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    1. Wumperdinkle's blog

      A blog by Wumperdinkle Sniy in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 27
        entries
      • 6
        comments
      • 197
        views

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      Wumperdinkle Sniy
      Latest Entry

      The end of November

      So I have been doing a lot of work recently. I picked back up the X Vs. O game I was making for the Odyssey 2 and added a few more things.

      xvso25.png.db7485743acbd6c4d9000ba32e691000.png xvso22.png.e5dfa1fa93ee08f4967904a5ebe5003e.png xvso26.png.f2ecc5b57d12f63b7c908af6ae174adb.png

      I added a win counter to the tic-tac-toe game, I added in the Cedar Games logo splash screen, and now I'm working on a Whack-an-O game. That is what the last picture is. No game play has been added yet. But I will add O's to whack and X's to not whack hopefully soon.

      I was really sleepy after getting up at 10p.m. so I went to sleep at around 4:30a.m. When I woke up, it was after 5. I went into the living room and it was dark in there. To my surprise, I discovered that it wasn't 5 a.m., but 5 p.m.! I had just slept for about 12 hours, which, while easy for me to do, I wasn't expecting to do that after only being awake for 6 1/2 hours. I guess I'm really sleepy and as a result, I sleep much more than a normal person would. At any given time, you could say, "Hey, Wumperdinkle, go to sleep!" and I would be able to. I know it's probably not good for my health, but I lose weight more if I'm not eating anything, lol.

      I made some more webcomics. To last until the end of the year. I'll continue into the next year. I've been doing them since 2006! Various comic series. I find it easier to make ones where there's no recurring characters, and it's just a gag. I call that one "Jukebox Quiz." Right now though I'm focusing on one about a zamboni driver and his wife called "The Life of a Zamboni Driver."

    2. Lance’s Laboratory

      A blog by Video 61 in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 4
        entries
      • 34
        comments
      • 597
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      Video 61

      :nintendo_professor_hector:  Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the fourth entry of what will be my personal blog, sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab.

      For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself. My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for 40 years!

      If you want to know why the Atari XEGS cartridges rattle, it’s because Atari used hot glue in at least three to four places within the cartridge to hold the PCB firmly in place and properly in the shell. When some of the hot glue comes loose, it floats around inside the cartridge, and that is the rattle you hear.

      Here is a picture of an Atari XEGS ribbed super cart disassembled with the glue in place. In this example, you’ll see that one piece has came off that caused a rattle. The piece of glue is circled, and where it came from is circled also.

       

      Cart_Shell4.jpg.49e7a78948db97a78d1af424d9880ec5.jpg

       

      Cart_Shell5.jpg.4ca752bc34ee66ae97340bcf2d23ec70.jpg

       

      Now this brings up why Atari designed a ribbed shell for most of their Atari XEGS cartridge releases, and basically abandoned the handle on the back shells.

       

      Cart_Shell1.jpg.ece446132ef8777a1aa01b8808cfd774.jpg

       

      Cart_Shell2.jpg.3319c8a572f9dd34bf2a69aa55327996.jpg

       

      The handle on the back of the cartridge was really made for the Atari 65XE, and the 130XE. Both had the cartridge port on the back of the machine, just like Jack Tramiel’s Commodore 64, really intended for combining the cartridge port with other ports, to utilize external devices. This design choice was of course born for cheapness.

      Then, no need for two separate ports, just one port. The cartridge handle was to give some sort of support for the cartridge not to sag from gravity, and also make the game easier to remove from the back of the machine. However, the problem with the handle cartridges is that they were not as easy to install, let alone extract in the Atari 400/800 cartridge well, and the 1200XL once installed, was not so easy to remove at all.

      So, redesign time. The ribbed cartridge shell, with the ribbed design taken directly from Regan Cheng’s design for the Atari 5200 cartridge.

       

      Cart_Shell3.jpg.7e76348077214a2ebef9e6f7286ebc44.jpg

       

      This ribbed Atari cartridge design solved all of those problems, and then some. The ribbed sides made the cartridge substantially easier to remove in the Atari 400/800s and 1200XL computers. Yet the ribbed cartridge was snug enough to help defy gravity in the Atari 65XE and 130XE computers. Not perfect, but good enough.

      Keep in mind, this ribbed design also was cheaper in terms of the plastic cartridge shell and the printed circuit board that was inside. On the handle shells, the cart was held together with a screw, while the ribbed cartridge no longer needed a screw, as it was held together very firmly with clips on the side of the shell.

      Plus, the handle cartridge board used four capacitors and four resistors, while the ribbed cartridge board used only three of each. With Atari ordering games 100,000 units at a time, saving one resistor and one capacitor per cartridge really added up, and Jack knew where to cut corners to save the additional cost of 100,000 resistors and capacitors.

      Here are my Tower Toppler and Vanguard prototype cartridge boards. You see the Tower Toppler handle board is bigger, and has more support electronics, while the ribbed Vanguard board is smaller, and has less support electronics.

       

      Tower_Toppler_Vanguard.jpg.8f43cc57532c5d25dc3d3af709daf50f.jpg

       

      The ribbed Atari XEGS cartridges were all-around cheaper, and solved some problems. And really, the glue was not needed, but was a “just in case” sort of thing.

      Now, you can take cheapness just so far. Once, Atari sent me a shipment of new Atari XEGS cartridges. I opened them to see if any changes had been made before I started to sell them, because with Jack, you just never knew what was coming next. When I opened them up and held them you could feel that the plastic was so soft, I could eventually crush the cartridge shell with my bare hand. I sent them back to Atari as unsellable.

      That never happened again. 

       

      Thanks for reading,

      - Lance  :nintendo_professor_hector:

       

      Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com

    3. - ITC Chronicles - :- Stories from the Ivory Tower Collections

      A blog by CrossBow in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 34
        entries
      • 63
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      • 1420
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      CrossBow

      I already touched on this in an earlier blog post not that long actually, but I will summarize again really quickly.

      Main issue is that in 7800 mode and games, one or both fire buttons might show as being pressed without a controller plugged in. Plug in a controller and everything behaves as it should but ultimate, the console shouldn't read anything actively from the ports without a controller plugged in.

      In my previous blog, I mentioned that an out of spec resistor located at R35 was only reading about 217Ω while the schematics state that this resistor and the on next to it, should be reading 220Ω. Most of the resistors in the 7800 I believe are 5% tolerant meaning that the value of the component should read within +|- 5%. In this case, such a resistor would still be technically in spec if it were reading as low as 209Ω or as high as 231Ω would still be within that 5% tolerance. So a resistor reading 217Ω is well within the tolerance spec of the resistor.

      This was likely fine years ago when everything was much newer, but it seems as the equipment begins to age, these values become more and more tight and the tolerances allowed will no longer work.

      Because to fix this 7800 over the weekend, required that I again find a replacement resistor that was reading closer to 220Ω to resolve the issue. In this case, the resistor reads 219Ω.

      I've attached a picture that shows the location for these resistors. R34 affects player 1 and R35 affects player 2. And again, these resistors only seem to come into play as causing an issue when the console is in 7800 mode. You can actually remove these resistors and the 7800 fire buttons will still work properly on 7800 games. But they will not work in 2600 mode. So the resistors are only needed for 2600 mode but if will actually effect 7800 trigger readings once they get to a certain threshol.

