A-Z of Atari 8-bit Games , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Kieren Hawken

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111 pages

English

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Description

The A-Z of Atari 8-bit Games: Volume 3 features reviews of three different games for each letter of the alphabet. The games range from the very earliest releases in the late 70s to the modern homebrew games of today. This book shows you just how diverse the library of titles is for the Atari 8-bit computers and how it became one of the popular computers of all time.

Sujets

Indoor games and sports

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	13 novembre 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781785389610
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

The A-Z of
Atari 8-bit Games
Volume 3

Kieren Hawken

Published in 2018 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2018 Kieren Hawken
The right of Kieren Hawken to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
The opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.
Game screenshots are included in this publication legally under applicable fair use law which allows such material for the explicit purposes of commentary and criticism.

Introduction
The Atari 8-bit computer range has an outstanding legacy in the video games industry. The very first models, the 16k Atari 400 and 48k Atari 800, were released way back in 1979 and instantly became the most powerful home computers on the market. With 256 colours, four-channel sound and advanced features such as hardware scrolling and sprites they were clearly designed with playing video games in mind. Of course, this is what Atari was great at and it wasn’t long before all their hit arcade games started appearing in home computer form. Upgrades of the machine followed in the XL range (600XL, 800XL and 1200XL), which stood for eXtended Line, and the popularity of Atari’s home computer range grew even further. Come the takeover of Atari’s consumer division by former Commodore owner Jack Tramiel in 1984 and the range was designed one again. The 64k 65XE (also released in Eastern Europe as the 800XE) and 128k 130XE was joined by the XE Games System, a 65XE computer in console form to appeal to a different market. The XE moniker stood for XL Expanded and these new computers were designed to more closely resemble the company’s flagship 16-bit Atari ST computer, also released in 1985.

In this book I take you through the life of the Atari 8-bit range, affectionately known as the A8, looking at a varied cross section of the 600+ games available with a small review and screenshot of each one. This is not a list of the best games, a list of the worst or indeed a complete guide to what’s available. The A-Z of Atari 8-bit Games: Volume 3 is just that, the third volume of my look at a selection of A8 games in alphabetical order. There are three games featured for each letter and these range from the earliest released in the late seventies, to modern homebrews and even unreleased prototypes. Hopefully this book gives you some inspiration to try games you’ve never played before or bulk up your own personal collection. You might even find it that brings back happy memories of unwrapping Christmas and birthday presents or inviting your friends round for a few games after school. Most of all though I hope you enjoy reading it and remember what makes the Atari 8-bit computer range so great.
Kieren Hawken
Author

A
Ace of Aces
Accolade - 1987

Brought to us by American software label Accolade, who were at one point famed for their simulation type games such as Mean 18 Golf, Test Drive and Gunboat . You take the role of an RAF fighter pilot during the Second World War over Europe. You must jump into your de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito and then compete in a series of deadly missions, which mostly involve flying around aimlessly and occasionally shooting down enemy aircraft. The controls and various functions in this game take a lot of getting used to and mastering, thankfully Accolade chose to include a practice mode too to help you get to grips with this. You can use this to not only learn the controls but to also practice shooting down bogies and get your aiming straight. To shoot one of these enemy planes down you must carefully line it up with your crosshair, and this is much harder than it sounds! The ultimate goal of the game is to complete all four standard missions and be ranked as the one and only Ace of Aces. Everything in this game is very lacklustre from the incredibly drab looking graphics and simple sound effects to the boring gameplay and lack of variation in the missions. There is an original disk release of Ace of Aces but it was also re-released by Atari for the XE Games System on cart too, although why this game was chosen I don’t know! Flight sim fans might enjoy it but others should steer clear.
5 /10
Airball
Microdeal - 1988

Originally released for the long-forgotten Dragon 32 computer in 1987, Airball was soon converted to a host of other 8-bit computers where the isometric adventure genre had already proved to be very popular, mainly on the ZX Spectrum with the titles of Ultimate Play The Game. Sadly the company now known as Rare didn’t choose to support the Atari 8-bit so Airball was met with a very positive reception. Even all these years later it’s easy to see why as Airball is certainly a slick game. What makes Microdeal’s 3D romp especially interesting, when compared to similar games anyway, is the use of air itself. If you are to complete the game you must keep the air in your ball topped up via the various inflating stations, which are located in numerous rooms. But if you use them too much your ball will burst! So it’s all about keeping it balanced if you’re going to complete your quest. The plot of the game revolves around you being turned into the titular Airball by an evil wizard and the only way you can return to human form is by finding the items needed to break the spell. Of course there are lots of hazards out there for a fragile ball of air! Airball is a beautifully designed adventure that slipped under the radar for many sadly as it was overshadowed by more illustrious rivals. This A8 version has some impressive 3D visuals, lovely music and heaps of gameplay - so go and give it a good look!
9 /10
Atlantis
Imagic - 1983

It’s funny how Imagic’s best two titles both started off as clones of Atari licensed games, Demon Attack was basically Phoenix and Atlantis owes a lot to the brilliant Missile Command . Just like Dave Theurer’s title you are trying to protect your city from an alien attack. You also have three cannons to fire at the enemy with, just like the Missile Command arcade game and better than Atari’s own single base port. These cannons are fixed in position though, with the two side cannons firing diagonally across the screen and the centre one firing straight up. Rather than a bunch of lines the enemy attacking in Atlantis are all spacecraft that fly over head and used bombs and lasers to destroy your city. As the game goes on these craft get faster and more aggressive making shooting them down much more difficult. If you lose all the buildings from your city you die and you see a little ship leave and fly off into space. This becomes the ship in Cosmic Ark , widely regarded as the first ever home video game sequel. Visually Atlantis is very similar to the original Atari 2600 version, but that’s no bad thing as that looked absolutely gorgeous! The sound effects are now a little meatier though, which is always a good thing. I’m a real sucker for these old-school single-screen space shooters and have always been a massive of Atlantis in particular. So if you are too then you’ll want to be getting this!
9 /10

B
Ballblazer
Lucasfilm - 1985

One of several titles released for the Atari 8-bit computers by the now legendary Lucasfilm Games (A.K.A LucasArts), the software company owned by Star Wars creator George Lucas, Ballblazer is without doubt one of the most prestigious games released for the system. Although this game was released for a large number of different formats there no doubting this version is one of the finest (alongside the even better Atari 7800 version). For those that don’t know, Ballblazer is the sport of the future set on a 3D split-screen battlefield for one or two players. You take the controls of a super fast pod and must try to grab the ball and launch it into the opponent’s goal as many times as possible. There is a goal at each end of the playfield that moves constantly and the ball flies all over the place whenever you release it, making it harder to catch. Score five goals and you win, sounds simple? Well get this game and give it a try and you might think otherwise! Ballblazer is a great example of just how powerful the Atari 8-bit line is, the 3D graphics are astonishing and move faster and smoother than it seems possible to believe. There is no doubting that the Atari original absolutely murders the other 8-bit computer versions, which came later, and makes a nice comparison subject for us fanboys! If you don’t already own this masterpiece then what the hell are you waiting for? Get to the grid right now!
9 /10
Boulder Dash
First Star Software - 1984

Not many people seem to realise that the now legendary classic Boulder Dash was originally released on the Atari 8-bit computers with other ports following later. It’s just another big part of the system’s great legacy in gaming. In Boulder Dash you play the role of Rockford, a miner who’s goal is to collect diamonds through a set of caves while avoiding the dangers within. Our