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Home , Bill Kunkel (journalist), Computer wargame

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Video Computer System,. THERE'SNO COMPARINGITWITH ANY OTHERVIDEO GAME.

Only ATARI makes the games·the world wants most. "..~ Games that are innovative. Intense. Incredibly involving . And totally original. In 1980 ATARI invaded the minds of millions with

Space Invaders~It went on to become the single most popular in the world and thereby launched the space age game category. Today ATARI Missile Command'" and Asteroids'M are the fastest selling home video games in the country. And judging by its current success in the arcades, ATARI Pac Man** is slated for the same this year.

OaATARI' _ __ c-

"Ind,cales Iradamar1< ollhll la'Io Nne<.ca Corp ""Ind.cat" Iradamlll'k 01 the M,dway MIg Co 01982 A.. " Inc Volume One. Number Three

Editor Arnie Katz Executive Editor Editorial DlrKtor Bruce Apar Senior Editor Joyce Worle y Technical Editors Henry Cohen Jethro Wright III Bill Heineman Switch On! ...... , Inside Gaming ...... 4 4 Strategy Editor Meet Bob Ogdon. the man who put Frank Tetro Jr. the magic In Wizard, the new Contributing Editor! Hotline .... 8 Astro Arcade cartridge. C . Ross Chamberlain W illy Richardson Arcade America ...... Leigh Goldstein TestLab ...... 4' Les Paul Robley Electronic Games visits las Vegas' Ar1expert shows how to fix the Roger Sharpe Circus Circus. where the cOin-op Ken Unon Atari ves' most common problem. action is under the big top. Art Director Q&A . A. W ong ...... 14 Games We'll Never See Executl .... Art Dlr tor CNeHope) ...... 41 Harvey Hersh Readers Replay ...... 20 O ur humorous look at some unlikely Graphic Con,ultanu ideas for forthcoming games. Creat ive Concepts

Publisher Feature Jay Rosenfield Co·Publi>her VideogameOutiook-1982 22 There's new hope for southpaws Arnie Katz The coming year will see several - if they follow this article's Executive Advertising Director new systems and perhaps 100 new simple instructions. Bruce Mishk in cartridges. Here's the lowdown! Advertising Director ~11111!1-~ Computer Playland .... 52 Jim Bender 11121 77HJ800 No-holds-barred analysis of the latest West Coast Adv.... tI.lng game software for the most popular Repr ~~ntatiye microcomputer systems. Paul Turchetta Bill Siapin & Co . 15720 Ventura Blv. Strategy Session ...... SI Encino. CA 91436 Our prize-winning strategy editors (213) 995-0257 show how to be an Intellivision Midwest Adverti.1ns Insert Coin Here • champ and win at Tempest. Representative ...... 6 Milton Gerber If you can't StOP the ape in Donkey Those A-maze-ing Gerber & Associates Kong, maybe you can defeat the kitten 2607 Nort h Prindle in Make Trax' Gobble Games ... Arlington Heights. ILL. 60004 (31 2) 398-3032 Pac·Man and similar maze

Spacechase TIol offers GAMES BY 24 variations for one or two players.

Fur the' Delmer Nho hdS ('v"rythll1ql (Jrripr yuu LUStOrT1ILl,d vpr;;lr'n of Spdl ed1dS( featullng v()ur Initials I 1300 E. ARAPAHO ROAD· RICHARDSON, TEXAS 75081 See our ((lupon on page 69 "ATARI and Video Computer SystemTI.! are trademarks of ATARI, INC. Who are you? Iy studying for that high school diploma. Who am I?

leasing the readers is the editor's Most EG readers own a videogame I "Where's Frank Laney?" many read- IP main job, That sounds straight-for­ system. Atari is the favorite, found in ers must've asked themselves after glan- ward enough, but it isn't always easy to 55 % of readers' homes. Owners of the cing at either the masthead on the con­ do. The EG staff had to do a lot of seat­ Odyssey~ndIntellivision each represent tents page or the byline of this editorial. of-the-pants fiying when putting together about 18% of the survey sample. The inimitable co-founder of ELEC- the first couple of issues. Futurists often speak about the golden TRON IC GAMES is alive and well. The reason: Very little is known about age of the personal computer being just In fact, he's me! Contractual obliga­ who, exactly, participates in America's around the corner. It's a lot closer than tions forced me to adopt the pseu­ fastest-growing hobby. that for many arcaders. Nearly one- donym of "Frank Laney Jr." when Bill The typical arcader is a 25-year-old quarter already own a microcomputer, Kunkel and I began the "Arcade Alley" male. Although the number of female and another 44% expect to purchase , column in Video Magazine. The same players is rising rapidly-see Joyce Wor­ one within the next 12 months. Atari's restraints have kept me behind the mask ley's "Women Join the Arcade Revolu­ 400/800 and the Apple II Plus are cur- ever since. tion" in this issue-men still account for rently the most popular. Now things have changed, and I'm 96% of the total. The wide age-spread Like most hobbyists, electronic gam- I free to write and edit material about testifies to the universal appeal of elec- . ers spend a fair amount of time each electronic games under my real name. tronic gaming. About one-fourth of you week on their favorite pastime. About And, yes, it's a great fe~ling.e are under 16, an equal percentage fall five hours is average, though a sizable -Arnie Katz into the 16-25 bracket and the remaining percentage of survey respondents re­ 51 % are over 26. ,port spending over 10 hours per week Arcaders earn' more and have more wrestling with electronic games. education than the general population. Is arcading an expensive hobby? The Roughly 48% come from families with typical player spends about $5 a week. average annual incomes of $20,000- Approximately 28 %. however, shell out $39,000, and an additional 10% live in $15 to $20 a week. households that earn over $40,000 a Future installments of the Reader Poll year. Slightly less than than ' half of you should shed additional illumination on the have some schooling beyond the 12th thoughts, attitudes and opinions of elec­ grade, while nearly one in four is current- tronic gamers. 6 Bectronk Games .J Play & sound just like the MIDWAYarcade ..J 2 skill levels Pac-.Man™ & TM games J Arcade type joy stick control ) 3 games In one: ) Record best score Pac-Man ™also plays Head to Head™ Pac-Man™ Demonstration mode for in-store display (for two players) and Eat & Run ™ National T.V.support in 1st quarter, 1982 "") Galaxlan TM also plays Head to Head™Galaxian ™ Available for shipment NOW (for two players) and Midway's Attackers TM © 1981 Coleco Industries, Inc. Licensed by MIDWAYMFG . CO. © MIDWAY 1981 • Apollo already under.-\lay. Activision ability to prod uce media Offers Roper stressed that not public relations events as ex­ all copies of Skeet Shoot con­ Flies High citing and colorful as its Recall tain this malfunction. and The world's first games. At a recent elec­ A few arcaders have that adjusting the vertical software-only videogame tronics trade show in Las reported a technical prob­ hold knob will cure the pro­ company. Activision. con­ Vegas. the company rented lem with Skeet Shoot the blem in many cases. tinues ItS expansion. w ith an actual crop-duster to first cartridge for Atari VCS However, Games by the addition of a new fac­ promote one of its latest produced by a new com­ Apollo is anxious to rectify tory and the hiring of two releases , Barnstorming. pany. Games By Apollo. the situation and establish new designers. Activision In addition to the pilot. According to Apollo's presI­ goodwill with the electronic has also demonstrated an Barnstorming-creator Steve dent Pat Roper. some gaming public. Therefore. copies of the 2K target pro­ anyone who purchased a gram roll on some makes of malfunctioning copy of Skeet TV sets. Shoot can swap it for one The problem is that the that will work perfectly at out-of-house designer who absolutely no charge. created the game set up Just send the defective with too many lines on the cartridge to: Games By screen. Although none of Apollo. 1300 E. Arapaho the cartridges showed any Road. Richardson. Tex. problems when originally 75081. The company will tested on the company's mail a replacement car­ main television monitor. the tridge. postage paid. to all trouble surfaced after those who have had a balky distribution of the title was version.

Odyssey impreSSive voice-synthesIs unit. The speech system Outlook would fit right over the ex­ Aside from premiering a isting cartridge slot and is ex­ pair of new games. pected to retail for under Freedom Fighter (a $100. UFO-type science fiction * 02 owners will be pleased shoot Dut) and The Great to see that there IS now a Wall St. Fortune Hunt club magazine. Odyssey (the third in the Master Adventure. available c/o P.O . Strategy series) , Odyssey Box 117. Warren. M I. has previewed an extremely 48090.

8 Bectronic Games Computer Topos , Cyborg) is so pleased With the designs Notes created by science fiction writer M hilt'l Berlyn that it Although the new IBM * is now trvln"' to enlist other Personal Computer hasn't SF authors. The company is drawn much response from presently negotiating with arcaders thus far, software Joe Hakieman to do s2veral suppliers are starting to an­ projects. nounce plans to support the machine. First among the * Mik e Po t er , he ace game-makers is Automated Atari prog r amm er has Simulations, which expects moved from Crystalware to to have IBM-compatable Synap,>e Softw are A re­ games available before the vised-and Improvpd- ver­ end oif the year, sion of his Protector IS * Sentient Software (00- alrea dy out.

Videogum? fections, Ltd. in Canada and What next, eh, gamers) Philadelphia Chewing Gum The influence electronic Corp. in the U.S., Asteroids Cartwright also donned silk gaming exerts over the gum comes in a colorful, scarf and ACT\! flying jacket world in which we live is ab­ spacey blue box. Wthin can for a fantastic sunrise drive solutely mind boggli ng. be found chunks of rock-like down the main Vegas Strip. We've seen t-shirts, caps, chewing gum resembl ing After the real barn­ towels and buttons all pro­ one of our favorite vldeo­ stormer finished Its taxi run, claining affection for one or game images. Just the thing the pilot took off for some another popular video­ after a frustrating session of authentic Red Baron-style game, and now we have, if blasting space rocks- -after action. Fortunately, no you please, Asteroids Bub­ all, If you can't blow 'em up, geese appeared to bedevil ble Gum. you might as well just blow the pilot. Produced by Swell Con- 'em!

,.

several years. the studio, advance word is Electronic'" Games Fever is Originally recorded for a that the entire disk will recently. He t~ok'his idea miniscule southern label. feature rockers with an ar­ for a gobble game 'song to a Catching "Pac-Man Fever" took cade beat. couple of singer / so ng­ You've played the Georgia by storm and won "Pac-Man Fever" was the writers, and the rest IS videogame, now bop along a Wider dlstrubution deal brainchild of a Georgian history. "Being Pac-Man fans With the songl That's from Columbia Records. named Arn ie Geller. His themselves, they absolutely evidently the idea behind Columbia IS so pleased with seven-year-old daughter, a loved the idea ," Geller "Pac-Man Fever". The the song that it is preparinig Pac-Manlover, got him in­ recalls. "Two days later they rockabilly-style pop song has to release a whole album by terested in the coin-op sen­ came back to me with a rocketed up the "top I OJ" tha same artists, Buckner & sation. "I wanted some way song. chart to become one of the Garcia, in the near future. to get a few of those The album will be released biggest novelty hit singles In Although the pair is still in quarters back, " Geller told this month,

Elect,.onic Games , Electronic Games' Picked Hits opu Videogames Position Name of Game System Manufacturer I Asteriods Atari VCS Atari 2 Missile Command Atari VCS Atari 3 Adventure Atari VCS Atari 4 Space Invaders Atari VCS Atari 5 Baseball Intellivision Mattei 6 Space Battle Intellivision Mattei 7 Football Intellivision Mattei 8 UFO Odyssey2 Odyssey 9 Kaboom! Atari VCS Activision 10 Tennis Atari VCS Activision Mas Popular Computer Games Position Name of Game System(s) Manufacturer I Star Raiders Atari Atari 2 Space Invaders Atari Atari 3 Missile Command Atari Atari Mattei 4 Adventureland Ataril Applel Scott Adams tages TRS-80 Smashing 5 Jawbreaker Atari On-Line Tourn ent Beginning on March 15. M opular Coin-Op Videogames 1982. don't be surprised to Position Name of Game Manufacturer hear the sounds of explo­ I Pac-Man Namco/Midway sions and digit counters 2 Asteroids Atari reverberating throughout 3 Defender Williams the land. The hills will in­ deed be alive with the 4 Centipede Atari 5 Space Invaders Taito/Midway 6 Battlezone Atari 7 Missile Command Atari 8 Midway 9 Venture Exidy 10 Galaxian Namco/Midway Readers Choose Top Games Since mere quantity of play doesn't necessarily equal actual popularity, Electronic Games bases Its standings on the votes of Its readers. These hstsof most popular games are based on the more than 600 Reader Polls returned on the first issue. We will update the "picked hits" lists in every future Issue of Electronic Games. So send In your votes! Astro Update * Astr0vl sion has taken firm control of the old Bally Professional Arcade system, rech ristened it and begun introdUCing a swarm of new game titles, But perhaps the most interesting news from the Columbus, Ohio-based

firm IS the appearance of the long-awa ited ZGr ass keyboar d, scheduled for release later this year. * On hand to demonstrate their new Galactic Invasion at a recent trade fair, Galax­ ian champ Mike Kohler, 14. from Naperville, III., wound up setting a new record on the ninth level, one of the most challenging variations for (Jny game, Mike was even b ri efly Joined bv former '\jaA star Rick BMr .' for a littlE" head-to-head ac­

ton'

sound of astrosmashing as Learn To Repair Mattei kicks off its Astro­ smash Shootout. Video Games! Specially packaged Mas­ It's no secret ... ter Components, will have Video games seem to be everywherel coupons for free Astro­ The extraordinary popularity of coin­ operated video games has created an smash cartridges along enormous demand, Not only for the with entry blanks-which games themselves, but for qualified service personnel as well, can also be obtained from Randy Fromm's Arcade Schools are a dealers. Players can then practical, no-nonsense look at how practice at home and take video games work , and how to repair photos of their high scores them when they don '\, No previous Attend the Arcade School knowledge of electronics or video (defined as the highest point games is required to get the most out nearest you in: reached during the course of the six day course, Lab sessions al­ Atlanta, GA low students to gain valuable "hands­ Baltimore, MD of play as opposed to the on" experience, Late model video final score). games are used during lab and lecture Chicago, IL so Arcade School graduates will be Dallas, TX familiar with the types of equipment they will encounter on the job, The Minneapolis, MN tuition of $400 ,00 includes all texts and New Orleans, LA classroom materials, There are no Phoenix, AZ _ hidden costs, Salt Lake City, UT Founded in 1980, Randy Fromm's Arcade Schools are the most respected San Francisco, CA and often recommended training pro­ Toronto, Ontario grams in the coin amusement industry , Whichita, KS As a technical writer. Randy Fromm's comprehensive articles appear regu­ larly in the industry trade journals, Call or write for Now he has condensed his ten years FREE information package of experience into a proven Arcade School program that has allowed hun­ Randy Fromm',s Arcade School dreds of Arcade School graduates 6123 EI Cajon Blvd. learn the easiest, fastest, and most accurate ways to repair coin operated San Diego, CA 92115 video games, (714) 286-0172

Electronic Games II Are You Suffering ves Distress?

By Henry B. Cohen following cautions are necessary. First. Step I: Remove any game cartridge never work on any piece of equipment and all controller and power ith the Atari service fee a fixed without unplugging it from its AC power wires from console. W $36.50 plus shipping. the follow­ source. Second, if you are not skilled at ing step by step guide is offered to help soldering find a friend who IS. This is not solve the most common ailment of older the time to learn a new skill or practice VCS machines. The information was re­ your technique. Last, there may be layed to this writer by a service techni­ some voltage stored in the large (il­ cian at Atari who must remain anony­ lustrated) power capacitor. While It pro­ mous. Atari keeps all of its technical data bably won't harm you, keeping your confidential. and so it thorough guide to fingers away from the eminating leads at-home repairs is not possible to and circuitry is a good idea, If you in­ prepare. advertently short out the capacitor , If, however, your VCS is exhibiting the cause its leads to touch themselves, or following symptoms, this fix is probably make contact with the common ground Step 2: Place unit face down and for you. wiring (printed onto the circuit board) remove six phillips head screws Problem: After several seconds to you will discharge troe capacitor. This will as ,illustrated. Do not use any several minutes of play all color is lost. usually result in a loud crackling nOISe. It screwdriver that fits improper­ Turning the machine off and on cures the may sound frightening , but do not be ly or use unreasonable force. trouble but only for a few more minutes. alarmed. It is a normal condition when a Do not loosen or remove the You may lose color, the remaining pat­ capacitor IS shorted out. two silver screws located near tern ISsnowy or herringboned, the game It is also good practice to keep notes as the center of the unit. is virtually impossible to play but sounds to what things looked like before you remain normal. The condition may began your repair. Then you will know come and go. what everything should look like after The solution lies in the fact that, due to the repair is completed. The illustrations FCC regulations, two capacitors are are of a machine approximately four to wired into the main printed circuit five years old. Yours may, due to revi ­ board. They apparently serve to limit sions made over time, look somewhat stray television interference. If either or different. It really doesn't matter as long both of these capacitors fails. you will see as you take good notes or have some the conditions described above. Simply familiarity with electronic circuits. removing the capacitors will Instantly The parts needed for this repair are establish if they are the cause of the pro­ two .22 microfarad (.22 uf) capacitors Step 3: Turn unit face up. Ease the blem. They are not necessary for the rated at I OJvolts. Higher voltage ratings cover piece from the base us­ game to work properly-only to main­ are preferred, but not necessary. These ing moderate force by lifting tain FCC radiation regulations. If your parts may be found at any radio parts first the rear edge of the cover troubles clear up immediately, the store or Radio Shack. The part number and then the front. Remove capacitors are causing your problems at Radio Shack is 272-1058, the cost 69" the six black rubber washers and replacement is necessary. a piece. Do not use electrolytic Before going into repair details. the capacitors for this repair.

12 Electronic Games that rest on each switch shaft. local 1V or radio service shop Place the washers and the six can do the job in a minute or two while you wait. The charge should be nominal. Step 7: Reassemble the unit reversing the instructions given. Note that the two longest screws are used to Join the front edge of the cover piece to the base of the console. The shortest of all seven screws is used to attach Step 6: Locate the two .22 uf capaci­ the left side of the printed cir­ tors on the left side of the circuit cuit board to the base. board as shown. Using a diagonal cutter (wire cutter}--­ not a scissors-snip the leads Step 4: Remove the phillips head going to the capacitors. The screw on the lower right side unit may now be re-assembled of circuit board and lay it aside. and checked, or you may pro­ Unplug the RCA connector on ceed to replace the capacitors lower right side of circuit without checking further. board. Gently loosen and disconnect the multi-pin ribbon Electronic Gomes knows that this repair connector from the console. will work as published. This writer had the problem with his machine and repaired it as stated. We cannot be responsible if the repair does not work for you, or if you damage the machine through carelessness etc. Do not at­ tempt any repair on a machine under warranty as this will void the warranty. * Replacement requires soldering skills. You must use a low wat­ tage solder gun or pencil (under 30 watts) and rosin core solder. Step 5: Remove the circuit board. The If you have little or no ex­ console may be placed aside for perience soldering find some­ now. one who does. A friend, the

Electronic Games 11 Q : While playing Inteflivision's USAC A: Actually, Cj., rather than designing Ah, I see the waiting room is full-and Auto Racing my friends and I have found various tracks for Auto Race, MatteI's the old Game Doctor is most definitely "sections" of track that begin and end. game sorcerors created a single, enor­ in-so let's get on with the business of (Forexample, on the lost hairpin curve on mous racing layout. Imagine a course so awarding that ELECTRONIC GAMES track I, just before you complete alpa. large you would need perhaps fifty moni­ t -shirt fot the best question this time out. tors to view it in its entirety. The various This issue's winner is john Fazackerley of courses are simply portions of this mas­ Lakeville, NY. Wear it in good health, ter-layout, sometimes the upper right john! hand corner, other times the lower left hand section and so on. just for fun-and the amusement of creative gamers such Q : Everyvideo game I have come in con­ as yourself- the designers threw in stret­ tact with uses block numbers and letters. ches of straightaway that are indeed ex­ How does the Odyssey2 make their alpha­ cellent for drag racing. numeric characters with curves in them l Sogo, hot-rodders, gol (from john Fazackerley, Lakeville, NY.)

