SUPER BREAKOUT
An old standby, the original version of which was devised over 12 years ago, Breakout still has a great premise and should be in every Atarian's library.
Super Breakout actually consists of four separate games: regular, progressive, double, and cavity breakout. The 2600 cartridge (playable on the 7800 as well) also has a children's version of the game for one or two players.
In all versions of Breakout, you bounce a ball off rows of bricks with a paddle that you move back and forth across the bottom of the screen using a rotary "paddle" type controller. The angle at which the ball rebounds off the paddle depends upon which of the four paddle sections it hits. As game play progresses, the ball speeds up, and the angle at which the ball bounces off the paddle changes. The ball also speeds up when you hit a brick in any of the top four rows. When you break through the top row of bricks, the paddle is reduced to half its original size.
In Regular Breakout, each wall of bricks contains eight rows with 14 bricks in each row. If you knock out all 112 bricks—worth 448 points—in five turns, a new wall will appear. This process repeats indefinitely, although to knock out more than three or four walls takes real skill and concentration.
In Progressive Breakout, walls of four rows of bricks interspersed with four blank rows slowly move down toward the bottom of the screen at a rate determined by the number of times you hit the ball. As the bricks are knocked out, new walls enter at a progressively faster rate. You can generally achieve higher scores in Progressive Breakout, because when your ball finds its way into the empty space between two walls, it knocks out bricks by the dozens.
Double Breakout is similar to the regular game except that you have two balls and two paddles, one on top of the other. As long as you can keep both balls are in
play, you get double the normal score for each brick hit, so your score mounts up fast at the beginning.
In Cavity Breakout, two balls bounce around inside cavities in the wall until you remove enough bricks with a third ball to release one of the captive balls. Bricks are then worth double and, when the third ball is freed, triple.
Breakout games can be played by one or two players (up to eight players in the XE version), and the 2600/ 7800 version has two levels of difficulty. If you don't already have this classic cartridge, you should.
JR. PAC-MAN (2600)
The original Pac-Man was one of the biggest successes in videogaming history. Unlike traditional "shoot 'em up" games, Pac-Man's scenario was (almost) non-violent: a little, yellow smily face running through a maze, avoiding bullies and eating candy dots. As a result, Pac-Man appealed to girls and younger kids, as well as to your average crazed coin-op jockey; thus it vastly increased participation in the arcades.
As soon as game designers caught on to why Pac-Man was so much fun, knock-offs began to appear: Snack-Man, Candy-Man, and others. Even Bally-Midway (the original manufacturer of the Pac-Man arcade system) began to knock itself off, producing Super Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and other variants, as well as licensing the games to home videogame manufacturers, such as Atari.
The latest — and best — variant, Jr. Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 is like the original in that you drive a little, yellow fellow (wearing a propeller beanie!) around a series of mazes, eating candy dots and avoiding big-eyed bullies. But flashing power dots, found at various locations in the maze, let Junior chase the bullies for a change. And there are other variations: among them, "toy candy" that bounces across the screen, turning regular candy dots into larger dots worth twice as many points, and destroying power dots. This adds an interesting twist—it's good to let the toy candy work for a while, increasing the value of the regular dots it touches. But you have to make sure to eat it before it starts destroying your power dots.
Jr. Pac-Man has four levels of difficulty, corresponding to the number of bullies on the screen. The least difficult of these will be appropriate for young kids and rank beginners while the most difficult will challenge even the most wild-eyed joystick jockey. A wide selection of scrolling mazes, bouncy music, and wild sound effects make this game a keeper, and a worthy heir to its classic genre.
-John Jainaschigg
DAVID'S MIDNIGHT MAGIC
Here is the best of both worlds: real pinball action and video arcade action in one fabulous game! Pull the spring. Keep your eye on the screen. Then work those flippers to keep that ball dancing as long as you can.
David's Midnight Magic was originally released by Broderbund for the Apple II computer back in '82. and at that time it blew all the other video pinball games out of the water, Guess what? It still does!
Okay, Ready to go. Pulling the joystick back is like pulling the plunger. You can really zing the ball or try and finesse it to stay up in the top bouncing around all the high-scoring targets.
After launching the ball, move the joystick handle right or left to work the right and left flippers. Or pull it straight back to activate both flippers at once (I found this a little easier). But if you work the flippers too hard, the machine "tilts," and you lose that ball.
To earn big points, you want to increase the point multiplier by sending ball through the upper or lower loop (XE) or hitting all five drop targets (2600). Then when you hit the drop targets or bumpers, your points multiply by 2, 3, 4, or 5.
Also, it is a good strategy to try to pop the ball into the ball collector at the top left. On the XE. this move is good for 10,000 points, 10 bonus points, and an extra ball. On the 2600, you can earn an extra ball by going for the top rollovers when the score multiplier is on.
This dynamite game is full of goodies: an active Magicsave magnet to prevent the loss of a ball down the side gutter, top and bottom drop targets, bumpers, rollovers, kickers, spinners, and multiple bottom lanes.
The XE game keeps track of the scores of four players; the 2600 game keeps track of two scores. When you feel like relaxing after a fierce battle 10 save the universe, try this one. You'll go full tilt!
-
Brad Butler
This process repeats indefinitely, although to knock out more than three or four walls takes real skill and concentration.
2008 ben langberg, all rights reserved.