Another simple Atari 2600 game with compelling gameplay: Kaboom! is a 1981 Activision game where you must catch falling bombs (dropped by what looks like a burglar, but we’ll call him The Mad Bomber) onto a set of bats, without allowing any bombs to hit the ground below you.
Tag Archives: David Crane
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, Atari 8-bit
This Atari 8-bit conversion of David Crane‘s classic Atari 2600 platform game is subtitled the “Adventurer’s Edition” because it contains a whole new second level that becomes available after you complete the first.
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, Atari 2600
Activision‘s 1984 sequel to Pitfall! – Pitfall II: Lost Caverns – was again designed and programmed by David Crane. This time, though, the cartridge had a custom display processor chip inside, which allowed for improved visuals and continuous four channel music (the Atari 2600 is normally only capable of two channel sound).
Gameplay is similar to Pitfall!, although in this follow-up the world you can explore is much bigger than previously and is made up of eight screens in width, by 27 screens in height, making 216 screens in total. When you walk from one screen to another the new screen scrolls smoothly into view.
Ghostbusters Special
The classic comedy horror film, Ghostbusters, was made into a video game by David Crane and published by Activision in 1984. The Commodore 64 version being the first – and arguably the best – version of this simple yet involving game. Many different conversions of Ghostbusters followed, and we’ve covered all of them on this website.
Here’s a list of all the different versions of Ghostbusters on thekingofgrabs.com. Listed in chronological order of release…
Ghostbusters, Apple II (1984)
Ghostbusters, Atari 8-bit (1984)
Ghostbusters, Commodore 64 (1984)
Ghostbusters, ZX Spectrum (1984)
Ghostbusters, Amstrad CPC (1985)
Ghostbusters, Atari 2600 (1985)
Ghostbusters, MSX (1985)
Ghostbusters, NES/Famicom (1986)
Ghostbusters, PC (1986)
Ghostbusters, Sega Master System (1987)
Enjoy,
The King of Grabs
More: Ghostbusters on Wikipedia
Ghostbusters, PC
This 1986 PC Booter version of Ghostbusters won’t run in MS-DOS, but it is easy enough to get working in DOSBox, by simply adding a “BOOT” line to the config file.
To get the game running in colour (ie. not horrible CGA) I had to use the “pcjr” graphics option and set CPU cycles to 240. Otherwise the game would run too fast.
Ghostbusters, MSX
The MSX version of Activision‘s Ghostbusters is the same as all the others… Simple; archaic; and a very early example of a movie-licensed video game.
There’s no digitised speech in this version, although the rendition of Ray Parker Jr.‘s hit single isn’t bad.
Ghostbusters, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 800 version of David Crane‘s Ghostbusters is almost as good as the C64 original. It has excellent digitised speech; the obligatory chiptunes rendition of Ray Parker Jr.‘s hit single, and the game is nice, smooth, and non-flickery to play.
Ghostbusters, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of David Crane‘s classic Ghostbusters is just as dull/entertaining (delete as applicable) as the original Commodore 64 version. But with some extra colour clash thrown in for good measure… 🙂
Ghostbusters, Commodore 64
David Crane‘s 1984 adaptation of the hit film Ghostsbusters was also a big hit on the video game scene too. It hit number one on the sales charts for most home systems and is still talked about to this day.
The Commodore 64 version was the first one released.
Pitfall!, Atari 2600
David Crane‘s Pitfall! is a pioneering old game, from way back in 1982.
You control Pitfall Harry and must find 32 treasures in 20 minutes. You run and jump from screen to screen, swinging on ropes, jumping on crocodile heads, and avoiding quicksand. Not to mention: creatures that will kill you if you touch them.
The King of Grabs 