Attract Mode by Scott Jacobi

The Many Faces of  . . .  Keystone Kapers by Alan Hewston

Activision's badge-shaped "Billy Club" patch courtesy of Atari Age.

1920’s style newspaper manual for 800, 5200 & CV courtesy of Atari Age

Atari 2600 screenshot courtesy of AtariProtos.coms

Colecovision screenshot courtesy of Mobygames

Atari 5200 screenshot courtesy of AtariAge

Atari 8 bit screenshot courtesy of Atarimania.com

When one thinks of the classic arcade shooter a few games come to mind.  Asteroids, Space Duel, and Galaxian all may invoke fond memories of the past of gaming but without a doubt there are few classic shooters that are as well remembered as the 1981 release of Galaga.  The sequel to the revolutionary Galaxian released two years earlier, Galaga took arcades by storm with its colorful graphics, memorable soundtrack, and addictive and challenging gameplay.  In the same way that one would be hard pressed to find an arcade without a Pac-Man machine, nearly every arcade had at least one Galaga machine.  In fact many arcades, pizza parlors, and the like have them to this day as the game was released in a couple special anniversary cabinets in recent years.  The continued popularity allows the game to continue to make solid money on location, nearly everyone plays Galaga, it's one of those magical games that has a minimum rule set which can be learned and exploited through refined skill.  Of course the game simply being a lot of fun has much to do with that as well.  With Galaga being so popular it has been ported to nearly every video game system capable of running it, including the NES.

The player takes command of a spaceship in a battle against swarms of alien insects which zoom onto the screen and eventually move into formation for attack.  After the first few stages a couple enemies will break off each incoming squadron and dive at the player kamikaze style while the rest of the group settles into formation.  Additionally the squadrons begin to take a few shots at the player as they form up after the first couple stages.  After all squadrons report and group into formation at the top of the screen they will begin to dive at the player, shooting during their descent.  Standard enemies simply make a single dive while bee enemies dive and make a single loop at the bottom of the screen before continuing downward.  All basic enemies wrap around to the top of the screen if they are not destroyed by the player's fire or a collision with the player's fighter.  Without a doubt what Galaga is most well known for is the Boss Galaga enemy.  In addition to taking two hits to destroy, the Boss Galaga can also capture the player's fighter and carry it back up into the formation.  If the captured fighter is the last of the player's ships, the game is over.  However if the player has at least one ship in reserve the next available ship is put into play.  When the Boss Galaga that captured the previous fighter dives down it can be shot and the captured fighter freed, joining with the current fighter in play for double firepower.  However if the Boss Galaga is shot while still in the formation the captured fighter will become an enemy, eventually diving down.  If the now enemy captured fighter is allowed to pass by it will return in the next stage and take formation with another Boss Galaga.  A few stages in, a single bee enemy will begin mutating on each stage and split into three.  Shooting all of them will give the player bonus points.  If the split enemies get passed the player's fighter two of them will disappear while the original enemy they split from returns to the top of the screen and the formation.  Every few stages the player is presented with a "Challenging Stage" which is a test of skill as enemies fly in fancy formations, shooting them all will yield a special bonus.

Bandai handled the development of the Famicom version under license from Namco, the NES version is exactly the same with the exception of NES specific copyrights.  Once the game is powered up you'll notice one of the few differences between the NES version and the arcade original:  a graphical title screen representative of the text logo that appeared on the arcade marquee, albeit far less detailed.  Aside from that the NES port of Galaga is one of the most direct conversions on the platform.  The left / right joystick of the original maps perfectly to the NES directional pad and both the B and A buttons are used to replicate the single fire button of the arcade version.  While the attract screen isn't an exact duplicate of the original, there is one present that plays a nice loop showcasing the basic gameplay.  Play control is perfect with the most accurate response this side of a joystick, the same goes for the fire buttons.  The close calls and strategic moves that made the difference between higher scores and game over are captured perfectly.

Audio is near perfect with all the sound effects and musical cues that we've become familiar with.  The introduction theme at the start of the game is a perfect recreation of the original as are the tunes that play before the challenging stages, when a player's fighter is captured, when extra lives are earned, and everything in between.  Since there is no high score name registration, the theme that played during this screen in the arcade plays during the end of game statistics screen on the NES.  In this way the entire arcade audio package makes its way onto the NES.  Sound effects are also recreated wonderfully although the explosion sound when the player's fighter is destroyed isn't quite as detailed but it's close enough and fits in fine.  Core gameplay is pretty much exactly the same with the same enemies, most of the same patterns, and all the same gameplay characteristics.  All the mechanics work exactly as they did in the arcade including enemy captured fighters returning on the next stage if allowed to pass by the player's fighter.