      To be fair I don't think these resistors are just suddenly now starting to read off spec. I suspect the issue is actually the TIA starting to show signs of failure internally as swapping out TIAs will also fix this. But for now, with TIA being much more expensive to replace than a simple resistor, I'm going with changing out resistors to be more in spec going forward and I might just start stocking up and replacing out R34 and R35 with 1% types as part of preventive measures.

       78_P1P2_FB_Trigger.jpg.2a6a03c879ceb37436cac2eb8e3307c8.jpg

    4. Channel 3 Reviews

      A blog by Atari 5200 Guy in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 58
        entries
      • 140
        comments
      • 23898
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      Atari 5200 Guy
      Latest Entry

      To Mod or Not to Mod?

      That is the question.  I received a NES Classic Mini which makes it the second one in my collection. It has a controller and that’s it.  No box or anything.  My other one remains little used and stays in its box with all original packaging material.

      I have been debating whether or not to mod the thing by adding more games to it.  I don’t know how many different ways there are to mod it, if it’s an easy process or more trouble than it’s worth.  But it would be nice to see the games I grew up playing that are not part of the original 30 games like Lunar Pool, Zanac, Guardian Legend, and more.

      So if it was you with two NES classic minis would you mod one?  If so what would you use and what games would you add?  
       

      Also…is there a limit to the number of games that can be put on it?

    5. GameShark Codes

      A blog by 1Littlebeast in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 3
        entries
      • 1
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      1Littlebeast
      Latest Entry

      The Bouncer

      Bouncerbox.jpg.b0e6f93f00642045f347d530d3113ae0.jpg

      Master Code Must Be On

      EC878D981456E60A

      Infinite Bouncer Points

      1CAC43901455692C

    6. RickR's Blog

      A blog by RickR in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 19
        entries
      • 67
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      • 13078
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      Recent Entries

      RickR

      A quick blog entry just to share the beauty of Oregon.  My wife and I took a 40 minute drive in our new car to Sandy, OR, at the base of Mt. Hood to visit Barlow Wayside trail.  If you ever visit Oregon, expect very nice people and some spectacular natural areas.  This park has some very quiet, serene trails for a self-guided tour of a forest.  It looks like that third moon of Endor.  In any case, stop and enjoy the peace.  Breathe in the crisp, clean fall air.  Refreshing.  This one is considered an "easy" hike, and we walked about 2 miles according to my fitbit.

      More info:

      For 10,000 years local Indians would have fished, foraged, camped, and hunted in this area. Then, merely 170 years ago, emigrants rested at a place such as this, arriving along the historic Barlow Road, the last segment of the Oregon Trail, allowing them, their stock and covered wagons, to cross the south slope of Mt. Hood to reach the "Promised Land" of the Willamette Valley. Built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, the rugged overland trail avoided the treacherous Columbia River rapids yet traversed extremely steep terrain, rivers, and dense forests. As you explore the park with its towering trees and lush habitat, we hope you may find some solace as those who came before.

       

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    7. AtariAge News Feed

      A blog by AtariAge News Feed in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 16
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      • 0
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      • 374
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      AtariAge News Feed
      AtariAge will again be attending the annual Portland Retro Gaming Expo, taking place this year October 13-15 at the Oregon Convention Center! We'll have an even larger booth this year, the largest we've ever had at the show. And we'll have many new games available to purchase at the show, as well as demos for upcoming games! The AtariAge booth will be located right near the main entrance to the vendor hall, so you can't miss it as you enter the show! Many homebrew developers will be in attendance again at this year's show, so this is a great opportunity to meet and talk to developers about their games! And of course this is a HUGE event, and even larger this year with the addition of 60,000 square feet of space! There's so much to do at the show, tons of vendors, a huge free-play arcade, cosplay, auction, large console play area, tournaments, many speakers and panels throughout the show, and much more! Here's a list of the games we are working on for this year's show: Berry Fun! (Atari 2600) Boom! (Atari 2600) Bot & Tom (Atari 2600) Caramujo (Atari 2600) Electroball (Atari 2600) Game of the Bear 2 (Atari 2600) Immunity (Atari 2600) Penult (Atari 2600) Quantum Tunnel (Atari 2600) Robot Zed (Atari 2600) AWA Multicart (Atari 5200 / Atari 8-bit) Scorch (Atari 5200) A.R.T.I. (Atari 7800) Death Merchant (Atari 7800) E.X.O. (Atari 7800) Harpy's Curse (Atari 7800) Millie and Molly (Atari 7800) Oozie the Goo Gaiden (Atari 7800) Plumb Luck DX (Atari 7800) Growing Ties Deluxe (Atari Lynx) Odynexus (Atari Lynx) Novagen Volume 1 (Atari Jaguar) Rocket Ranger (Atari Jaguar) Visit our 2023 Portland Retro Gaming Expo Forum to discuss the show with other members and learn more about the new games and demos we'll have at the show! We hope to see many of you there!!

      View this article on the AtariAge News Archive

    8. Nester's RPG Corner

      A blog by nester in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 1
        entry
      • 1
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      • 333
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      nester
      Latest Entry

      First Steps

      Hello and welcome for my first blog entry. I am going to discuss the rpgs I am currently playing and the progress I am making. Don't expect and complete walkthroughs or detailed step by step descriptions. I want to keep things a little more casual than that, and besides I'm not that good of a chronicler. The last thing I want to do is keep constant notes of every step of the process. I will also do reviews here including games that I have already finished. So, what am I focusing on at the moment? 

       

      Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled - Nintendo DS

      I probably shouldn't have started this game considering all the games I am in the middle of, but it's a game I've wanted to play for years. Back about a dozen years ago I tried to buy this game from the much lamented gohastings.com, but it turned out to be out of stock. Right after that happened the price went through the roof and I was never able to track one down. Luckily I found it on a totally legit DS multicart sandwiched between mountains of shovelware. I love shovelware too so I will play them all I am sure, but of course the RPGs are the main draw.

      I am only a couple hours in so I haven't accomplished much so far. It's a bit of a reversal from the typical RPG in that everybody starts out hating the protagonist because he is one of the few people who can't use magic. Usually it's the other way around with a mysterious magic user showing up and frightening everyone with their powers. i don't know if I've ever played an rpg where the protagonist is hated because he's not powerful enough. Hopefully it goes in some interesting directions.

       

      The Bard's Tale IV

      Here's another game from my classic routine of getting halfway through a game and then stopping. It's even a game that I like. The combat is fun, and I enjoy the vintage gameplay. I was playing it every night for a while there. Then I just sorta stopped. I got a couple of other new games and they took priority over a game I bought a whole month ago. I started it back up last night and it took a while to get back into the swing of things. Even on easy mode I almost lost the first battle I encountered. It's nice to get back into it though, and hopefully I will chronicle it more fully as I go along.

       

      So that's enough for today. Join me next time as I hopefully get Daggerfall: Unity figured out. Seriously it took me fifteen minutes just to learn how to turn around. 

    9. MaximumRD's Bloggy Nonsense

      A blog by MaximumRD in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 7
        entries
      • 24
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      • 1496
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      MaximumRD

      I consider my RETRO GAMING CORNER officially complete ! 😎🤟🧐includes 14inch TOSHIBA CRT / ColecoVision w/ AtariMax Flashcart / Retrobit SuperRetroTrio (nes, snes, genesis w/ Everdrives for each) / TG-16 w/Everdrive 😎👍as well, I can hook up the 2600 module to ColecoVision or even play Master System using the Everdrive on the RetroTrio. Happy covering 7 platforms with 3 consoles. Wanted to cover as many platforms with what I already have in the space I am limited to.