2 A: Good Question! The reason that 0 Q : Would it be possibleCO use the graphics characters are so smooth and non-block­ generated by the Atari 4001 BOOVideo like is that. unlike other videogame sys­ Easelcartridge in conjunctionwith the video tems which must construct numbers and cassette recorder (VCR)? In other words. letters from tiny squares, the Odyssey's could I create a pattern and then edit it on­ characters are "pre-packaged." That is, to videotapeI Tosoy the least. this would be its microprocessor actually contains all very helpful in "professionalizing"the look ten numbers and 26 alphabet characters of home video productions. If it is possible, in its memory, enabling the system to in­ leave the track and head in toward the how difficult would the set -up be? (From stantly produce letters, words and num­ center of the loop. Surprise!A perfect drag Paul D. Filiault.T auton, Mass.) bers without having to build them from strip.) These chunks oftrack are 01/over the blocks. place. Do they have a purpose or do they A: You can do it, Paul, but unfortunate­ To find out more about this interesting just pop up when someone tokes a cross­ Iy, it isn't going to be a snap. You see the feature, check out the 0 2 BASIC country jaunt? (from c.j . Herr of West­ computer-generated graphics image carttridge. mont,IL) Continued on page I 8

ASTEROIDS ALPHA·NUMERICS ON 0' .4 Electronic Games YOUR GEISEl. U CH. Wi~hneNI K. c. Munchkin from qcJyssey~ ~oudon'~ de~ro~ yourenemies, ~ou simpl~ ea~~em.

How many Munchies can your Munchkin munch before your Munchkin's all munched out? Play K.C. Munchkin and see! It's fun. It's exciting. It's challenging. Your whole family will love it! A Munchkin, three Munchers and 12 Munchies float in a maze with a rotating center. The more Munchies your Munchkin munches. the more points you get. The more points. the faster the computer makes the game ... go. And the more skill you need --- . _. _.--"- - . _. ...- - to score and to keep your Munchkin from getting munched by one of the Munchers! The better you play. the greater the challenge! Programyour own mazes. Use the OdysseySt,keyboard ... there's virtually no limit to the number of mazes you can create. There are even invisible mazes for when you're ready to turn pro. Choose from more than 40 arcade. sports. education and new Master Strategy'" games. from Odyssey~They're waiting for you now at your video games or Odyssey2 dealer. Odyssey2 ... video game fun. computer keyboard challenge. All for the price of an ordinarY video game. © 1982 NAP . CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CORP. A NORTH AMERICAN COMPANY

The excitement of a game. The mind of a computer.

Eler

"If you're interested in an inexpensive priced system; another popular GAME SELECTION - Odyssey2 video game, compare: Odyssey2 has brand offers a keyboard, but only at offers over 40 games with new ones better hand control/ers ... comes with a very high extra cost. regularly being introduced (see the an alphanumeric keyboard . .. " Don't overlook the hand-control back cover for full listing). This is {GAMES MAGAZINE} joysticks, either. Odyssey2 joysticks are about the same number of games as MAIN UNIT VALUE - With Odyssey2, excellent in their smooth, easy from one other game manufacturer you get a basic game keyboard unit operation. and about twice the number as from plus two hand controls Uoysticks) with They also have eight slotted control another. Also, only Odyssey2 offers action buttons plus a starter cartridge positions so you always know exactly board/ strategy games where you set with three different games. There are in which position you'll be going up the strategy on the game board no hidden costs for extra hand when you push the joystick. and play out the action on the controls or a keyboard attachment. And, to emphasize again, screen. More cartridges - which add new Odyssey2 comes complete with the Don't take just our word for games - are the only extras. And hand controls and keyboard for Odyssey2 value. Read what experts, Odyssey2 can be easily attached to playing all available cartridges. owners, educators and students say. any black-and-white or color TV Some competitive games require you And, most important. compare without fear of damage to the screen. to purchase additional sets of controls feature by feature, side by side, with Next, compare the Odyssey2 to play some of their games! other leading brands at your video keyboard itself. It is a complete games dealer's. You'll see why we alphabet and number unit with 49 say that Odyssey2 has the characters for sophisticated game STARTERCARTRIDGE WITH excitement of a game, the mind playing. The keyboard is used to play THREE GAMES of a computer - all for the some game cartridges and to price of an ordinary video program different game variations, game. time limits and skill levels. One popular competitive video game doesn't have a full alphabet and number key­ board available for its comparably

ACTION BUTTON

COMPUTERIZED TYPEWRITER-LIKE KEYBOARD ~--- CONTROLS FOR ALL GAMES------......

'1981. NA P.CON SUMER ELECTRONICS CORP. A NORTH AMERICAN PHILIPS COMPANY WHAT THE EXPERTSSAY ABOUT THE ODYSSEY2MAIN UNIT:

"BESTVALUE IN ITS PRICE CLASS" "The too - perhaps the best on the market." "KEYBOARD. .. REQUIRES ONLY AUGHT company has evidently labored long and (VIDEO REVIEW) TOUCH TO OPERATE"'The built·in hard to create a truly outstanding alphanumeric keyboard is of a durable "Odyssey2 game unit's main selling point, I state·of·the-art home video arcade . In monoplane design that requires only a believe, is its joystick which is probably fact, this machine may well be the best light touch to operate." (VIDEO REVIEW) value in its price closs ... " (VIDEO) the easles' '0maneuver of 01/ 'he control uni's for home video games ... 'The Odyssey2 console, which features "HAND CONTROUERS ... BESTON THE I cannot emphasize enough hoVv a full monoplane keyboard, is very MARKEr' "The hand controllers for the important this difference is." {VIDEO aHrac'lve - ye' rugged enough to stand action games are very well designed, ACTION} up under regular ploy." {VIDEO}

WHAT THE EXPERTSSAY ABOUT ODYSSEY2GAME CARTRIDGES:

"The SPEEDWAY/SPIN-OUT/CRVPTO-LOGIC always had a special affinity for science bar none, and that includes the larger game comes packed with the Odyssey2 fiction themes, and this cartridge is def­ and sometimes more sophisticated and is a good showcase for the initely one of their greatest triumphs." games one encounters in game rooms machine's capabilities. The trio of (VIDEO) and saloons ... ALIEN INVADERS-PLUS contests provides a pleasing variety of gets this reviewer's unqualified "UFO is one of the best games in the action well calculated to whet the 2 nomination for the most captivating arcade addict's appetite for more." entire Odyssey library and seems video game around." (VIDEO ACTION) (VIDEO) destined to become something of a video game classic. This is a 'must buy' "OUT OF THIS WORLD is a colorful and THE QUEST FOR THE RINGS, rated most for every Odyssey2 owner." (ELECTRONIC entertaining lunar-lander game that Innovative game in VIDEO Magazine 's GAMES) should be perfect for novices who might 3rd Annual Arcade Awards: "Odyssey2 find other Odyssey2 space games too "WAR OF NERVES". Absolutely first-class designers have charted a new demanding. It's also an ideal way to bold video and audio effects further path for video games by blending the distinguish this outstanding game .. introduce younger brothers and sisters to the joys of home arcading . , . This on-screen action with aspects of the This is without a doubt one of the most traditional boardgame , , . This brilliant entertaining arcade games yet pro­ cartridge has an extra bonus in the form synthesis enriches QUESTwith more duced ... " (VIDEO) of a second game, HELICOPTERRESCUE. depth, detail and complexity than any It's a race against the clock to save previous cartridge for this - or any other "BASEBALLIs the closest thing to the people from a doomed skyscraper, - programmable videogame system." national pastime ever offered to home enhanced by colorful graphics that will (VIDEO) video game enthusiasts," (VIDEO) keep youngsters entertained for hours." (VIDEO) "QUEST FOR THE RINGS is a giant step "FOOTBALLis a visually exciting and ahead of other video games in richness generally successful attempt to do "AN INCREDIBLE NUMBER AND VARIETY OF and complexity." (ELECTRONIC GAMES) something pretty challenging .. . cer­ GAMES" "Among Odyssey2,s special tainly an excellent game ... " (VIDEO) features are, to put it simply, an UFO, rated best science fiction game in incredible number and variety of VIDEO Magazine's 3rd Annual Arcade "AUEN INVADERS-PLUSlls the most difficult games!" (WHERE) Awards: "Odyssey2 deSigners have video game I have ever encountered -

WHAT ODYSSEY2 OWNERS SAY:

"(Odyssey2's) capabilities are beyond its great cartridges to choose from. I just game. I feel that your games are top price range! I purchased the Odyssey2 in bought the newest one, THEQUEST FOR qualify and the competition just doesn'f November 1979, and have enjoyed its THERINGS . I have never seen such a stand up to your standards." video game-fore along with the rest of game with so much excitement. I think "We have recently purchased on the neighborhood . Since then, four other the keyboard overlay is a great ideo ... families have bought the Odyssey2 Thanks a lot for making my Odyssey2 into Odyssey2 video game and would like to system." something I never thought it would bel" soy how pleased we are with it. Everyone is enjoying the challenge and fun it "Lately. Odyssey2 has mode so many "I am on ovid fan of your Odyssey2 video offers."

WHAT EDUCATORS AND STUDENTSSAY:

"These games have a great potential for much longer and much harder to play began using Odyssey2 with him. I was youngsters learning mathematics, logic on Odyssey2" astonished at the results." and spelling." "The study habits (of one of my students) "Buzzword helps me spell words II never "Wonderful motivation! The kids will work have been extremely poor since first learned before.' grade and I have had little luck in moti­ vating him to do math work .. . until I OVER 40 GAMESAVAILABLE VIDEO GAME FUN - COMPUTERKEYBOARD CHALLENGE

Favorite arcade , sports. educational. and strategic games are available with Odyssey'. Exciting new ones are on the way. Some cartridges offer two or more different games, plus a choice of skill levels, time limits, and At:Ifflger of players. There's so much variety, YOU'll never get tired of playing Odyssey'. ------ARCADE------+< . • • . , e · t ...... · .0 ~. . IDI- - . 15 1000 oU .t.J U 1 . .(.) . U o Cosmic Conflict Invaders~ from Hyperspace Thundert:>all War of Nerves SllOwdown in 2100 A.D. Alien Invaders-Plus 941t 9414 9415 94t7 9416 9428

01. 40 0 1 03 '" .' . .n;-· . . '. ' A , . .- ,~ .' .If.

IME EXCnEMENT OF A GAME, TMEMIND OF A COMPUTER Armored Encounter Subchase Helicopter Rescue Out of Ihis Wood

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Pochinko Cosino Slol Machine Speedway Spin-Out Crypt a-Logic Take the Maney and Run 9425 9426 ~1------Q ~------~t 9412

. , - I I . ~ ~ r.-:-: : ~ j . , I .\ .. . . .\ - '-,.-c:Af• " A .;1 '..J.( ~ - -c:-'!~ . - . . '.. - - _.. I I . _ 1 -' U Il II I I . I . _ -- .'8 -- Blockout Breakdown K.C. Munchkln Monkeyshines UFO 9432 9430 _ ____ ~1~~~~~~=_~94~2~7~======~1______~9=4:35~___ SPORTS------IlllllLAYII. - -- r , t - . - = 0.:;: :: ( , . f ... --_ 1 ..... r • r -I _. 1 ...... , - - 105 '00 CO 00 ()O Baseball Bowling Basketball Hockey Soccer Football 9408 9402 ,. .. ~.. ~1.... ;;~94~_ _ ~ !IIIIIII1!f!II!~1i!!i! ~~~9420-- --I 0000 __ _ _1 + + -- + + : + + + ". -+ • ~ +', -+ I :.... •• .- + + + ~.+ 2S .7 1i!3A ---..-.... --- Computer Golf Alpine Skiing Electronic TobIe Soccer Volleyball Pocket Billiards 9410 9418 9423 9422 9424 EDUCATION------STRATEGICGAMES ------333 ...... 0 - , -- I - -- ...~S5 2 ;::;: .-, .- -:- ... 6656 1 ~ , , .0( _ .\/ •• ""- 6 ...775 1 u ~ =. ..:: - ~ xxxxx 76 ...SB 0' -' I ~ to. I ...... 7965 5 :=

I've Go r Vo.Jf Numbe r Matchmoker loglx Buzzword The Que., tor the Rings Conquest of the World 9413 LI______9407------"1 9429 9431

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Litho on USA Golf and Surround, were not without vir­ tues , they didn't sell well enough to merit continued inclusion in the Atari library­ especially with so many new games turn­ ing up every month. So rather than choke its catalog with slow moving titles, Atari decided to regularly evaluate each of its cartridges to insure that it is still of interest to the gaming public. The result of this videogame gardening is the first group of "collector's item" videogames. These games may soon be­ Continued from page 14 why some programs are on tape and come sought-after items of electronic would first have to be synchronized with others are on ROM, the old Doctor gaming antiquity. So remember, while the video signal. According to Atari's would have to guess that it was a matter some stores may hve copies of these ti­ Paul Nelson, this could be achieved of available time. ROM cartridges-the tles in stock, they won't have them for through ti Ie use of an electronic "black most familiar type of game format-can long. box", That's a pretty costly piece of take quite a while to produce, requiring equipment. "It would probably be more factory and production capabilities that expensive than the computer itself," did not exist when the 400/800 compu­ Q : I would very much appreciate it if you Nelson warned. ter. Because Atari felt certain that com­ could give me some information on the There's one possible way around this, puter users would want a version of Mattei Intel/ivision,its games and opera­ however. It is possible to use a video Space Invadersincluded among the initial tions. I am especial/y interested in finding camera to photograph the image direct- software releases, and because putting it out whether it, and its game cartridges, are 1y off the monitor screen. "You'd have on ROM cart would have taken too availablefor the so-col/edPAL system televi­ to work out the right frame rate, " long, it opted to go with cassette. sions, which we use in Europe. Nelson advises, "but overall it would be By -the way, since then, Atari has reis­ Also, have any other systems been the easiest way to do It." sued Space Invaders on ROM cart. adapted for the PALsystem. (from Bert de Thank you, Mr. Nelson. I want it clear­ Vries of Amsterdam, Holland) ly understood, however, that the Game Doctor never splits fees. A: First off, Bert, let's explain to our North American readers exactly what the "PAL" system is. The television im­ Q: Is it possible for a videogame carrridge age we see on our TV monitors are from one company [Q be used with the con­ composed of "lines of resolution". The sole of another company? (from Chris greater the number of lines, the greater Shreves of Gibsonville, N.c.) the clarity of the image. European televi­ sions are designed to receive transmis­ A: This is the single most often-asked sion broadcasts comprised of a greater question we receive here at the old Doc­ number of lines of resolution than tor's office and, sad to say, the answer is American sets. It is therefore neccessary always the same: No. Different systems for special modifications to be made in work in entirely different ways with non­ any standard U.s. videogame system compatible microprocessors, memory, before it can be played on a European etc. Pehaps somewhere along the line boob tube. we may see some form of adaptor or in­ At press time, both the Odyssey2 terface developed that would allow such ,.-~ .. --- (known in the Continent as the Phillips interchangeability, but that's a long way " .'I."I"iill"iillllli,iidlllllllll'llllill:!iI,::lIii';I"i _ off. 2000) and Atari VCS are being manufac­ Q: As an owner of an Awri V(S, Iam cur­ tured for PAL systems and are being sold ious about the number of carrridges offered extensively throughout Europe. It seems Q : Why are some programs for the Awri by Atari. They now boast of 43 differenc only a matter of time, however- per­ 400/800 computers loaded by a corrridge corr(Jcges,but at least three are not on the haps as you read this-before Intellivision (i.e., Star Raiders, Missile Command) list. Star Ship, Space War and Miniature joins the programmable parade' 'over while others load via the program recorder Golf. Are these no longer available or are there" . (Space Invaders, Blackjack)? (from Don­ they just not mentioned in this cawlog? Sojka of Linden, N.J.) (from Greg Hayes of Arlington, Texas) That about kicks it in the head for this A: Actually, the Atari Computers use A: The games you mentioned have, installment of Q&A. Send all those cards three input modes, the third being the alas, been pruned from the VCS line, and letters to: The Game Doctor, do 810 Disk Drive, which is far speedierthan along with Surroundand Slot Machine. Al­ Electronic Games, 235 Park Ave. South, the recorder in terms of load time. As to though these titles, especially Miniature N.Y., N.Y. 10003. Electronic Games 19 A Left-handed Compliment Ed: No question about it, letting you the other programmable videogames. In I am a left-hander trapped in a right­ know about upcoming games is one of my opinion, the Arcade is equal to or handed world. Even the controls for the most important functions of Elec­ better than any of the other systems you programmable videogames are geared tronic Games. Unfortunately, the covered. Perhaps you will see fit to cov­ to right-handers. competitive nature of the business er the Bally Professional Arcade in much I have learned to adapt to the joy­ sometimes prompts manufacturers to greater depth in a future issue. sticks, but was wondering if any of the be cagier about their plans than arca­ Don Reed videogame companies, especially Atari, ders-and magazine editors-would White Sulphur Springs, is planning to come out with left-handed like. W. Va. joysticks? For news about your final request, Ed: The quality of the Astro Profes­ I: love your magazine. check out the next issue of EG, on sale sional Arcade (note new name) had Dave Hoy May 15. nothing to do with lack of coverage. At Marietta, Oh. the time we assembled the first two is­ Ed: No word on any commecially *** sues, we were still unsure about the lev­ produced joysticks for southpaws, but el of commitment Astrovision intended that doesn't have to stop you. See An Overlooked System? to make in reviving this system. Time has removed some our doubts and, with "Stalking the Left-handed Joystick" in While I greatly enjoy Electronic of review materials from Astrovision now this very issue for simple instructions to Games, I do have one small complaint to convert standard controllers to your bring to your attention. reaching our offices regularly, look for greatly expanded coverage of this fine needs. Your space devoted to coverage of system beginning this issue. the Bally Professional Arcade seemed *** very sparse compared to that given to *** Wanted: More New Game Info I have never before written a letter to Aids for Amateur Designers? any magazine, but your fantastic publica­ In compar,ing the various models of tion has changed that. I used to buy any videogames and home computers, I find video magazine on the stands that had the A tari VCS more ideally suited for my even a tiny article on videogames. needs than a home computer. How­ In the future, I would like to see more ever, I would much prefer having the ab­ previews of programmable videogames, ility of designing and programming my including descriptions and, if possible, own games. screen pictures. How about a little infor­ Checking into this possibility, I find that. mation about a new Activision-type in order to achieve the realism of an ar­ company called Imagic? And if you could, cade game , one must spend far too I would also like to see a list of the top 10 much money on hardware and must (or 20) coin-op games. master a difficult-to-understand compu­ Finally, for my most precious request ter language to achieve this end. Even ... Go monthly!! with a machine that had all the capabili­ Jerry Quinn Jr. ties, I know of no company that offers Veradale, Wash. anything specific. 20 Elecb'onic Games My question to you is: Are there any home computer companies making any strides t oward designing a home compu­ THE JOYSTICK JU Y WANTS YOUI ter w ith the specific intention of its being If the tremendous response to Electronic Here are the next two installments of used to design and play your own video­ Games proves anything. it's that you are an "Joystick Jury". Feel free to write about games) I- and I am sure many others as unusually knowledgeable and opinionated either one or both. but please. put each en· w ell- wo uld applaud such an acco m­ bunch. That's good. It means you care try on a separate shee of paper. plishment. about thiS hobby and really feel strongly "Joystick Jury 2 (for Electronic Games about the things that affect it. 5): There are as many reasons for liking a Lou Lambo Here's your chance to air your views on partIcular electronIC game as there are N ew Brighton, Pa, electronic arcading in front of t his players. What quality or element-50und, Ed: Just as there's more to taking magazine's entire readership. " Joystick graphICS.br ight colors, play·mechanics. good pictures than buying an expensive Jury". a column of re lews by readers, Will theme or something el~o you consider begin pubhcation in the next ISSUe. most important in the creation of a great camera, there's a lot more involved in All you've got to do to partiapate is fol­ electronic game, and why? creating a new electronic game than just Iowa few simple rules. Deadline: April 15. 1982 having a computer with a super graphics I. Type (or clearly print)your commment system and lots of memory. Broder­ on a separate sheet of paper that also "Joystick Jury (for Electronic Games bund's new Arcade Machine, which includes your name and full address. 6): One of the biggest current trends In 2. Keep comments brief and to the point oome arcading is the translation of games we have not previewed as of this wri­ -{'IO more than 100 words. that have found successIn the commercial ting, may offer novices a chance to get 3, Observe the rules of fairnessand cour· amusement centers to cartridges for pro· their feet wet in . tesy "Joystick Jury" should be a forum grammable vldeogame systems and home The real' breakthrough will come for reasoned opinions, not an arena for computers. Would you prefeno see more when someone produces a software name-caliing. and more of such transplants, or is your pri­ Each issuewe'll pmt the most interesting mary interest in games created especially package that a non-programmer can op­ responses to create a sympoSIum on the for the home market? What do you thInk erate with simple English commands. It is topic under examination by the jury. The about the quality of some of the home verI probably at least a couple of years in the ISSue'Sbest comment. as Judgedby the edi­ sions of famous coin-op hits/Is thiS the way future, alas. tors of Electronic Games, ill win a cash you'd I,keto see the hobby go In the future? pnze of $25. (All submiSSIonsbecome he Deadline: June I, 1982 property of EG, and none can be returned .)

