Mushca Disk 123 - The Electroids... you have to look under 'T' alphabetically, BTW
The Electroids at Atarimania
Another ANALOG type-in game. I guess that makes sense. Again, a six-digit score. That's confidence, innit? Well, I'm an old man now and probably couldn't flip the score like I could at 13. But this is the closest I'll ever get to playing an Atari game that features a poop emoji. So basically... this is like a game of Pong? You are Nerdstrom, green manager of the one room girder factory. Your job is to keep the poop emojis away from the portals. Not easy, because they seem to want to go. If you do manage to lose one... and don't worry, because you will... you will lose five energy points. Hmm! This is strangely similar to Pack Man, another game of energy points. But at least "The Electroids" is a little bit more lively.
There are many girders in the one room girder factory, and you start just south of the middle, but you quickly find your way to the bottom, with little to no chance for advancement. At least, none that I can divine with my limited game vocabulary. And there seems to be no manual to help me. You can try to jump by pushing the up button, but no dice. You're too overweight for that. If you're used to playing Joust, well... I mean, you're just going to find this downright frustrating, there's no two ways about it.
Now, you keep the poop emojis afloat by having them bounce off your head. If they bump into you left to right, you quickly lose lots of energy points, as any advocate of Atari player/missiles can tell you. About 60 per second, so try to keep those meetings short. There's advancement to other "levels," even though I hardly see the point of that. I mean, God bless James Hague and all that, but I think this one is his Daikatana. Yeah, that's right... I went there.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Atari Emulator ---> Collapse
Ah, God bless the new lack of functionality of Blogger! They're trying to make it simpler, I guess. More sleek, less "text"y... or is that more sexy, less text-y? Everything's a button now. Trouble is, I don't know what Hieroglyph to use for things like "Publish" and "Save." Probably a floppy disk for that one... gather 'round, grandchildren and let me tell you why floppy disks are still used for icons instead of the old thumb drives we all use now. Tradition!
...where was I? Oh, right. Whelp, because you can't just play Rainbow Walker and Pharaoh's Curse all the time, I ventured out into that great big virtual world to play "Collapse" on Mushca Disk 10... ugh. Okay, a little Pitfall 1 first. Boy, those were the days. Three treasures, and I'll stop.
Okay, back to Collapse. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure it out. A lot. So it was time for that dreaded Plan B: actually reading the manual. See, the game is ... well, since it's so late, the closest thing I can think of is Quadromania XL, except that here, in Collapse, you're bound by gravity, much like Mario in the original Donkey Kong. However, falling from the greatest of heights is allowed here, as it is in all the truly great video games. So, you're supposed to navigate your way around this puzzle, change the color of all the walls, and then activate the walls, as the manual informs us. But beware! There's two baddies who haunt your every waking moment. But you do have a secret weapon: magic pixie dust that acts like a net to catch them. All you have to do is hit the "trigger" ('0' key on the numpad for me... does anyone else miss joysticks?) and you turn red. Then, you push down on the joystick, or '2' on the numpad, and boom! Cloud of pixie dust. The baddies get stuck in it, you touch them, and boom. Gone, and bonus points. Alas, they rather instantly re-appear in one of the upper hand corners.
And so the mighty struggle continues, as you try to adapt to these strange laws of the land. You try to re-color the walls, and then try to pick the right one so that they "collapse" like a weird set of dominoes, if dominoes could topple over upside down and what not... hmm! Didn't I see that once? Didn't someone build a track of dominoes, with the dominoes attached to the track with little pins? In any event, a more enterprising soul than I can have that idea for free. Go and do something viral with that. Anyway, I did feel a sense of accomplishment after passing the first few levels. The sounds are kind of like that Atari version of "Porky's" and the graphics strangely reminiscent of "Chuckie Egg." Must be the weird-ass numerals. So, all in all, I would say that "Collapse" is good... just, maybe not all 96 levels good. Also, you might not want to try and flip the score, seeing as how it's got EIGHT digits instead of the usual six. The game's okay, just not eight-digit-score okay.
Collapse - Mushca Disk 10
Collapse at Atarimania
Firebird in general at Atarimania ... don't laugh! They were once a wing of Activision. Heard of them lately?
...where was I? Oh, right. Whelp, because you can't just play Rainbow Walker and Pharaoh's Curse all the time, I ventured out into that great big virtual world to play "Collapse" on Mushca Disk 10... ugh. Okay, a little Pitfall 1 first. Boy, those were the days. Three treasures, and I'll stop.
