Created by Larry Miller and released by Activision in 1982, Spider Fighter sounds like it could be a really exciting game, something on a web, or a heroic character fighting off hoards of spiders with a sword maybe? No. In this case it’s a fairly bog-standard Galaxian rip-off, although it is a very well-made one.
Tag Archives: 1982
Berzerk, Atari 2600
Berzerk is a conversion of the 1980 Stern Electronics arcade game of the same name. It was ported to the Atari 2600 by Dan Hitchens for Atari, Inc., who also published it. Atari 2600 Berzerk was first released in 1982.
Pac-Man, Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 version of Namco‘s classic Pac-Man is notorious for being terrible… And it is truly rubbish… The animation of Pac-Man himself is awful, the ghosts flicker horribly*, the transition from a vertical maze to a horizontal one has not been well-handled, and the general all-round authenticity of the game is highly questionable…
*= Which is why I’ve chosen to alter some of these grabs, to give a better representation of the game, as seen on-screen.
Gorf, Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 version of the classic arcade shooter, Gorf, was programmed by Alex Leavens and first released in 1982 by CBS Video Games. It is a cut-down version of the arcade original*, with graphics and scenes that barely recreate it.
* = Yes, it doesn’t have the fifth ‘Galaxian‘ stage, which most commercial ports of the game are missing due to rights issues. Enhanced homebrew ports of the game have since re-instated it.
China Syndrome, Atari 2600
Loosely-based on the 1979 film, The China Syndrome , China Syndrome by Spectravision – first released in 1982 – is a “simulation” of a fission nuclear reactor going wrong. The aim is to capture neutrons, using a roaming cursor, to prevent a runaway nuclear reaction and eventual reactor meltdown.
Barnstorming, Atari 2600
Barnstorming was designed by Steve Cartwright and first published by Activision in 1982. Like most people who play it for the first time, I had to check if I was playing the game as intended, because there’s so little to it.
Choplifter, VIC-20
The 1982 VIC-20 version of Dan Gorlin‘s Choplifter was coded by Tom Griner for Creative Software, and it has to be said that it is by far the worst version of Choplifter out there.
Choplifter, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 8-bit home computer version of Dan Gorlin‘s Choplifter was published by Brøderbund in 1982. It came out not long after the Apple II original.
Spider-Man, Atari 2600
The 1982 release of Parker Brothers‘ Atari 2600 game, Spider-Man, was the first ever video game featuring a character licensed from Marvel Comics. And, of course, by extension, it was also the first officially-licensed Spider-Man game. But is it any good?
Space Invaders, Atari 5200
Playing the Atari 5200 version of Taito‘s classic Space Invaders you can’t help but wonder what the programmer was thinking when he made it. Had he ever played the original Space Invaders, or was he instructed to “make something better” than the original? Because this seems to ignore a few important details from the arcade game…
The King of Grabs 