A Mainframe Gamer Comments I agree w ith your conclusion that the O dyssey2 is not very well covered for solitaire play. I would like to be able to play football' or baseball against the com· ~~LargestSelection puter. It's hard to get competition for some types of games that take a lot of of COmmercialand practice to master. A s a Bell Syst em employee, and a R ... AVideoGames. UNIX user, I have come to really enjoy text adventure type games. After many, many hours of effort, I was able to com· plete both Dungeon and Adventure , two games available on UNIX . It was with both satisfaction and remorse that I finished them, since I hated to see them end. Kit Kimes Montgomery, III. Ed: Odyssey is certainly trying to plug the solitarie gap with some of its recent We stock Ms. PacmanT~Donkey KongT~ CentipedeT~Stargate™ and all the other great releases. I don't think you '\I be seeing a commercial video games. sophisticated baseball or football car­ We also stock Atari', Intellivision™ and Odessey'" Units, cartridges & accessories ... plus T·Shirts, tridge from any manufacturer that will cases , etc. play solo-at least for some time to This year - Coleco , IMagicT": US GamesT": Join Our Exclusive Club ActivisionT": Comm Video™ and Computer Magic™ come. Send $2 for catalog and our will produce IntellivisionTM and Atari~Cartridges and As you probably know, the whole ad­ Spring '82 Newsletter telling we will stock them alii Be the firs t to receive each what's coming in video games! new cartridge. venture game genre began with pro­ grams written for the big systems such 6626 Valjean Avenue. Van Nuys, CA 91406 as the one with which you work. (213) 781·1300 G.R.II.E.I;Siores IhroughOul So uthern California

Electronic Games 21 Here Comes the

DEMON ATTACK • TRICKSHOT • • prediction and production, but if things happen as planned, By the Editors of Electronic Games there could be as many as 60 new cartridges for the Atari VCS old onto your JOysticks, videogamers, because here • alone! Hcomes the product flood I While there's always the • Despite the on-going recession, there' slittle reason to think danger of overworking superlatives when discussing the rapid­ that the dramatic expansion of the videogame market won't ly growing electronic games field, it is not an exaggeration to • continue strongly in 1982. Over four million American families say that the current year is shaping up as the most exciting one • will buy programmable videogame systems this year. By the so far. end of the next holiday season, more than I 6 % of all Last year's videogame sales boom has lured several • households in this country will have game-players' attached to manufacturers into the business for the first time, and has pro­ their TV sets. Electronic Games estimates that avid arcaders mpted most of the existing suppliers to make some mighty • will buy more than 50 million cartridges for use with the home ambitious plans. There 's often quite a gap between • systems . Videogame Explosion

STAR VOYAGER • SPACE FORTRESS • These forecasts are actually rather conservative . If the • coin machines like Pac-Man when formulating new product economy improves and all the anticipated new products plans. Thus 1982's new cartridges will include games on a reach stores on schedule, it's entirely possible that actual • broad array of topics, ranging from money games like The volume will be far, far greater. • Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt (Odyssey) to road­ Coin-ops will still strongly influence home arcading this year, racing competitions such as Gl'"aIld Prix (Activision). Companies are reluctant to put production money behind • A number of new entries w ill be games uniquely suited to titles that haven't compiled a solid track record in the amuse­ • home play. These would be either too complicated or take ment centers . So if you played a game in an arcade last year, too long to be successful (and profitable) in the amusement chances are good that you'll be able to buy a home version • centers. Atari, Mattei and Astrovision are all planning one or sometime In the next 12 months, • more quest games for their systems, and newcomer Imagic Science fiction is still the single hottest theme, but publishers hopes to have an adventure cartridge compatable w ith the In- are tak ing due notice of the popular it y of non -SF • tellivision by next fall.

Electronic Games 21 • • • • • • • • • •

ATARI PAC·MAN • • STAR STRIKE Some of the specifics are still a bit murky. but there ought to • tndges for the VCS and another dozen to accompany the be several complete new videogame systems available bet­ • debut of the Super-Game system. The VCS titles include ween now and next January. Here's a brief rundown: Super Breakout and Star Raiders. both adapted from * Atari Super-Game. This will be a senior programmable • 400/800 programs. and a new adventure cartridge, Haunted system and is intended to offer arcade quality graphics and on­ • House. Several coln-op hits will also appear in home versions. screen movement speed. It will retail for approximately $350 including Pac -Mon. Defender and Berserk. and stress home versions of cOln-op winners like Pac-/vlan and Defender. • Activision. * Tryom Video Computer Game. This standard system . Barnstorming and Grand Prix are scheduled as the in- sneak previewed at a recent trade show. will have 26 car- • itial '82 releases for this mushrooming house of Ideas. Bam­ tridges by the end of this year. Though the graphics aren 't • stormer is the first game designed by Dave Crane's protege qUite up to the quality of. say, the Atari VCS. It will be priced Steve Cartwright. It's a stunning visual achievement with highly significantly lower. • challenging play action. Grand Pox. Dav Crane's first cartridge * Caleco Vldeogame System. Though not available for In- • since Freeway, is simply the best auto race game available for spection as we go to press. the famous toy-maker plans to the VCS. with spinning w heels. viVid colors and lots of show it to retailers and have it in the stores by Christmas. • delightful touches like oil slicks along the way. Meanwhile, Bally is apparently having second thoughts . COming next summer is AI Miller's Starmaster. a stunning about its hasty sell off of its home game. The coin-op giant IS space adventure that uses both strategic and tactical rumored to be readying a new programmable videogame • elements. Chopper Command. meanwhile. from ace In- machine of its own. • ventor Bob 'vYhitehe;:td. is a horizontally scrolling battle game Several existing systems will add the power of speech In which an armed helicopter fights to protect the truck con- sometime In the next 12 months. Mattei, Odyssey and . voy traveling on the road below. Astrovision all expect to have this intriguing peripheral on sale • before the end of the year. Atari may also offer a voice syn- MatteI. thesizer as an option for its Super -Game . though probably not . Intellivislon will produce a score of new vldeogames in '~2 until the system has already acquired a large audience of loyal • ranging from a Video pinball program to a pair of gamesbased fans. on the upcoming Walt Disney film. " Tron". Advanced All the voice boxes work more or less the same way. The . Dungeons and Dragons will finally be available as will the synthesizer plugs into the cartridge slot. and cartridges dr e • long-awaited Chess cartridge. then inserted into a similar niche in the synthesizer. Intellivolce. a synthesis unit capable of generating both male And now the games! Here's a system-by-system survey of • and female voices . should turn up this summer. Accompany- the treats awaiting home arcaders in 1982: • ing it will be three compatable game cartridges. including Atari. Space Spartans. which is essentially Space Battle with a • vOice track and somewhat blockle l- graphics. The Sunnyvale videogame king will release 12 new car- continued on page 33

24 Electronic Games VIDEO GAME CRAZE Whafs Mew In The Rrcades

King Kong Goes Coin-Op

follows: Kong has snatched a beautiful By Bill Kunkel woman 2.nd scaled the side of a massive ow quickly do things change in the building frame. The misguided monkey Hcommercial arcade world? How's carries his prize to a perch at the very this for an example? Just last issue I com­ top of the skeletal superstructure. plained about the number of unoriginal where he puts her down in order to do a ideas clogging the creative coin -slots of cocky strut back and forth along the top­ the game designers. It seemed as If the most girder and periodically thump his few original ideas would almost certainly chest. be buried under the sheer mass of Pac­ The gamer assumes the rule of Mario. Man and Defender clones. the brave. little carpenter who decides AmaZingly. however. the cream has to save the lovely damsel. Mario begins risen to the top and a handful of tru- the perilous climb toward Kong 's aerie 1y exciting coin-op videogames are only to find that he may not survive long getting the lion's share of arcading enough to even reach his enormous ad­ dttention. versary, because the gigantic ape is roil­ ing barrels down the slanting. Rube Donkey Kong () Goldberg-type building frame. Mario Did I say " Iion's " share? Better must climb from level to level (they are make that "gorilla 's share". since connected by ladders while avoiding the the single biggest (in more ways than barrage of barrels that the ape keeps one) character in the "up-and­ cascading down upon him. coming " department is Nintendo's Mano can avoid the barrels by either Donkey Kong. Members of the climbing to the nex t level (where coin -op cognlscentl are already another rolling container may be on its swarming all over this charmer that way) or leaping over the oncoming cas­ boasts a storyline right out of a '40's Ing. Arcaders accomplish this through " Popeye" cartoon and graphics to the use of a special "leap" button. The match. ga er wins by actually reaching the top The concept behind Do key Kong is as and saving the terrified beauty. 26 Electronic Games Much of Donkey Kong 's appeal doubtless lies in its marvelous visuals. The barrels, girders and background are all faultlessly rendered. while the animation of Kong, Mario and the girl takes this videogame as close to the realm of film animation as anything else in today 's arcades.

Frogger / Sega-Gremlin While space ships and explosions still star prominently in the coin-op universe. a definite trend is developing toward "cute" games, with wider (read: female) appeal than the macho shoot-em-ups. Frogger is another in the latest batch of whimsical videogames. It may be the first coin-op inspired by a home videogame, a dist inctly unusual t urnabout. Dave Crane's Freeway (Activision for the Atari VCS) challenged gamers to get a chicken across a busy, ten-lane express­ way. Froggertakes that idea and runs or hops with it. The result is a captivating blend of good game play and compelling graphics. The top half of the playfield is a straight knock-off of Freeway's traffiC-Jammed roadway, but once the little croaker gets across t he road, the more interesting part of his journey begins. Frogs must now get across a fiowing river. leaping onto passing logs and turtles in order to make their way to the bottom of the screen , where a special grotto awaits each of the adventurous amphibians. Menaces include crocodiles, poisonous water snakes, otters and the occasional diving turtle, which may decide to go underwater Just when a frog hops on board I There's even a lady frog who can be escorted home for extra points, and then, of course , all those delicious bonus bugsl MMmmmmm!

Make Tr axlWiliiams Very few videogames are towl/y original. It isn't always the unique- HAKETRAX

ness of the basic ideas that determines a Kick-Man is the next step beyond QixlTaito game's success, but how cunningly the the hugely popular Pac-Man. The full Qix (pronounced " kicks") is Taito's designers add new wrinkles to old classic scoop on Midway's newest will be in thE' first major entry since its Space In­ elements. For example, there were next issue of EG. vaders. maze chase games before Pac-Man, Like 51, Asteroids, Tempest and but it was Namco's innovative use of Defender, Qx is an original. Nothing several elements that fused their creation else in the arcades is quite like it, in con­ into a work of original genius. cept. play or audio-visual effects. tt is an Williams ' Make Trax is w ithout a original and entertaining contest that doubt the most creative variation on the should make for a pleasant-and highly maze-chase theme since the gobbler challenging-c hange of pace from mazes made his debut. The gamer is a painter and pure-action games. who must coat the floors of six maze­ What we have here is a designer that fields while being hassled no end by a blends strategy and hand-eye skill in a bevy of delightfully maddening creatures. fascinating, but graphically bland, con­ These range from mischievous kittens to test. Qlx is actuall y one of those flying birds whose droppings ruin the computer-graphic demonstration pro­ lovely paint job. grams in which a series of lines are Each field offers a pair of scrolling tun­ created in sequence on screen. As a line nels, a paint brush and a roller, which at one end disappears , another material­ must be used in order to deal with the izes at the front. creating the illusion of mice, cats, goldfish and the rest. There 's spiralling movement across the screen. even an invisible man who periodically Using a "marker" controller, players canters across the labyrinth, leaving a must draw boxes on the screen without trail of footprints that must, of course, being hit and destroyed by the Qix. The be repainted. Qix is overcome when the arcaders Make Trox seems to have all the boxes in at least 75 % of the screen. elements of a classic arcade hit. The Bonus points are earned for filling up characters are engaging, brightly colored more space. and beautifully stylized. The animation is As with most coin-op contests, Qix gets as smooth as the flowing paint. Game harder as play progresses . Eventually, mechanics are slightly more complicated the Qix undergoes fission and becomes a than, say, Pac-man. but are not in the pair. Sparx, Fuses and Spiral Death least confusing. T raps all show up if the arcader can keep KICKHAN the game going long enough. 28 Electronic Games "Pac-ManFever" , the singleinspired by the most popularvideo game in Americaisa hugehit! Its drivingrhythms have in­ spiredeven championship playersto newheights! Now,the jjPac-Man Fever"album is here! Likethe single, the other songson the album were inspiredby the nation­ widevideo game craze. Eachsong is devoted to a specificgame and containssound effects fromthat game. Whether you'reobsessed with Frogger,Centipede, Asteroids,Donkey Kong, Defender,Mousetrap or Berzerk,there's some­ thingon here for you! Andthere's a bonus that'sbound to improve yourscore-a special innersleeve which shows filvewinning Pac-Man patterns! Soget "Pac-Man Fever," thealbum,now! If you don't yourcompetition will eatyou alive!

" Pac·Man" '" Midway Mfg. Co. " Frogger" TMSega Enterprises, Inc. "Centipede:' ''Asteroids (Hyperspace)"'" Atari, Inc "Donkey Kong" l). Nintendo of America, Inc "Defender"'" Williams Electronics, Inc. " Mousetrap"l'" Exidy, Inc. " Berzerk"'" Stern Electronics, Inc. Produced by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia in association with the Buie Gel.ler Organization. "Columbia" is a trademark of CBS Inc @ 1982 CBS Inc. 30 Elec:tronk Games Move Over Guys, Here Come the GalS ... llJlJlVlEIl }lJlll n Plfi£FiIJE fiElJlJLLJTllJll

flocking to family amusement centers in record numbers, playingat levelsof skill ant to e something new and that challengethe men's best scores. In exciting.Tak e a trip down to fact . liberated ladies are rapidly o favoriteaf1 de and look around. discovering that electronic gaming is ur eyes away from one activity in which the sexes can hrobbing, pulsating compete on absolutely even terms. out some of t he This IS certainly not the case with such popular pastimes as tennis, swimming omenhave fficially arrived in the and basketball. The size and strength v rid cI electr nic gaming. They're advantage which most men possess n t JUStthere ft r decoration, either. simply doesn't count here: Dexterity. To females an zap a centipede or finesseand quick thinking are the main ast an aster d as well-and some- ingredients of electronic gaming suc­ 'mes even ter-than any man. cess. Arcading. pecially playing at com- If anything. home arcading has pro­ mercialam ment centers, has tradi- ven even more attractive to women. tionaly a male hobby. The game There. in friendly surroundings. they parlors e as much a strictly male can concentrate on beating boyfriends preserve as the old corner barber­ and spouses without distraction. shop. It asn't so long ago that gaming Who are these lady arcaders? A co es were shabby, even down­ study conducted by Electronic ri~ irty establishments situated on Games indicates that there is little dif­ ackstreets of town or in neighbor­ ference. demographically speaking. h ds so dangerous that few \-\Omen between male and female players. The Atarl', Centipede packes potent auld risk visiting one. appuJ 'or female araden . survey pegsthe median agefor women So a woman in an arcade was a rare at roughly 26. One-quarter of the sam­ sight, indeed. When a woman did ac­ ple are under 16years of age,the same tually show up, she could usually be Now this has all changed. Sleek and percentage fall into the 16-25 bracket found hanging timidly at the fringes of polished coin-op emporiums have al­ and 42% are between 26 and 40. A the action, watching her date prove his most totally replaced those ancient, surprising 8 % are in the over -40 group masculinity by bashing a poor defense­ seedy "penny arcades". Justas bowling that pioneered arcading for their less pinball machine into submission. alleys shed their disreputable image in daughters and younger sisters. They rarely actually played the mach­ the 1950's, so, too, have the amuse­ One out of three female gamers are ines, and so didn't perform very well ment centers in the 1980's. currently in high school, and an equal on those infrequent occasions when And women are beginning to re­ number have some schooling at the they did stick a coin in the slot. spond to this changefor the better by college level. A little less than 20% are Electronic Gamel J I currently enrolled in a university. flying onto the screen carrying a tiny, Like the men, the typical lady arcader gobbling bundle of JOy. spends two to fIVe hours a week playing "Poe-Man was the first commercial coin -op and home arcade games. videogame to Involve large numbers of However, at least one-third of the women as players," says JarockJ. "It ex­ survey respondents spend up to 10 panded our customer base and made hours a week In front of a gaming screen. Poe-Man a hit. Now we're producing this Atan is the over whelming choice new game, Ms. Pac-Mon, as our way of among women when it comes to home thanking all those lady arcaders who systems. Roughly 58 % of the sample have played and enjoyed Poc-Man," own a VCS. The Odyssey2 proved to be You can be certain that those lady the second-most popular unit. with the arcaders-and there are more of them Intellivision trailing in third place. It's likely every daY-Will be anXiously waiting. 6 that the latter's concentration on sports games accounts for the relatively light in­ terest among women. Of course, gaming preferences vary as Women Pick Their Favorite much among the gals as they do among Games the guys. Vldeogaming tournaments The accompanying charts. based on staged by Atan and Mattei have drawn replies to the Reader Poll conducted in quite a few women, some of them of the first Issue of Electronic Games, show championship caliber. that lady arcaders do not differ from the male variety as much as might be ex­ Jody Abramson of Massapequa, N.Y., pected when it comes to gaming prefer· for example, was among the winners in ences. the first round oflast fall'sthree-event In­ Pac-Man, as anticipated. placed first telhvision tournament held at New York lady ucaders h lped malce among the coin-<:Jps. But tv"v other titles Gty's World Trade Center. Although Pu·Han tne top co/n-op. that finished in the top five, Ber;eri<. and Space Invader;, are exactly the kind of she proved herself one of the region's wild shoot-'em-ups that women aren't best electronic skiiers, Jody's heart Pac-Man. Just prior to their bnef Inter­ supposed to like. belongs to MatteI's Baseball. View, the Watts family acquired an Atari The same thing can be seen to an Even more successful on the tourney VCS and both- along with husband even greater extent In the list of most popular home games. Asteroids, Space circuit is Ok-Soo Han. She won one of Tony and son Cory-are logging lots of Invaders and Missile Command are vir­ the major competitions at the AtanffGI hours in front of the home system. tually as popular among women as with Centipede competition In (n;cago. A No discussion of women as electroniC men. Oearly. the idea that lady arcaders champion on the local level before ad­ gamers would be complete without a will only play a select few games is so vancing to the finals in the Windy Oty, deep bow in the direction of Midway's much hot air. Ok-Soc has a rare opportunity for lots of incomparable Pac-Mon . The game 's practice, since she and her mother record-shattering success derIVes from Favorite operate an arcade on the West Coast. its overwhelming populanty among Programmable No one will ever accuse Ok-Soo of be­ female gamers. Oh, It does well among Videogames ing a passive player. "I take risks," she men, too, but It was heavy play by admits. "That's just my style." Her women that enabled Pac-Man to set I. Asteroids favorite game is Centipede, so the earnings records in 1981. 2. Space Invaders Chicago showdown played right Into her Midway, according to spokesman Stan 3. Quest for the Rings strength. Jarocki, is keenly aware of its debt to lady 4. Missile Command Paula and Kin Watts, a mother-and­ arcaders and ISplanning a very speCialse ­ S. Video Pinball daughter team from Shawnee, Okla., quel to its famous gobble game: Ms. are typical of the new breed of lady ar­ Pac-Man. Favorite Coin-Op Games caders. Introduced to the hobby at an The game, which utilizes four separate ultra-modern amusement center in their mazes, features a gobbler with a little I. Pac-Man town, they've both become frequent pink bow on her head. At varIOus pOints 2. Carnival players within the last year. While in the game between rounds, Ms Pac­ 3. Centipede 29-year<>ld Paula concentrates on rack­ Man meets the original male version, 4. Space Invaders Ing up high scores on Defender , and a little electronIC wedding takes S. Berserk I I -year-old Kim has mastered the place. If the player's final score is high technique of dearing maze after maze at enough, Ms, Poe-Man ends with a stork

11 ElecCl'onic Games HHHHH:HH:HHHS U.S. Games. The only game previewed by U.S. Games was a VCS­ Dideagallle DUllaall compatable program called Space Jockey. It's a horizontally scrolling target shoot with adorable graphics and truly Continued from page 24 challenging play action. They promise as many as six more aHHHHHHHHH:S games this year. Odyssey. Imagic Only two new games are definitely promised by Odyssey, A major new software producer for both the VCS and the but both are impressive additions to the O 2 line. The Great Intellivision, Imagic has top designers who formerly worked at Wall Street Fortune Hunt is the third entry in the Master both source companies. Its three initial releases are all Atari­ Strategy Series and promises to be the most captivating com­ compatable only, but the fourth will be for the Mattei system. puter money game ever developed. Again designed by Steve Titles were Trickshot, a video pool game with slick visuals, Lehner and Ed and Linda Averette, it has drawn raves from , a smoothly detailed, vividly colored space everyone vvho's seen it. Also on the way is a science fiction shoot-out. and Star Voyager, another strategic/tactical contest with UFO-style graphics, tentatively titled Freedom space adventure with cockpit perspective. Fighter. Coleco Astrovision Coleco promises videogames compatable with both the Astrovision not only showed its ZGrass keyboard, VCS and Intellivision systems. They obviously panned the coin­ but severa! top-line games as well. Space Fortress is a op waters and came up with the rights to Exidy's Venture, space shoot-out that's long on action, color and fiash. The and Mouse Trap as well as Phoenix, Vanguard and Wizard, from designer Bob Ogdon, is a vir­ Round Up from Centuri, and Nintendo's smash Donkey tuaduplicate of the coin-op version and Quest for the Orb Kong. all promises to be one of the most unique videogames of time, Although the videogame market is a long way from satura­ This Texas-based videogame company will produce from tion, the overwhelming number of new hardware and soft­ 10 to 12 new cartridges for the Atari VCS. Their first game, ware releases will be competing fiercely for the attention of Skeet Shoot, is a decidedly mediocre entry. Their first in­ the arcading public. The results of this videogame boom re­ house program, however, Spacechase, is a remarkable main to be seen, but one side effect is inevitable-a better outer space blast-'em-up with super visuals and fiuid play, selection of higher quality games. 6 Limited Gold Edition - Scott Adams Adventure Series ($1 OO.lAdventu re, I nternationall for Atari, Apple II, and TRS-80) This handsome, book-style package contains autographed and individually numbered copi.es of the first 12 programs from Scott Adams' ground-breaking "adventure" series. Destined to be a collector's item.