Okay, back to Collapse. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure it out. A lot. So it was time for that dreaded Plan B: actually reading the manual. See, the game is ... well, since it's so late, the closest thing I can think of is Quadromania XL, except that here, in Collapse, you're bound by gravity, much like Mario in the original Donkey Kong. However, falling from the greatest of heights is allowed here, as it is in all the truly great video games. So, you're supposed to navigate your way around this puzzle, change the color of all the walls, and then activate the walls, as the manual informs us. But beware! There's two baddies who haunt your every waking moment. But you do have a secret weapon: magic pixie dust that acts like a net to catch them. All you have to do is hit the "trigger" ('0' key on the numpad for me... does anyone else miss joysticks?) and you turn red. Then, you push down on the joystick, or '2' on the numpad, and boom! Cloud of pixie dust. The baddies get stuck in it, you touch them, and boom. Gone, and bonus points. Alas, they rather instantly re-appear in one of the upper hand corners.
And so the mighty struggle continues, as you try to adapt to these strange laws of the land. You try to re-color the walls, and then try to pick the right one so that they "collapse" like a weird set of dominoes, if dominoes could topple over upside down and what not... hmm! Didn't I see that once? Didn't someone build a track of dominoes, with the dominoes attached to the track with little pins? In any event, a more enterprising soul than I can have that idea for free. Go and do something viral with that. Anyway, I did feel a sense of accomplishment after passing the first few levels. The sounds are kind of like that Atari version of "Porky's" and the graphics strangely reminiscent of "Chuckie Egg." Must be the weird-ass numerals. So, all in all, I would say that "Collapse" is good... just, maybe not all 96 levels good. Also, you might not want to try and flip the score, seeing as how it's got EIGHT digits instead of the usual six. The game's okay, just not eight-digit-score okay.
Collapse - Mushca Disk 10
Collapse at Atarimania
Firebird in general at Atarimania ... don't laugh! They were once a wing of Activision. Heard of them lately?
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Atari Emulator -> Len Dorfman's "Karmic Caverns"
Muscha Disk 42 - Interesting that this finds itself on the same disc as the classic "Bruce Lee" Atari game, as it has a similar running pace to it. Whelp, I need a little break from my usual routine of crushing virtual candies, so why not another Len Dorfman classic? There aren't that many left! Well, like the magical disappearing "Erg," this is another exercise in frustrating game play. Erg. More like Arrrgh! Hah! See how I did that?
Oh, never mind. ANYWAY... I think there's only one way to do this. Clearly, I must take the text from the original packaging, which I will put in italics, and then add my snarky, smart-ass comments in between in regular font. Here goes! Hoh boy!!!...
KARMIC CAVERNS, by Len Dorfman, is a 100% machine language arcade-style game that will entertain you hour after hour!
I should probably explain. See, there are games like my beloved Vorrak / Zardon, which are half BASIC, half machine language. Floyd of The Jungle's another one. Why can't I be playing THAT one right now?
You must find your way through the maze-like caverns avoiding the deadly plasmatic guards (not to mention the electrified walls) and acquire as many energy pods as you can.
I assume the plasmatic guards are the flower-looking things. The electrified walls are the ones that are purple. Also, the left side of the screen is deadly too. If you touch either one, you die by getting a full body scan four times. Strangely enough, the flying bullets from "Jumpman" are worth 100 points! Oops.... SPOILER ALERT.
You must climb ever upwards [comma] striving to acquire enough energy points to reach the next level before time runs out for you.
Not to worry: you'll run out of lives before time runs out for you. By the way, another Spoiler Alert. By "climb ever upwards," they also mean that you should keep running left to right as well, because even though you have a basically rail-thin avatar, you nevertheless keep sinking at the rate of about four or five pixels per second. The gravitational pull must be stronger down in the Karmic Caverns. And not only that, your aim must be true when you climb up a ladder, especially on the ground level. If you're unable to start your climb in time, you will sink through and hit the timer and die. Or worse, you sink through and keep falling forever! No wrap-around here, folks. No hitting a vertical 255 and appearing back up at the top. Len Dorfman planned for that. Instead, it's a forever fall, forcing you to reboot. Don't worry, you won't have to reload Karmic Caverns. The Atari will do it for you!
KARMIC CAVERNS utilizes the full sound and graphics capabilities of the Atari computer!
No, something like Ultima III utilized the full sound capabilities of the Atari, and a LucasArts game the full graphics capabilities.
Fun for all ages.
I am curious about the title. Guess they just needed a different one. The only way I can think of the concept of karma applying to this game is that it provides balance to the more entertaining games that you choose to play instead. Life isn't all power pills and the bashing of barrels, folks.
Requires 48K RAM and one disk drive.
Funny, seems more like a 12K game to me. After all, only ONE MAZE!!!
$34.95
For $34.95, you BETTER be entertained hour upon hour! Okay, I've been mean enough to this one.
This Just In: The Time Clock DOES reset when you reach 5,000 points! Nice game and all; I just wish there was a little more certainty on those few points where being able to climb a ladder is the difference between life and death. Must be part of the fun of the game or something.
Mushca Disk 42 ... I didn't stray too far, did I? Also featuring Midas Maze!! The previous one I profiled!!
Len Dorfman's Karmic Caverns at Atarimania, featuring screenshots of the original packaging!
