Atari Emulator -> Morky

Mushca Disk 49... I gotta say, Morky's a little dorky!  But I guess I am, too; really can't delude myself about that any longer.  And now that I'm on vacation... actual vacation, not one that involves a couple days at the hospital... I finally decided to see it all the way through.  That's the big question: what does it take to reel them in?  About three levels or so?  This game's got it all, I'm telling you.  And according to atarimania, it's based on a German type-in game ... see, a long time ago, there were these things called magazines.  Ask your great-grandparents.  They're like thin books, but with slicker paper to compensate for the lack of a hard cover.  Also, if you're not careful, you'll slice your fingers open with them!  Yeah, I miss those days NOT.  Go ahead!  Try it!  Drag one of these Cosmopolitan magazines along your finger, and not just because it's one of the sex tips they recommend.  Anyway, there used to be all these computer magazines before "Game Informer" came to dominate the scene.  And furthermore, video games used to be simple enough that you could actually list some computer code in a magazine!  A few pages worth of code, give or take.  You could actually type in the instructions for one of these stupid games, then actually play the game!  There were actually  programming environments that Microsoft didn't control!  And charge an arm and a leg for!  I'm guessing Morky is a combination of Basic and a few machine language routines.  USR 1536 and all that... ah, that takes me back.  And some of these type-in games are nothing to sneeze at!  The best is probably J.D. Casten's Rebound from Antic magazine.  It's got everything: a rainbow of vertical colors, six fonts it has to switch between, an avatar that needs two player-missiles, decent sound effects.  But Morky's got something!  Arguably, it's a little unfair... okay, a little to a lot unfair.  I confess I had to use the Atari emulator's state-saving feature about a few hundred times.  Take the ladder, for instance.  There's a couple rooms where you restart and have to climb down a ladder onto a platform... where you immediately get hit by one of the bad guys.  Five times in a row, thereby ending the game.  There's that, plus the globs of cotton candy that fall from the ceiling.  Some of them seem to know better than others where exactly I am, and usually on a ladder.  Also, there's the usual keys/doors motif, but here's a neat twist: if you push against a door without a key, you get killed!  As I sarcastically mentioned at the beginning, talk about door-key!  But here's the map in the attached picture.  The rooms all fit together nicely, unlike Willi... Cathryn Mataga's Shamus 1.  There's a little bit of overlap in the Red level, but those were the days, when you could do that with a maze in a computer game.  And even though this is a type-in game, I will say that the final room is devilishly fiendish.  I can't remember a finale that required such timing, even in games of complete machine language.  Takes me back to my old jump rope days in grade school, where they make you jump into two at once.  You know, timing.  Also, I'm a completely terrible juggler.  Use that information against me well someday.

Morky's home at Atarimania.com

Atari Emulator -> New York City (NYC): The Big Apple

Mushca disk 53... man, New York City's the meanest place on Earth.

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 6 - The Grain Elevator

Oh, I LOVE this one!  A little like that one level on Donkey Kong with the big, killer bouncy things, a little like Level 9 in the original Bounty Bob game.  But what's the deal with those piles with the stink lines over them?  Only 50 points?  That doesn't seem right to me. But for those of you keeping score, this level features the most mutants you can subdue with just one prize: five in a row, then the two at the bottom. Seven in total! Maybe eight if you can get to that one in time on the right.

Flash Game -> Rikomin

Save yourself some heartache and don't bother looking up this game, but once upon a time there was a book about Flash game programming that would lead one to a whole website devoted to a game called "Rikomin."  Your basic flow control game - you have to place triangular blocks on a board and get these funky ghost-type creatures to the exit.  Much like "Ghost!" for Atari, only better music.  Also, don't bother looking up "Flash" either.  Adobe doesn't like it anymore.  On the other hand, what's the Candy Crush family of games running on?

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 5 - "Jumping 101"

...oh, this level's mean.  I mean, this is at the very least a midterm exam in Jumping 102.  I mean, c'mon! ...oh, apparently someone's already done the heavy lifting for me here.  Never mind, vermin!