Pac-Mania (Video Paraphenalia, P.O. Box 15937, Philadelphia, PA 19103, write for catalog and prices) With Pac-Man fever sweeping the country, gobbler mavens now have a central location from which they can purchase a selection of Pac-Man-related items. The big sellers are th gorgeous " I Love (indicated by a heart with a gobble missing) Pac-Man" silk-screened t-shirts, but other fantastic items include baseball caps and shirts, cups, posters, tote bags , label stickers and - our favorite - a full-size blue beach towel featuring a full­ color Pac-Man playfield.

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Hill brought forth the first home arcading experience for for the Intellivision system. historical battle game. Get­ many electronic gamers. Armored Battle, by Mat­ tysburg. followed by a library of Panzer Attack (Astrovision) is a for the Intellivision. is in a class diverse titles that is still growing slightly more visually attractive by itself. however. This is much today. More refinements. such version of the same situa tion for less of an arcade-style contest as Roberts' introductions of a the Professional Arcade. while than the other three cartridges. hexagonal grid for movement. Triple Action (Mattei) has a stressing such elements as line­ helped military games develop well-designed tank shoot-out of-sight for firing and movement From Battle Board into a hobby that involves hun­ speed that varies according to to TV Screen dreds of thousands of people. the terrain. As wargaming grew in popular­ lthough abstract games ity. other manufacturers made A with a military theme their debuts. including Simula­ Dogfight such as chess date back to the tions Publications. Inc. (SPI) and in the Skies ancient world, modern Game Designers Workshop. Representing air battles con­ wargames are a much more re­ Bored wargamers can now vincingly has long frustrated cent invention. Charles S. choose from hundreds of titles boardgame designers. but this Roberts produced the first covering every military engage­ type of freewheeling battle is military strategy boardgame in ment. real or possible. from the perfect for the video screen. 1958, when the infant Avalon­ dawn civilization to the of Atari offers arcade-style inter­ Hill Company published Tactics hypothetical far future. pretations of fights in the skies in II. (A limited edition of Roberts' Electronic military simulations both its Combat and Air-Sea prototype, Tactics, preceded on a par with the sophisticated Battle cartridges. while Astro~ this more elaborate commer­ boardgames are only Just start- vision's Red Baron adds such cial effort.) I ing to appear. but war became realistic touches as 3-D Tactics il treated the subject a staple for head-to-head perspective. of a land war between two videogames almost from their Activision will shortly release mythical countries. Battles oc­ inception. a title that reflects the latest curred on a multi-colored map trends in air-mobile tactics. sectioned into half-inch squares Chopper Command. Using to regulate movement. Each Armored Assault a steering system somewhat nation's forces included two Combat is probably the most reminiscent of Defender, the main types of combat units. in­ widely distributed VCS car­ gamer guides armed helecop­ fantry ?nd armor, plus a few tridge by virtue of the fact that ters back and forth across the specialized divisions with air­ it comes packed with the VCS screen in an attempt to protect borne. amphibious or moun­ console. Steering those little a convoy traveling along the taineering capabilities. vehicles around the various road at the bottom of the It wasn't long before Avalon- mazes represents the first playfield.

Victory at Sea

Seawolf (Astrovision) and />Jr­ Sea Bottle (Atari) fumish gamers with a taste of navel action. The Torpedo variant on the Air-Sea cartridge rather resembles a shooting gallery with ap­ propriate military hardware as the targets. The steerable missile greatly enhances this game. which is one of the finest head-to-head contests in the VCS library. Mattel's Sea BatHe gives gamers the chance to lead fieets in a global-scale war on the high seas. Action switches from 36 Electronic Gamel y , )

strategic to tactical, and there's a sLJrprisingamount of differen­ tiation among the various types of ships available to each side in this two-player contest.

10 al W Conquest of the World (Odyssey) is the electronic in ter action among th e game for those weaned on participants. night-long sessions of Diplomacy or Risk. As the ferent for every encounter. It any individual soldier in that leader of one of the game's 43 War Against includ es a fair number of direction, but rather nudges nations, you must combine obstacles and places behind the whole army at once. power politics and discrete use the Robots which soldiers can hide. This system opens the door of land, sea and air forces to Command control is the War of Nerves pivots on a for each leader to develop propel your country to the single most important factor in single concept which is, as far marvelously byzantine strat­ pinacle of world domination. War of Nerves by N.AYs as is known, unique to thiS egies- and then watch the Conquest of the World is Odyssey division. In this videogame cartridge. The troops execute them on the especially good for a socially unusual two-player game. a oriented evening of gaming. pair of armchair generals because it can be played by up square off in a series of battles. to six people. The making and each leading a small army of breaking of alliances is constant, fighting robots. responding to minute shifts In The terrain of the battlefield the world balance of power, so is randomly generated by the there's lots of computer program and IS dif-

ARMORED BATTLE

mechanical men are not direct­ home screen. ly moved by manipulating the War of Nerves is a genuine JOystick. Instead, the controller one-of-a-kind among video· establishes only a movement games, and a certified treat for tendency. That is, pushing the electronic warriors. stick to the right doesn't send

Electronic Games 37 eered with the non-electronic For the Glory Waterloo. The seesaw nature Of the engagement of the and tantilizing speculation Blue and Gray. concerning possible out­ comes have made Napoleon 's Military affairs experts have call­ last stand a frequent topic for ed it the first modem war. It simulation. was rJlIring the conflict between

A computer program treat­ the I~orthand South that tradi­ ing this pivotal battle is available tional strategy began to mutate from Crystalware for both the in response to the introduction Apple II and Atan 800 under of such factors as ironclad ar­ the til Ie Waterloo II.A corps­ mor for naval vessels and the level game Lovering both widespread availability of the Waterloo and Leipsig. machine gun.

(]llM~UTEJlS (]JlEATETJiEE (lTJlllNI(] l LEFEL (p1" tronic simulations as finely Napoleon's Campaigns The Battle of Shiloh designed and accurately detail­ 1813 & 1815. (Strategic Sim­ () allows ed as the best boardgames. Ef­ ulations) is based on an acute gamers to refight one of the fects that are difficult to pro­ analysis of the military doc­ most evenly matched- - and du ce Without forcing the trines of that day. Maintaining controversial. engagements of players to do a lot of paper­ lines of communication be­ the whole war. Both sides work in conventional war ­ comes at least as important as claimed victory when the games. like hidden movement. properly orchestrating an en­ smoke cleared in April 1862. can be accomplished effortless­ filade . and would be generals , but when the Confederac 's in­ ly using the computer. will quickly learn that giving an ability to wrest a decisive win order and seeing it properly from the Union army led by Vive La France! executed are two very dif­ Ulysses S. Grant ultimately ferent matters. doomed the South's cause. Just as the battles of Napoleon The program plays either have fascinated historians. so. solitaire or head-to-head. with a too, have the exploits of the argames for program­ solo human commander having IkU Little Corperal from Corsi~a the option of chOOSingeither ...... mabie videogame sys­ absorbed the attention of war­ side. Of potentially great help tems are fast -paced fun. but the gamers since pion- superior ability of microcom­ to novices is an option which lets the computer fight out the puters to manipulate data is giv­ ing birth to a game. generation The combat rules are the of e!ec- most interesting feature of The Bott/eo(Shl/oh. As commander. the player is permitted to select a level of risk-daring. bold. conservative or cautious- for every skirmish . Each side also chooses an offensive or defen- . sive strategy. as appropriate, each time units clash in the field. The strength of the units involv-

.'~~ JfJ"IiJ.t..ed.modified by these orders Tanktics lacks Eastern From's For those who find the idea great graphics. but it can't be of elves. dwarves and warrior beat for those who can never maidens riding unicorns too dis­ find an opponent for a rousing tracting. this program offers the game of Panzerblitz . option of playing four scenarios as a "straight" pre-gunpowder -A A -A • Strange Lands­ . 1 , A ~ and Stranger Dark Forest (Sirius Soft­ t k 1\ ~ ware) is a fantasy war game of a k A! A A .-, Battles somewhat more abstract kkkA Most fantasy stories are largely nature. One to six players at­ tt t 1\ 1\ concerned with the heroic ex­ tempt to conquer their ! ploits of individuals, but large­ neighbors and loot captured scale military actions can also be castles of their treasures in this k 1\ entertaining area-movement CgHFEOERATEBRIGADE-CLEBURNE found in significant numbers. 6 1 game. Getting in everybody's C MB~T 96 LEADER' 4 MORALE' 4 S 2 J.R.R. Tolkien's saga of the one TERRAIN' FOREST • MP LEFT'6 • 4 • ring, for instance, includes such way. especially in the solitaire majOr engagements as the Bat­ variants, are the Gruds. These SHILOH tle of the Five Armies and the belligerent little demons multip­ ly like rabbits and attack any and morale, determine the out­ gram Exchange) for the Atari Battle of Helm's Deep. human-held territory they can come. 400/800 and Tanktics The Shattered Alliance reach. Strategic Simulations' (Avalon-Hill) for Just about all (Strategic Simulations) gives designers David A Landry and the popular micros. electronic strataglsts the chance Charles T. Proegel Jr. have cap­ Both are remarkable to see how they might lead an tured the feel of Civil War achievements. army in a world where fantastic fighting. Electronic warga:ners manages to be as comprehen­ creatures are an everyday fact can only hope that this IS the sive as any other electronic and magic is as powerful as ar­ as first of a comprehensive serie~.warganne-and does it in only tillery. Projected the first of a 16K of memory for the tape lengthy series. The Shattered Re-fight version . (The disk is 32K.) Alliance makes use of SSI's new Elegant systems permit the "Rapidflre" movement system World War II! commander to view either one that is said to greatly speed The Second World War is the portion of the battle or the play. most popular subject for overall strategic situation by in­ wargames and IS likely to re­ putting simple commands. main so for many years to come. No other period can match the variety of weaponry used by the Allied and Axis forces. yet the nuclear terror weapons that make a mockery of traditional military tactics and strategy are virtually absent Among gamers who special­ ize in WW II. Interest is par­ ticularly high in the campaigns on the eastern front and battles which made strong use of tanks. That's why it is par­ ticularly good news that major publishers have released com­ puter programs dealing with both subjects. Chris Crawford proves himself the kingpin of military simulation program­ mers with the releas e of Eastern Front (Atari Pro- death-filled skies. Fire IS in­ dicated by a scattershot UJFlFi(jFlfflE5 spritz of bullets right over the top of the propellor. Pilots engage other aircraft as we ll as observation IIlLJFlIJ balloons and ground installa­ tions. Perhaps the ultimate in a Til FlFif.FlIJE dogfight simulation is the sit­ down version of Red Boron. Wrap a silk scarf around the neck, don a flight cap and Quadrascan monitor . Play­ Dueling with lower the goggles- and keep ers see the top of their whirl­ an eye open for a beagle ­ the Red Baron ing prop blades at the base piloted Spad l of the screen and fire. ne of the most their machine . popula r, recurring ~ ...... , O guns blind Into the Jaws themes In battle-oriented into the videogames is the dogfight. of Death Especially well-liked are bi­ Probably the single most plane contests wherein a influential wargame In pair of World War I flying today's commercial arcade aces spray the skies with the arsenal is Stern's Scramble. chatter of machine gun fire . One of many horizontally­ These games tr ilditionally scrolling shoot-out contests. feature side-view perspec ­ Scramble is distinguished by tives that allow for loop-de­ several factors. The ship, for loops and head to head ac­ example. must be piloted tion, but preclude banking through a cavernous maze and other. more exotic that literally bristles with simulations. ground-based Interceptor With Atar i 's coin -op missiles and other exotic game, Red Baron. the weaponry. Scramble has five traditional dogfight is wedd­ separate phases. each ed to the modern computer scenario pitting the arcader . placing the against a different defense arcader inside the cockpit of system. his Fokker. Eye-bending Joystick controlled. the visuals are produced by Scramble warship can launch Atari's vector graphics a straight-on laser blast or 40 Electronic Games which purchased the U.s. As your coin trips the start rights from Konami. Here, mechanism a breathtaking arcaders must navigate their overhead view of a battle­ tanks through a quartet of ravaged city bursts onto the highly challenging scenarios screen. Crumbling walls, while besieged on all sides. abandoned dwellings and Points are earned for refuel­ shell-pocked streets attest ing, but the ultimate objec­ to a long seige. This is the tive is to destroy an enemy world of Cinematronics' Ar­ base. mor . .. Attack. Arcaders Strategy X is a somewhat patrol this bombed out off-beat. more abstract de­ locale in an armed jeep, sign than is usually found in hunting down a never-ending arcade wargames, but it is complement of tanks and no less riveting. The audio helicopters. features sound effects syn- tlezone puts the gamer chronized to create Super-Tank behind the dual-joystick con­ incredible explosions trols and assists him with an and crashes. Shoot-Out on-board tracking com­ Strategy X is the Deftly employing the vec­ puter. sort of game tor graphics Quadrascan The setting for this high­ that appeals monitor to create extremely tech battle is the surface of not only high resolution images, Bat- the moon. to the Han Solo within us, but to our General Patton side as well. drop bombs on intended targets, with enemy fuel Fighting in storage silos possessing special value. the Streets A nice counterbalance to As your coin trips the start the tactically-oriented coin­ mechanism a breathtaking ops such as overhead view of a Scramble is battle-ravaged Strategy X, city bursts onto also by the screen. Stern, Crumbling

Electronic Games 41 R SPACE~ OR Y . GOINGl~ IS THEIR BEST MEE NGROO IS [); PH!' Aliens up ahead. Aliens attacking from the rear. Alien ships on every side. Meanwhile, the earth is moving steadily into range of enemy missiles, as the alien planet rushes by below. Presenting Star Strike: The exciting new space game complete with brilliant colors, gripping tension, and special effects so realistic they appear three­ dimensional. So you almost feel like you're flying. Be careful, though, and don't lose your concentra­ tion. You've got to destroy the enemy planet. Before it destroys the earth. Play Intellivision®Star Strike. Then, when the battle's over and the dust is clear, compare it to other space games. We think you'll agree that color, excite­

ment and special effects make MRTT~L.~L.~LTp.[]n!L5 ®

~~,~"'~,~~~~the clear winner. I NtElli"iSiON" IntelligentTelevision By Arnie Katz troduced him to Dave Nutting, who flew him to Chicago for a mutual look-see. t takes three things to make a Excited by this exploratory trip, the cou­ I good designer," says Bob Ogdon, ple threw everything they owned into President of Action Graphics and a vital the back of their Datsun and headed for force at Dave Nutting Associates. "First. the Second City, I look for people who have other in­ Under the direction of Nutting, Og­ terests besides computers, things like don Joined the 20 designers working on photography or carpentry. We don't games for what was then called the Bally want the stereotypical 'computer nerd.' Professional Arcade. His first assignment Then, of course, agood deSigner needs a Bob was to create a verison of the ball-and­ lot of creativity. And a designer should Meet Ogdon, paddle wall-bashing game for the system. love the field." the Man Behind Of Brickyard, he notes, "There were Unconsciously, the soft-spoken no copyright laws covering electronic 26-year-old had described himself per­ the WIZard games at that time. It was common prac­ fectly. Since graduating from the Univer­ tice to adapt existing ones to new sity of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., systems. " with a degree in psychology, Ogdon has son, designed what is now the Astro The same cartridge also included produced an impressively varied array of Professional Arcade for Bally Manufac­ Clowns. Bally purchased the design games for both the coin-operated and turing Co. "He is my mentor," Ogdon from Exidy and had Ogdon perform the home arcade fields. His latest achieve­ asserts. ''I've learned everything from translation of the coin-op onginal to the ments, Space Fortress and The Wiz­ him. " He credits Nutting with the inspir­ home screen in a form that has stili not ard. both for Astrovision , stamp him as ation for two of Bally's greatest coin-op been surpassed. one of today's truly outstanding game hits, Gorl and Wizard of Wor. Brickvard/Clowns,even apart from the creators. As with many of us, the designer en­ fact that it reprsents Bob Ogdon' s Ogdon is unstinting in his praise of tered his chosen career as a result of a debut, has had a farreaching effect on Dave Nutting, who, with Jeff Frederick- lucky accident. Bob Ogdon's wife Julie in- the hobby. It was the first ROM cartridge a.OWNS SPACE FORTRESS

FOOTBALL utilizing 4K of memory. "At first ROMs tion by providing a larger gridiron. ed on a maze, because mazes introduce were too expensive, so we had only 2K A three-quarters perspective was strategy." games, " he recalls. " Clowns was the first considered for Football, but ultimately "When we put a voice into the mach­ 4K. Now ali our games for the Astro sys­ the decision was to stick with the over­ ine, that got us into the mythology of tem are SK." head view. "Football takes a lot more who, exactly, was doing the talking. So Once acclimated to the demands of exactitude than a sport like soccer ... we invented the Wizard. We used the . his new career, Ogdon really began to The circumstances under which Pin­ Wizard to disrupt the flow of the game. " hit his stride. "I had always played foot­ ball came into being are still vividly etch­ Ogdon and the crew working with ball in high school and college," says the ed in Ogdon's memory. 'Our home is him on the project next decided to make electronic game artist, who still has the out in the country and rather isolated," the Wizard a mystery, "so that players lithe build of a quarterback or free safe­ he says. "We had a big snowstorm that would have to work to get at him." ty. "They had a football game , but I con­ kept us in the house for about a month. " Then to make the game increasingly chal­ vinced them to try mine." State-of-the­ When he emerged from this enforced lenging, they started subtracting the walls art when introduced, Astrovision's Foot­ seclusion it was with the basics of this of the maze at the higher skill levels. ball has only Intellivison 's NFL Footba" two-playfield cartridge in hand. "That way, there's a whole series of to rival it for pigskin supremacy. Shortly thereafter, Bally got a case of goals. " he says. "Of course, getting to "I try to recreate reality," Ogdon ex­ cold feet and withdrew from the home the pit is the ultimate." plains, "and I wanted something more arcade sweepstakes to concentrate on Originally, Wizard of Wor had relatively than blips on the screen." That's why, the business it knew best- coin-op small on-screen characters. Somehow, it though his game offers a wide variety of amusement machines. Mindful of Og­ didn't look just right. After Ogdon and possible plays, coaches can stili ad-lib at don's success with Football, Dave Nut­ staff saw a then-new coin-op called Pac­ the line of scrimmage just like Dan Fouts ting Associates put him to work on Ex­ Man, they switched to much larger or Joe Montana. "You can give a lot of tra Bases, the latest in a distinguished characters for their game. power to the players," he adds. The first line of Bally baseball machines . "Hard­ Great advances in technique are use of horizontal scrolling greatly enhan­ ware problems prevented it from be­ speeding the game-design process, ac­ ces Astro's Football, opening up the ac- coming a true success," he observes. cording to Ogdon. Now it is possible for The same could hardly be said of Og­ a company to get a game from a new ad­ don's next majOr effort, Gor(. The guid­ dition within six months, instead of the ing concept in this case was to give good two years it once took. After drawing a players a little more variety than found in picture of what he'd like on the screen, a the usual invasion game. The result was graphics programming language similar the first multi-field commercial arcade to FORTH allows him to animate it in unit. less than an houri "With this language," And then came Wizard of Wor " We Ogdon boasts, . 'you don't have to be a wanted to get away from simply moving nitty-gritty bit-biter." the gun left and right and shooting Right now, Ogdon is supervising a new upward, and we wanted a game which designer, Dave Armstrong's first project two people could play together or using this secret, patented system. He against each other," he says. "We decid- confidently predicts great success for Armstrong's Quest for the Orb pro­ gram for the Astro Arcade, due out later this year. And when those promised innovative Ogdon's design successes run the gamut designs reach the commercial arcades from sports titles like Football to SF and retail electronic game stores, it's a shoot.'em-ups like Space Fortress. safe bet that several of them will bear Bob Ogdon' s stamp of creativity. 6

