Developed by VSS, Inc. (of Texas), and published by Wizard Video Games in 1983, the Atari 2600 version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* is a travesty of a video game, and a perfect example of the kind of careless rubbish being released to market that triggered the North American video game market crash of the mid-Eighties.

*= The correct title of Tobe Hooper‘s classic 1973 film is “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (note the words “Chain” and “Saw” are separate), and NOT “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre“. Wizard Video Games got the title wrong, so I’m sticking with the correct title for the film, rather than bastardising it incorrectly, like they did.

In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre you play as Leatherface, chasing Sally and Pam around with your chainsaw, trying to kill them. As you run left or right you must avoid getting snagged on desert brush, skeletons, fences, and – somewhat hilariously – Franklin‘s empty wheelchair. When you see one of the girls, you need to run towards them and buzz-saw them, but they’ll dodge you by switching sides, so you need to keep changing direction until you finally catch one of them. When you successfully get one, they’ll turn upside down, and you’ll be awarded a thousand points. And you need to do this as many times as possible before your fuel runs out. And that’s about all there is to the game…

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre looks like shit, sounds like shit, and plays like shit. The game was coded by Ed Salvo, who – it has to be said – did an appalling job of interpreting the film. In fact, in this interview, he complains about having to watch the film so that he could get ideas for making the game. And that he’s “not proud” of the game he made, but that he had “rent to pay”… So Wizard Video Games commissioned a person who had no interest in this exceptional film, to produce a game that he didn’t care about, just so that he could make some money… Which tells you everything you need to know about Mr. Salvo, and also Wizard, who clearly didn’t give a hoot about the game, but in making a quick buck on peddled, licensed crap. Well, ultimately the last laugh was on them, because The Texas Chain Saw Massacre sold very few cartridges (making it exceptionally rare and collectible today), and Wizard Video Games went belly-up after releasing just two games.

That said, as a lifelong fan of Tobe Hooper‘s classic film, it does pain me that games like this treated it with such contempt. But I suppose, if being treated like shit is good enough for E.T., then it’s also good enough for Leatherface…

More: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on Wikipedia