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 4 - "Bob's Playroom"

Man!  Rough playroom!  I tell ya, when I was a kid, I got no respect!  My sandbox had quicksand in it!  They did cheat a little here with teleporters 1 and 2, but number 3?  Not on the same vertical grid!  Love it.  Well, you gotta take risks sometimes, as all the best-selling authors will tell you.  This one also features a very, very fast horizontal "elevator"... call it what you will.  It's one of those chunks of ice in the sky, and not on the cold lake, that you can stand on and float around with.  Had a few of those in "Quake," if memory serves.  Again, gotta have some "stragedy" in the timing of this one.  Let's see if I can get to 5 by bedtime.  That's right... no saved states for this one!  It's not like that crazy, crazy-hard Robot Factory.  Did I do all the levels for that one?  My mind tells me no; I did Jumpman and Jumpman Jr., that I do recall.

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 3 - "The Suction Tubes"

...hello?  Anyone out there?  Oh, right.  I keep forgetting myself.  I'm not reviewing a game with the words "raven" or "fall" in its title.  A new game, that is.  It's like computer science degrees now.  Because of me, the job descriptions now say "We want someone with a computer science degree... a new computer science degree, within the past five years.  Forget it, Video Game Fanatic!  The State has a long memory and a short fuse.  You're doomed to wander the earth forever.   Hurry up and pass on to make room for the next generation of unfortunates."  Anyway, the suction tubes.  I like this one becuase... because it requires more strategic planning... I think a little more strategic planning than level 1, in terms of timing when you grab the various gifts.  Didn't level 5 of 2049er have a candelabra too?

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 2 - Utility Hoist

...already forgot what I wanted to check.  But while Bounty Bob made some improvements over 2049er, sadly, being able to jump forwards while looking backwards?  Didn't make the cut!  Sad new day, go away!  I guess we all gotta grow up sometimes.  But, I do dig the ode to the font of Crystal Castles!  The arcade version, that is, not the various bastardizations for the home computer user.  Anyway, level 2 reminds me of level 7 in '2049,' with the obvious difference that it's a ground-based elevation device instead of one that hangs from the virtual ceiling.  This level also feels like level 2 of Electronic Arts' classic Hard Hat Mack, which does less to make it feel like a job than Bounty Bob does.  Where's the sense of adventure?  Well, do your chores first!  Put all the rivets in place, then actually rivet them in with the wandering rivet gun.  And watch out for the chaotic but regularly timed hot bolts that come flying down, like the bouncy things in level 3 of Donkey Kong, I might add!  I dare say!  This level's especially mean, because unlike Hard Hat Mack's Level 2, there's more of a danger of stranding yourself and not being able to make it back to said "Utility Hoist."  Also, what's the deal with the steaming piles down below?  They don't do anything to you, but...

Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Level 1 - Bob's Morning Calisthenics!

Interesting!  Bounty Bob is venturing into Ollie's Follies turf.  Even the sound effects here smack of the large looming shadow of Frank Cohen.  Particularly, when you dispense with one of those pesky mutant pixies that instantly turn you into radioactive goo.  For some reason, I really really want to get that one on the left when you start the level.  Unfortunately, it means you can't get the one after you pass through the portal.  Incidentally, the portals now aren't all stacked outhouse-style on the same vertical plane, as in Bounty Bob.  Again, that's pushing an Atari 8-bit to its absolute limits of its computing and artistic power.  And of course, it's the perfect opportunity to rethink the way you jump in these levels.  Also, there's the new timer that ticks off time in units of 10 instead of 100, if memory serves.  Let's see how well it serves.  I forget where it is, but time to replay 2049er!

Bounty Bob Strikes Back

Just got a new idea for a new series!  The sequel to Miner 2049er... incidentally, it's just about 30 years until we who've played this game slavishly... and that is the only way to play it, incidentally... we can say by Gum, we made it!  First Robotron 2048... oh wait, I think that's 2084.  Anyway, we got to 2049, by Gadfly.  Take that all you young 'uns!  Meantime, there's the oft forgotten sequel.  But they did improve on the jumping.  See, in Level 10 of Miner 2049er, you can only jump really really far.  Now, you can jump straight up, and choose when to move left or right.  It's slightly less realistic than, say, Super Mario Bros., where jumps can be controlled... I'm trying to think of a game where you can just have almost complete control - you know, move left and right when you jump... not coming to mind.  Anyway, let's just dive right in, shall we?