Carnival
Atari 2600
1982
A truly good Atari game is one that leaves you with the compulsion to play over and over again, trying to beat your high score and/or the high scores of your friends. By this metric, Carnival is a good Atari game, the first one in my collection.
Carnival is a shooting gallery game and it is all about ammo conservation. Every shot counts and you are under constant attack from bullet-eating ducks, which is a refreshing departure from most shooting galleries. This game is a really nice mix of strategy, precision, and making every shot count.
Honestly, years later, this game still feels refreshingly unique, although as is so often the case, it does suffer in comparison to the arcade original. Also, it loses a little bit of its luster once you figure out the optimum approach to clear stages, effectively allowing you to repeat the same pattern until you slip up. This keeps it just a little too solveable to be truly great.
1 comment:
Dude - some lady that used to babysit me when I was like 4 had this game.
Aaah, memories.
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