 80's. I always thought it was a neat concept and was bummed it was never released for a console. This prototype plays well but lacks the glitzy city background I remember from the arcade.

Pink Panther looks good but I'm not sure how to play it. There's a bad guy dropping bricks and you're trying to catch them. Can somebody tell me what the button does?

I plan to post reviews of these, although I normally don't post grades for incomplete games (NA instead). Maybe I should reconsider if the games are fully playable.

[LuckyMan]

Here's a description of the gameplay on Atariprotos: http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/pinkpanther/pinkpanther.htm The jumping controls are exactly the same as Smurf Rescue - press up to jump straight up, twice for a long jump and walk to the left or right and press diagonally for a small jump. You can also press down to duck, which is often necessary on the second screen.

[VideoGameCritic]

Thanks man! I also found this helpful YouTube video. I'm impressed this game has so many screens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWBFJNQiRhA

[LuckyMan]

I agree. Plus a different tune on every screen. Quite amazing!

[VideoGameCritic]

As for Kickman, there was a clone released for the Atari computers called Pinhead. I've wanted to review that for some time, but I only see it in Ebay on cassette format, and I'm not going back to that!

[ASalvaro]

the interesting thing is Pink Panther was going to be released by Probe 2000 which was Odyssey

[lynchie137]

I recently downloaded both these ROMS to play on my Atari Flashback portable, and I really like Kickman. But unfortunately, I cannot get the ROM for The Pink Panther to work. Is it because the ROM itself is defective? Or is it just not compatible with the Flashback portable...