Electr"onic Games 45 Las Vegas' Circus Circus Hotel/Casino combines electronic

II f a videogame designer built a city. it II would look like Las Vegas. The skyline is an eyeball-blasting symphony of every type and color of neon light ever con­ ceived by the mind of man . The famous Las Vegas Strip blazes from end to end with super-luxury hotellcasinos. each

aspiring to the ultimate in g.audy opulence. Even here. Circus Circus stands out as a breed apart. Its pink-and-white big tops proclaim its status as the city's first and foremost famil y-oriented fun palace. Like most of its competitors. Circus Cir­ cus features a huge casino on its main fioor. but the elevator to the mezzanine is the magic doorway into one of the country's most unusual arcades. The 1.610-room establishment de­ rives its name from the fact guests can view live circus acts 13 hours a day for free. Ringing the world's largest perma­ nent circus are old-fashioned carnival booths where skillful players can win val­ uable prizes and- you guessed itl- a huge coin-operated arcade crammed with nearly 100 videogames. There is no gambling on the mezza-

46 ElecCl"onic Games gaming action with the thrills of the big top.

nine, Just good wholesome fun- and lots of it. ''The idea was to give adults with children more incentive to come to Cir­ cus Circus," explains a spokesman for the hotel which operates a similar set -up in Reno as well. . 'Grown-ups ccin gamble downstairs, w hile their youngsters play up here under adult supervision in com­ plete safety. " Dave Marie. Circus Circus ' arcade manager, estimates that the arcade area hosts 200-300 gung-ho gamers at any one time. /\Ithough the original intention was to provide activities for younger children. Marie notes. many of the play­ ers actually fall into the 17-25 age group. The most popular games at Circus Cir­ cus are Donkey Kong, Poc Mon. Tempes( and Turbo, a hi-res road from Sega/Gremlin. Multiple copies of the same machine are always placed in a cluster arrangement. So when staying in the desert pleasure city, remember that all the excitement isn't at the gambling tables. Circus Cir­ cus' mezzanine is the center of arcading action 16hours a day. 6

Electr-onic Games 47 I

By LesPaul Robley A Humorous

ompetition. It can be a truly won­ Look at Some Nuclear Wargames C derful thing for a field such as elec­ Unlikely Future "General quarters! General tronic gaming. It drives creators to ever quarters!" All hands man the battle sta­ greater achievements in an effort to top Videogames tions! Check your bearings on the rival inventors when it comes to produ­ strategy chart - mmmence firing!!! Both cing games that are more exciting, more blare and fenders bend . If you beat the players possess an equal stockpile of colorful, more realistic! clock and punch in on time, a whistle nuclear and thermonuclear weaponry. Unfortunately, as more and more signals your triumph. But if you fail to First player to destroy his opponent's companies jump on the videogame achieve this goal, a grating computer half of the globe wins. (Two players) bandwagon, the number of possible sub­ voice let's you have it between the eyes jects available for conversion into com­ with a blunt "You're fired! " Prom Night ere p ute rized programs is It's time to put on your dwindling rapidly. In fact, at corsages, girls, and get out the rate things are going, your mace! It's prom r.ight videogame companies and there's a madman may find themselves em­ loose in the school building! bracing subjects they pre­ Is it the stranger seen lurk­ viously wouldn't have ing around campus during touched. girl's gym? Or could it be To prove this is no mere one of your closest friends idle speculation, here are who has a hang-up nobody some selections from a knows about? videogame catalog that Only your opponent recently came into my knows for sure as he possession. I have since cleverly corners and at­ heard that the ideas were tempts to slash you-and largely abandoned, but your computer-controlled with game subjects being classmates- into strips of used at the present rate, data tape. You narrowly who knows whether or stave off his attack as he not they will remain unex­ pursues you with baseball bats, hockey sticks and plored? ALIEN INVASION assorted phys ed equip­ Freeway Menace ment. Your opponent gains points for It's a no-holds barred race to the Alien Invaders every computer-operated classmate he death on the LA freeway system. You You are the head of a U.s. Border wipes out while you rack up points by are ten minutes late for work. Your job is Patrol crossing who must search incom­ eluding his crazed attacks. First player to over 30 miles away. Heavy traffic lies be­ ing trucks for illegal aliens without unduly score ten points- or eliminate the other tween you and an irate boss. Put your hindering law-abiding vehicles. Your op­ -wins . (Two players) driving skills to the test as you race ponent controls the smuggling opera­ against time and risk both whiplash and tion, hiding aliens in fruit trucks, storage Gang Wars job loss. Realistic sound effects added for bins and tourists ' luggage. Can you seal Alone, you are a member of a street your enjoyment: Tires screech. horns the border? (Two players) gang who has accidentally strayed onto

.. 8 Electronic: G~mes (III. Hap.!)

rival turf. Fighting against fearless Christians). almost insurmountable odds, you must use the Roman Circus II weapons at your disposal In the second version of -three knives, a zip gun, this sure-fire hit, the roles and a lead pipe . With luck, are reversed. You and an­ you may even meet up other player become the with computer controlled hungry animals, gaining members of your own points by devouring as gang-one of whom is a many Christians as possible martial arts expert! before the computer judge But watch out! Both signals the end of the time gangs are vulnerable to the limit. Bon appetite! randomly appearing roving police cars. The terrain PADI Scuba Scare RUSH HOUR DEAN C over which you struggle Spit in yo ur mask will constantly shift, calling for new tac­ stantly employed to stop theml and tighten up that weight belt, for you tics. Computer selects at random from and your opponent are diving buddies over 250 slum areas around the nation Roman Circus I this time. Using the U.s. Navy Dive (street maps with authentic scale are in­ You and a teammate find yourselves in Tables provided with this game car­ cluded in deluxe boxed set). Whip out a Roman arena, ca. 74 A.D., where you tridge, you and your buddy must dive to those joysticks and let 's rumble! (One compete for the righto worship the reli­ a depth randomly determined by the player) gion of your choosing. All around you are computer. You descend in murky, tur­ hungry lions, bears and Komodo bulent waters in search of the lost Medflies dragons, all computer controlled and all treasure of the Andrea Doria. With only Deluxe Medflies intent on eating you! Defeat them and 500 psi gauge pressure remaining in your (Platinum Star Edition) the computer sends out a regiment of tank you must conserve all your energy A variant of Asteroids, you are a gladiators to have at you. (One or two as your risk Decompression Sickness, farmer whose field is being Nitrogen Narcosis, and ravaged by a swarm of Subcutaneous Emphysema Mediterranean fruit flies. in a desperate attempt to With various forms of locate the treasure before pesticides, smoke and ba­ your buddy, and then zooka fire, you must save reach the surface in one your crops. But be piece. warned-too much fire­ But, be forwarned-var­ power could destroy your ious horrors of the deep in­ crops more quickly than cluding Sculpins, Sting Rays, the insects' Man 0' Wars, Orcas and In Deluxe Medflies, the Great White Sharks will try insects adapt quite readily to thwart your plans, as to your sprays, so new in­ well as your opponent­ secticides must be con- buddy who will stop at

NUClEAR WAR GAMES

Electr"Onic Games 49 nothing to get back what round of applause and he believes to be rightfully smiles from the faces of the his. He might resort to any onlooking students follows. of numerous tactics: turn­ Lose him, and a malprac­ ing up your regulator hose, tice suit develops. (For one puncturing your BC, and or two player/doctors, making a general nuisance depending upon the of himself by tangling you wealth of the patient.) up In giant bladder kelp. Be careful not to surface Porkbarrel too quickly, you might get This videogame/board­ the bends and have to game hybrid casts one to spend precious time in the eight gamers as members penalty recompression of the U.S. House of chamber while your buddy JAA CHAMPION JACKS Representatives, Starting moves on ahead. The first with a modest personal to break the surface with the treasure Lynch Mob fortune of $250.000 in small used bills, (and without exploding those fragile You ride out of town with a posse on each Congressman attempts to build this lungs from air embolism) wins the game. your trail. You've Just killed 41 innocent nest egg Into a cool million. For the loser, there's always the people. There's a $5,000 reward for There are several majOr means of repetitive dive, but the computer will your dead torso to be hanging from the amassing capital. A player can sell votes, keep track of your surface interval so highest tree . Today Just isn't your day, take bribes from foreign governments play it straight and fair. This is not recom­ pard. and - with Just a bit of timely wheeling mended for players suffering from Try and outwit your pursuers in a fun­ and dealing-make sure that the new chronic respiratory diseases or poor filled videogame romp of hide-and -seek interstate highway goes right through the pulmonary ventilation. This game licens­ and Hangman all rolled into one l vacant lot you Just "happened" to buy ed by the Professional Association of yesterday. Diving Injuries. Brain Transplant Of course, no Congressman's life is all You're racing against the clock to save blue skies and candy. There are Senate Teacher Terror your patient whose bram is undergoing investigations to dodge, nosy reporters It's your first day as pedagogue to an multiple hemorrhaging. Realistic blood to bamboozle and even an occasional unruly mob of high school students from effects' Screams of agony' AnaestheSia is election to survive, And you'd better low income areas. Risking abusive provided for optional use. Brain swells watch out for that oh-so-decorative behavior, derisive catcalls, pencil shavings realistically! secretary with the hidden Video camera' in your tobacco pouch, razor-toting fe­ If you are able to save the patient a Porkbarrel also includes a mini­ males and spitball sharp­ game for young arcaders. shooters, you must at­ 'Municipal Porkbarrel tempt to teach a lesson in lets players steal money personal hygiene to them, directly from the city The computer-controlled treasury. students will try and get to you- break your spirit­ Coming soon: any way they can. Ten points are awarded Video Horseshoes for each period you survive JAA Championship through. The longer the Jacks game goes on, however, Potato Yields in the more challenging it Brecklovik, Russia becomes. Unlimited scoring Video Coin Toss possible, but not really very Natural Disasters likely. Video Iconoclasm

DELUXE MEDFLIES SO Electronic Games IkU e live in a throughly right -handed By Cliff Blake North, South, East and West. Locate ...... world. If you doubt the truth of the brown wire connected to the East this. just ask the nearest southpaw. NewHope switch and unplug it. Everything from the location of door for Southpaw Step Five: Unplug the South (blue) knobs to the orientation of the handles wire and plug it into the East space . of a common pair of scissors is designed Arcaders Unplug the West (green) wire and plug it for the convenience of righties. into the South space. Unplug the North Videogames have been the same sad relatively simple steps. it's possible to re­ (white) wire and plug it into the West story. Until now. By following these wire any garden-variety Atari joystick to continued on page 61

meet the requirements of left -handed arcaders. • Step One: Turn the joystick upside • down and remove the four screws. Put them in a safe place. I Step Two: Separate the base from I I • the top of the stick. Be careful to keep I • track of the spring located under the fir­ I ing button. I Step Three: Find a circuit board with six wires attached to it (see fIgUre I). I I \ n some cases, all the wires are located •\ I I on one side of the board, while others I I \ I 5 have the wires attached on both sides. \ ---- 1______--- I The illustration shows both types of cir­ \ I, . 1- _- • ___ •--- cuit boards beforemodification. ~~'------~ Step Four: For convenience sake we will refer to the four direction switches as

Electronic ~me. 51 compUTEA PLAYLAN[]

Star Warrior /Epyx! On-screen adventurers are directed through the overhead­ Atari 400 & 8OO/32K Ever sincethe first electronic gamer sat view corridors, battle monsters, examine treasure chests and down before a video-generated text adventure, imagination rescue imprisoned fellows. soaring into realms of heroism and wizardry, the desire has With the advent of the Starquest series, however, graphic existed to actually seethe mystical and action elements taking adventures have moved into far more sophisticated territory. place out on the screen. Star Warrior presents the gamer as an on-screen avenger The concept of cross-breeding sophisticated adventure known as a "Fury", paladins who wear highly-advanced and programs with their puzzles, mazes and traps with the weapon-packed exo-skeleton. Inside this futuristic suit of animated-graphics of the arcade games is not new. The armor, a player can take mighty Hulk-style leaps, problem has essentially been a rnatter of the personal fire blasters and even fly! Here's the computer's limited memory. With today's micros scenario: The planet of Fomax has really taken limited memory capacity,even the cream of the hybrid its lumps from the old Stellar Union. After action-adventures seems to skimp on one element or a year of abuse and SUbjugation,Fomax the other. Those games with strong storylines suffer has had it and calls the Furies, in the per­ with weak visuals, just as the eye-popping son of the Intrepid arcader. There are spectaculars frequently leave much two alternative adventures.The first

to be desired in terms of substance. is diversionary~ettingup the W ithin the past year, however, giant military governor of Fornax strides have been taken toward elevating for assasination--in which the adventure to a point where neither garner overtly raises a ruckus, element gets short shrift. One of the leaders drawing attention and blowing in .h is movement has been Automated up anything in sight. Simulations/Epyx, whose Rescue at The second scenario has Rigel and Datestones of Ryn you actually hunting were early dassics. The game was down the military presented in simple maze form, governor and delivering with the option of character a personal serving of movement via keyboard or joystick. heavy retributJon,

52 EJecb"onlc Gamel ~fT~W~ V DEO US! 9- @J A special message o for electronic games retailers I N CORPo Rf\TE..P

Playing electronic games is now America's fastest-growing hobby. Here are some facts : * More than 10 million Quarters are dropped i,nto current coin-op champ "Pac-Man" every single day. * Nearly 5 million programmable videogame systems are hooked up to U.S. TVs already. Four million more are expected to be sold this year alone, along with 30 million game cartridges to play on them. * Sales of computer games are expected to exceed 1 million units by the end of the year. ELECTRONIC GAMES, the first-and only-magazine devoted 1\ to this booming field, is growing as fast as the high-tech hobby it covers. Our premier issue was a newsstand '. phenomenon, with many dealers re­ porting sell-outs. Our second issue promises more of the same. So if you sell videogame systems, hand-held games, or computer "Quite a bit: What's new and improved with you?" games, you should also be sening ELECTRONIC GAMES Magazine. As an EG retailer, you'll earn a good pro­ fit on every copy you sell (of course, all unsold copies are fully returnable). You'll also b.e providing your custom­ NOW, ers with that special "extra" that will bring them back to your store again the official and again. To get all the information you need VIDEOGAME PLAYERS' to Join the ELECTRONIC GAMES retailer program, fill out and mail the coupon below. There's no obliga­ T-Shirts tion, so do it today. ELECTRONIC Join the.vldeo game revolution . Just '595 GAMES Magazine is growing fast . by wearing these official shirts ... and we cordially invite you to grow the chOiceof Video gamers everywhere' with us. • 100% pre· shrink callan OPTIONALDEFINITIONS • Super Comfortable VideoAce: An expert: very Mail to : ELECTRONICGAMES • Colors: Btue. White. Tan skillful : having much traIning Retailer Program • Beautifully silkscreened In and knowledge In the 235 Park Avenue South dark blue Ink operat,on of Video games. New York, NY 10003 • Sizes: SM(34'36) Vidiol: One who Willingly MED(38·40) LG(42·44) suffers extreme. prolonged XLGI46·) exposure to Video games YES, send me information on • OptIonal dlcllonary·type Vidiocy. The state of being a v,d,ot ...... ', .. . .• •. . , the ELECTRONIC GAMES re­ definitions for backs of shirts ORDERYOURS TODAY! Mail To nftZWaUE tailer program, Sairsiacl,on Guaranlee~r Bo. 7276 • Eugene.OR 97401-0012

I Mail To FRfTZWflllE: P.D. BOX 7276 EUGENE,OR 97401-0012 t782 N. 5th Springfield. OR 97477 I My Name .------­ I YES. FRITZ. f wanllo wear Ihese great shirls! 0 Enclosed IS my check for the amount plus postage I Store Name o Please send __ VideoAce shirts @ 5.95 and handling I Color__ Slze._ __ Color Size _ 0 Please charge my VISA 0 MasterCard Account I Store Address I 0 Please send __ Vidiol shIrts @ 595 r I Color__ Size__ Color__ Slze _ Acct# exp ___ _ City I [J Special savings 2 shirts for $t p.95 I I " Definition on back for only $1 00 Name State Zip r:rOffiCial certificates for framing @ 2 50 ------;------I I _ __ VideoAcB_ __ Vidiot Address I My Position itle (please add $1.50 postage & handling for first shirt EG5 1----_---.------.I 50' additional shirts) • City State__ Zlp I The graphics here are nothing short of stupendous. The on­ Oearly modeled on Atari 's coin-op. Centipede, Bug At­ screen Fury passesover several types of terrain. encounters a tock just doesn't offer enough of the features that make Cen­ wide range of enemy vehicles and installations (both military tipede such a great game. Leaving aside the issueof how close and civilian. It may be neccessaryto actually fiy right over the an imitation is too close, it is reasonable to suppose that a fortress itself to distinguishone from the other. The various in­ designer starting with a terrific game for inspiration should go stallations are rendered in multi-colored detail and explosions on to produce at least a good one . BugAttock is dull gaming. are depicted as slowly blossoming mushroom clouds. Centipede's great sound effects and vertical movement are The gamer's weapons Include blaster and powergun. to entirely missing.Instead, the player is "treated" to the strains knock out small armored assaultveh icles-and misSiles.which of ' 'When johnny Comes Marching Home" , perhaps lessthan are for use against military forts and instaJiations. MisSilesare appropriate accompanyment to the action. All the arcader aimed through the use of a numbered multi-directional com­ has to do is avoid the falling knives and blast the centipede~ike pass(" I " is north. "2" northeast, etc.). All instructions are in­ creatures that populate the playfield. put via the keyboard and are broken up into movement, The game begins with a colorful title page and a huge explo­ combat and special type commands. sion. Little insectoid critturs move across the top of the field The on-screen display not only offers an impressive. slightly­ on funny little legs. dropping knives as they scuttle along. angled overview of the sector but lists wounds, energy. Movement by the bugs is slow and tedious, and most action­ charges, missiles and time in addition to constantly updated game fans should have little trouble dispatching them whether status reports on shields. wounds, sensors and the nearest controlling the friendly beetles with paddle or keyboard. enemy unit. After the player completes the first wave. the ~rogram Star Warrior is an adventure for lovers of action-arcade awards bonus points. shifts the color of the surrounding plants games that will also delight quest-loving arcaders. By limiting and sends In the next wave of attackers. the scope of the overall task to destruction and assasinationit Not to be totally negative, the graphics are quite excellent is unnecessaryto give the plot line short shrift. while the visual and, in particular, the title page blow-up is superb. presentation, as mentioned. is totally state of the art. (Bill And although the sonic capabilities of the Apple are Kunkel) not too impressive, Cavalier again gets the most out of what 's available. Over all, Bug Attock is

Bug Attack/ Cavalier Computer/Apple 11/48K disk a disappointment, especially when compared This program proves that no one can score a bullseye every to past Cavalier successeslike Star Thief As time. Cavalier Computer. which has given Apple II owners a kids on Dick Oark's " American Bandstand" couple of fine games in the last year or so, has unfortunately used to say, "I rate this one a 65." missed the mark with Bug Attack. (Leigh Goldstein)

Crush, Crumble & Chomp!! Automated Simulations/Apple 11/48Kdisk Attention. japanese monster mavens. the game you've always wanted is finally here. Why just stand on the sidelines and watch Godzilla. Rodan and the rest of the superstar creatures topple Tokyo or bite the Big Apple when you can join the fun? Designersjon Freeman and J.W. Connelley have produced a lighthearted, easy-to-operate program that lets any arcader be the very image of any beast that has ever stalked, slithered, fiown or oozed across the silver screen. In fact, the disk ver­ sion tested by Electronic Games even lets players custom­ design the creature of their foulest dreams. Not only can you select the monster with exactly the destructive ability you most admire. but the menu-driven pro­ gram will even allow you to choose which of four world capitals- New York. Tokyo. San Francisco or Washington. D.C.- will crumble into rubble in the face of your inhuman wrath. A range of five possible objectives for the creature allows precise tailoring of any scenario.

