The Video Game Critic

Check out my latest Bally Astrocade reviews! Feedback encouraged!

This is another system that was not released in the UK. Graphics looked good for the time. I know it only lasted about 9 years from 1977 until 1985. Though the graphics are great on it. AD looks a great version of the classic which morphed into Worms later in life. The Angry birds. All the same idea

There is a good suduko on DS.

Agree completely with the Artillery Duel grade. Simple game with great eye candy. Not sure if you noticed, but SOMETIMES when the soldiers march out, one of them will miss his turn and hilariously scramble back to find his way in line. Funny little quirk they built into the game that used to crack 9-year old me up.

LuckyWDFN wrote:Agree completely with the Artillery Duel grade. Simple game with great eye candy. Not sure if you noticed, but SOMETIMES when the soldiers march out, one of them will miss his turn and hilariously scramble back to find his way in line. Funny little quirk they built into the game that used to crack 9-year old me up.

Wait, really? The exact same thing is in the Atari 2600 version -- which was published by a totally different company!

I'm surprised that there's such a big differential in grade between this Astrocade version and the Atari 2600 version. The latter gets a lot of bad press but I always thought it was perfectly fun, and I still play it with family when I'm home for Christmas.

goldenband wrote:I'm surprised that there's such a big differential in grade between this Astrocade version and the Atari 2600 version.

The Atari game was reviewed almost 20 (!) years ago. A revisit would probably be more charitable.

Are there any good emulators for this system. I suppose a problem with many of these older systems is that the controls can often be difficult to emulate well. I would like to try both titles!

Okay, I'm putting the Atari version on my re-review list.
Stay tuned!

VideoGameCritic wrote:Okay, I'm putting the Atari version on my re-review list.
Stay tuned!

Nice! And -- since you have a Harmony cart -- maybe you might consider pairing it off with the upgraded homebrew version, Incoming? The programmer did a really nice job with that one.

While I love reading about these old games and systems, I've tried some old CPU games on Emulation and have gotten a few of those atari flashback consoles in over the years and played them... and seriously power to you guys that can still play these titles, especially in their original form. I can have a hard time playing a 16 bit game that doesn't have save points, let alone an 8 bit game with incredibly long passwords. I feel a little spoiled by a lot of the modern conveniences, and traveling backwards that far in time is really, really hard for me.

Alucard1191 wrote:I feel a little spoiled by a lot of the modern conveniences, and traveling backwards that far in time is really, really hard for me.

Ah, you just need the right game, buddy!

Sure, a system like the 2600 is quite dated by today's standards, but it has a huge library of quality titles that are still fun to play today. The main thing to keep in mind is that arcades were still king back when these systems were current, and most of the best home titles were either arcade ports or arcade-styled releases. Games weren't meant to keep you playing for 6 months or more like they do nowadays - more like 6 minutes. Just long enough to eat a few quarters and keep you reaching for a high score.

I've fallen back in love with the 2600 in recent years, and say what you will about modern convenience, there's just some absolute gems on that system that are nothing if not timeless. Give River Raid a try if you haven't already, and for some quality arcade ports, try out Berserk, Frogger, and Joust. Pitfall and Pitfall II remain fan favorites to this day (I prefer the latter, myself) and not all movie tie-ins are terrible, despite what you may have heard. The Empire Strikes Back for the 2600 is still one of my favorite games of all time, hands down.

Hopefully you can give some classic systems another look at some point in the future. It might not happen immediately, but sooner or later I hope you can find a game or two that makes it all just "click". Until then, happy gaming!