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2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 14th, 2016, 6:17 pm
by VideoGameCritic
Here's a new set of Atari 2600 reviews.

Alpha Beam with Ernie is a new review. Not sure how this game ever made it into my collection, but figured I might as well review it.

Marauder is a game I originally gave an F. Not sure why, but I plead insanity. It's actually a pretty good game.

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 14th, 2016, 7:45 pm
by LuckyMan
I have all of the 2600 kid's games that I bought for my daughter to play. I graded them by how much she enjoyed playing the games. Her favorites were Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle and Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Matchups along with the Grover's Music Maker prototype. As for the other Sesame Street games, Big Bird's Egg Catch is pretty decent. Maybe you should have a junior VGC review the kid's games?

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 14th, 2016, 9:13 pm
by goldenband
I tried playing Marauder a bit after reading your review, and what you wrote seems spot-on. Interesting twist on the Berzerk formula, but it got old fast.

BTW, from the review:

You know I've nearly exhausted the Atari 2600 catalog when I'm reviewing games like Alpha Beam with Ernie.


When you wrote that I thought to myself "No way, there must be tons of great games left to cover." But then I checked it out and, wow, you've gotten remarkably deep into the US library! As far as I can tell, this is roughly what's left:

Air Raid
Basic Math - Math
Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em
Berenstain Bears
Big Bird's Egg Catch
BMX Air Master
Cakewalk
Challenge
Cookie Monster Munch
Eli's Ladder
Extra Terrestrials
Gamma-Attack
Gauntlet
Glib - Video Word Game
Guardian
Harem
Hunt & Score - Memory Match
Ikari Warriors
Kung-Fu Master
MagiCard
Master Builder
Math Gran Prix
Motocross Racer
Music Machine, The
Obelix
Oscar's Trash Race
Out of Control
Red Sea Crossing
Shuttle Orbiter
Smurfs Save the Day
Sneak 'n Peek
Stone Age
Universal Chaos
Video Jogger
Video Life
Video Reflex
Wall Ball
X-Man

Many of those are super-rare (though you have a Harmony cart IIRC), have graphic sexual imagery, or are edutainment titles. But there are also some interesting games still left in there, like Shuttle Orbiter and Kung-Fu Master, or Universal Chaos, a port of the old arcade game Targ.

Of course there are also homebrews, prototypes, and PAL games that have been converted by fans to NTSC (which is pretty much all of them), so the Atari will keep giving indefinitely. :mrgreen: You haven't lived until you've played the PAL exclusive game Walker, aka Clown Down Town. It's like the East German Stasi tried to program a video game -- it's "Worker and Parasite" from The Simpsons come to life.

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 15th, 2016, 10:09 pm
by Cory
Quick question for the Critic. Why do you grade some games with a N/A ? For example: Alpha Beam with Ernie was graded N/A. Thanks.

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 16th, 2016, 5:53 pm
by VideoGameCritic
Goldenband - Thanks for the list! I will use this for future reference! Gotta review em all!

Cory - The NA means "not applicable" because it's not really the kind of game that you can grade. It like trying to assign a grade to Basic Programming or an incomplete prototype.

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 17th, 2016, 12:59 pm
by mbd36
VideoGameCritic wrote:Goldenband - Thanks for the list! I will use this for future reference! Gotta review em all!

Cory - The NA means "not applicable" because it's not really the kind of game that you can grade. It like trying to assign a grade to Basic Programming or an incomplete prototype.


But you did grade Basic Programming. You gave it an 'F.' :p

Re: 2016/11/14: Atari 2600: Marauder, Alpha Beam with Ernie

Posted: November 17th, 2016, 5:30 pm
by VideoGameCritic
Good point! I might want to revisit that.