#atarimania

[yodaprod]

1984

Source: Atarimania

[everygame]

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Ewok Adventure (Atari 2600)

Developed/Published by: Parker Brothers Released: n/a (intended for mid/late 1983 release) Completed: n/a Completion: I can get to the third level of four. It’s not nothing.

So here I was, thinking “Oh, I’ve done Star Wars, so I might as well play through the last of the Parker Brothers Atari 2600 games, Death Star Battle. That’ll be rewarding” only to discover that Death Star Battle was originally planned as “Return Of The Jedi: Game II” and there was another game before it that never (officially) saw the light of day. This one! An apparently finished prototype has long been dumped, so I thought, well, when in Rome [“or on Endor”--Ed.]

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Ewok Adventure, which egregiously lets itself have three colons casts you as an Ewok pilot, flying your glider around in a (sort of) free-roaming level during the battle for Endor. You’re dropping rocks on baddies and, it seems, attempting to single-handedly destroy the Death Star’s shield generator by finding it and then landing, dropping a bomb off, and scarpering. Or, if you can manage it, by flying high enough that you’re able to temporarily capture an AT-ST and careen it into the generator’s bunker, although it will move wildly left and right for the scant few seconds you have control of it.

Designed by Larry Gelberg, who only made one other game (the confusingly named Frogger II: Threedeep) it’s kind of interesting how close Ewok Adventure got to being released before it wasn’t. There are prototype boxes, there is the intended final cover art (featuring an unusual rare solo piece of work from Tim Hildebrant, an iconic Star Wars artist with his brother) and the game even showed up in advertising and catalogues–although, as I’m relying on Atarimania for those, I’m not sure if those actually reached consumers. The one thing that it doesn’t have is a final manual–the print-out instructions, I assume written by Gelberg, seem to come from an in-progress build as it describes “red boxes” for the explosives you need that you’ll never actually see (and I flew around far too long looking for them) because it’s actually Ewoks that you’re supposed to pick up instead. Not that you’ll probably manage.

You’ll have difficulty with it for the reason that this game was never released: it uses “realistic” controls for the glider, so you actually move around by tilting up to “slow” your glider and go higher, and down to get faster and move closer to the ground, using thermals to gain height when you need.

Initially, this isn’t so bad! Enemies don’t fire at you, and you don’t have to find explosives, just the bunker. But the game arguably doesn’t “really” begin until the third level, at which you have to fly around, find an Ewok to pick up and then… successfully pick them up.

This is really hard because the gravity is suddenly very aggressive, and there are two things that really make it hard to stay in control. While the game, sensibly, has quite a clear shadow for the glider (so you actually do have a decent sense of how high you are flying) the glider has a huge turning circle and the game can only scroll vertically. This means that as you turn around, you almost always end up switching screens, which is not only confusing, it also resets enemies, so if you were trying to descend rapidly to pick up an Ewok, you do two things: speed up massively and shoot off the screen, almost certainly missing them.

The alternative is to try and fly low and slow, but once you’re on the third level enemies are active enough that they’ll kill you quickly–or you’ll just crash into the ground as you slow to a crawl.

This control system, and Gelberg’s refusal to change it for a basic, shooter-style control is largely why the game was canned, though at least in interview with Digital Press he admits this was hubris:

“I had this artistic vision of the purity of the hang-glider controls … The MWs ['Marketing Weasels'] either didn't get it or just didn't like it.  They tried time and time again to get me to put in a mode where you just go in the direction where you point the joystick.  But I was young and arrogant and refused, and they ultimately killed the game.”

To be fair, he also points out that in 1983 the video game market had cooled so much that Parker Brothers didn’t want to manufacture two Return of the Jedi games and sell the same amount they would if they released only one, and not having played Death Star Battle yet I can’t say if they made the correct decision. 

I’m not completely against Gelberg’s decision to take a hard line, though. Surprisingly, the first couple of levels where you’re more in control are decently fun–I actually have no problem with the control scheme. It’s simply that the enhanced “realism” to the physics—a slightly ridiculous goal on the Atari 2600–make keeping the glider in the air by the third level onerous in a way that just isn’t enjoyable at all, and even if he couldn’t do anything about the scrolling requirements, making picking up an Ewok less impossible by decreasing the glider’s maximum (and minimum) speed would have been a tremendous help in keeping this understandable and playable. Being able to capture AT-STs is also a bit of design that doesn’t really work; on early levels, it’s easy to stay high in the air and so the game just becomes a matter of flying into any you see and quickly taking down the bunker, and on the later levels it may also be the easiest method–but I found it far too frustrating to really test that out. 

This feels like a game that’s before its time–or at least, beyond its hardware, and possibly beyond its designer. A glider game about dropping bombs on storm troopers and the like is a good idea; the controls are even fine. With “arcade realistic” physics, proper free roaming and slightly more considered goals this could really have worked.

Will I ever play it again? Being completely honest here, I almost want to keep trying at the third level because I’ve read that if you can manage to pick up an Ewok then the glider is controllable again–which if true, is a really bizarre design choice. So bizarre I kind of want to confirm it. But even considering that, I’ve really seen everything this game has to offer–and it’s not much.

Final Thought: I’m struck that if Gelberg had been so intent on glider physics it would have made more sense to go with a side scroller and prefigure something like the fondly remembered Glider–it would have been simpler and worked better on the 2600!

Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 is OUT NOW! You can pick it up in paperback, kindle, or epub/pdf. You can also support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up digital copies of exp., a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[gengamer110]

#AtariMania announced for #NintendoSwitch: https://youtu.be/-QErw-mKwLg #atari https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce3zgzbOyBw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[favoritevideogames71]

James Bond 007 (1983 Atari 2600 By Parker Brothers). The player controls the titular character of James Bond across four levels. The player is given a multi-purpose vehicle that acts as an automobile, a plane, and a submarine. The vehicle can fire shots and flare bombs, and travels from left to right as the player progresses through each level. The player can shoot or avoid enemies and obstacles that appear throughout the game, including boats, frogmen, helicopters, missiles, and mini-submarines. #jamesbondvideogames #jamesbond #shooter #platformer #atarivcs #atari2600 #atari #atarigames #atarimania #1983 #console #consoles #consolegaming #consolegames #consolegamer #homeconsole #homeconsoles #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #videogame #videogames #videogamer #classic #favoritevideogames #nostalgia

[vgprintads]

‘BurgerTime’

[2600 / APP2 / DOS / INTV] [USA] [MAGAZINE] [1983]

via AtariMania

[gamefansite]

Nostalgie ontmoet modern in Atari Mania, nu beschikbaar op PC, Nintendo Switch en Atari VCS.

Atari Mania, een stoeipartij uit het verleden en het heden door een aantal van de meest geliefde titels van het bedrijf #atari #atarimania

Maniakale microgame waanzin met een cast van helden uit klassieke Atari-games Atari® – een van ‘s werelds meest iconische consumentenmerken en producenten van interactief entertainment – kondigde eerder deze week de release aan van Atari Mania, een stoeipartij uit het verleden en het heden door een aantal van de meest geliefde titels van het bedrijf. Atari Mania is nu beschikbaar op PC via…

[bigporras]

¡🆕! Atari Mania · 4K60ᶠᵖˢ 🖥️ ᵁᴴᴰLongplay 🇪🇸 @BiG Porras ​

🆒 Estreno: Atari Mania by iLLOGIKA Studios with  @Atari  via UberStrategist PR

🔝 Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911800/Atari_Mania/?utm_source=bigporras #AtariMania

🆙 Live Stream 🇪🇸: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1621186947 https://fb.watch/g59O-tEZEj/

[vintagecase]

Atari ad for Demon Attack via Atarimania.

[timidfutures]

The Hang Glider Corps - Star Wars: Ewok Adventure (Atari 2600)

Focusing on the worst Star Wars characters that side of Jar Jar, Star Wars: Ewok Adventure places the player in the shoes of the warlike teddy-bears who aid the Rebels in their fight against the Empire in the closing third of Return of the Jedi. (image courtesy Atarimania) Or rather, it would have been had it not been cancelled. The controls were allegedly too complex, though it’s hard to see…

[favoritevideogames71]

James Bond 007 (1983 Atari 2600). Gameplay #gameplay #screenshot #jamesbondvideogames #jamesbond #shooter #platformer #atarivcs #atari2600 #atari #atarigames #atarimania #1983 #console #consoles #consolegaming #consolegames #consolegamer #homeconsole #homeconsoles #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #videogame #videogames #videogamer #classic #favoritevideogames

[vgprintads]

‘Avalon Hill - ‘Expectation’‘ [’Death Trap’, ‘London Blitz’, ‘Out of Control’, ‘Shuttle Orbiter’, ‘Wall Ball / 3-D Brickaway’]

[2600] [USA] [MAGAZINE(?)] [1983]

via Atarimania

[territorealities]

Risky, a software archaeology discovery

http://www.michielovertoom.com/software/risky-software-archaeology-discovery/

[favoritevideogames71]

Paperboy (1984 Arcade By Atari). The player controls a paperboy on a bicycle delivering newspapers along a suburban street which is displayed in a cabinet perspective (or oblique projection) view. The player attempts to deliver a week of daily newspapers to subscribing customers, attempts to vandalize non-subscribers' homes and must avoid hazards along the street. #paperboy #delivery #newspapers #atari #atariarcade #atarimania #atarifan #1984 #arcade #arcadegames #arcadegaming #arcadegamer #arcades #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #retrocollector #retrogamer #retrogamers #retrogaminglife #retrogame #retrocollective #retrocommunity #videogame #videogames #favoritevideogames

[favoritevideogames71]

Star Wars (1983 Arcade). Gameplay #gameplay #screenshot #starwars #deathstar #firstperson #combat #spacecombat #shooter #3dvector #atari #atarimania #atariarcade #1983 #classic #arcade #arcadegames #arcadegaming #arcadegamer #arcades #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #retrocollector #retrogamer #retrogamers #retrogaminglife #retrogame #retrocollective #retrocommunity

[favoritevideogames71]

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984 Atari 2600 By David Crane / Activision). Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is a platform video game originally released for the Atari 2600 by Activision in 1984 as the sequel to 1982's popular Pitfall!. Both games were designed and programmed by David Crane and star jungle explorer Pitfall Harry. Lost Caverns expands the scope of the environment dramatically, as Harry now descends deep underground. In addition to the familiar screen-flipping when Harry travels right or left, this game adds the element of vertical scrolling, as when Harry falls from a cliff or flies around after grabbing onto a balloon. Unlike the first game, Pitfall Harry has unlimited time and lives #pitfall #pitfall2 #pitfallseries #platformer #activision #davidcrane #atarivcs #atari2600 #atari #atarigames #atarimania #1984 #console #consoles #consolegaming #consolegames #consolegamer #homeconsole #homeconsoles #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #videogame #videogames

[favoritevideogames71]

Paperboy (1984 Arcade). Arcade Flyer #flyer #arcadeflyer #paperboy #delivery #newspapers #atari #atariarcade #atarimania #atarifan #1984 #arcade #arcadegames #arcadegaming #arcadegamer #arcades #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #retrocollector #retrogamer #retrogamers #retrogaminglife #retrogame #retrocollective #retrocommunity #videogame #videogames #favoritevideogames