Atari emulator -> Space Cadet by Wayne Babin

I thought that said "Con-GRAD-ulations."  He must've been getting out of high school by the time he did this one.  I'm just glad I didn't pay $39.99 for this one back in the day.  But as I grow older, I realize that the more impossible games are the most fun of all.  Aliens that are hard to hit, and you only get four shots at them.  Humans are damn hard to protect in games like this.  At least the game's over quick, unlike Protector and Protector II to a lesser extent.

Space Cadet's official home at Atarimania... 5.5?!!!

Space Cadet's official home at Mushca... DISK 21@!?!!!?!?!?!?!

Protector I's home at Atarimania

Protector II's home at Atarimania

Atari emulator -> Missile Command

Man, I'm getting a little worried now!  I think I'm seriously addicted to this Bubble Safari game.  I don't know why.  The Zynga Poker promotion's over and I got the million in chips.  And yet... there's something about it.  I'm on level 83 right now and I can't seem to crack it.  I've come damn close a couple times.  Maybe I'll try the strategy again where I try not to use fire bubbles to get through the "spawner" part of the level parfait.  Anyway, while I'm waiting for another 3 energy points (about 10 more minutes), why not get back to one of the old classics?  Good ol' Missile Command... oh, wait.  Spiele 14 has some kind of bastardized version of the game.  Actually, I think the 2600 version had a little more panache, even though it's not in Graphics 7 and seems to rely more on player missiles than it'd care to admit.  Better sound, more playable, maybe it's just me.  Yeah, must just be me.

Atari emulator -> River Raid

Keep going?  All right...............

Atari emulator -> Necromancer

...I'm still confused.

Atari emulator -> Archon

Just five more levels of Bubble Safari and I'm done.  Meanwhile, there's Archon, the Electronic Arts classic.  And as you can see, I can still kick the computer's ass any time I want, tee hee hee.  I'd be the dark side, but I don't know how to configure the emulator to do that.  Who has time anymore?

Atari emulator -> Fantastic (Voyage?)

Now we're talking!  Well, I'm mere minutes away from another Bubble Safari shot, so let's take a look at Fantastic on Mushca Disk 9.  I don't know how to play it, but I love it anyway!  Just keep shooting and going up, that's all.  Apparently you're a ship travelling inside an artery, on your way to the big clog.  Defeat the clog and you're promoted!  Great game, good scrolling action.  Simple!  Clear!  Yet enigmatic... okay, I'm bored with it now.

Atari emulator -> Kid Grid

Isn't that inviting?  Well, as long as I still got it on Mushca Disk 9, it's time to look at Kid Grid, another lame Amidar variation.  You get five stuns, and you better use them wisely!  They last only about 3/4ths of a second.  Seriously.  At least they let you walk through the baddies when they're stunned.  Honestly, it's not worth it to get to level 2.  I do remember the ad for this game in one of the "trades", either Compute! or Antic.  Probably Compute.  To be fair, the Atari never could live up to artist renderings.

Kid Grid's permanent home at Atarimania, featuring the drawing fellas I was talking about!  Ah, my nostalgia fix for the day

Atari emulator -> B.C. Quest for Tires

Even though B.C. comic strip artist Johnny Hart turned into a right-wing a-hole later on in life... ah, forget it.

Atari emulator -> Popeye

Damn!  Another icon.  I always had trouble in the back of my mind with games like this, where Bluto can win.  It ain't eti-cute.  And the Sea Hag throwing empty beer bottles.  So wrong on so many levels.  They do disservice to the old Segar strips and the Fleischer cartoons.  Still, it's kinda fun, and I can still get to level 3 when I want to!

Atari emulator -> E.T. Phone Home

As I said before, I'm lazy and an icon whore, so naturally I'm into video games.  E.T. Phone Home for the Atari 8-bit computers is a good example.  NOT the disastrous 2600 cartridge...  Great puzzle game... did I do this one already?  Oh, sure, I could sit here and keep track of the colors of each object I gotta pick up and try to streamline the process, but no.  Time to work other parts of the brain.  Level 9, forced to remember.  I don't know if I beat my high score, but I did get E.T. home, and isn't that what really matters?