      284985862_10160573866733109_2676351137695599896_n.jpg

       

      IMG_7712.JPG

    10. 1Littlebeasts Hidden Gems and Reviews

      A blog by 1Littlebeast in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 9
        entries
      • 5
        comments
      • 2719
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      1Littlebeast

      Whose going to win. 👀

    11. Atari 7800 Reviews and more!

      A blog by Silver Back in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 7
        entries
      • 6
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      • 731
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      Silver Back

      I want to start off by saying I love GOSUB on the 7800!  It was a fantastic experience, simple to pick up and a lot of fun to learn.  It's a solid play for an evening or afternoon, and it's a bit cheaper than other games I've purchased off of other websites.  I got it from 2600connection, but I couldn't find it listed anywhere on his Facebook or Website.  I had to send him an email and ask him if he had any left, PayPal him the money, and it came pretty quick.  It's hard to track down unless you really want to find it, and he has a lot of other games and versions of GOSUB for other platforms.  Yes, I love GOSUB for the 7800, but should you go to the trouble of tracking it down for yourself?  Maybe not actually...


      The graphics are very simple.  You have the blue background that represents water, along with the deadly seaweed outline that traps your yellow submarine and makes traveling difficult.  Then there's an octopus that will track you relentlessly, and later there are even larger enemies and tiny sharks that are surprisingly detailed!  Each level had a simple key and treasure chest and the last few levels have portals that look just as simple.  Everything  in the game looks uniform with the rest  of the game and the coloring is all fine.  Honestly, it's a boring game graphically.  The title screen looks okay, the ending screen looks okay, and the game over screens look... you guessed it... okay.  Overall the graphics may be a bit too simple really, but they work for this game.

      gosub1.jpg.26bcfc2989f11431492a0f79f5787203.jpg

      Please Excuse The Screenshots, their not uniform yet.


      If you sit at the title screen you will hear the sonar of your submarine beep every few seconds.  It made my wife ask "what is that beeping, it's driving me crazy".  So don't let it sit at the title while you write a review.  But other than that the song that plays is nice and catchy and the sound effects are fine too.  Again, these things are simple and on their own I don't think their anything impressive at all, similar to the graphics.  But when you add them to the gameplay of this game you get something fantastic.  So, although it might be cliche, GOSUB is greater than the sum of it's parts.  Easily.


      And the gameplay is really the main thing to talk about here.  It's a maze game where you must push a direction to make your sub move.  It will continue in that direction until you push another direction and it will start to move that way.  So once you start moving, you will always be moving.  It can be difficult not to touch the sides of the seaweed maze sometimes, but the octopus that will chase you relentlessly is what really adds to the challenge.  You can only fire in the direction your moving in and you can only have one bullet on the screen at a time.  So if you shoot at an octopus that's coming at you and miss, then you need to have room to evade until your next shot is ready.  It actually can get pretty intense and fun!
      You also have 2 lives per level which is nice for progression.  If you use all your lives on level 5 for instance, than you don't have to worry about having no lives for level 6.  You'll automatically start out with 2 more lives for your attempts of that level.  Later levels you'll encounter an invincible shark that will move randomly and you most avoid, and portals that allow you to get to other ends of the maze.  Not to mention the mid and final boss that requires quite a few shots to get past.  You don't technically kill him, but you do chase him off.  At the end of each maze you'll find a treasure chest that may or may not require a key and that's essentially the game.

      gosub2.jpg.19223748d49655bd9aa5a934fd98b065.jpg

      Screenshot from WIP


      It all plays and works well together, but I do have a complaint.  This game is SHORT!  Too short.  I was able to beat it in about 2 hours of playing.  When I first turned GOSUB on it was too easy because I didn't see any octopus enemies, but the difficulty switches fix that.  So there is a "kids" mode I would say, or one without enemies.  But the 21 levels left me wanting so much more.  I was satisfied with the game, but I don't see myself pulling it down again anytime soon.  The want to replay the same levels just isn't there for me.  I don't think I would get anything more from repeated playthroughs of the game I guess.  I would buy another cart if he doubled the levels though, but that's just me.


      GOSUB did provide a fun afternoon for me (well 2 now: one when I got it and one to prepare for this review) but I really don't have the want to continue beating it.  It feels fantastic, and there are bonus levels along with the boss battles to break up the maze based gameplay.  It all works fantastic, its just a shame that it didn't last longer.  I believe I paid 30 dollars, maybe under 35 with shipping for this one from 2600connection (google it, because the website I had led to somewhere else now) and I've spent more on a single evening before.  You could have dinner, see a movie, or play GOSUB and have some good old fashion enjoyment.  Plus the cartridge looks nice.  But if you want something with a little more meat on it, then you may want to look elsewhere.

      gosubbox.jpg.b64428c38079065244d79832578d3a36.jpg

      The Cartridge and Manual Look Nice.  Shame there's no box...


      Graphics: 5 out of 10

      The graphics aren't really bad, but they are simple.  Given the simplicity of what's needed you could've really went all out with details.  But it works in context of the rest of the game
       

      Sound: 6 out of 10

      I really like the songs composition and it sounds good.  The only sound effect I didn't care for was that beeping at the title screen, but I guess it's my fault for letting it sit.
       

      Gameplay: 7 out of 10

      This game plays fantastic.  Don't touch the edges, avoid the enemies, and grab the treasure!  It's simple but it works!
       

      Fun: 8 out of 10

      I loved it while it lasted.  I felt like we were just getting started with the sharks and portals when I got to the end, so it feels like it finishes abruptly.  But I really liked the experience up until then.

      Value: 3 out of 10

      I hate to give this such a low score on value, but it only lasts a few hours with little reason to go back to it.  I may play it once every few years and that's it.  This is truly the low point of this game.

      Overall: 6 out of 10 GOOD!

      I bounced back and forth between a 5 and 6 for this one.  I do recommend it for those that are okay with paying 35 bucks for an evening of fun.  Everybody else should steer clear, but I do want to say that I'm glad I experienced this game and don't regret the purchase.

       

    12. Retroist Podcast Feed

      A blog by Retroist Podcast Feed in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 20
        entries
      • 0
        comments
      • 338
        views

      Recent Entries

      Retroist Podcast Feed
      Mac Tonight was a smash success, but quickly faded from the scene, only to be revived by Mcdonald's sporadically. On this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I look at the history of this famed spokesmoon.

      View the full article on the Retroist

    13. Atari XP News Feed

      A blog by Atari XP News Feed in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 10
        entries
      • 1
        comment
      • 418
        views

      Recent Entries

      Atari XP News Feed
      Martin Goldberg
      		 Martin Goldberg is a veteran game industry developer, writer, archiver, and historian who is well known and respected in the Atari community. Marty’s articles can be found in many gaming publications, and he co-authored Atari Inc. Business is Fun, A Complete History of Atar Inc. in collaboration with Curt Vendel as part of their effort to preserve Atari history with their Atari Museum archive.

       

      The period during which Aquaventure is thought to have been under development was one of change and turmoil within the Consumer Division and at Atari overall. Atari was scrambling to cover losses from a steadily worsening video game market. During the summer Jim Morgan was named as CEO of Atari, replacing Ray Kassar. But at the time of the announcement, Jim was still employed by Phillip Morris and wanted to take a sabbatical so Manny Gerard was tasked with running the company on a day-to-day basis until JIm could officially step into the CEO role at Atari. As a result of all the change, it seems there was even less executive supervision of the consumer development team, and less reporting on their activity making its way up to the top.

