The Video Game Critic's
Atari 2600 Reviews F-G

You have to love how even the worst Atari 2600 games managed to include elaborate background stories in their instruction booklets. The premise behind Fire Fly is that a space pilot testing a high-speed interplanetary craft skips off the rim of a black hole. Upon regaining consciousness, he finds himself in a mysterious world ruled by insects that are half-machine. I could delve even further, but there's no point because the story has absolutely nothing to do with this pathetic game. Fire Fly is utterly reprehensible in every way and practically unplayable. You control a free-moving blinking object that doesn't resemble much of anything. Moving from screen to screen, you shoot at evil pumpkins, demons, bats, and hydras. I can name these enemies because I looked in the manual, not because I could identify those sloppy, pixilated objects on the screen. Fire Fly's control is atrocious, the animation is jerky, and the non-stop background noise is unbearable! Of all the games in my Atari 2600 collection, this may well be the most worthless. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Once again Starpath has taken a simple video game concept and elevated it to kick-ass status. Fireball builds upon the classic Breakout formula by giving the player the ability to catch, aim, and throw multiple balls. In contrast to the flat, rainbow-colored walls of Breakout, here you get a variety of brick arrangements. You control a juggler on the bottom of the screen who automatically catches up to two balls. Pressing the fire button causes him to throw them back, allowing you to take aim at those final few bricks. You can also hold in the button to have them bounce off of you instead. It's best to stagger the balls, since missing a single ball immediately ends your turn. The game is especially hard in advanced rounds where you'll need to juggle up to six balls at once! Keeping multiple fireballs in play multiplies your score, and it's fun to watch the points tally continuously at the top of the screen - even after your turn ends. Five game variations are available but only two are worthwhile. In Firetrap you'll break two balls out of a pair of circular enclosures, and in Cascade there are five balls to release! The other three variations add complexity but I found them slow and tedious. Stick with the basics however and Fireball is probably the most entertaining Breakout-style game you'll find on the 2600. Note: As with all Starpath titles, Fireball must be loaded from tape unless you can obtain the "Stella Gets a New Brain" CD. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

This ingenious game was created by David Crane, the man who later programmed the legendary Pitfall (Activision, 1982). Nowadays we take our fishing games for granted, but back in 1980 Fishing Derby was quite the novel concept. Two fishermen sit on docks on opposite sides of the screen, and by adjusting your line with the joystick, you attempt to hook one of the many fishes swimming below. Deeper fish are worth more points but require more effort to reel in. The fire button lets you reel in your fish quickly, and timing is key to avoiding the shark prowling along the surface, ready to snatch up anything in his vicinity. Fishing Derby's graphics are very good. The fish look like fish, the shark looks like a shark, and the rednecks look like rednecks. Fishing Derby doesn't offer much replay value for the solo player, but it does provide some terrific (and sometimes hilarious) head-to-head action. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

This game's about as exciting as... a flag. Despite its misleading cover art that suggests a wild, swashbuckling adventure, Flag Capture is little more than a two-player guessing game. The screen presents several rows of white squares, one of which hides a flag. Should you choose incorrectly, you may see a "hint" in the form of an arrow or number. If the sparse visuals don't turn you off, the abrasive sound effects sure will! Even the control feels erratic - you'll wrestle with the joystick just to navigate the simple grid. There are not many redeeming features in this game, and the "moving flag" variations will make you lose your mind. File Flag Capture under "F". It's flag-tastic! © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

Trying to read the instructions for Flash Gordon caused my eyes to glaze over. The manual goes on and on about hatching pods, disrupters, generators, spider warriors, deadly debris, yada yada yada... I never knew a 2600 title could be so complicated! You move a ship across the top half of the screen, and the bottom half is dedicated to a space map. Pay attention to this map! Focus people! To make progress you need to guide your ship indicator towards blue boxes scattered throughout the maze of caverns. Once there, several diamond-shaped objects materialize, but these are easy-pickings for your laser. Quickly move on to the next blue box or you'll find yourself pelted with colored rocks. Flash Gordon is confusing as hell, partly because the top screen rarely seems to be in sync with the bottom. As you navigate your ship indicator through the maze it doesn't look like your ship on top is really moving at all! Instead it appears to be pushing against the side of the screen, making it vulnerable to collisions. Occasionally a stranded astronaut will appear which you can snag for bonus points. Periodically a "shield" inexplicably appears around your ship in the form of two dotted lines. Wow, that looks terrible. Flash Gordon is not particularly fun or innovative, and like the instructions, it's difficult to comprehend. Note: A reader pointed out that this game actually has nothing to do with the Flash Gordon film, and is really just a port of the computer game Spider City. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