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 12: Hurricane

More fun than 'The Roost,' anyway.  I like the long-ass jumps to the right.... BEDTIME!!!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 11: Hatchlings

God, I hate this one.  You can do this one at speed 3 but it's damn difficult.  Follow the arrows more or less and you should be all right.  That second one from the top on the long ledge with the long downward rope... that's probably the toughest one to get, so I suggest getting it as early as possible.

(6/15/'20) - ...oh.  I know why this one's getting so much attention.  Allow me to post a NEW screen cap.  Better?  Slightly better?

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 10: HereThereEverywhere

The 'Grand Puzzle III' of Jumpman Junior, but without all the mystery to it.  GP3's the one you fall in love with, but H.T.E.'s the one you marry and have kids with.  The cat's here, so I gotta pet him now.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 9: Blackout

The Mystery Maze of Jumpman Junior.  I don't care if there's three of them at this point in my life.  It's 2 AM and I've got three more to profile.

2/13/'15 - Like all bloggers everywhere, I'm checking to see which posts get the most hits.  This one's got 131, and it's in second place behind my post about Candy Crush.  That one I understand; why is this one so popular????

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 8: Spellbound

Oh, crap... Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.  Anyway, you have to spell out a message for the big reward... 3000 points (punkte) !  Not too shabby... well, I think that jpeg's close enough.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 7: Zig-Zag

Oh, I LOVE this one!  The bullets chase after you in a zig-zag pattern, as promised.  Sine and cosine functions, here we come!  If you stay on the ground the whole time, you'll never see a bullet coming at you from the left or right.... you can't, so you will. (spoiler alert)

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 6: Walls

Hard to tell from the jpeg, but this one features walls that move left and right, carrying you with them if you don't resist.  Kinda like "Jumping Blocks" in the first Jumpman: if you're already in mid-jump, a second jumping block attack won't affect you.  If you stay firm on the ladder, moving while a wall passes over/through you, you'll be okay.  If a left and right wall pass through you AT THE SAME TIME... stand still, I guess!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 5: Figurit's Revenge

The name says it all.  I went ahead and put in an apostrophe all the same.  The only really pressing thing you need to know about this one is to get the prize in the lower right hand corner before you get the one in the upper left hand corner.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 4: Hellstones

NOW we're talking!

Notice that two of the hellstones bleed through the floors, while two do not.  Hellstones, indeed!  Plenty of cranberry juice for that.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 3: Dumbwaiter

A combination of "Going Down?" and "Ride Around" from the first one.  No bullets this time, as all the player/missiles are utilized for the various elevators... Activision could work around these limitations, of course.  Take River Raid, for example............

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 2: Electrocution

Why, that name's not clever at all!  You know, I could go through and draw in all the parts associated with each prize... but I'm not gonna.  When you grab a prize, either a gray section of floor or a green section of ladder "electrocutes" you, slowing you down.  Well, gotta make it exciting somehow.  Watch out for bullets!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman Junior, Level 1: Nothing to It

Wait a sec... you can only have one speed for the whole game?  Oh, I don't like this at all.  Anywho, this is the same as the first Jumpman Regular level, of course.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 30: Grand Puzzle III

And last but certainly not least, Grand Puzzle III.  You know, if I remember correctly, the finale of Quake has a similar device in it!  It also gets a callback in Jumplan Jumpman Jr.  GP3's a two-stage level.  First, you must get eight prizes and turn the purple square yellow.  Once it's yellow, you can use it as a portal to the next stage.  I stick with the old trustworthy 'n' shape.  Stand on the ladder under it, and you will magically end up on a climbing rope.  Try not to have a bullet bearing down on you vertically because it won't disappear.  You only get one shot at the second stage, no matter how many lives you have.  Ah, sweet frustration.  A thing of the past thanks to the emulator.  As you can see from my crude drawing, some of the prizes/gems are worth more than others.  Something about the number 500.  If you're playing 'Advanced' or 'Grand Loop' this will be the triumphant end of the game.  If you're like me and stick with the 'Randomizer,' you gotta keep going till you flip the score... damn.  Something else I gotta do now.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 29: Going Down?