      Jim Morgan started work at Atari on September 9th, and within a few weeks he issued a company-wide freeze on all projects and products in development. A month-long product-by product evaluation period followed during which a large number of projects were modified or completely canceled. Atari’s Ataritel advanced telephone division is an example of one large casualty of the process. It also caused delays in other products that were scheduled to be released for that holiday season.

      Aquaventure4.gif?v=1644605269

      The two Aquaventure ROMs that have been discovered so far have July and August dates. From what Gary Shannon has recently related to Atari prototype games expert Matt Reichart, Aquaventure was done and ready to be released and as a result Gary was set up for receiving a deadline bonus. What most likely happened is that Aquaventure was a victim of the development freeze and resulting product culling as Jim Morgan looked to make the company’s offerings leaner to help Atari weather what some were nicknaming the “Atari Crash.”

      View the full article on the Atari® XP website

    14. Sabertooth's Game Cave

      A blog by Sabertooth in Atari I/O Magazine

      • 20
        entries
      • 57
        comments
      • 10489
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      Sabertooth
      Latest Entry

      016 - YARS: RECHARGED

      YARS: RECHARGED (VCS)

      Published 2022 (Atari)

      Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox

      Retail: $9.99

      YARS: RECHARGED is a modern take on Yars' Revenge, the 1982 smash hit for the Atari 2600.  Programmed by the incomparable Howard Scott Warshaw, Yars’ Revenge went on to become the best-selling original title for the platform.  This is quite a legacy to live up to.

      YARS: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.

      Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!

      TAKE CONTROL

      At its core, YARS: RECHARGED is a twin-stick shooter.  It borrows elements of Yars’ Revenge and combines it with a dash of “bullet hell” and a slick future retro aesthetic to deliver a fresh take on HSW’s classic.

      As with the original, you control a Yars, an insect-like space race that – according to lore – descended from the common house fly on Earth.  Of course, this being a modern, digital title, YARS: RECHARGED eschews any story that might have made its way into a manual or accompanying comic.  At any rate, the Yars are again at war with the Qotile.  It’s your job to take out Qotile defenses through 30 levels in either Arcade or Missions modes: for 60 levels total. 

      The first time you play YARS: RECHARGED you’re automatically taken to a quick tutorial to acquaint you with the game’s controls.   This is a first in the Recharged series and is a welcome addition to the game.  The controls are fairly intuitive and harken back to that old Atari adage “Easy to learn, difficult to master.” 

      Using the Modern Controller, the left thumbstick controls Yar’s movement while the right controls fire and aiming.  The controls are tight and precise, and I found the Modern Controller to be ideally suited for the twin-stick action. The game also offers support for the Classic Controller.  Use the rotary to aim your Yars and the joystick to maneuver.  It’s a novel way to play for fans of the VCS’ unique controller.

      YARS 3.jpg

      Qotile defenses are hidden behind rows of hexagonal shields.  The shield strength is indicated by each hexagon’s opacity; near transparent shields are easily foiled, while solid white shields take a lot to break through.  The shields are frequently interlocked in a honeycomb and protect various “cores.”  You must shoot or “nibble” through the shields to charge your Zorlon Cannon, expose the Qotile Cores, and eliminate them as quickly as possible.  Eliminating the last Qotile Core will destroy all remaining enemies and clear the level.  There is a time bonus in both Arcade and Missions modes, so play strategically to clear each level as quickly as possible. 

      Enemy types range from the “Swirl”, Silorak Cores, and bullets coming from off screen.  The Swirl behaves in much the same way as it did in the 1982 original.  Watch for the Qotile Core to change into a Swirl and dodge or shoot it.  If your Yars is hit by a Swirl, its GAME OVER.  In later levels, there will be multiple Swirls to contend with.  Importantly, Swirls can penetrate the Glitch Shield to destroy your Yars. 

      The Silorak Cores serve as Qotile defense turrets and target you with spread shot, railgun, explosive shot and rapid fire.  When destroyed, these “minor” cores will drop a power-up the mirrors their attack.  The Silorak Cores are also tied to select shields.  As you attack a core, you’ll notice several hexagons flashing with each hit.  These will be destroyed once you take out the connected core. 

      Bullets coming from offscreen add a level of danger to the proceedings.  You’ll need to pay close attention to the patterns of the bullets to avoid hitting them. Alone they are easy to avoid, but with the assault from the cores, things quickly become chaotic. 

      Your greatest weapon against the Qotile onslaught is the Zorlon Cannon.  Only the Zorlon Cannon can destroy a Qotile Core.  Charge the cannon by nibbling or shooting enemy assets and collecting the resultant golden orbs.  Once charged, take aim and fire across the screen.  Timing is critical as there are frequently moving Qotile Cores and rotating shields. 

      When the Zorlon Cannon appears, so does the Glitch Shield.  The Glitch Shield protects Yars from all enemy weapons with the exception of the Swirl.  It dissipates as soon as your charge is depleted. 

      In Arcade Mode, the default setting provides the player with three hits.  The hit counter will refresh with each cleared level.  Taking a similar approach to Gravitar: Recharged, Yars offers the option to stack modifiers for bonus points.  Each modifier adds 2.5% to the score at the end of arcade play.  There are three modifiers:

      • The “Hyper” modifier dramatically speeds up your Yars. While this might seem like an advantage, it’s actually a bit unwieldy. 
      • The “Hunger” modifier eliminates your ability to shoot forcing you to rely only on your “nibble.”  The nibble is more effective and in early levels this too seems like an advantage.  However, in later levels the need for a ranged shot becomes clear. 
      • The “Heavy Cannon” modifier increases the damage of your cannon but takes longer to charge and moves slower. 

      The choice of whether or not to use a modifier adds an interesting strategic element to the game. 

      In Missions Mode, your goal is to complete the missions as quickly as possible.  The missions play like the hardest versions of the levels that you’ve already completed in Arcade Mode.  In this way, it feels like more of the same.  While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I personally preferred the creativity and variety of the goal-oriented Challenges Mode from earlier titles in the Recharges series.  One thing that I do like about Missions Mode is that score bonuses are displayed upon the completion of each level. 

      Couch co-op returns to YARS: RECHARGED and greatly enhances the game in either Arcade or Missions mode. 

      GRAPHICS

      The look of YARS: RECHARGED is reminiscent of the art style found in Gravitar: Recharged.  Backgrounds are muted and - with the exception of your Yars, the golden orbs and  Zorlon Cannon - monochromatic. The Yars itself looks nice and everything from the hexagonal shields to the in-game menus, to the Silorak cores are very clean.  Its functional but not terribly exciting to look at.  One wonders if the Geometry Wars inspired art style of the earlier Recharged games might have worked better here. 

      YARS 4.jpg

      SOUND & MUSIC

      Sound is a weak point for YARS: RECHARGED.  For this outing, Atari has once again partnered with composer Megan McDuffee for the in-game music.  The soundtrack is stellar and some of the tracks have an almost cinematic vibe. McDuffee has definitely brought her “A Game.”  Unfortunately, the in-game music is barely audible with default settings.  It is utterly overwhelmed by the sound effects, including player and enemy shots and ambient sounds.  In order to enjoy the soundtrack, I had to go into audio settings, crank the music to 100 and reduce effects to 30.  My feeling is that there is some wave interference taking place between the competing sounds.  It’s truly a shame because the music really is fantastic. 