In my circle of friends, this classic cartridge will always be known as "trash can football" due to its ridiculous, blocky players. Yes, the graphics are really awful - no two ways about it. The teams are two sets of flickering "trash cans" moving slowly around a tiny, vertical field. But what's truly amazing about Football is that it's actually fun to play - and often hilarious. The football is a little black square. When hiked, the quarterback can either run the ball, or pass and guide it down the field. Unrealistic for sure, but it works great. You can also punt, but there are no field goals (extra points are automatic). The play selection is limited, but there's plenty of room for improvisation. Exhibiting incredible foresight, the programmer included a visible line showing where you need to get to for a first down. It took 20 more years for TV to invent that! By stripping down the game of football to its bare essentials, Atari inadvertently created a game more entertaining than many modern football titles. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

If I've overrated this game in the past (and I have), it's only because I love the theme. The object is to "wall up" Frankenstein's monster before he can come to life! The screen is divided into three levels connected by ladders, each with a unique set of hazards. The top of the screen is dominated by a large, white Frankenstein monster, who gradually turns green as lightning "charges" him up. Controlling a small but colorful hero, you embark on a perilous quest to collect stones. you must avoid ghosts on the top level, leap over spiders and pits on the middle tier, and traverse logs in a pool of acid in the dungeon below. Should you manage to transport a stone back up to the top, you'll then need to navigate a swarm of bats on a separate screen in order to place it into position. Several trips are required to complete your task, and it gets tougher each time. Flashing lightning and crashing thunder periodically alert you to the monster's state. The game offers plenty to see and do, and there are even shortcuts to exploit (hint: fall through the pits onto the floating logs). Frankenstein's Monster owes much of its design to Pitfall (Activision 1982), including the controls, sound effects, and the scoring system. As you hop across the three logs on the lower level, it's just like crossing the crocodile heads in Pitfall. The game is timed, and touching most hazards causes you to be docked for points instead of losing a life. Frankenstein features sophisticated gameplay, colorful visuals, and a surprisingly high level of difficulty. Unfortunately, it also lacks polish, and much of its difficulty can be attributed to unforgiving collision detection, causing you to helplessly slide off of logs and into pits. Simply completing the first stage is a monumental accomplishment. Once you deplete your three lives, you're treated to one of the best "endings" you'll witness in a 2600 game. Scaling graphics and stomping sound effects depict the large, blocky green monster walking towards the screen! Then the screen inexplicably turns entirely green, as Frankenstein apparently moons you from close range (disrespectful!) Frankenstein's Monster is probably the best title Data Age produced for the 2600. With its excellent graphics and refreshingly original theme, this one is well worth tracking down. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

In the early 80's, it seems like whenever I engaged in a conversation about Frogger, somebody would always chime in about how they preferred Activision's Freeway. Both games offer similar cross-the-street gameplay, but Freeway stars a yellow chicken that's roughly six feet tall and ten feet long (measured against the cars). That's a big chicken, people. Frogger's screen was divided into a road and a stream, but Freeway is just one big ten-lane highway. Your goal is to cross as many times as possible within a 2-minute, 16-second time limit, and you can only move up-and-down. It's simplistic for sure, but one thing this game has over Frogger is its two-player head-to-head action. The game requires good timing, and you'll need to anticipate traffic several lanes ahead before attempting a mad dash. Under difficulty A, hitting a car sends you back to the bottom of the screen, which makes the game riskier but more fun. As you would expect from an Activision title, the animation is smooth and the graphics are pleasing to the eye. The well-defined cars and trucks slow down and speed up unpredictably. The sound effects include car horns and engines fading in and out. Freeway is super fun when played head-to-head, but the one-player experience is less than compelling. Overall it falls short of Frogger, but Freeway certainly deserves a spot in any Atari 2600 collection. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