Strangely similar to Level 16, if I'm not mistaken.  Of course, Jumpman Junior doesn't relive the sins of the father.  When Jumpman goes down the purple elevator, one can't help but grimace when he drops two pixels at a time instead of one.  Well, that's just to conform to Graphics 7 more smoothly.  Also, Jumpman Jr. doesn't fall as much around the green vines.  No fun!  This one seems to have all four bullets in action.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 28: Now You See It....

Always another wrinkle to crinkle with this thing.  Spoiler alert: when you grab the gems/prizes this time, the gems go away.  You better remember where they are!  Then, when you grab a gem, the green girders go away!  Of course, us Atari maniacs remember how to do that.  In Basic,... Setcolor?  Something like that.  Poke 708-712 if you're nasty.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 27: Robots III

Man, this one's a bastard.  But, time for me to go to the gym.  No time for the important stuff now!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 26: Gunfighter

Oh, puh-leeze....

Seriously, though, what's fun about this one is getting hit by a bullet after you get the prize, then you get a couple free seconds of gameplay, and you might be able to get another gunslinger or two if you play your cards right!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 25C: Mystery Maze

Keep the home fires burning, ma!

(2/20/17) Here's the last one and ... WHOA!  Check out these orange yellow freaks!  My God!  There's TWO of them... but they're at the same horizontal position?  Why would that be?  Only your Atari 8-bit enthusiast friends know for sure............

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 25B: Mystery Maze

Keep the home fires burning, ma!

(2/20/17) ...is it okay to admit that I forgot about this?  Anywya, I got back to it, finally!  For some reason I thought I wouldn't get to see the other two, but I guess that happens when you start from a saved state at an inappropriate juncture, just before the game's selected the one of the three Mystery Mazes to pick.  And so, here's the second one.  Much like the first, but just different enough.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 25A: Mystery Maze

That's one...

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 25: Mystery Maze

Now, HERE's something cool!  'Mystery Maze.'  A maze of mystery.  Is it mysterious, or just an excuse for attrition?  Turns out... spoiler alert, there's actually more than one.  I can only seem to get one at the moment, however.  This emulator can't do everything after all!  I think there's just the three...

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 24: The Jungle

Not as much room to jump 'n run here.......

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 23: Follow the Leader

Spoiler alert: follow the path, and jump about five times when you start.  The computer's allowed to cheat, of course.  It's only got 16K, mind you!  Not a lot of memory-intensive mimicry allowed.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 22: Freeze

I used to hate this one, until I discovered that if I played at Speed 2, I could OUTRUN the freezy things!  Duh.  These also get a callback in Jumpman Junior in level 11... I forget what it's called.  We'll find out soon enough.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 21: Jump-N-Run

We used to get food at Jump 'n Run all the time!  Rax, too.  Probably best that both are gone now.  Anyway, beware, for all FOUR player-missile bullets are in play now!  Damn, I'm almost out of lives.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 20: Figurit

SPOILER ALERT: Follow the numbers.  Make sure to jump when you pick up #12!!!!!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 19: Ladder Challenge

Well, a challenge to program it, maybe...  Hmm!  Wonder what would be loaded in.  Special code?  Or was all the code already in the main program.  Oh, how I miss the whirr of the old Indus disk drive, the constant loud returning to sector 39.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 18: Roll Me Over

Not this time, you don't!  One of the old Atari mags had an Epyx advert that compared this to Donkey Kong, among other things.  Here's the most direct connection, but think of it more as "Robots II.5".  The barrels don't just roll down and maybe turn into a fireball that follows after you.  But there is a bit of pre-determination to their movements, if I could just find a pattern to it all...............