54 Electronic Games Crush.Crumble and Chomp!IS a solitaire strategy game. The player enters commands usingone-letter codes In response to an on-screen prompt. Orders cover such diverse activities as grabbing humans, stomping buildingsor spewing flaming death at the National Guard . The computer then moves all the puny humans, indicates how fires spread and, in general. or­ chestrates the activities of the creature-hunters. Dexterity game fans will find Crush.Crumble and Chomp!in­ credibly frustrating. The creatures are, in general. lumbering behemoths who changedirection only with the greatest reluc­ tance. There are also many times when the prey you've stalk­ ed so carefully flees JUstbefore you can scoop it up for dinner. A monster's lot is not necessarilya happy one. Although Crush. Crumblehas a violence quotient that might be objectionable in a realistic. seriously intended game. here It is clearly all in fun. Nevertheless. it is far from a cakewalk for the creature . The monsters are powerful. but the human forces outnumber them so overwhelmingly that the ineVltabie end of each scenario is the death of the beast. Causing the maximum possible amount of havoc before biting the dust IS the goal. Jon Freeman deserves extra credit for his outstanding job on the instruction book. Automated Simulations often tries to convey the flavor of the program in the rulebook, not always to the benefit of the areader hoping to learn a new game. Freeman managesto provide all the needed information in clear. organized form while maintaining the humorous tone so vital to Crush. Crumble. Automated has also gone out and hired an artist. George Barr. whose charming, high-qualrty IllustratiOnsdress up the booklet quite a bit. Crush. Crumbleand Chomp!is offbeat. fascinatingand~ost important--a solidly constructed strategy game that will be more than just a seldom-played curio in your collection. (Arnie Katz)

Thief,oatamostlApple II/48K disk Thief is one of the finest maze-shoot<>ut programs, a type of game pioneered by Berserk, available for home use. In fact, if it could talk. this might be the best of any type available for this popular computer system. The goal In Thlefis to rescue a compatriot who ISwounded somewhere on the seventh level. The arcader employs the joystick or paddle to move the on-screen character from room to room-seen in overhead perspective-killing the robots that seek to bar the way. The first level (of seven) is easy. The robots move slowly

Electronic. Gam@$ 55 IHERE'S H.OW TO SUBSCRIBETO electranic GAmES MagazIne . • • • And enloy previews of all the newest, best, most challenging games! Reviews of the lates, equipment-from your point of view as a player! Valuable gaming stategy that can make you a better player! Guided tours of the most exciting commercial arCiadesl Entertaining features on all aspects of electronic gaming! And much morel

ELiCTRONIC GAMES is the first-and only-magazine devoted exclusively to playing videogames, com­ puter games, stand-alone games, and arcade games. To start home delivery, insure that you don't miss a single issue because of newsstand sell-outs, and save over 15% on the single-copy cost at newsstands, lust fill out and mail the order card you~1Ifind in this issue. (If the order card is missing or has already been used by a friend, cut out and mail the coupon below.)

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Electronic Games 19 clean of robots, it IS Important to combine speed and thoroughness. Shoot as many androids as possible, let the blob have the rest and zip into the adjoining room for the next confrontation. Thiefis a superb game-and highly recommended. (Leigh Goldstien) Shooting Gallery/Analogi Atari 400 & '2I:JJI16K cassette Starting out as a user's group magazine for owners of the Atari computers, ANAL. O .G. has now jumped into the software-producing market with both feet. Its inrtial trio of releasesrange from fair to excellent, but all show promise and a real touch for getting the most from the Atari graphic generators. Shooting Gallery is a BASIC program with machine language sub-routines. Unhappily, the tape is not loaded via "Ooad", but rather by typing " Run: C" , and will not load when any disk drive or other peripheral is attached t9 the computer. Sinceour copy proved an ordeal to load, the ability to transfer the program to disk would be a real boon . It's understandable that the manufacturer does not Wishto see its programs pirated, but there is more than a touch of hypocrisy involved. Unless, of course, AN A L.O .G is paying royalties to SegaiGremlin for Carnival, which is the obvious basis of this game. $ 29.95 For Appler ShootmgGallery ISjust that. Owls, bunnies, ducks, etc. ap­ and don't fire back at the player. As the difficulty factor in­ pear at the top of three rows and slide across the playfield, creases, the robots develop qUick reactions and dischargei n­ moving down a row if they are not hit until they reach the very tense laser fire. Eachsucceeding level of difficulty is indicated by bottom horizontal column. Players manipulate a six shooter a change in the color of the walls. acrossthe bottom of the screen, firingup at the various targets The player begins the game with three men, though an ex­ with available bullets symbolically represented in the lower tra can be earned by amassing 2,000 points. A thief IS left -hand comer of the display. If the ducks reach all the way to destroyed by the robots' laser beams, collision with a wall or the bottom, they devour several of the player's remaining the touch of the unearthly blob. This smiling stalker appears bullets. on the screen when the character has stayed too long in one Among the more exotic targets are the clay pipes. They room. It zigzagsacross the field, destroying all in its path. also move across the top of the playfteld and must all be This well-animated game plays extremely fast. Manyar­ eliminated to clear the targets and get a shot at the bonus caders, this reviewer Included, will have trouble getting very bear. There are also targets and stars, which are good for ex­ far into the third (orange) level of difficulty. The joystick is well­ tra bullets. If a gallery is deared and bullets remain, they are integrated into the game, and it is easy to move and fire quite worth heavy bonus points. rapidly. It can therefore be worthwhile to avoid picking off the final Unless you 've got the reflexes of Mandrake the Magician, it few targets, waiting for bonus-bullet items to come along and will be necessary to take full advantage of every aspect of the work up a good supply of ammo. But be watchful! The second game. This most definitely includes the unearthly blob. Since the screen starts to fill with ducks, clear the wall as soon as the bounCing face always enters from the left-hand doorway, possible. it is possible to station the thief directly in front of the right­ The graphics are generally pleasing. though much larger hand exit and have the blob disintegrate all the remaining than those in its coin-op progenitor. This gives the game a metal men. Be ready to scoot, though, becausethe unearthly slightly clunky look. The background calliope music, on the blob doesn't mind a thief for dessert after one of its robot other hand, makes a delightful touch, as do the many other feasts. sound effects which are handled with real expertise . (Bill Since bonus points are awarded for leaving a room !)Wept Kunkel) 6

Electronic Games 57 •••••••••••

Editor's note: In November of 1981 , EG through the corridor as smoothly as strategy editor and IS-year -old video­ By Frank Tetro Jr. possible. The slalom gates turn up very game whiz kid Frank Tetro became the close together and it occasionally hap­ first gamer (to our knowledge) to win a pens that the skier must navigate gates tournament title on two separate pro­ Intellivision Tips that are parallel, but are located at totally grammable systems. After coming to opposite sides of the playfleld. our attention during Atari's New York from a Champ In this case sweep through the closest Space Invaders regional, where he gate, then go instantly into a 1800 turn compiled the highest official score in the bock up the slope to a point higher than entire competition, and playing for over hill, where the poles are more widely the second gate, and then swing down an hour, Frank began eying the gaming spaced, on any slope, once you have through it. horizon for other worlds to conquer. memorized the mogul and gate positions A similar tactic can be employed when This past winter, during Intellivision's they will never vary. This provides the a regular gate is missed . That is, just Philadelphia \/ideolympics, he did it again. gamer with a tremendous advantage by sweep back up the slope and through After working his way through a grueling allowing him to begin the turn into a gate the gate. Remember that a missed gate gaunt:et of Skiing and USAC Auto before it even appears on the playfield. costs a five-second penalty, so any Racing eliminations, he went head to When turning through a gate, don't maneuver that would take longer is head with the sole remaining survivor at ease around or move in a jerky manner. counter-productive. Major League Baseball and walked Every turn costs time, so work at arcing Jumping moguls is fairly simple so long away with the championship. ~ __ ------__ as the leap is made at the last In a special installment of possible second. Anything else "Strategy Session", Frank will cause the back of the skis shares the secrets that helped to catch the outcropping, him pick up a Master Compo­ resulting in a spill. nent, big-screen projection Stay away from the edges TV and complete set of In­ of the playfields to avoid tellivision games. trees. Whenever possible, ski straight down the hill, as this is SklingiMattelllntelilvision the fastest way to travel. I The most important thing have also found it wise to to keep in mind with this car­ 1t avoid use of the "swoosh" tridge is that the gate posi­ I· button. Intended to sharpen tions-and even the moguls­ the angle of a turn, it generally never change. Whether run­ complicates things and causes ning the slalom course, in a fall. which the gates are grouped (fill for 2 lines at I 0 picas) closely together, or the down- SKIING 58 Electronic Games USTR

AUTO RACING BASEBAll.

USAC Auto RacingiMattelllntellivsion You may even want to take a sip of soda. fellow racer gets set to ram you, hit the For some obscure reason, there are eat dinner or read a book. The game will brake sharply and watch the car fiy on two verisons of this program curently in not resume until you start it back up, and past you, off the road and into a ditch. distribution. The difference isn't in the it's much better to get back on the road Since Auto Rocingfeatures multiple seg­ video portion, but in the procedure for with a clear head. ments of an overall track displayed one steering. The earlier edition used' 'com­ In a two-player race, begin by simply section at a time, once a player reaches pass" steering. Pressing the control disc running your opponent off the road. This the end of the on-screen track, he IS at "12 o'clock" sent the on-screen auto will aggravate him and may affect his awarded a Single "ahead" point. If you due north, and so forth. judgement. After a while, he may even find yourself with a good lead on your The new technique is . 'steering decide to fight fire with fire. As your opponent, however, and he looks like he wheel" style. Players must visualize may crash, hit the brake. A crash is themselves actually Inside the car, since worth two points, versus the single one hitting the disc at "90' clock" produces a (NORTH) gained by an . 'ahead". UP left turn, regardless of the vehicle' s POSI­ tion on the road. Keep thiS in mind when Major League BasebaJllMattelf following the strategy. r Intelhvision USAC Auto Racing works best as a It's the measure of a good sports simu­ (EAST) one-player game, with the arcader RIGHT lation when the strategy mirrors that of choosing from among a qUintet of cars the game on which it is based. The list of with a variety of positive and negative hints for improved play on Major qualities. As with SkIIng, memorize the League Baseball will seem very famil­ track as quickly as possible. This enables iar to mavens of the American Pastime, drivers to begin difficult "elbow" turns therefore, since virtually every element before they appear on screen. Except of the real thing- with the sad exception (SOUTH) on the gentlest curves, never of fiy balls---is duplicated In this excell'ent turn DOWN videogame version. gradually. Sharp turns are almost always Two control modes for AUTO RACING: a safe bet, and always keep a finger (U) original compass type control was used On offense, the most Important skill is poised on the brake. just in case. while (D) new style uses left-right steering learning how to place hits. Swinging early Players will occasionally find them­ tends to pull the ball, Just as swinging late STRAIGHT selves spinning off the highway onto the AHEAD sends it to the opposite field. Best place­ grass or even into a pond. \;\/hen rear ment for hits is between second and wheels are stuck In water. ride the brake short, with a hard shot in the hole be­ heavily when disengaging. OtherWise, tween short and third a nice secondary the car will take off at normal speed, target. streak across the road and probably Always hit behind the runner to avoid slam into a house on the other side. the double play. Since this version of All games are clocked, but a crash baseball even allows stealing bases, It is stops the timers. Most players rush to important for the human coach to learn get back into the race after cracking up. just how much of a lead IS safe to take. This is unwise. The clock will not restart Two steps IS perfect. At this distance, if until the player does. Relax a moment, the runner is sent at the very instant that collect yourself and take a deep breath. the pitcher raises hiS arm to signify the Electronic Games 59 start of his motion, he will and travel swiftly through the af\Nayssteal second successful­ sectors toward the ramp , ly. It is important to realize, where they either explode or however, that the pitcher actively pursue the gamer's gives no sign when throwing blaster . back to first for a pick-off. Tempest offers a series of Therefore, watch for the first difficulty levels. Avoid the baseman to turn black. This " novice" level, as the earl y indicates that he has been acti­ phases are manageable by vated in order to get to his even tyro gamers. Also, be­ base and catch the ball. Jackie ginning at any level higher Robinson-style leads are gen­ than" novice " earns a hefty erally to be avoided, how­ 5,000 bonus points after the ever, as computer pitchers succesful defense of the first are notor iously difficult to platform. rattle. Arcaders have two w ea­ The bunt button seems pons : blasters and super­ generally useless, except for a TEMPEST zappers. The latter is strictly suicide squeeze. With a run- for emergency use. The first ner on third, send him home as the pit­ when a ball gets past the infielder, don't time it's used, it obliterates all alien life cher begins his motion, then bunt. The have him chase it. Activate the nearest forms on the screen. It can be used only resulting confusion will frequently suc­ outfielder. Also, on long throws, always once more on each platform defense at ceed in disorienting your opposing use relay men to get the baill wherever which point it will eliminate one attacker coach. it's going that much faster. on a priorit y basis , t aking the most Learning defense must begin with ac­ dangerous first . The super-zapper is re­ quiring a familiarity with the players and Coin-Op ComerfT empestlAtari charged after each defense , and the their positions on the keypad's mylar Tempest, Atari 's first vector graphics blaster has an infinite ammo supply. overlay. Some players, especially those system videogame in color is not only the On the intitial two levels, the only with airtight defensive abilities, simply most visually striking coin-op around, but serious attackers are the flippers, claw­ throw nothing but heat-fastballs right one of the most challenging as wel1. The like objects that skitter along the ramp in down the middle-in order to detract scenario places the arcader in command search of the blaster . Should they seize from their fielding preparation. The of a blaster with which he must patrol it , they leap with it into the vortex, leav­