There is slightly less detail in each sprite than was present in the arcade but Bandai did a great job at recreating the over all appearance of everything from the enemies down to the stage symbols.  As with many arcade games of this era the original used a vertical display which needed to be converted to a horizontal display for the NES.  Bandai decided to move the scores, current stage symbol, and remaining fighters to the right side of the screen.  In this way the remaining part of the screen used for the playfield is closer in dimension to a vertical display.  However to keep the sprites large and detailed even though the playfield is scaled down, the empty vertical space in the playfield of the original is compromised.  Although the enemies behave as they did in the arcade, there is much less distance between the player's fighter and the level in which the aliens get into formation.  Granted it doesn't change a whole lot about the game but it allows the player to mow through the formation faster as the aliens start closer to the fighter than they did in the arcade.  This also makes the challenging stages somewhat different since the enemies are on screen for a shorter amount of time due to the relative loss of space in the middle.

Officially Galaga on the NES was titled "Galaga: Demons of Death" but don't be fooled, it's the classic arcade Galaga we all grew up playing.  Galaga is a perfect example of a great game in the arcade that was translated into a great game on the NES.  The NES version does the arcade original justice by changing very little to allow the game to perform well on the hardware.  It plays exactly like a slightly less detailed version of the arcade game but there's just as much fun to be had as it is a superb conversion.  The game is also somewhat common so it's an easy title to find for a few dollars.  Chalk this one up as another prime example of how classic arcade games can be properly recreated on the NES if a little attention is given.

"InsaneDavid" also runs a slowly growing gaming site at http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi

 Apple II Incider: Silencing the Seas (Silent Service)


 by Donald Lee

Welcome back to another installment of Apple II Incider.    I was going to write about some more text based games this month.  However, I got a little time pressed and decided to write something a little easier.  I'll get my focus back next month on some other text based games. 

Simulations were a very popular genre in the 1980's.  From fighter planes, to helicopters, and finally to submarines, gamers had many choices from which to choose.  For submarine simulations, you had a few choices.  The two most popular choices were probably Gate by Spectrim Holobyte and Silent Service by Microprose. 

Silent Service received many good reviews as I recalled and I was excited to give the game a spin.  Considering I was a young teenage in the 1980's, I am surprised I actually had the patience to learn the mechanics of the game.  Silent Service was definitely not one of those arcade type games you jump right in and play. 

Graphically, Silent Service on the Apple II was good at the time.  THe game did a good job of representing the stations most vital to the submarine including the maps, the periscope and being on the lookout on the deck of the submarine.  For most gamers money, the best part of the game was probably peering through the periscope and firing torpedoes at passing ships.

As with most Apple II games, there wasn't a lot of sound effects.  What sound there was pretty limited.  However, the game did support the Mockinboard, an external sound card for the Apple II.  I did not have a sound card at the time I purchased Silent Service.  However, I did pick up a Mockingboard compatible card some years later, but I do not recall how the sound effects and/or music were improved. 

All in all, I spent a great deal of time playing Silent Service.  I got past the easier levels fairly quickly but struggled in the higher levels.  Interestingly enough, I never did play Gato.  I always thought of picking it up to compare against Silent Service, but it never happened.  However, with the advent of emulators, I may get my wish.

See you all next month!  

Game Archaeologist by Scott Jacobi

This month I was able to get through five particular games: Babel no Tou, Ganbare Goemon 1, Solomon's Key, Valkyrie no Bouken, and Metroid.  All five games are rather complex, and surprisingly, all five games have stood the test of time in one way or another so as to be presented once again in the future with some kind of enhanced remake. It occurred to me that last month, I didn't linked to any of the respective guides that I wrote about, so I fixed that this month.  Let's take a look.

