Last night I decided to run my Atari through a 5.1 digital surround sound system ... because I could. Sure, the audio will be mono and crackly, but it will still be awesome. So I'm poking around boxes looking for Moon Patrol and what the fuck do I unearth?
DOLPHIN
I immediately thought of Chad and rigged it up.
Game play summary:
This game rules for a number of reasons. You play as a benevolent dolphin running away from a persistent octopus perpetually trying to catch you. If he succeeds this electrifying music comes on and everything freezes to the sound of a distant dread and you lose a life.
To prevent him from getting close you must catch the current or dodge it if its going in the opposite direction (arrow thingy). You can try to make the octopus hit the opposite current to slow him down and push him away from you, which makes the linear pursuit interesting.
The chase is perpetually interrupted by columns of small fish that appear between the gaps when the music/sonar thing stops on beat. You can swim through them if you're fast or jump on beat. I never thought about it, but it could you could approach this as a crude rhythm game because the beat is the only thing that prevents you from going headfirst into a wall of tuna. I'm sure there is a lesbian bar joke in there somewhere.
Going over the fish column makes the octopus change colors and move faster than you, so you have to fake him out by moving side to side. To win you must jump out of the water to catch (eat? vaporize?) a seagull that sounds like an ambulance, allowing you to then (french? bite?) the octopus which causes him to run away in a little dance to the most shameful 1-bit music possible for MAD POINTS. The pursuit of having this giant thing inches away from eating your face makes the game pretty intense even by today's standards.
Like most Atari games it doesn't hold up to the test of time, but it was clever 20 years ago and you gotta love the giant Activision logo in the HUD.
Can you actually win, or is this just an endurance test?
I can just imagine some kid taping a piece of paper over the far right edge of his TV, marking the gaps that correspond to how high or low the tone is.
NICE! - I might start playing these old games again for both the surround sound and for the lulz.
I might do 1 of these "Games I Forgot". I have a couple in mind and it would give me a good excuse to write a blog.
Do I just remember the Atari wrong, or are those some pretty good sprites for the system? What I mean is, that is actually recognizable as a dolphin, as opposed to "why is a duck trying to eat me".
Activision was really the only developer for the VCS that could take seemingly stupid concepts and make compelling games out of them.
@ Upgrayedd:
You don't remember wrong, you are just looking at the difference years of developing on the platform made. Adventure was released in 79, Dolphin came out 3 years later, and Activision was probably one of the best at milking that hardware for all it was worth.
The first time I saw a video game was at a tiny game room near the beach in 1984. They had a Pong machine -- and that was enough to get me hooked for life. Years later I picked up an Atari, then a Nintendo, and then I knew at age 10 what I wanted to do with my life. By a stroke of luck, coincidence, hard work, and a strange sense of humor I find myself running an unlikely project: Destructoid.
Destructoid is an independent effort, powered by 30 or so folks like me that love games. On any given day I work behind the scenes with the editorial team to keep things moving on the site, add new features, and do things that are fun for the Dtoid community. When events come around, I'm usually the guy clowning around in the helmet. Best job ever!
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(# 0) on 04/25/2008 12:32
(# 1) on 04/25/2008 12:35
(# 2) on 04/25/2008 13:37
Also, that game doesn't look much fun, even for an atari game.
(# 3) on 04/25/2008 13:52
(# 4) on 04/25/2008 13:54
if there was ever a kaboom tourney, i'd rape everyone. EVERYONE!!!!
(# 5) on 04/25/2008 14:04
(# 6) on 04/25/2008 14:05
I can just imagine some kid taping a piece of paper over the far right edge of his TV, marking the gaps that correspond to how high or low the tone is.
(# 7) on 04/25/2008 14:07
I might do 1 of these "Games I Forgot". I have a couple in mind and it would give me a good excuse to write a blog.
(# 8) on 04/25/2008 14:09
it kinda looks like NES excitebike: underwater edition with dolphins.
(# 9) on 04/25/2008 14:33
(# 10) on 04/25/2008 14:54
(# 11) on 04/25/2008 15:28
(# 12) on 04/25/2008 15:29
(# 13) on 04/25/2008 16:56
(# 14) on 04/25/2008 17:03
(# 15) on 04/25/2008 17:13
Also, squids can suck it.
(# 16) on 04/25/2008 17:23
@ Upgrayedd:
You don't remember wrong, you are just looking at the difference years of developing on the platform made. Adventure was released in 79, Dolphin came out 3 years later, and Activision was probably one of the best at milking that hardware for all it was worth.
(# 17) on 04/25/2008 17:41
(# 18) on 04/25/2008 17:46
(# 19) on 04/25/2008 19:16
(# 20) on 04/25/2008 23:40
beep beep beep beep boop.
Now that's going to be stuck in my head all night.
(# 21) on 04/26/2008 10:28
(# 22) on 04/26/2008 13:42
(# 23) on 04/27/2008 01:20
*sigh*
(# 24) on 04/28/2008 09:49