drawback here lies in the batter's ability the ramp~likeperimeter of a series of ing the gamer down a 'life ." From the to more easily time these pitches and geometrically-shaped space platforms. . third level on , tankers-wh ich burst into thereby hit them to any field virtually at These come in two types, flat-edged a pair of flippers when hit-j oin in the will. A fastball curving over the outside (w ith 15 corr idors ) and rO Linded melee. Once a flipper gains the ramp it corner is a much better percentage (possessing 16 sectors). The player man­ can be destroyed only when moving pitch. euvers his blaster around the perimeter from sector to sector. With their claw in Pitchers can take advantage of the of the patform, defending it against a the air, they are vulnerable . Spikers also other coach's inclination to steal bases veritable rogues gallery of space-nasties. make their appearance at this pOlnt­ when that problem arises. Throw to first These enemy forces materialize at the bright blue curls that build up deadly base, drawing the runner back to the center of the platform's configuration spikes, capable of impa'iing blasters dur­ bag. Then have the first base­ ing the Jump from amp to man immediately return the ramp. Spikes must be whit­ ball so the hurler can pitch tled down piece by piece . home instantly with all possible Fuseballs show up at level heat. This will not only catch I I , and pulsars appear at 17. your opposite number off Like flippers, the deadly pul­ guard regarding his baserun­ sars stalk the blaster. ner, but his batter as well. Strategy up to ramp 33 is In rundowns, keep in mind simplicity itself: Stand still . that the defensive players are Players almost invariably spin always faster than the offen­ wildly around the ramp, firing sive ones. Run the player to­ blindl y . This is a loser's ward the next base, pinning strategy, putting all probability him, where he can be either against the player, because tagged or tossed out at the there are more attack zones last instant. than can be patrolled even by Two major tips : Never automatic fire . Instead, find a throw behind the runner and, TEMPEST Continued on page 69 60 Elecb'onic Games na}aHHHH~ four screws, and you've got a genuine AVE ON VIDE left -handed Joystick with the firing button ATARI. GAME & Lefl-Handl!d located in the upper right-hand corner. CARTRIDGES Continued from page 5 I As easy as this procedure is, some PacMan people would rather have · it done for Asteroids. Maze Craze . Free­ way. Kaboom. Super Breakout. :rHHH:HHH~ them. My company, Screen Sanies, St . Haunted House. Barnstorming. space. Finally. take the East (brown) wire Louis, Mo., w ill re-wire your stick for $5, Grand Prix. I Magic Cartridges. which you previously disconnected and Including postage and handling, Or we'll Freeway. Breakouf. Night Driver. Air sea plug it into the North space. be glad to sell you a new Atari left ­ Write for current price list on Step Six: Replace the board in the handed joystick for $ I 5 postage paid . all Atarl 8r Mattei Games controller. not forgetting t hat pesky So right-handers beware. here come l MAnEL INTELEVISION & spring under the firing button. Insert the the left·handed arcaders 6 CARTRIDGES Boxing. Bowling. Space • Armada. Astrosmash Starstrike. " " • • • • • • • • • Baseball. Football. Soccer (3. " " Tennis. Golt . • Write for current price list on all Atarl 8r Mattei Games • All items subject to price change and [Ib(3Q • availability . Add $1.50 tor shipping & handling . I. Over 3 items SOC per additional item. , • Shipping & handling tor games $4.00 Outside Conltnental USA • Addlltonal Shipping Send check or money order to: • nlk-nat 4 Elderd lane '

~~~~q~N Lake Hiawatha"" NJ 07034 201-334-",085

Electr'onic Gam e s 61

LooKing for people who share your interest in arcading?

By Willy Richardson ______

_...".,. -­Jrpfw-.I.'

IHrHIS ISSU . --",~,...,.~ =.::!'?~( .~o...... _."". c-.- ...... J'\ ru 11\ " 10" ­ II, :t~~~1,'.:' ,~ "oFW'" ,Iii I n ', 111\1"'1.. " I.! II • .t.

irds of a feather fiock together, as B the old saw goes, and it's certainly been true in the case of hobbyists. Whe­ C,TIVISIOHS ther it's stamp collectors, model rail­ roaders or electronic gamers, every­ body enJOYssharing their interest with kindred spirits, talking about favorite items, comparing successes and failures. It was only a matter of time. there­ fore , before electronic gaming clubs be ­ gan sprouting like mushrooms. Most Many of these organizations, par­ gaming clubs are of one of two l ypes: the ticularly the videogame clubs, users group and the fan club. offer newsletters or magazines Users Unite! packed with gaming info. The founders of the early game clubs were great believers in the adage" If you want something done right. do it your­ self." The first users group formed Atari also suffered from a lack of soft­ around the Bally Professional Arcade . ware at the time of ItS release. Seeing the After Bally decided to dump the home problem, the manufacturer itself began generating interest by fostering the crea­ programmable supersystem they'd dev­ The storyline is similar in the world of eloped, owners found themselves adrift. personal computers. The orig inal tion of users groups and provIding pro­ Except for the few existing game car­ TRS-80, possessing neither sound nor gramming instruction for designers. tridges, there was no software for the color, was not exactly the ideal system APEX. the Atar i Program Exchange, BPA and little promise of any developing for turning out exciting games, and the was established as a clearing house for the fine software CI-eated by indepen­ down the line. So fans took matters into initial Radio Shack releases were general­ their own hands, using the Bally BASIC ly disappointing. So, once again, gamers dent users . cartridge (which has an input slot that took matters into their own hands. A Videogame Clubhouses allows programs to be recorded onto group of TRS-80 programming wizards The most recent trend in the gaming audio casette tape). A pair of clubs, Cur­ formed Big Five Software to produce club movement has been the initiation of sor and the Arcadians began publishing games on a level owners had never seen company-run clubs for system owners. newsletters, programs and even ready­ before. Atari VCS fans can get information on to-run games on tape in Bally BASIC. The Apple situation was, at that time, bot h home and coln-op games from

Both clubs are still going strong (though bette~and worse. Though Apple itself George Dakota's Atan Age newsletter, Cursor is now known as The Bolly was producing no game software, and published for members of t he Awn Express), though Astrovision's purchase despite the system's audio limitations Game Club. A similar newsletter IS being of the Professional Arcade and release of (sound is generated by a small, internal turned out by Mattei for its new Intellivi­ new software has given the unit sunnier speaker), the computer seemed per­ Slon Game Club. prospects. Astrovision has even lent a fectly made for gaming. Its bright colors Activlsion aces can get all the latest helping hand to the users by introducing and smooth action soon Inspired inde­ news, as well as the top scores on ACTV a new, improved form of BASIC model­ pendent programmers across the nation games from around the country via the ed on Palo Alto Tiny BASIC that allows to form users groups, and a legion of cot­ outfit's color publication, Act/viSIOns. the creation of even more intricate game tage-evesoftware companies sprang up Odyssey Adventure, meanwhile, is a gor­ software. almost overnight. geous, full -color magazine for 0 2 mavens

Electronic Games These groups can greatly increase your enjoyment of the hobby.

that not only gives news and behind-the­ ters and organizations out there waiting Odyssey Adventure (Ceco Publishing scenes features, but actually runs instruc­ to help. Co ., 30400 Van Dyke, Warren, MI tions and playing boards for super-games Computer Clubs 48093) 2 that involve several different 0 pro­ If you 're one of the growing legion of Atari Game Club (P.O. Box AGC, grams at various phases of play. microcomputer owners, the var.ious Half Moon Bay, CA 94019) e So whether you own a programmable local clubs and user groups may have a system, a computer or are simply think­ lot to offer. ing about it, there are plenty of newslet- Not only do such organizations pro­ vide lots of good fellowship, but they are often a source for amateur-designed game programs that sometimes put the work of the professionals to shame . Sometimes, you can even get to test games before you spend hard-earned cash.

SKIING PATCH

KABOOH I PATCH

ICE HOCKEY PATCH

Where to Write : Arcadians (Robert Faris, 3626 Morrie Dr" San Jose, CA 95127) Bally Express (Fred Cornett. PO. Box 1763. Big Bear Lake. CA 92315) I •••••• i Activisions (Activision. Inc" 3 255-2 - -- -- .. FREEWAY PATCH Scott Blvd" Santa Clara, CA 95051) LASER BLAST PATCH .. BARS Electronic Games 65

,/ ,,--.

/ /' / Sizing Up -- , Electronic " ..... / ,. / /' " '\ , -, " , Basketball

asketball fans are definitely the orphans of the electronic isn't nearly that mysterious. The problem is that the qualities • gaming world. Despite the overwhelming worldwide that make the sport so popular-non-stop action, active popularity of roundball as both a spectator and participation defense and precisely patterned passing-have proven the sport, it has only rarely been the subject of a videogame car­ hardest things to translate into game terms. Any prpgram that tridge or microcomputer simulation. doesn't incorporate such key aspects ,at least to some extent, In fact, there are far more videogames covering such sports isn't going to have the "feel" of the real sport. So it's under­ as auto racing, soccer and skiing than there are programs standable that software companies have shied away from in­ which deal with basketball. At the present time, Odyssey, troducing programs that most arcaders would probably con­ Atari and Mattei all produce hoop cartridges for their pro­ sider unsatisfactory. Hopefully, as the capabilities of the hard­ grammable videogame machines, and Atari also makes a ware-and the expertise of the designer/programmers-in­ ROM cart for its 400/800 computers. Neither Astrovision nor crease, basketball games will become more feasible and, Zircon offer basketball games for, respectively, the Astro Pro­ ultimately, more numerous. fessional Arcade or the Channel F II. Odyssey was the first company to risk producin$ a hoop car­ The situation on the coin-op front is even more disappoint­ tridge, which it introduced to the arcading public in 1978. ing. Back when electro-mechanical devices dominated the Although its Basketball had some good points, it also poss­ commercial fun centers, there were actually several basketball essed a few glaring deficiencies. machines, most of them distantly related to the long-lived Admittedly, those were pioneering days for electronic ar­ home game Bas-ket. Those games vanished when electronic cading. Many cartridges that inspire only a polite yawn today devices took over their floorspace in the arcades, and only were considered pretty hot stuff at the time. Still, Basketball Atari has manufactured a basketball coin-op to fill the void. was rather nondescript even back then (the cartridge is a de­ Is there some vast and sinister conspiracy against basketball­ cent value, however, since it also includes Bowling.) loving gamers? Do cloaked and hooded men gather in dark Odyssey Basketball presents two human coaches with a places for secret ceremonies involving spitting on the grave of side view of the court with one on-screen athlete per team, Dr. Naismith? Can we blame it all on the football fans? colored red and blue for easy identification. The ball is Thankfully, the answer to all three questions is, "No." The automatically dropped from the top center of the playfield reason why there aren't more electronic basketball games and becomes the property of the first man to touch it. The

ATARI BASKETBALL (400/800) ATARI BASKETBALL (Yes) Electronic Games 67 ,/ --- ,..--- - ,/ "'---- ...... ,/ / ./' ---. /' / ---- , / ,/ " / - -,/ \ / ,/ ,/ I player on offense has eight seconds to shoot by pressing the MatteI's NBA Basketball cartridge for the Intellivision action button or the opponent takes over possession. There's cops the prize as the most true-to-life videogame hoop title. no control over the force behind the shot or the ball's arc of Someone did a lot of court-side studying before programming fiight toward the basket. The defender can steal the ball by this one . touching it just as the offense hoists one up. Surprisingly, considering Mattei's usual emphasis on visuals, The game does contain one major advance over the Pong­ graphics definitely takes a backseat to play-action. The render­ type programs on which it appears to be based. The court ing of the three-man teams in this two-person contest is floor is really an electronic blocky and utilitarian, but the gravity field that makes the design features the most ball bounce realistically. realistic and comprehensive The relative merits of Bill passing game ever created for Russell and Wilt Chamberlain fans of electronic roundball. have fueled endless argu­ When the team goes on ments among hoop fans, but the offense, the human coach there's no similar debate directs the hoopster with the about which game designer ball, while the computer has contributed the most to moves his two cohorts in an electronic basketball. Activi­ appropriate manner. The sion's Alan Miller, then work­ mylar controller overlays ing at Atari, invented the first divide the court into nine trapezoidal videogame play­ zones. To pass, the coach field for that company's with the ball pushes the Basketball cartridge. desired section of the court This innovation, which has on the overlay, and the ball also come in handy in simu­ leaves the on-screen athlete's INTELLIVISION BASKETBALL lating other sports like tennis hands and heads for the ap­ and soccer, gives the court width as well as length and height. pointed spot. The toss will be caught by one of the other That introduces the possibility of positional play and a passing players on the offensive team, assuming the computer can get game, though Atari Basketball, like the Odyssey cartridge of one there in time. Otherwise, it becomes a loose ball and is the same title, is strictly one-on-one action . likely to sail out of bounds. It is also possible that a man from Hitting the' 'game reset" switch causes the ball to be tossed the rival team will intercept the heave and take possession. into the air between the two opposing players. The first one Basketball for the Atari 400/800 computer is essentially a to reach the ball after the opening tap can use the joystick to dressed-up cousin of the VCS original. The on-screen dribble into position for a good shot. The defender can try to characters are well-drawn and smoothly animated, and it's steal by aligning the on-screen character's feet with those of possible to execute some snappy passes. the ball handler and swiping the ball between bounces. This is the most versatile of all the hoop cartridges. It can be The player on offense has some control over the shooting played by one or two arcaders against computer opposition phase. Pressing the action button causes the player to stop or head-to-head with either one- or two-man teams. The dribbling and hold the ball. If the arcader releases the button computer generates enough defense to keep the humans while the player has the ball over his head, the result is a long honest, which means that it plays like the old Boston Celtics in arcing shot. If the ball is launched while the player is holding the the closing minutes of tight games. ball low and in front, it will be a softer shot. The defender Passing is very tricky. The action buttons on the joysticks doesn't have to just stand around waiting while the guy with controlling both the player throwing the ball and the one cat­ the ball takes aim. When the coach pushes the button, the ching it must be pressed just about simultaneously for the man guarding the shooter will leap into the air and attempt to maneuver to take place. When two gamers play against the block. computer (or each team is commanded by two human Atari Basketballis also one of the few sports cartridges that coaches), shouts of "Pass! Pass!" periodically fill the air as ar­ can be played solitaire. The computer-directed team's de­ caders try to coordinate the button-pressing. fense varies according to the closeness of the score. If the Since this is a rather sparse crop of games, it's fortunate that human-coached side falls behind, the computerized opponent prospects for additional ones, especially in the computer field, takes a vacation on defense and roams the court aimlessly. But look bright. A strategy-oriented program and, just possibly, a let the arcader's time tie or even take the lead, and the statistical replay one could be available by the opening tap of computer-directed guard becomes a sticky-fingered shadow the 1982-1983 NBA season if manufacturers' current plans who battles the ball handler every step of the way to the . materialize. With any luck, fans of electronic basketball will basket. soon feel less ignored than is the case today. e 68 Electronic Games ::HHHH:HH~ Siralaflg Sassion ARCADERS EXCH: continued from page 60 JOIN ARCADERS EXCHANGE '· TRADE-~- .... IN-PLAN. Exchange any ca rtridge on our :tHH:HHHH~ TRADING LIST for only $6.95. Trade as often as you like. no time limits. or other charges. suitable position- there's a special spot One time memb ership fee : Only $25.00 for each ramp- and stay there. Hit the fiippers as they fiip from the ramp sector adjoining the blaster and wipe out ARCADERS TRADING L1ST@ anything that appears. in the chosen ATARI '" ACTIVISION '­ ODYSSEY' Outlaw Boxing Cosmic Conflict zone. Night dnver Tennis Invaders From Hyper Space Breakout Skiing Thunder Ball From level 33 on, the strategy is more Sky diver Laser Blast Show Down In 2100 sophisticated, Fuseball tankers, distin­ Canyon Bomber Freeway Baseball Street Racer Kaboom Football Tennis guished from fiipper tankers by the wavy Dodge Em Dragster Golf Golf Maze Craze Bridge Bowling & Basketball Auto Racing line inside, make their long-dreaded Air sea Battle Checkers Blackout & Breakdown Space Battle bow , These can be eliminated w hile Circus Helicopter & Out of World -List subject to availability Chess Armored Encounter & Subchase moving right to left or left to right away Backgammon Bowling from the ramp, Also remember to get SPECIAL OFFER SEND IN TWO GET ONE FREE! Pay no ex- Mall to· ARCADERS EXCHANGE" Box 163 out of the way after hitting a fuseball change fee Grand Blanc. Mi. 48439 tanker, or a pair of extremely hostile _...... fuse balls will be picking their teeth v·{ith • Mail to : ARCADERS EXCHANGE " Box 163 Grand Blanc. Mi. 4843913131695·3068 • the blaster 's remains. • ORDER BY MAIL: No cross trading-Atari type 0$25.00 one time membership fee for Atari type. etc. . ' Tempest offers a wide range of varible • tl$6.95 plus trade In cartridge" 1st CHOICE-- 2nd CHOICE-- • skill levels. but the higher ones can only • DT wo trade in ca rtridges' (Special) 3rd CHOICE -- From our TRADING LIST • Charge my DVisa oMasle rcard Account ' Send canridge instruction With trade In. Original box If aVailable • be reached by merit. In other words. a player must attain level 45 during play in • Name • order to begin the following game at that . ~~ City State Zip . level. •..... _... _._ .... __ ._._ .. .I So keep a steady hand, a ready digit on the super -zapper, and get ready to blow away a TempestI -Bill Heineman Special Introductory Offer! tEaIil'IE'H'.tEE T~PERSONALIZED EDITION :tHHHHHH;S =aJrlll,,-"s,,-"J ~'=aJ& FOR USE WITH ATARI 2600® EVEN UNDER FIRE, YOU STILL LEAVE Raadars Raplag YOUR MARK ON THE ENEMY! The enemy scores a hit. but you survive ... as your mothership explodes with your continued from page 21 m initials! Yours now in this limited personalized edition of Spacechase , a perfect gift for the "pro" gamer, an executive. or any of life's real "survivors". Use you r initials or n-+HH}+eHH~ your company's initials. (Spacechase™ Regular Suggested Retail Price $31 .95). How High is High? Your Monogrammed The national high score on Atari's Edition Only Space Invaders cartridge can't begin to compare to the high score on a coin-op $99.95 Space Invaders. A list of high scores on (Texas residents add 5% sales iax) up to three letters coin -on machines and set cartridges or number s or TV combinations thereof : would be very interesting to the gaming Initials appear in wh ite readers. ATARI " IS A TRADEMARK OF ATA R!. INC on the screen . ~ ------Matt Brass MAil YOURORDER NOW TO: Games by Appollo, Inc. 1t Helena, Mont. 1300 E. Arapaho Road , Richardson, Texas 75081 . o Check enclosed $ for (qty.) __ personalized edition(s) of Ed: You make a very good point, Spacechase"'. Shipping and handling charges included. Sorry. no COD's. Matt. Be sure to see the speCial an­ o Charge to my : 0 Mastercard 0 VISA/Card expires [ I I nouncement in this month's "Electronic Mo. Yr. Games Hotline" section about our new Credit Card No. (Print ALL 16 Digits) _ ---;:======National Arcade Scoreboard. We'll be ______-1 NAME ______starting with home games, but we hope __ Imprint with Initials ADDRESS ______to include coin-ops, too , once we work I _ ' stSet I out a satisfactory system for verifying IL... CITY __ ___ ------:..- _-- - _- _-- -:..S_TAT_E ZI P -:..-:..- 1_--'_--'-_-:.. __2 nd _se_, J the scores e =_ _ Electronic Games 69 By Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel

Fly High-and Low-with Barnstorming

Barnstorming/A! ,flC:;lonf.:,rvee:; before it can get through a bam). Skip­ transfIXed by the realistic play, vivid col­ Activision, always known fo r its ping a barn just adds another down the ors and inspired play mechanics. Ar­ original game ideas and super graphics, road. The idea, of course, is to ac­ caders hold two of the Astro Arcade obviously found yet another designer to complish the goal in the shortest time pistol-grip controllers. Using the right carry on the tradition. Barnstorming is possible. thumb, the ball awaiting ejection from the creation of newcomer Steve Cart­ Tyro Barnstomers are advisedto play the chamber is sent gyrating onto the wright, and his work shows that he clear- their first few gameslike so: hit the action playfield through a special, spinning-reset 1y understands the elements that make button to start the engine, but im paddle. The trigger on the right-hand Activision games work. mediately thereafter remove pressure controller operates the two flippers on If at first, Barnstorming seems like a from that button, which acts as an ac­ the right side of the center gutter; the visually-impressivebit of fluff, stick with it celerator. This provides an opportunity left controller's trigger operates the pair a bit, learn the tricks and nuances of play to get the feel of the game without being of flippers on the left. This "twogl.1'l" ef­ and you'll be well rewarded for your harassed by the ubiquitous flocks of fect is the first succesful use of progam­ time. The game beginsw ith a vintage, air geese that show up just assoon as the bi­ mabie videogame controllers in a pinball circus bl-plane, parked on a runway. In plane picks up speed. The geese are simulation, effectively recreating the the foreground is a continuous span of more of an annoyancethan a true dan­ sense of smashing away at flipper but­ fence which helps create the program's ger, but prove to be frustating obstacles tons on the real thing. sense of movement. nonetheless. Gamers "take off ' by hitting the ac­ Spacechase!Games by Apollo! tion button after choosing one of four Bally Pin' AstrovlSlonl Atarl ves flying options. The novice level, "Hedge A"tr' Pr'itessl ,n,ll Arcdd This is the second release from Hopper" is a fixed course with I 0 barns; Imagine a videogame version of pinball one of the new independent soft­ "Crop Duster" and "Stunt Pilot" are with all the color, action, and excitement ware suppliers catering to both fixed courses (though different of the real thing. It would offer two t he At ari VCS system from one another) with 15 barns; and distinctive playfields, two sets of flippers, The Richardson, Tex. the " Flying Ace" level requires the reset spin-paddle, thumper and back -base d o utf it player to deal With 25 barns on a ran­ bumpers. bought its first domly generated course. Sound like a pipe dream?It's not. Bob game, titled The goal of Barnstorming is to fly a Ogden's designfo r this pinball Simulation bucket of bolts over windmills and is so skillfully constructed that even those through the barns that dot the landscape staunch videogame chauvinists who (with the difficulty switch ,.A' .. video aces wouldn't be caught dead near a flipper must get their craft nearly to the ground machine will soon find themselves 70 _onkG.~ BARNSTORMING SPACECHASE

Skeet Shoot, from an independent prise the upper view. blossom into deadly alien warships. source, and it is a lessth an satisfying tar­ Gamers choose from among 24 varia­ Owing to an Apollo programming in­ get cartridge that could probably use tions-12 day and 12night missions. The novation, objects on the same horizontal some additional fine-tuning. pilot usesa JOystickto control a laser can­ line are able to move in different. ran­ Spacechase, A pollo 's first' 'in non at the bottom of the screen. As in dom directions, resulting in a wild, unpre­ house" creation, is a completely differ­ standard alien invasioncontes ts, the can­ dictable swirling of invaders across the ent story. It's an excitJng sdence fiction non can be shifted freely left or right. playfietd. shooting gallery that rew ards skillful This weapon, however, can also move The aliens fire two types of missiles­ players with a succession of new and vertically to a certain degree, 0 10 Centi­ limited and unlimited HSM's (Heat-Seek­ ever more deadly flights of alien invaders pede. Once p1ayis initiated, four tiny ing-Missiles).The latter type is the most as the contest proceeds. dots, two from each side of the screen, challenging element of the game. These The playfield represents a view of zip to the center of the playfield and bugge r s can change direction in Earth from a fXlint in mia-flight in order to pur­ space -..vherethe planet sue their prey . The ar­ fills the bottom of the eader's so le defense cockpit's front view against t he HSM's is to screen and the curve destroy them in the air. of the horizon and the stars blinking against the void com- Horse Racing/M