Babel no Tou, or The Tower of Babel, is a stage based puzzle game created by Namco.  Unsurprisingly, it has nothing to do with the biblical tower that it took it's name from.  In each stage, you have to find some way to arrange an assortment of L shaped blocks in order to reach the open door and escape.  If the door isn't open, you have to find crystals that will unlock the door.  Gravity is always in effect, so the blocks fall down to the platforms below when you drop them.  However, if you drop them so that they land corner to corner, they stack and create staircases.  Most non-Japanese players will have little recollection of this title.  It was re-released three times, one of which was unofficial.  It found it's way on to the Namco Galleries, a compilation series made for the original Game Boy (with Super Game Boy support).  And it was contained in the second Namco Anthology, a PlayStation based compilation of Famicom titles that also included enhanced remakes of the originals.  The enhanced Tower of Babel game kept track of which of the multiple exits you successfully made it through, in addition to tracking whether you collected a new item added to each stage.  But perhaps the most impressive remake is not the Namco ones, but a fan remake of the game for the Sharp X68000 computer.  It recreated all 128 puzzles (64 regular, and 64 pro) exactly, and it enhanced the graphics up to a 16-bit look.

The original Famicom version	The visually enhanced x68000 version

The original Ganbare Goemon	The more familiar Legend of the Mystical Ninja

The graphically sophisticated Arcade version	The zodiac stage driven NES version

The start of the original Famicom version	The graphically charged cell phone version

The original NES version of Metroid	The enhanced remake on the GBA

Growing up with Games: Part II


 
by Brian H. 

Last we heard, the family was enjoying America’s favorite pastime…the Atari 2600.  Allowances, birthday money, spare change, everything I had went towards purchasing that “must have” new game that looked so good on the back of the box!  Then, reality sets in…after playing this ‘wonder’ for about 20 minutes, you start to realize that a lot of these games are pretty much the same concept, only with different shapes and colors.

I can remember looking forward to visiting K-Mart and other similar large department stores.  While Dad was looking at tools and hardware, Mom was shopping for clothes and household items, and me….I was running to the back towards electronics to get my share of gaming on the Uber-Kiosk!

This was a marvel to behold.  All the newest games at your disposal, for free!  Pity the younger kid that thought he was going to keep playing Yar’s Revenge when I arrived!

1981 - Arriving at a friend of a friend’s house, I was looking forward to playing some games with other kids…only to find that they did not possess the most common of items, the 2600.  No, on the screen I heard a voice emerge from the little TV speaker.  What the $#$!!  Major League Baseball….with realistic players, and voice!  This was amazing.  I had seen the Intellivision at stores, but the price was far too high to consider, especially since we had accumulated a rather large library of 2600 games.

The controller was rather unique in that it had no joystick.  A circular disc with a keypad?  Colorful overlays that slid in, revealing what keys performed when pressed.  I was hooked. 

Astrosmash, Space Hawk, MLB, NFL, Auto Race, Utopia, Frog Bog, the list went on…… 

A couple of years went by and we still played our Sears Telegames VCS.  New games from Activision had us coming back for more.  Improved graphics and sound kept us feeling jealous of our INTV-owning friends.

I bought the magazines such as Electronic Games and Video Computer Entertainment.  The reviews and ads were always fun to look at and wish for the newest game “Coming Soon”!

The arcades were booming and we all wished we could play these games at home.  Hi-res graphics, quality sound effects, and a more involved play.  Well, it was right around the corner…..

 The Colecovision and the Atari 5200 Supersystem 

Anyone who is old enough to remember these first coming onto store shelves can relate to me here.

 Colecovision - Zaxxon, Donkey Kong, Mouse Trap, Cosmic Avenger, and the list went on…..

Atari 5200 – Vanguard, Missile Command, Pac-Man, Centipede, Defender, and the list went on….

What a great time to be a kid who likes video games!  The competition was on.  Prices were reduced on 2600 games (yeah!), and the weekly ads were filled with pictures, TV commercials on every station advertising their newest technology…to take the arcade experience home.  And for the most part….they succeeded.

What happens when you have too many games on the market?  Great quality and selection?  Nooooo…..

Every company on earth thought that they could make a ‘decent’ game and profit from it.  Customers were confused, disappointed, irritated, and downright pissed.  What does this do to the gaming market?

 Crash!!!!

You know who loved the crash?  A young kid from Ohio who loved going through all the dump bins at every department and toy store…picking up games that used to cost 22.99, and now could be had for 3.99, that’s who!

My collection grew and grew.  So what if they weren’t the greatest games, fun for awhile, and at that price!  If you didn’t like it….sell it to your little cousin for six bucks and make a little profit on the side.  See, some people did alright during the great videogame crash of the 80’s!