Star Raiders

On the road to Elite and Privateer was a classic called Star Raiders.  I played the version for the 2600, but apparently that was a port of a superior version for Atari computers.  This was still really fun and scratched the Trek itch instead of the Wars itch.  This also foretold the gameplay that would waste a billion hours in minesweeper, this game include lots of scanning.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Nothing says Star Wars more than three purple bars in a bad Defender clone, except for three purple bars and a gray dog in a bad Defender Clone.  The imagination is a powerful thing and all of the brilliance that we incorrectly imagined rested in the mind of George Lucas we also imagined rested in this cartridge.  I'm hoping for better things from The Old Republic.  I'm an eternal optimist and/or I am experiencing battered nerd syndrome.

Defender

I loved CHiPs, and the cops on CHiPs loved defender. Therefore I loved Defender. I didnt hurt that the gameplay was incredibly fast and responsive and explosive.  Defender took many of the limitations of the era and made them into spectacular fun. Even the vastly inferior 2600 version was worth playing.  I really would love to find an arcade machine of Defender right this minute and unleash a smart bomb.

Pac-Man

An epic disappointment on the 2600, this wrote the book on how not to adapt an arcade classic. Sad really.  I was never a huge fan of Puck Man in the arcade but this adaptation really sealed the deal.

 

VS

Lunar Lander

A simple idea, but a brutally hard game for children with dire fiery astronaut ending consequences.  You get 900 fuel units for your quarter and the lives of the crew of the lunar lander in your hands.  I remember being fascinated by this game but never really finding it to be that fun.  More simulation than game, Lunar Lander is an early warning to game developers to pick fun over reality every time.

Adventure

I could literally play this game with my eyes closed. By sound alone I was able to complete each objective. I know that most often people say literally when they actually mean to say figuratively, but I mean literally. Up for the sword, down and to the right past the first quacking duck dragon and on to victory! If Adventure had been an mmorpg, I would have had 5 level 80's and been supplementing my comic money selling gold. Adventure also contained the first Easter egg that I knew about. By ingenious use of the bridge and the magnet a secret room could be entered. Inside this room was a text message from the developer and the first truly epic item! I of course refer to the Trans-molecular Speck. A tiny black pixel with almost limitless power. I don't clearly remember what it did but I'm pretty sure it was awesome. Did it allow clipping through all walls? I dunno but I loved it.

Intellivision Major League Baseball

The finest sports game of it's generation. <--note the period

Intellivision Sea Battle

Let the hunt for "The 3 black pixel october" begin!  From the wild controller to games with more depth and sophistication than the norm coming out on the 2600 the intellivision had a lot going for it.  One of those games was Sea Battle.  The first thing I ever played that could be reasonably argued as a computer strategy game was Sea Battle.  Place your fleet and then slowly meander around the map seeking the enemy.  A very fun game, that I played until the kid that had it went to juvie.

Slot Racers

Slot Racers was incredibly fun.  Part Combat, part Pac man, part Bomberman, All awesome.  I'm sure we couldn't go back but it was great at the time.  The varied speed and behavior of the missiles is where the fun really came in.  This would have probably been pretty lame as a single player game, but it was two player only and that insured that the enemy AI was reasonably good.  I think the Landon boys were pretty fierce at this one.

 Which ones are the cars and which ones are the missiles?
And in the words of the immortal Harold W "God wants you to PRAY.....before sports".

Space Invaders

There is nothing better than a summer vacation which consists of getting a roll of quarters and hitting the Holidome in Springfield to play some Space Invaders.  The pool, the putt putt, and the ping pong were fine, but the real draw was the arcade.

I plan to share with you the games that I played.  I will start with some of the earliest and include some of what I am playing today.  Simply I will talk about "Games Jim Played".