Montezuma’s Revenge is a classic platform game originally released for Atari 8-bit computers by Utopia Software in 1983, and later re-released by Parker Brothers in 1984.

The game was written by a then 16 year-old Robert Jaeger, who made two versions of the game for Atari home computers.

The original disk version requires 48K of RAM to run and features an animated title screen, plus more rooms, a different layout, more bells and whistles, and a Mexican lead character called “Pedro“. A 16K cartridge version was also released, with fewer rooms, less detail, and a main character called “Panama Joe“. I recommend finding (and playing) the original disk version over the sparse cartridge version if possible. The original version is easy to spot: it has a title screen and music, and the cartridge version does not. These grabs show both versions.

In both versions there are nine difficulty levels, which change the game quite significantly in some respects, giving the game more scope than it otherwise might have had. Only the first three difficulty levels are available from the start, though. The rest must be unlocked by playing through the game.

Montezuma’s Revenge has also been converted to a variety of different systems over the decades, which demonstrates just how good a game it is. It might look like a kid’s game, but it’s actually quite a tough challenge, and well worth taking on.

More: Montezuma’s Revenge on Wikipedia