      As for the effects, they are just what you would expect from booming shots, lasers and spinning swirls. 

      CREATURE COMFORTS

      YARS: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played the other RECHARGED titles, these will be familiar to you. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game.

      Fans of the highscore chase will be pleased to know that the game includes local and online leaderboards.  In Missions mode, scores are cumulative. This contrasts with previous entries in the Recharged series, where each mission had its own scoreboard. 

      YARS 2.jpg

      OVERALL

      YARS: RECHARGED is a solid update to Howard Scott Warshaw’s 2600 classic. Atari and its development partners have a tricky balancing act with the Recharged series; at once satisfying longtime fans and introducing the brand and IP to new generations of gamers. With YARS RECHARGED, they have largely succeeded.  Some tweaks to the audio mix and goal-oriented missions would make this near perfect.  As it is, YARS: RECARGED is the best sequel to the original yet attempted. 

      Have you played YARS: RECHARGED on the VCS or on another platform? What do you think of the game?

      YARS 1.jpg

    15. Atari Lynx Handycast Podcast Feed

      A blog by Handycast Podcast Feed in Atari I/O Magazine

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      EPISODE 22: Paperboy

      PLAY EPISODE 22 HERE

      AVvXsEiF_LYW5Jrx7ZWJCOAUSVXS2LAxdLcieY9iSdj0RmxpIVZIzpwhPqz_NbyBKy5GjzJuOoGrkRi0quh-yWkExlFLqCUzhwVgbw753BwyRtowYj2MNZIEtqdtTFakDHF92lV4f-mnsd-YgyvzKrF1mN2np4PyewV1UEyNb0Dup5KTzrD1Bjg1YVN28rgb=s320

      #PA2041, Published by Atari Corp.

       In this episode I cover yet another arcade port for the Lynx, Paperboy, released in 1990. Included are statistics for the game and a run-down on how to play it, along with reviews and ratings, some fun facts and trivia, and lots of listener feedback about the game. Also in today’s episode: Monty and I talk about the lost art of delivering newspapers door to door.

      “Yes…it’s true…I once owned a Morris Minor to deliver The Heckington Hawker.
       Please don’t pity me.” -Monty

      1181242143125.jpgThe Paperboy upright arcade cabinet was released by Atari Games in 1984.

      PAPERBOY VITAL STATISTICS
       Release Date: December of 1990.
       Initial Retail Price: $34.99-$39.95 in the US; £29.99 in the UK.
      Cartridge Information: 128kB mono curved lip-style cartridge.
       Game Genre: Isometric-view 2-dimensional scrolling arcade game for 1 player only.
       Screen Playfield Orientation: Landscape (horizontal).
       Based On: The arcade cabinet of the same name released by Atari Games in 1984.
       Ports to Other Systems: Acorn Electron (1986), Amstrad CPC (1987), Apple ][ (1988), Apple ][gs (1988), Atari ST (1989), BBC Micro (1986), Blackberry (2009), Commodore 16 (1986), Commodore Plus/4 (1986), Commodore 64 (1986), Commodore Amiga (1989), DOS platform (1988), J2ME platform (2005), Nintendo Entertainment System (1988), Nintendo Game Boy (1990), Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999), Sega Game Gear (1991), Sega Genesis (1991), Sega Master System (1990), Xbox 360 (2007), and ZX Spectrum (1986).
       Sequels: Paperboy 2 for Amstrad CPC (1991), Atari ST (1992), Commodore Amiga (1992), DOS platform (1991), Nintendo Game Boy (1992), Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), Sega Game Gear (1993), Sega Genesis (1992), and ZX Spectrum (1992).
       Game Levels: There are three skill levels: Easy Street (easiest), Middle Road (medium difficulty), and Hard Way (hardest). Within each of these skill levels, there are seven stages, one for each day of the week.
       Packaging: A full-color standard flap-tab regular-size box (5 3/8″ by 4 3/8″ by 7/8″). The French variant included a lapel pin and French-language manual, And the Japanese variant included Japanese verbiage on the box back, along with a Japanese-language manual. There was also a blister pack variant sold.
       Instruction Manual: A 12-page (including front and back covers) stapled regular-sized booklet manual in monochrome, measuring the usual 4 7/8” high by 3 ¾” wide. The manual was released in English in North America and in Europe, in a full-color Japanese manual in Japan, and in French in France. The manual was written by veteran Atari Lynx manual writer Scott Rhoades.

      244587566_10158452801668596_855146012255Kieren Hawken’s interview with Paperboy programmer Al Baker from the February 2014 issue (#125) of Retro Gamer magazine. You can view a full-size version of the scan by clicking HERE.

      PAPERBOY CREDITS
       Original Arcade: Atari Games Corporation
       Publisher: Atari Corporation
       Licensee: Tengen, Inc.
       Developer: Al Baker & Associates
       Programmer: Al Baker
       Sound: David Tumminaro
       Original Art: Elite Systems
       Lynx Art: Nathan Baker 

       unnamed-1.png

      Be sure to check out our partner AtariGamer.com to stay “Lynxed In” to all of the latest news about our favorite handheld gaming console!

       

      LYNX LYNKS
       Kieren Hawken’s 2019 book “The A-Z of Atari Lynx Games Volume 1”.
       Coming Soon: “The A-Z of Atari Lynx Games Volume 2”!

      Information About Paperboy:
       Atari Age title info/rarity guide for Paperboy
       Atari Gamer title info/rarity guide for Paperboy
       Digital Press title info/rarity guide for Paperboy
       GameFAQs article about Paperboy
       Moby Games article about Paperboy
       PriceCharting.com value guide about Paperboy
       RarityGuide.com rarity/value guide about Paperboy
       Wikipedia article about Paperboy

      245810781_10158467058323596_803698769116A comparison of the different home ports of Paperboy, published in the February 2014 issue (#125) of Retro Gamer magazine. You can view a full-size version of the scan by clicking HERE.

      Reviews and Ratings for Paperboy:
       Review by Gideon in GamePro (US; Issue #017; December 1990; page 148)
       Review in RAZE (UK; Issue #03; January 1991; page 47)
       Review by Robert A. Jung at IGN (1999)
       Review by The Video Game Critic (2005)
       Review by Brian Thomas Barnhart at Atario.io (2016)
       Review by Jon Mc at Atari Gamer (2018)

      YouTube Videos About Paperboy:
       Playthrough (World-of-Longplays)
       Playthrough (Atari7800com)
       Playthrough and Review (BTB/Lynx Lounge)
       Playthrough and Review (RetroGamerDaz)
       Comparison of Handheld Ports of Paperboy (The Laird’s Lair)

      Retailers Selling Paperboy:
       B & C ComputerVisions: US$9.95 (box only),  US$19.95 (cart/manual combo), US$24.95 (NIB w/damaged box) and for US$29.95 (NIB) through eBay under the user name MyAtari…check his online store on eBay for availability.
      Best Electronics (last updated October 7, 2021; check website for availability): US$14.95 (loose cart), US$19.95 (CIB).
       The Gamesmen (Australia): AU$24.95 (CIB).
       The Goat Store: None Available.
       Telegames (UK): £29.99 (CIB).
       Video 61 & Atari Sales: $49.95 (NIB).

      m_Paperboy_1.jpg

      THE RESOURCES Page
       is where you can find a current list of after-market and
       home brew Atari Lynx titles,
       plus a lot of other information!