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 17: The Roost

God, I hate this one with a passion.  Evading the birds is hard enough.  Now you gotta go all the way back to the bottom to get two more prizes.  Easy enough for me, as the birds usually knock me back down to the bottom, as they did this time.  And I played at speed 3!!!  I'm getting old............................

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 16: Ride Around

Am I the only one who sees a face in this maze?  I thought so.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 15: Grand Puzzle II

SPOILER ALERT time again.  Let me re-write this this way... Get gem #1 to make an upward rope appear in Prize Chamber A.  Get gem #2 to clear the path you must walk before getting gem #3.  Gem #3 turns you invisible, and you climb down the ladder and get the gem in the Chamber D.  The sword in Chamber B, of course, has revolving doors, so it's just a matter of skill getting in and out.  Gem #4 opens up the right door of Chamber C so you can get the ring-type thing, but the door closes on you once you get it.  Prize #5 opens up Chamber C's left door and keeps it open when you get the prize... but you get less bonus time doing all that extra walking!  Oddly enough, the chamber prizes seem to be included in the total gem count.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 15: Grand Puzzle II

Okay, SPOILER ALERT time.  Get prize #1 to make an upward rope appear in the top prize chamber.  Get prize #2 to clear the path you must walk when you get prize #3.  Prize #3 turns you invisible, and you climb down the ladder and get the gem in the bottom prize chamber.  The sword in the second-highest-up chamber, of course, has revolving doors, so it's just a matter of skill getting in and out.  Prize #4 opens up the right door in the second-lowest-up chamber so you can get the ring-type thing, but the door closes on you.  Prize #5 opens up the left door and keeps it open when you get the prize...

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 14: Dragon Slayer

Oh, please.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 13: Hailstones

Another one that gets a shout out in Jumpman Junior, but it's called... gasp!  "HELL-stones!"  Why does Epyx want to upset the Christians so much?  The oppressed minority that they are?  Haven't they suffered enough already?
Anyway, I was lucky this time, but usually I have trouble on this one.  Those damn hailstones always seem to get me!  This is remedied in J.Jr., sort of.  The hellstones track you with more sideways bounces.  I find that easier.  They're easier to fool, and they don't wrap around as quickly.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, Level 12: Robots II

Ah yes.  The one you always start with in "Randomizer" mode.  Try playing it at speed 1 for kicks!  I almost got 1400 bonus once.  I fell off the side this time, of course.  Can't go TOO fast, now!  Probably the easiest of the Robots series.  Now, Robots 3... they're out for blood!

Jumpman, Level 11: Runaway

Ah, this is needlessly complicated.  Imagine Pac-Man, but with the dots having the ability to move.  Two things in your favor: two gems can't land on top of each other, and 2) for some reason, when they go to the top of the screen, they don't wrap-around to the bottom, but come back down.  Then again, so do the spaceships in level 6.  Must be a theme of some kind.

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, level 10: Hot Foot

Damn!  Left it on speed 5.  Well, as you might know, the order in which you pick the prizes is VERY important in this one... and you gotta figure it out for yourself!  Nyaah nyaah...

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, level 9: Look Out Below

I remember this one!  You either have to get out of the way, or stay put.  I used to remember which ones to do... I could always just play on speed 4 and watch carefully, of course.  Maybe I'll try that if it's not too late.
...almost worked!

Atari emulator -> Jumpman, level 8: Builder

Well, you're not a builder in the sense that you are in the last one, Grand Puzzle I.  No, the maze does the building for you.  One gem begets another!  That's new.  Also, I always like it when I'm climbing down the rope and a bullet bears down on me.  Gets me every time.  Doesn't happen too often, but there's something unfair about it.  I think the bullets must represent the greedy unions displaced by mazes that can build themselves... of course, after Snot Walker's narrow victory in Wisconsin this week, unions aren't the enemy here.