72 Elecb'<>nic Go,"", HORSE RACING CONQUEST OF THE WORLD slonal argument over whether a sub has " ride" a horse down one of the four steed will crash ignominiously into the stayed under water too long. horizontally-stacked tracks. Gamers back end of the obstacle: jump too late Conquestof the World is a triumph of choose a horse by hitting the action but­ and the stallion 's legs will crash Into the stunning proportions. It proves once ton, which makes the appropriate ani­ front of the hurdles. again that programmable videogame mal rise to its feet. Once the timing has been mastered, systems have capabilities that still remain Once the gun sounds the horses bolt players can improve on their clocking to be tapped. from the starting gate and thunder down through judicious use of the rolling the race course. Players can not do "height" bar. At the far right end of each SteeplechaseJSears/ anything about their nag's speed , Which racing lane is a small black lever. By turn­ T ele-Arcade or Atan VCS the computer mandates. The gamer's ing the paddle controller , this bar can be One of two Atari-generated game sole function is to jump the horse over a raised or lowered, determining the cartr idges - the other is Stellar series of vanously-sized hurdles that tum length of the horse's jump. NOVices are Track - available exclusively through up at regular intervals during the race. advised to leave the lever at maximum Sears, Steeplechase makes a pleasant. This task is not as easy to perform as height, but the more time a horse if modest, addition to the VCS library. you might think. The timing of the Jump, spends In the air, the more time he loses Up to four can play this race contest si­ for instance, must be absolutely perfect. to the horses capalble of leaping only as multaneously, using paddle controllers to Leave the ground too early and the far as necessary. Developing a sense for how high a jump must be to traverse a particular hurdle can only be achieved through practice. The graphics are more than serviceable with nice use of colors and sound effects that add to the game 's overall en­ joyment. Steeplechoseis not the sort of videogame that can be expected to top the popularity charts, but it isn't really sup­ posed to. It's an inter­ esting, professionally­ produced game pro- gram that offers a nice change of pace for VCS owners When they get tired of obliterating aliens an d asteroids. Steeplechase is a pleasant. If unsensational, videogame experience. 6 Electronic Games 71 By JoyceWorley TSR, Inc., were pleased if somewhat sur­ led by the original role-playing version . prised when Mattei announced it had vides sound clues to help find walls and Dungeons & Dragons travel in a search for treasure , while warn of the dragon's approach. Mattei Electronics avoiding the dragon. Any romance and After turning on the unit, you will hear Players of Dungeons & Dragons, adventure the player can bring to the the Warrior I I tune. Select a difficulty the .cantasy role- assumption game will enhance it, but 0&0 itself will level for the first adventurer, and choose game from bought the rights do little to feed the fires of wonder kind- a secret room . This will serve as sanc

to produce an eleci ronic 0&0 board­ Still, Dungeons& Dragons should be tuary and home square for the charac­ game . Judged on its merits as a computer ter. Then press the "next turn" key, and Dungeonsand Dragonsrevolut ionized labyrinth once the purchaser has hear the Warrior 12 tune . The second the gaming field by introducing unusual recovered from the disappointment of player, if any, then selects his game level and innovative concepts . Fantasy role­ not finding a computer version of the and secret room. Hitting the "next playing, as a result of its growth as a hob­ classic game . The unit itself is attractive turn " key twice informs the computer by, has had a great impact on the gaming and comes with a set of handsome that the second player has completed his habits of players everywhere. There was pieces. The electronic board is touch­ turn. wide-spread speculation about how sensitive, and the computer within it will The microprocessor then picks a hid­ Mattei would translate the largely mental generate a new labyrinth with invisible den treasure room, at least three 0&0 to a board, and how much of the walls each time a new game is begun. squares away from any secret room. flavor of the original game would survive The pieces are provided to help keep The random labyrinth is generated, and the transition track of players' movements and the lo­ the quest begins. Unfortunately, Mattei 's tabletop cations of walls, the dragon, and the Each warrior moves a maximum of device loses much of the charm of the treasure. The game may be played eight squares per turn . Each square original game . There is no personification either solitaire aga,instthe computer, or traversed must be pressed until a beep is of the player-characters and little glamor by two humans and the computer. heard. Movement is up, down, left or or mystery in the situation . Supposedly a In addition to generating the labyrinth, right. but never diagonal. The unit emits participant could infuse play with the console continuously calculates the Wall Sound when you bump into a wall, elements of his or her own imagination , players' strengths, monitors the move­ and you must then back up one square yet the game itself is a rather matter-of­ ments and the locations of all players plus and stop. If you attempt to skip over fact labyrinth through which warriors the dragon and the treasure , and pro- squares, or move through a wall, it sets

74 Electronic Games off an illegal move buzz. After one war­ play. The weight of the treasure slows rior's tum ends, the other's tune will the adventurer to a movement rate of sound, or if playing solitaire, the machine four squares per turn. If he succeeds in will issue your own warrior's tune again. returning the treasure to his secret Continue moving, marking walls room, avoiding both the dragon and the wherever you find them. Try to mark as other warrior's attempt to steal the many as possible before the dragon treasure, a special song salutes the wakes up. This will make it easier to flee winner. Cl 0 0 the great serpent if a retreat becomes In the early going, it is good strategy for necessary. ~-:\ the two players to cooperate in marking The dragon starts the game asleep in .... as many walls as possible. Try especially the treasure room. If any player gets hard to map the area in the immediate within three squares of the dragon, it ••••• vicinity of your secret room. It is in both awakes. A special noise warns par­ ••••• players' interest to locate the labyrinth ticipants of this event. As soon as the walls as early in the game as practical. player's turn is over, the dragon moves ••••• If the dragon is awake and chasing your one square, signified by the Dragon Fly­ warrior, pass close to your rival. This (0' ,..00 ':.I ing sound. •••••CASIO diverts the dragon into chasing the other Once awakened, the dragon chases guy, by leaving him nearer to the the nearest warrior. Although the monster. Similarly, if your foe has the dragon can move only one square at a treasure, and you're not close enough to time, it can travel diagonally and fly over intercept him, lay an ambush by camping walls. If the creature is chasing one war­ After any attack, the warrior must at the entrance to his secret room. Then rior and the other fighter happens to return to his secret room to recover. engage in combat to steal come closer, the fearsome reptile If a warrior finds the treasure be- the treasure . This is changes direction to go after the nearer fore the dragon finds him, a done by occupying target. If either player gets the treasure, short Treasure Tune will the same square. The computer decides the win­ ner, based on each warrior's strength factor at the time of the engagement. Re­ member that the weaker warrior will lose, but also keep in mind that the game re­ the dragon will immediately start stores each warrior's strength after that warrior, even if the at certain intervals . That other warrior is closer. means you can never be If the dragon lands on the sure how strong your same square as a warrior, or opponent. or your vice versa, it will at- own champion, tack and wound. really is. The warrior tune The game has will blare forth, charms to en­ followed by the trance laby­ Dragon Attacks rinth fans.The sound. After the first 12 sound clues dragon attack, the max­ are distinct. imum move per turn Preview keys drops from eight squares along the left to six for the un- side of the unit lucky warrior . It allow you to decreases from identify what you six to four after the just heard in case second dragon attack, your memory fails. and a third attack wounds The playing pieces, the warrior too badly to continue. two metallic warrior figures, a

Electronic Games 75 treasure trove, and a hand­ number and new challenger comes from a heavier some dragon, add a dash of points are display- class. needed color, The red plastic unit con­ ed, the first round Three keys activate the boxer: A tains a storage tray. begins. Each match consists of eight punch key delivers straight head punches It is disappointing that Mattei de­ rounds lasting about 30 seconds each. and body blows; the up/ down key cided to produce a simple game, play­ Bouts are won on points or by KO. changes aim of punches, from head to able by eight year olds and above, There are 10 weight classes, from fly­ body blows, and also defends your own from the Dungeons & Dragons license. weight to heavyweight. As you go on pugilist from the opponent's blows; the But within the limitations of a maze winning, either by points or KOs, each sway key moves a boxer backwards to game for children, this stand-alone is dodge a shot. and helps get max­ handsome and playable. It should imum power from a counter-punch . provide hours of pleasure for The digital read-out indicates the younger electronic arcaders. round number and reports the con­ dition of the combatants. The left Boxing Game Calculator/Caslo Side of the read-out displCl,Ys your The Boxing Game Calculator opponent's stamina and the power from Casio is a four-way hit. It con­ of the punch JUstthrown. The right tains a continuous read-out digital side delivers the same information clock, an alarm, an eight-digit for your man, calculator, and the exciting boxing At the end of the bout, the victor game. is shown by either knockout (10 The time display is clear, giving count or 3 knockdowns in one hours, minutes and seconds. The round) or on points The winning calculator does four basic opera­ number and points are then dis­ tions with memory calculations, played, and the next bout begins. If percentages, and a full floating you have won, your next challenger decimal point. The slim vest pocket is from the next highest weight class. unit comes in a leather folder ..tha: The program contains 100 challeng­ looks good at any business meeting ers, If you defeat all of them, the when you whip it out of your game returns to the first one, pocket. The animation is simple line draw­ We assume the reason you'll be ing of two boxers' torsos, matrixed taking it out of your pocket is to play so that they can shuffle backward a quick round of the boxing game and forward in three positions per while no one is looking. This is what fighter, or be depicted fiat on the makes the Cosio BG-IS stand head canvas. The corner post of the ring and shoulders above the rest. moves to the right or left, depend­ Set the mode selection switch to ing on whether a boxer is on the at­ "game", and press the start button. tack or defense. After the highest previous winning This is a real hit for calculating fans 76 Eleccronic Games

------of the squared circle. It provides a C!:1L1:312' .... big punch in a feather w eight Free CouponsWorth $21.95 package. • ':,HOME• ). Simply write down the type of Home ARCADE~S:" Arcade System you own or want to Space Invaders/Entex • INC•• buy, on the back of an envelope, in­ Space Invaders in this hand­ • clude 35¢ for return postage and us held version will, of course, be TI'/I . handling, and mail it to today! familiar to everyone who has loved Home Arcaders Inc. We'll rush you a Coupon Pack de­ It in commercial arcades and as a P.O. Box 97 signed especially for you. home videogame. Entex's adapta­ Grand Blanc,MJ 48439 tion is extraordinarily faithful and is a DON'T FORGET TO SAY WHETHER YOU OWN OR PLAN TO BUY. highly playable game that vvll pro­ Ofter ,ood thru May, so pa .. the word to all Home Arcader.!M. vide many hours of solitaire com ­ petition for devotees of Space In­ vaders. The object here is to attain the highest score by destroying as many aliens and mother ships as possible WANTED! before they blast your three can­ nons. Each filght of attackers consists of eight aliens. A pair of shields pro­ vide temporary protection for the ATARI® cannon. The hostile mother ship * darts back and forth across the top INTELLIVISIONlM of the display screen . * A pair of buttons move your can­ ODYSSEY2rM non to the left and right at the bot­ * tom of the display to help line up FAIRCHILD good shots and avoid the bombs * raining from the sky. The fire button BALLY® releases a rocket powered missile * that can destroy the attackers. CAME PLAYERS Successfully clearing one wall of in­ * vaders causes another w all to ap­ NEW CARTRIDOES _ - ~ (. pear. Bonus cannons are awarded at var iou s scoring milestones CARTRIDOERACKS ______- Or ~~. throughout the game. Depending STORAGEUNITS ~ ~..o~~~"b on the timing. hitting the command TV TO STEREOADAPTERS ~~., ~"t ship scores 10. 20 or 30 points. /' Atomizing the aliens scores 5 points CARTRIDGEX-CHANGE SERVICE at long range and 2 pOints for close USEDCARTRIDGE SYSTEMS range. Two skill level settings provide challenge for all players. At the SCREENSONICS. Inc. is the complete video game amateur level. the attackers stop fir­ cartridge service for cartridge x-changes.new ing once only two of the ships are products,an d Atari servicing.If you would like left. At the profeSSional level , fire more information on how you can enjoy more continues until all ships are de­ stroyed. and the velocity of the en­ gamesfOr your systemand SAVE. counters IS quicker. This is one of the best translations sends~a to date from arcade to handheld. Space Invaders fans w ill find few fiaw s A in this charming portable version of ATAR SO r ~~===--= their favorite pastime. 6 Authorized Atarl®~ P.O. BOX 8892 ST. LOUIS, MO. 63102 Please give to the Independent service Center satisfaction Guaranteed American Heart ICM;W-1"1 A$ociation cT)

Electronic Gam es 77 staircases to climb from level to level. Armed soldiers gUard each room, though they seldom stray from their beats without severe provocation or direct orders. The roving SS storm­ troopers show much more initiative and determination when it comes to tracking down the escapee. Most of the rooms also contain supply chests. These may hold such useful items as German uniforms, bulletproof vests, hand grenades or bullets-or something relatively worthless like schnapps. And, of course, the war plans are in one of the chests. The program offers the option of con­ trolling the on-screen character with the keyboard, paddles or joystick. All work well, but the last-named is by far the most preferable. Response time is excel­ lent, and it shouldn 't take much practice to get the hang of navigation around the castle. Watch out for the wall, however, since bumping into one causes the screen to break up temporarily and stuns the escaping pr isoner for a few crucial seconds during which the Nazis can close in for the kill . Warner has somewhat overdone the commotion caused by such collisions, but this is only a minor annoyance. Fire and movement with the joystick is easy. Holding down button /1 permits aiming the player's gun with the joystick. When the button is not pressed, the Strikea low stick moves the prisoner in the desired Against th Third Reich! direction. The gun is fired by hitting but­ ton /0, and you can throw a grenade by pressing the "T" key. Castle Wolfenstein / Muse Soft­ vival. As the hero of this World War II To search a Nazi, the on-screen ware/Apple 11'481<'dis mini-drama, the arcader portrays an al­ character need only point at the one to W artime often inspires cruelties that lied prisoner whom the Nazis have be examined. Chests work the same

would be totally unthinkable during a brought to the castle for torture and ex­ way, but there is a time delay~ifferent period of peace. This is, perhaps, the ecution. While waiting in a cell for the SS for each chest-before the contents can only justification for the who le-sale interrogation squad, another inmate slips be studied. A read-out at the bottom of slaughter that takes place during a typical the player a fully loaded gun and suggests the screen counts down the time need­ round of Castle Wolfenstein.After all, using it to escape. Before the Nazis finally ed to jimmy a chest. Some take as long as these are human beings, not robots or kill this unseen friend, he tells the players 250 seconds. Even though time passes aliens, getting ripped aprart by gunfire. that there is a set of secret war plans hid­ about three times as quickly as on a real Silas Warner, designer of this action­ den somewhere in the multi-story for­ clock, this can strain anyone's patience. adventure, has wisely stacked the deck tress that would greatly aid the allied war Shooting at the lock often cuts the wait so heavily that it is possible to justify effort. substantially, but it does use up ammo. If almost anything t he player-character To gain freedom, the prisoner must the player tums up anything worth car­ does in the name of kill-or-be-killed sur- creep from room to room, using the rying, striking the space bar picks up the

18 Becvonic Games desired item. nutshell, is the starting point for sensibilities. The computer designseach castle ran­ Cyborg, one of the most relentlessly The method for entering commands domly. The player can, if he does not get fascinating augmented text adventures will be familiar to experienced questers, free, use the same schematic over and ever to boot on an Apple. Sdence fiction at least up to a point. The player types in over, or have the program whip up a themes continue to be rare in this genre, two-word orders in a standard . 'verb­

new one every time. Successfulescapes and this could well be the best ever pro­ noun 00 format. The program processes generally gain the former prisoner a pro­ duced. It even out-classes its immediate the command and then returns data on motion-and the right to try it all over predecessor from Sentient. 00- Topos, the consequencesof the action just taken. again with a more difficult castle. It is which set the standard for hardcore SF An illogical or incomprehensible instruc­ possible to order a new castle design interactive games. tion is immediately flaggedas such by the without losing any earned rank. The best thing about Cyborgis that computer, and the player is free to try Caution is the watchword for any while it is very difficult, it is also very fair. something else. player hoping to make a successful flight The same cannot be said for all too many The vocabulary may exasperate some to freedom. Ducking into a room, taking other adventures. Common sense will adventurers. Although Cyborg has an a quick look around and then beating a take a player very far in this game, unusually extensive vocabulary, the cor­ hasty retreat can sometimes prevent un­ because it is remarkably free of the sort relation between the pleasant surprises. of tricks and traps that require the words which are un­ Once the prisoner has located the gamer to work on unraveling the mind of derstand able as plans, switch tactics from direct confron­ the designer instead of dealing with commands and the tation with the enemy to simple avoid­ the actual situation directly. ance. That is, if you can zip through a On the other hand, few room before guards can mobilize effec­ players are going to breeze tive opposition, do so at every oppor­ through this electronic novel tunity. There's no need to methodically in a couple of hours. There's tour the castle, wiping out the Nazis in no shortage of brain­ each and every room. The more time teasers here, but all spent wandering around, the greater are solvable by chance that hard-to-kill SSmen will begin methods th at dogging your footsteps. won't outrage Castle Wolfenstein does not have quite anyone's logical the stress on sheer role-playing found in some other action-adventures, but its overall liveliness and playability more than makes up for any lack in that department.

Cyborg iSentlent Software/

Apple 1i/48K dtsk You're standing on a dirt round that cuts through a lush green forest. The path seems to stretch to the horizon in both directions, and the foliage blocks out everything else. Suddenly, a strange vo;ce starts talking in in your skull. It provides the in­ teresting bit of information that you are, in real­ ity, a cyborg-a being who is part man and part machine. That, in a CASTLE WOLFENSTIEN CASTLE WOLFENSTIEN

words used by the computer to print in­ simply uses the "save " feature just prior programmer has tremendous potential, formation on the screen isn't as good as to attempting something risky. If things if the first two tries are any indication. one might wish. Since the program can go amiss and the cyborg IS damaged If you buy one Apple text adventure use many more words than it can actual­ beyond repair, starting the game over this year, make It Cyborg. ly comprehend, there are bound to be will cause it to resume Just before the Analog Adventure/Analog Software/ gaps, but these sometimes occur in ex­ calamity took place. Atari 800/32K disk actly the wrong places. For instance, the Cyborgis a particularly difficult game to Willy Crowther and Don Wood of program doesn't understand the word reView, because so much of its carly M .1.T. get the credit for producing the "door" (as in "open the door"). phase hinges on the protagonist's lack of very first heroic fantasy game. Their In­ The major departure from all previous solid information about the world vention, called Adventure, set the pat­ adventure games is the presence of the tern for most of the quest games·. cyborg mind. At any point in the aaion, Now a new software supplier has the player can calion his mechanical half brought out an extremely well­ for assistance. This can take the form of produced version of the venerable an opinion about an object, a comment original to challenge the wits of Atari about the adventurer's current location owners. The treasure hunt through Col­ or general guidelines concerning which ossal Cave is entertaining in itself and also commands will be effective. Sad to say provides a dollop of instant computer the cyborg isn't always brimming with history for those who are curious about good advice, especially in early stages of the way the whole fantasy adventure the game when the mechanical brain is phenomenon began. suffering from a power shortage. Still. it While the translators, Lee Pappas and provides a little mOt-e aid than the typical Charles Behand, have obviously not pro­ adventure disk furnishes in response to duced a work of striking originality, they pleas for help. get high marks for turning out an ex­ Cyborgincludes a very powerful "save traordinarily clean-a nd user-friendly­ game" option that should prove ex­ version of this classic. tremely useful to those who must Analog Adventure is programmed in spread play sessions over a period of Basicrather than in machine language, as many days. Typing "save" and answer­ around him . To describe any of the are most of the newer titles reaching the ing "yes" to a verification query will put many marvelous touches would be to stores today. This makes for a creakingly the game-in-progress onto the Cyborg destroy their effectiveness. For instance, slow response time. More than one game disk- and then lets the play there is a graphics sequence inserted into player Will become Impatient while resume as if nothing had happened this otherwise text-only quest. Nothing waiting for the computer to react to his The great thing about this approach is mind-blasting, you understand, but a instructions. Partially offsettinig this that it minimizes the effect of one bad delightful change-of-pace from the on­ drawback is the fact that Analog Adven­ move. There's nothing worse than hav­ going routine of play. ture allows the gamer to put more than ing to go all the way back to square one Score a second success for Michael one move on a line. This comes in very after a long stretch of flawless Berlyn , the science fiction writer who handy in some situations, such as when gamesmanship as a result of a Single created the world of 00-Topos.The con­ the on-screen hero desires to pick up stupid mistake . With Cyborg,the player cept of pairing a creative writer with a several items at the same time. 6 80 Electronic Games 1111

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nteraction between the readers and single issue of this magazine. Rest assured computer game programs and coin-op I editors of Electronic Games helps that, even though we protect the anony­ machines. make this a better magazine. The more mity of every respondent to our survey, Please return this poll sheet~ra we here at EG know about who you are the editor personally reads each and photocopy if you prefer to keep your and what you want to read, the better every ballot received. And of course, Electronic Games in perfect condi­ we can satisfy your needs and desires. this is also your ballot for casting your tion-to: Electronic Games, 235 Park That's why we run a Reader Poll in every vote for the most popular videogames, Avenue South, New York, N.Y. ICXXl3.

Sex: Male__ Female __ How many hours per week do you spend playing various Age: Under 16__ 16-25__ 26-40__ types of electronic games: Over 40__ Less than 2 hours__ 2-5 hours__ 6-10 hours__ . Family Income: Under $12,()(X)__ $12,()(x)-$19,CXXl__ More than 10 hours__ $20,CXXl-$39,r:xxJJ__ Over$40,CXXl__ How much do you spend per week on electronic games: Under $2-5 $6-10 Over $10 Please check off the electronic entertainment devices you $L- ______now own, and which ones you intend to buy within the next 12 months: Please rate the following subjects from I (not very interesting Own Plan to to me) to 10 (of great interest to me): Buy . Fantasy & Science Fiction __ Sports__ Wargames__ Atari VCS Coin-op games __ Videogames __ Intelilvision Computer games __ Odyssey2 Astro Arcade (Bally) My favorite videogame cartridges are: Other videogame Chess Computer I. Atari 400/800 '2. Apple II 3. TRS-80 Color VIC-20 My favorite microcomputer game programs: Other microcomputer I. 2. Please rate the following features from I (awful) to 10(great): Switch On! __ Q&~ Test Lab__ E.G. Hotline__ 3. Computer Playland __ Programmable Parade __ My favorite coin-op games are: Insert Coin Here__ Strategy Session__ I. Arcade America__ Passport to Adventure __ Inside Gamin~ Stand-Alone Scene__ 2. Players Guide __ 3. Electronic Game. 81 Grand Slam! In the spring, an arcader's fancy turns to thoughts • of-baseball. The National Pastime is one of the most OCJn popular topics for electronic sports simulations. EG will [10 help you separate the pennant-winning baseball games from the cellar dwellers.

The Players Guide to Electronic Adventures Fabulous treasures and, perhaps, a beauty in distress, await. but take care ... one false move and you could end up some mighty monster's midnight snack! In­ eractive strategy games with a dash of role-playing are the hottest thing to hit videogaming since Pac-Man. Our magazine within a magazine shows how you can explore outer space, fight evil wizards and earn legen­ dary fame, all without leaving your game console.

Ten Tips for Pac-Maniacs Ken Uston, best-selling author of "Mastering Pac-Man", guarantees you'll improve your score by following these special hints .

Time for Games Can't bear to be separated from your favorite games? Now you can strap a mini-arcade to your wrist and play anyvvhere! High-quality game watches are here-and Elec­ tronic Games has the lowdown.

s of Inter st Lo

* Switch On! * Readers Replay *Q&A * EG Hotline * Inside Gaming * Strategy Session * Arcade America * Insert Coin Here * Computer Playland * Passport to Adventure *~rmI:k~ * New Products * Stand-Alone Scene * Test Lab

So wilt(h f, r til ne · ,., IIII,g I Ij - 0 Electronic Games On Sale May II, 1982

82 E'eccronic Games