Len Dorfman in general at Atarimania
Oh, never mind. ANYWAY... I think there's only one way to do this. Clearly, I must take the text from the original packaging, which I will put in italics, and then add my snarky, smart-ass comments in between in regular font. Here goes! Hoh boy!!!...
KARMIC CAVERNS, by Len Dorfman, is a 100% machine language arcade-style game that will entertain you hour after hour!
I should probably explain. See, there are games like my beloved Vorrak / Zardon, which are half BASIC, half machine language. Floyd of The Jungle's another one. Why can't I be playing THAT one right now?
You must find your way through the maze-like caverns avoiding the deadly plasmatic guards (not to mention the electrified walls) and acquire as many energy pods as you can.
I assume the plasmatic guards are the flower-looking things. The electrified walls are the ones that are purple. Also, the left side of the screen is deadly too. If you touch either one, you die by getting a full body scan four times. Strangely enough, the flying bullets from "Jumpman" are worth 100 points! Oops.... SPOILER ALERT.
You must climb ever upwards [comma] striving to acquire enough energy points to reach the next level before time runs out for you.
Not to worry: you'll run out of lives before time runs out for you. By the way, another Spoiler Alert. By "climb ever upwards," they also mean that you should keep running left to right as well, because even though you have a basically rail-thin avatar, you nevertheless keep sinking at the rate of about four or five pixels per second. The gravitational pull must be stronger down in the Karmic Caverns. And not only that, your aim must be true when you climb up a ladder, especially on the ground level. If you're unable to start your climb in time, you will sink through and hit the timer and die. Or worse, you sink through and keep falling forever! No wrap-around here, folks. No hitting a vertical 255 and appearing back up at the top. Len Dorfman planned for that. Instead, it's a forever fall, forcing you to reboot. Don't worry, you won't have to reload Karmic Caverns. The Atari will do it for you!
KARMIC CAVERNS utilizes the full sound and graphics capabilities of the Atari computer!
No, something like Ultima III utilized the full sound capabilities of the Atari, and a LucasArts game the full graphics capabilities.
Fun for all ages.
I am curious about the title. Guess they just needed a different one. The only way I can think of the concept of karma applying to this game is that it provides balance to the more entertaining games that you choose to play instead. Life isn't all power pills and the bashing of barrels, folks.
Requires 48K RAM and one disk drive.
Funny, seems more like a 12K game to me. After all, only ONE MAZE!!!
$34.95
For $34.95, you BETTER be entertained hour upon hour! Okay, I've been mean enough to this one.
This Just In: The Time Clock DOES reset when you reach 5,000 points! Nice game and all; I just wish there was a little more certainty on those few points where being able to climb a ladder is the difference between life and death. Must be part of the fun of the game or something.
Mushca Disk 42 ... I didn't stray too far, did I? Also featuring Midas Maze!! The previous one I profiled!!
Len Dorfman's Karmic Caverns at Atarimania, featuring screenshots of the original packaging!
Len Dorfman in general at Atarimania
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Atari Emulator -> Analog Computing's Midas Maze
Kewl! My 2020 list of New Year's resolutions is already complete! Alas, Atarimania's categorization lumps anything from Analog Computing into one category. Not that I don't love Antic's stuff, mind you, and typing it in from a magazine, but Midas Maze seemed a little more like a complete game... okay, sure, it's no Boulder Dash, but what it lacks in bells and whistles it makes up for in pure adrenaline arcade action. Maybe a little too fast, actually, but what the heck. Heck!! Boy, I really am an old man now. Anyway, Midas Maze is somewhere between Rally-X and Super Pac-Man. You've got the key system of Super Pac-Man, but instead of a giant yellow dot plagued by ghosts, it's a race car plagued by other race cars. Sure, it's hard flipping an eight-digit score, but a journey of 100 million steps has to start at one! Had a hell of a time trying to remember where this was. See, I downloaded most of Mushca's stuff a long time ago, and I could've SWORN it was somewhere in the hundreds, so I started at 100........
Atarimania's home for Midas Maze
Mushca's home for Midas Maze: Disk 42
Atarimania's home for Midas Maze
Mushca's home for Midas Maze: Disk 42
Friday, December 13, 2019
Atari Emulator - Pack Man
Yes, you're right! It was a great segué, thank you very much. Whelp, it reminds me a little too much of the gameplay of another video game toothache known as Pushy Pig. HOWEVER... and this is a big however, there is one aspect of this game that I do like. Wouldn't really work with regular Pac-Man, but what the hell. As the Pac-Man-like avatar in "Pack Man" you get three lives, with 100 energy points. There's two "ghosts". They don't kill you outright, but they do slowly sap away your energy points. But what WILL kill you outright is if the two "ghosts" touch each other! It brings an extra dimension of thought to the game play... even though it still kinda sucks. But I'll try to plow past level 4 one of these days, I promise.
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