Yars' Revenge

Atari 2600
Released 1981

Aaaah, saving the best for last. Good old Yars' Revenge. This, in my humble opinion, was one of, if not the best games on the Atari 2600. It's genuinely unique gameplay, exciting (for its time) visuals and sound, along with tight controls really make it one of the best on the system. There's no other game on the Atari quite like Yars' Revenge.

In case you're unfamiliar with this little gem, you control a small fly known as a Yar. The Yar can be moved all over the screen, and the fire button fires a single shot from the Yar. On the right side of the screen is a large base of blocks surrounding an enemy known as the Qotile (sic). In the middle of the screen is a field of static, which provides the Yar with immunity against the slowly moving enemy torpedo that tracks the Yar around the screen.

Your goal is to destroy the Qotile. You first must punch a hole in its shield by either shooting it with your gun, or nibbling at it. While you're nibbling or shooting, the small torpedo is trying to destroy you, and occasionally the Qotile itself will become a spinning blade and streak across the screen at the Yar in an attempt to destroy you. The static field in the middle can protect you from the torpedo, but not the Qotile.

Once you've punched a hole in the shield, you have to fly in and touch the Qotile. Once you do that, a "Zorlon Cannon" appears on the far left side of the screen directly in line with the Yar. Hitting the fire button will fire the cannon across the screen, hopefully hitting the Qotile, destroying it. Since the Qotile base is always in motion, good timing is required.

The game is definitely far more involving and complex than most games of its age, yet still manages to be playable, fun, and best of all, fair. It's only fitting that it's the last Atari game I review. It was my favorite, and honestly gives us a glimpse into how the game industry began to evolve and grow. As we step into the N.E.S. generation, fundamentally unique game concepts like Yars' Revenge start cropping up everywhere.
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Now playing: Type O Negative - In Praise Of Bacchus
via FoxyTunes

Warlords

Atari 2600
Released 1981

I have to admit, Warlords is a pretty exciting concept, and would be a hell of a party game if it were revamped for today's consoles and released for digital download.

The manual explains some madness about how there were four crazy warlords who loved to kill each other, and now they are trapped in the game, and you have to help them kill each other with "lightning balls" or some nonsense. None of this matters.

There are 4 bases on screen. Each is surrounded by rows of blocks, and outside of those blocks is a shield the player controls. The goal is to strategically bounce a ball around the screen so that it gets past your opponents shield and smacks away at some blocks protecting the base. Once the base is hit by the ball, that player is out until the end of the round. Holding the button allows you to catch the ball and plan your next attack, otherwise the shield simply bounces the ball off of it. It's fundamentally similar to Breakout, but the simultaneous play makes it far more exciting.

It's theoretically a perfect game for 4 friends to sit down and play together. The AI that fills in when there are no other players varies radically from fiendishly hard, and mouth-breathing stupid, but after a few rounds, you can easily learn the weakness of each AI. Unfortunately it's also somewhat frustrating to try predicting the trajectory the ball will take when you let go. In fact, it's not uncommon to accidentally bounce the ball off your shield directly back into the blocks or base that you're trying to defend. It's definitely a game that's hampered by it's technology.

So here's a suggestion to any XBox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, or WiiWare developers. Get the rights to this game, give it some more realistic physics and a new coat of paint, and release it for $5. I, for one, would download a copy.

----EDIT----
It would appear that they did exactly what I suggested. Warlords can now be purchased on XBLA for 400ms points.

Woo!
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Now playing: Deftones - Change
via FoxyTunes

Video Pinball

Atari 2600
Released 1980

Not much can be said about Pinball. It's very basic in its design, but still manages to capture the addictive aspects of playing legitimate pinball machines.

The ball can fall back into the gap where the plunger is, allowing you to shoot again.

This happens rather often. Not much else I can say really.
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Now playing: Type O Negative - Burnt Flowers Fallen
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Venture

Atari 2600
Released 1982

(I couldn't find a good photo of the Venture cover art, so I just took a cue from Isaac and made my own.)

Venture is another standout in my limited collection of Atari games. It wasn't unique, but I remember playing it fairly often because of its simplicity.

According to the manual, you play as a powerful barbarian/native american, armed with a bow and arrow. His name, obviously, is Winky. Note: Despite the cover art, Winky does not actually possess a knife (or a body for that matter).

When you first pop in the cartridge, you have a map screen composed of several boxes, several enemy heads floating around and a tiny dot. Winky is represented by the single dot. Your first goal is to avoid all the enemies and enter one of the boxes through a small gap. Simple enough.

Once you enter one of the rooms, you get a detailed view of the room, including new enemies, treasure, and your noble Indian warrior, obviously represented by the giant pink smiley face. Your new goal is to use your arrows (read: dots) to kill the various enemies in the room, get the treasure and escape before the invincible Hallmonster shows up and murders you (just like the evil Dr. Otto from Berzerk).

The goal of the entire game is to continue doing this until you die, die, die. Also worth noting is that you cannot touch an enemies dead body, or it will kill you. I imagine Winky feels dead bodies are super gross.

The game isn't bad. It's just mostly forgettable.
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Now playing: Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins - 05/02/2008 Our Crucial Pamplet
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Solo

Yes, it appears I am the only one contributing to the site anymore.

I liked Isaac's idea of reviewing every game he owns, and I'm going to continue it, if only for my own satisfaction. I have a lot of fun re-playing these old carts, as it reminds of how far we've come. Grand Theft Auto 4 launched today, and I'm playing 1982's "Venture" before I sit down to violate Liberty City traffic laws.

I love my hobby.

Vanguard

Atari 2600
Released 1982

Vanguard was one of my favorites as a kid, and frankly, it's still kind of great. It's got a lot of the basic framework for modern day classics like R-type or Gradius. You play as a single ship flying down a corridor. Enemy ships are coming towards you, and you have to destroy them. The levels have a set length, and a few of them contain an invincibility power up.

There's a decent variety of enemies, such as the snake-like enemies that dock with you ship and give you bonus scores (up to 3 times in the level), and stationary guns trying to shoot your ship down. You also need to contend with a fuel gauge that can be slowly refilled with each enemy you destroy.

It's a really simple game, and I managed to get through about 6 stages before I ran out of ships. One thing I still think is kind of neat is that the game has a bit of a theme song that plays when you pick up the invincibility power-up. It's kind of catchy, in a 1982-geek sort of way.
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Now playing: Radiohead - You Never Wash Up After Yourself
via FoxyTunes

So Long...

Well, time for me to move on. Staring today, the 2600-360 series is going to be a daily feature on http://www.angry-gamer.net, which is a a totally groovy site. If you've enjoyed my stuff on The Triangle, you'll probably enjoy the stuff more talent writers have written at Angry Gamer.

It's been fun.