Halloween on the Atari 2600 is another “classic” horror movie license [that was sarcasm, by the way], developed by VSS, Inc. and published by Wizard Video Games in 1983. It is based on John Carpenter‘s classic 1978 film of the same name, and in it you play as a babysitter, trying to save children from the unstoppable murderer, Michael Myers.

The game is set inside a house of sixteen rooms, split into two floors. The furthest left and rightmost screens are “safe rooms”, with doors leading up and down stairs, between floors. Some rooms have faulty electrics and the lights flicker on and off.

As you explore the house, you’ll be assailed by the knife-wielding, grey boiler suit-wearing homicidal maniac and must avoid contact with him at all costs. If the killer goes toe-to-toe with you, he’ll decapitate you and your character will run off-screen (with no head), with blood squirting out of the stump…

When you find a child, you must approach them and press fire while stood over them, and they’ll follow you. You then lead them to one of the safe rooms and press fire again to release them for a points bonus. If the killer reaches one of the children before you do, they’ll be knifed to death (complete with blood spurts), but you can avoid this by exiting the current room, then re-entering and trying again.

You can, if you’re lucky, find a knife that’s located somewhere in the house and try to stab the killer before he gets you. You must first pick up the knife, then use it on the killer, but it will only work if his knife is in the ‘up’ position. Making this a rather risky manoeuvre. If you’re successful, then the killer will turn around and run away.

To complete a level, you must either rescue five kids, or stab the killer twice. Subsequent levels are the same, but the killer moves more rapidly.

Every time the killer appears on-screen a version of the film’s iconic score plays, and when you lose all your lives a really wonky, out-of-tune extension of this theme plays to indicate “game over”.

Overall, Halloween on the Atari 2600 is pretty terrible. Just like the other horror film-based game from Wizard, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In fact, both games were programmed by the same guy, Ed Salvo, who did not ingratiate himself with glory in making them.

More: Halloween on Wikipedia