      “Thank You’s” and Other Lynks:
       Antic: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast (Thanks to Brad Arnold, Randy Kindig, and Kevin Zavitz for the shoutout about The HandyCast in Episode 50!)
       AtariGamer.com (Thanks to Igor for incorporating The HandyCast into his excellent website!)
       The Atari 2600 Game By Game Podcast (Thanks to The Podfather himself, Ferg, for encouraging his listeners to check out The HandyCast in both Episode 151 and Episode 154!)
       The Atari Jaguar Game By Game Podcast (Thanks to Shinto for encouraging his listeners to check out The HandyCast in Episodes 22 and 26!)
       Curtis Herod (Cujo)‘s The Bl^ck Book v2  (Check HERE to see the now-expired Indiegogo campaign, where you can find out more about the book. And please consider purchasing Curtis Herod’s The Black Book v2 by emailing him at cujo86@gmail.com.)
       Gaming on Ten (Thanks to Nick and Don for encouraging his listeners to check out The HandyCast in Episode 09!)
       Into the Vertical Blank Podcast (Thanks to hosts Jeff and Steve Fulton for “singing” about The HandyCast in Season 1, Episode 10!)
       Please Stand By (Thanks to Zerbe and Ferg for helping to promote The  HandyCast on several episodes of this fun-to-listen-to show, starting with Episode 60!)
       The RCR Podcast (Thanks to the Retro Computing Roundtable: Paul Hagstrom, Quinn Dunki, Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vance, for highlighting The HandyCast in Episode 167!)
      The Retro MacCast Podcast (Thanks to Retro MacCast hosts James Savage and John Leake for highlighting The HandyCast in Episode 475!)
       Retro Video Gamer Forums (Thanks to Eugenio/TrekMD for helping to promote The HandyCast on his wonderful forums!)

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
      Thanks go to everyone who contributed feedback about Paperboy (and other games) for this episode: Brian Bolding, Jeff Cossey, Derek Dash (tripled79), Eugenio (TrekMD), Kieren Hawken (Laird’s Lair YouTube Channel), imall543, Jon Mc (AtariGamer.com), Scott Rhoades, Shinto (The Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast), and Bobby Tribble. I really appreciate your feedback!

      Also, I would like to thank the Free Music Archive for the following musical artists and songs that were used in this episode under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: “8-Bit Core” by Tagirijus (opening and closing theme music), along with “Depth Charge,” “Elastic,” “Flow,” “Glass Ceiling,” “Twist,” “Underpass,” and “Wriggle,” all by Metre.

      Thanks also to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson) for the “Oooh, let’s party!” and “Leaving so soon?” digitized speech clips captured from the Atari Lynx game Pinball Jam that are used at the beginning and end of each episode of The HandyCast.

      I would especially like to thank Shinto for submitting his memories of various Atari Lynx games he’s owned in the past to The Atari Lynx HandyCast…they are greatly appreciated. And you should all check out Shinto’s wonderful Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast; it’s definitely worth listening to, even if you’ve never owned a Jaguar. You can find it here.

      Many, many thanks also go to Zerbinator for his continued support. His encouragement and expertise are very much appreciated by me. You can find all of his fun-to-listen-to podcasts here, including my favorite, Please Stand By.

      Finally, my thanks to the Podfather himself, Ferg of The Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast. His inspiration and dedication to covering every game cartridge ever made for the Atari 2600 (I think over 1000 of them!) is what gave me the courage to begin this podcast. Please, check out his don’t-miss podcast, even if you’re not an Atari 2600 collector; you should also visit his website here.

      I hope you enjoy this episode of The Atari Lynx HandyCast. And please don’t forget to visit the official Atari Lynx HandyCast website by clicking here!

      -Mark

      Next Episode: “EPISODE 23: A.P.B.”

      Listen to this episode at the Atari Lynx Handycast

    16. Omega's Blog-O-Sphere

      A blog by - Ω - in Atari I/O Magazine

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      Latest Entry

      My Atari 5200 Diary

      This blog over the coming weeks and possibly months, will be about my getting back into the Atari 5200.  It'll have related YouTube videos, photos, comments and other neat stuff.  If you you have any questions or comment along the way, don't be shy, speal up! 

    17. Games from Before My Time

      A blog by HDN in Atari I/O Magazine

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      HDN

      Revolutionary.

      This word is tossed around a lot when it comes to NES games. Indeed, a lot of NES games were groundbreaking titles unlike anything else people had seen on the Atari 2600, Colecovision, or any other system prior to 1985. Super Mario Brothers was revolutionary because it offered a game with a size unlike 99% of the previous generation's games. Zelda was revolutionary because it had a massive open world with secrets to explore in every nook in cranny, offering an adventure so vast that it had a battery installed in the game to save one's progress across multiple sessions without the need of a password. But what if we took both these games and mixed them together? We perhaps get the most influential game Nintendo has ever published on the NES. This is Metroid.

      Metroid (NES) - The Cover Project

      Metroid was unlike anything else when it came out in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System. It barely had any precedent at all on home consoles at that point. The game had no score at all. It didn't even have levels (even Zelda had those to an extent). No, Metroid was truly a world you could explore to your heart's content. It seemed like there were secrets hidden everywhere, like there was no end to the game at all. Nowadays, the map of Metroid seems tiny, but back then it seemed to be a massive, sprawling, never-ending adventure.

      You start Metroid in the middle of a place called Brinstar. You control the little orange-and-red "space robot". He can jump shoot up, left, and right. He can't duck, he can't shoot down, he can't jump on enemies or shoot farther than a few feet from himself. In other words, you seem very limited and outmatched at this point in the game. Enemies are too close to the ground to be shot. You only start with thirty health and die in just a few hits. This is intentional.

      You head right, as anyone in 1986 or 1987 coming off of Super Mario Brothers would. Enemies crawl around the ground and swoop down at the space robot (maybe he's named Metroid?). You find out that shooting the blue hatches opens them and allows you to go into the next room. You keep heading right until...

      Metroid Areas

      What's this? You're officially stuck. Remember, "Metroid" as we're calling him now can't crawl or duck, and the passage is too short to walk under. You TRY to duck under this passage, but pressing the down arrow doesn't seem to do anything at all. This means, at this point, there's absolutely no way to clear it. Out of desperation, you move left and realize that unlike Super Mario before it, Metroid allows you to go left. And if you keep going left, past the point in the game you started at, you'll find this:

      Morph Ball - Metroid Wiki

      The game pauses for a moment as a jingle plays. This is the Morph Ball, sometimes called the Morphing Ball or Maru-Mari. The game doesn't show you what this strange ball-shaped item does with a text box or anything. It doesn't even tell you what the name of it is. But after collecting it, you'll soon find out that the passage you entered this place with is too high up for Metroid to jump to. The passage below you is too small to walk under either. So you try to duck again by pressing down on the D-Pad again, and this time something happens. That strange sphere seems to allow you to turn into a ball once collected! Now you can roll under the passage and get out of the area you got the item in. You immediately remember the narrow passage from earlier and start running right again, and this time, you're able to clear it. Then, Metroid truly starts.

      After this experience, you find out that Metroid is no Super Mario Brothers. This is a game you're going to have to pay more attention to. A game where you're going to have to spend countless hours looking for secrets that help you progress further in the game. You'll find obstacle after obstacle; blocks you can't break because you can't shoot down, red hatches impervious to your beam, areas too high to jump too, etc. Eventually, you'll find items like the Bombs, which are in Morph Ball mode and can be used to break blocks below you, Missiles that take out enemies quicker and let you open those red doors, and High-Jump Boots that let you jump higher than before. The Metroidvania genre is born.

      Let's back up a bit. What are you supposed to do in this game? Basically, there's a group of space pirates on the planet Zebes who are using and breeding life-sucking, jellyfish-like creatures called Metroids (yeah, you're not actually named Metroid, like how Link isn't named Zelda) to try to take over the galaxy. The galactic police have sent the bounty hunter Samus Aran (that's Metroid's real name) to defeat the space pirates alone. The brain behind the operation (pun intended) is the "mechanical life-vein" Mother Brain, who is basically a cybernetic supercomputer with extensive databases and networks throughout the planet. Her two main henchmen are the "mini-bosses" Kraid and Ridley, who live in their own lairs below Brinstar and Norfair respectively. While exploring the early parts of the game, you'll most likely come across a room with two statues and an inescapable pool of lava should you fall in. This is the road to Tourian, Mother Brain and the Metroids' hideout and the final area of the game. You'll need to come back to this place once you kill Kraid and Ridley. Then, once you shoot their now-flashing statues, a bridge will be built leading to the final stretch of the game. But first, you'll need to find them, which is easier said than done.

      Now is a good time to mention that the original Metroid on Famicom and NES didn't have a built in map. The game has five main areas to explore: Brinstar, a hub that connects most of the places together and is also the area you start out in, the firey Norfair, Kraid's and Ridley's lairs, and Tourian. That's quite a bit to keep in mind while playing, and in 1986 and 87, there was no Google to look for maps on. Your best bet was to draw out your own as you went along, or get Nintendo Power once that became a thing. That wouldn't be much of a problem if the game was easy to navigate on your own. Metroid requires you to take random shots in the dark until something works. For example, you may need to bomb a completely random floor tile in a random room that looks just like the hundreds of other floor tiles you've seen in the game to access a route to a boss's lair, or shoot out a random ceiling to access a crucial item. That's bad on its own, but Metroid also likes to blatantly copy/paste rooms over and over again. In Kraid's lair, for example, there are over a HALF-DOZEN rooms in the first shaft of the game that start out IDENTICALLY! This makes the game very frustrating to navigate around blindly, and coupling that with tougher enemies that hit harder in the later areas means that you'll end up dying a lot without making much progress.

      And that leads to another thing: dying. Dying in Metroid is brutal. Throughout the game, you can find energy tanks that increase your max health by 100 HP. Despite that, however, every time you die Metroid will start you off at the beginning of the area you died in with only 30 HP, the same amount you started with when you first arrived on Zebes. That means that you'll have to spend dozens of minutes of your time shooting enemies and grinding the health refills they occasionally drop. Each health pickup restores 5 HP, and the drop rates are very, very low. You'll likely spend your time standing in one spot next to an enemy spawner holding down the B button to shoot until you collect enough health to continue on exploring. There are no other ways to recharge your energy or missiles. This happens every single time you die, and you don't stand a snowball's chance in Norfair surviving unless you grind for health. The energy tanks do refill your health to the max, but there are only a few of them in the game and once you run out of them, you'll have to grind. This is EASILY the worst part about this game. Metroid is brutal, with hard-hitting enemies, instant death pits, and cheap deaths aplenty (you can even get killed during room transitions). This sucks the fun right out of the game for many people. I've gotten to the point where I almost never die in a playthrough, but even if you load up your game via a password you STILL start with 30 health and have to grind. This isn't fun. It's just padding.

      TASVideos - NES Metroid

      Throughout your journey, you'll find many more items to help you reach places you couldn't before. I've already mentioned the Missiles, Energy Tanks, High-Jump Boots, and Bombs, but there are much more than just that. Alongside Samus's peashooter he gets at the beginning of the game, he gets three more basic guns. The Long Beam is the only beam in the game that stacks on top of others in the game. This simply allows Samus's bullets to travel across the entire length of the screen instead of disappearing a few feet from his face. The other two beams, the Ice Beam and the Wave Beam, can't be used with each other. The ice beam will temporarily freeze enemies and allow Samus to use them as platforms, though they require twice as many shots to kill. The Wave Beam can travel through solid objects and travels in a sine wave pattern, finally allowing Samus to shoot the ground-based enemies shorter than him. Sadly though, the Wave Beam is somewhat pointless in the game as the toughest enemies in the game, the eponymous Metroids, can only be disposed of once frozen and shot with five missiles. Speaking of missiles, they are completely separate from the beam weapons. Missiles, unlike the beams, have limited ammo. You can increase your maximum amount of missiles you can carry by collecting more missile tanks scattered about the world, each one bumping the limit up by five. These missiles become quite important when it comes to the bosses and the final area of the game. You simply press the select button to toggle between the beams and missiles, and that's as advanced as inventory management gets in this game.

      You also have items like that Varia Suit and Screw Attack. These are completely optional and good bonuses for those who were able to find them. The Screw Attack charges your running jump with electricity, allowing Samus to instantly kill almost anything just by jumping into it. The Varia Suit (which can be seen in the second picture) is a pink palette swap of Samus that simply doubles his defense. The suit will become much more utilized in later games, but here it simply acts as a defense boost.

      Let's talk about those mini-bosses, Mother Brain's henchmen Kraid and Ridley. Technically, you're supposed to fight Kraid first, but the game is so open-ended and nonlinear that you can fight them in any order without the game stopping you. Kraid's lair is incredibly hard to navigate. The enemies do a ton of damage and the layout of the place is so confusing that it's nearly impossible to find Kraid without a map. It's so BS that you even find a fake version of the boss. Who does that? EVENTUALLY, you will find the real Kraid, though. He's easily the harder of the two. He'll shoot spikes out of his stomach and through his toenails at you without mercy. The best plan of attack here is to freeze the center spike in place, drop into Morph Ball mode, and spam bombs that'll hopefully blow up in his face. Hopefully you'll have enough energy to damage-boost your way through the fight and have Kraid die before you do. When he dies, you'll get 75 more missiles and begin the worst section in the game.

      There is a tower in the chasm that leads to Kraid's boss room made completely of breakable blocks. This tower is no wider than one block and goes up for several screens. You have to shoot a hole in the block tower, shoot the blocks above you, and keep jumping until the blocks respawn below your feet. This requires precise timing and persistence, as if the blocks respawn ON TOP OF you, you'll take damage and be knocked back, falling off the impossibly high tower and having to start all over again. This is outright terrible game design. I have the timing down now that I've played the game for years, but initially this seemed completely impossible. This has absolutely no reason to be in the game other than to pad the length and frustrate players. You're better off committing suicide back at Kraid's room and respawning back at the beginning of his lair.

      M1_Ridley_Room.gif

      Navigating through Norfair will eventually lead you to Ridley's lair. His lair is a lot more straightforward and less labyrinthine than Kraid's, but the enemies are even more aggressive and dangerous to make up for it. Once you find Ridley, he's super easy. Simply freeze his fireballs midair (he won't shoot more until they unfreeze) and pump him full of missiles. Then he just dies and you get 75 more missiles. Yeah, if you couldn't tell, these first two bosses are terrible. This is one of the most broken boss fights in any game I've ever seen. I don't think I've died to this guy a single time before. But that's okay. The game more than makes up for it in just a few minutes.

      Before we get to that though, I want to tell you all about what this game means to me.

      One of my first games ever was Super Metroid, and it immediately became my favorite game. I was only four or five years old (I can't remember if it was 2010 or late 2009) when I started playing it with my dad (he did most of the playing anyways), and that experience really influenced my gaming tastes for the future. We did get stuck a few times, though, and used YouTube walkthroughs to help us. Sometimes the tab would be open and I would click around YouTube and watch the videos that they played. I couldn't really read at the time and just clicked the videos based on the thumbnails. Thankfully I didn't find any naughty things I shouldn't have been watching, thank God. What I did find was a different Metroid game. This game looked AWESOME to me back when I was little. It looked like Super Metroid, but the graphics weren't as good. I really wanted to play it. I assumed, based on the inferior graphics, that it was an older game, but I thought at the time it was the original Metroid. I now know it was actually Metroid 2 played on a Game Boy Player. So my dad, bless his soul, persuaded his brother to give me his old NES and went to the now-long-defunct Star Video and bought a used copy of Metroid for me. This was back in the day when you could buy expensive NES games like Metroid and Castlevania for like five dollars, which is what he paid for those two games. Only one problem though: the NES didn't work. At all. It was in the shop being repaired for what seemed like an eternity, and I spent much of my time laying on the sunroom floor, staring at that silver Metroid cartridge, waiting for the day to play it.

      When the NES finally was fixed, I eagerly popped in the game once my dad set the system up, and... I got this. I was completely wrong; the Metroid I wanted was actually the SECOND game, not the first! I was only disappointed for a second though. I really liked this game. I was terrible at it but I played it a lot. Though I still really wanted to play Metroid II, but it would be five years before I would have the chance to.

      My dad started up a caramel business in 2013 for reasons I don't want to get into here. He leased out a building that used to be a diner called The Villa to use the commercial kitchen in to make the caramel and sell it at farmers markets. Nothing was sold out of the building, so my sister and I had the entire front of it to ourselves. The front of The Villa was a piece of garbage, though the kitchen was perfectly fine. Every spring there would be a giant puddle of water in the middle of the place, and during the winter there would be no heating or anything. There were also no bathrooms. My parents didn't trust us kids home alone yet, so we had to stay there for hours at a time while my dad and his business partner Jon (same Jon as Atari Jon) made stuff. Our only entertainment was a couple of my sister's Barbies, the NES, and like seven games. One of which was Metroid. I remember playing that game quite a bit there and I have fond memories of repeatedly starting new games and telling myself I was going to beat it this time, only to get stuck in Kraid's lair and quit every single time. Still, it's a fond memory.

      I eventually got good enough at this game and beat it, though I gave in and used a map. I think I was 11 when I did this on the 3DS Virtual Console. Nowadays I can beat the game effortlessly with a map and well enough without one. I have had a map of this game and its direct sequel hanging on my wall for years now. I do love this game, though I will admit it has not stood the test of time.

      Anyways, let's see what Samus is doing.

      As you leave Norfair and make your way back to the statue room, you realize how powerful Samus has become. Rooms that you once struggled with now are cakewalks. As you climb the same vertical shaft you did at the start of the game to get to Tourian, you feel really good about how far you've come. As soon as you shoot the statues and build the bridge, though, that feeling of power turns into one of pure dread and helplessness.

      Metroid/Tourian — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki

       This is Tourian, the final area of the game.That green thing is a Metroid, this game's namesake. These are the toughest enemies in the game by far. They dart towards Samus with unparalleled speed and latch on to him, rapidly sucking his energy away. The only way to escape is to lay down bombs and hope the Metroid loses its grip. To kill one, Samus must freeze one with the Ice Beam and shoot it with missiles five times. Metroids are always generous enough to drop loads of missiles and energy when they die. And you'll need every bit of them you can get for the final battle.

      Metroid/Tourian — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki

      This is the final battle. Before this, Samus must shoot down several "Zebetite" barriers that can only be destroyed by missiles, which is a pain in itself. The fight against Mother Brain, though, stands alongside the block tower as the most frustrating part of the game. You'll need all the energy you can get to stand a chance here. The floor is lava and the platforms are small. Cheerio-like Rinkas and acid turrets are shooting at you as you try to pump Mother Brain full of missiles. These nearly-unavoidable attacks will send Samus into the lava, which is very hard to get out of. And remember, if you die here, it's back to the start of Tourian with only thirty health. Eventually though, you'll blow up Mother Brain, who will set off a self-destruct sequence that'll blow Tourian to smithereens. The last room of the game involves Samus climbing to the top of a large shaft on tiny platforms while a timer ticks away. If you make it to the top of the elevator and have beat the game fast enough, you'll see one of the most shocking moments in video game history:

      image.jpeg.26c704953e8234f11c09244ca3a306cb.jpeg

       

      SAMUS IS A GIRL?!?!

      This came as a shock to many back in the day. You almost never saw a woman in the leading role of a game before. In most games at the time, women were the damsels in distress meant to be saved by a male character, like Princess Peach or Zelda. They were almost never badass, awesome space bounty hunters. The game's manual even keeps this a secret by referring to Samus using only male pronouns, which is why I used them in this blog up to this point. This game was incredibly progressive at the time, not just for influence but for women's representation in games. And though the whole goal of "beating the game faster so more suit comes off" isn't GREAT by today's standards, I suppose you have got to walk before you can run.

      So that's the end of Metroid. Has it aged well?

      NO.

      This game is frustrating in almost every way possible. I might like it, but I would never, NEVER recommend this game to someone playing the series for the first time. To the right kind of person, though, I'd recommend this game with a map. For most, though, Metroid is nothing more than a historical curiosity for those who just want to see where the series started.

      The Timelessness of Metroid: Zero Mission - Editorial - Nintendo World Report

      In 2004, however, Metroid recieved a full, ground-up remake for the GBA: Metroid Zero Mission. I won't be going into too much detail with this game (I might cover it more in the future), but I will say that it does improve almost everything from the original. The map is incredibly faithful to the original game, but slightly different, though that has the unfortunate side effect of making the game incredibly short. There are now save rooms and places to recharge your health and ammo. The secrets are more well-hidden and the levels better designed. The bosses are actually bosses this time, and there's more of them. Items and abilities from Samus's later adventures are here too. It even has a special surprise twist at the end. This game is pretty good and completely replaces the original, even going as far as including the original game as an unlockable when you beat the game on any difficulty.

      Zero Mission, unlike the original game, is a GREAT place to start with the 2D Metroid series. A little too great. You see, I actually don't care much for this game because I feel that it thinks I'm stupid. Metroid Zero Mission, to ME at least, seems like "Baby's First Metroid". Unless I'm trying to collect everything, I don't think this game is much better than "good". I seem to be the only person to think that, though, so please don't listen to me and play it.

      And that wraps up Metroid and its remake. These games are good, don't get me wrong, but as far as the 2D Metroid series goes, every other game in the series beats them to a pulp. I still pull out Metroid every few months and have a blast with it, and Zero Mission has been growing on me more and more the past few months since I got a repro cart for my GBA. All the 2D Metroids are great games, but these two are slightly less great than the rest, at least to me. This shows us, though, that there is a lot more to look forward to in the series. And that's coming very soon.

      Next week: Metroid's flaws are ironed out in my favorite Game Boy game, and Samus starts two new eras of 2D Metroid twenty-six years apart.

       

      I hope you are enjoying Month of Metroid so far. This took me a long time to write! Hopefully you guys like this and consider trying out the Metroid series. It's not my favorite series ever without a reason.

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