This is easily one of the greatest and most popular Atari 2600 cartridges of all time. Frogger features bright, colorful graphics that appeal to both men and women of all ages. Your little frog must first cross a busy street filled with all sorts of speeding cars and trucks. He must then navigate a river full of logs, snakes, alligators, attractive lady frogs, and juicy flies. Not only does this version have all the elements of the original arcade hit, there are also a few extras thrown in like a "speedy Frogger" mode and the ability to drift off one side of the screen and reappear on the other. Harmonized music only plays before and after each game, but it sure sounds great. Frogger for the 2600 is practically flawless. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Since I gave the Parker Bros. Frogger an A, I have no choice but to give this one an A+. This "official version" absolutely blew me away with its arcade graphics, challenging gameplay, and melodic soundtrack. The objects are large and colorful, and your frog actually looks like he's hopping when he moves. All of the elements of the arcade are here - including the swimming otter. You get seven lives, but you'll go through them quickly. There are one and two-player modes, and the difficulty switch settings let you determine if you can float off the sides of the screen. But what really stands out about this Frogger is its high quality, catchy music. There are several fine songs that play during the game, one after the other. It's a shame that this excellent arcade translation remains relatively obscure. You'll need to find it on a Starpath tape, or better yet, the "Stella Gets A New Brain" CD. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Frogger II is much deeper than the original version, and in more ways than one. The gameplay is much more complex, with three unique screens to conquer. You begin underwater, where you battle the water current while avoiding fish, eels, and submarines. The surface screen is similar to the original Frogger, where you hop between swimming and floating objects to reach a boat on the far side. Creatures you encounter on this screen include ducks, whales, hippos, and even sharks. The final and most difficult screen takes place in the sky, where you bounce off clouds and ride on the backs of birds. Various animals interact with your frog in unique ways. The mother duck takes you to the sky screen, the sea turtle gives you a free ride underwater, and the shark tries to hunt you down among the lily pads. Frogger II's graphics are absolutely first-rate, with high resolution objects rendered in vivid colors. A well-orchestrated theme song signals the beginning and end of each game. In short, this outstanding sequel is a must-have for Atari 2600 collectors. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

With its charming graphics, innovative controls, and head-to-head gameplay, Frogs and Flies is one of the Atari 2600's best kept secrets. Each player controls a small frog who can hop between two lily pads on the bottom on the screen. The control scheme is both unique and effective. By pushing and holding the joystick for a few moments, you control both the angle and distance of your frog's jump. When you miss the lilies and splash into the water, your frog to automatically swims back to a pad. Pressing the fire button flicks your frog's sticky tongue, allowing him to snag the blocky but tastey flies buzzing overhead. Each fly is worth two points and the frog with the highest score by nightfall wins. The fly movements are erratic, and it's always satisfying to snag one just before your opponent can reach it. The scenery is blocky but conveys a cozy pond environment, complete with plants lining the edge and tree branches hanging overhead. As the sky darkens, the action becomes more competitive and intense. At the game's end, a fly pulls a "The End" sign across the screen, and crickets can be heard chirping in the background. My friends and I have a blast with this game, and there's a surprising amount of trash talk. Frogs and Flies also appeals to women, and is one of the few M-Network games that supports solo play. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Front Line is an impressive one-man-army shooter similar to Activision's Commando. You control a soldier forging his way though forests, rocky gorges, deserts, bridges, and forts. Enemy soldiers (or tanks) appear two at a time, and you'll want to take an aggressive stance. It's kill or be killed, so directly approach each new foe and don't give them a chance to get off a shot. It's possible to take cover behind trees, rocks, and cactus, but these blocky objects aren't very useful and tend to impede your progress more than anything else. Enemy bullets are remarkably slow, so another effective tactic is running away from the bullets! Please kids, don't try this at home. Every now and then you'll notice a blue block on the screen. No, that's not a glitch in the program (good guess though) - that's a freakin' tank! Position your soldier on top of it and press the fire button to hop in. There are two varieties of tanks. The heavy tanks are slow, but fire large mortars. Light tanks zip across the screen but require a little more finesse. The best part about the tanks is how you can jump to safety (and save your soldier's life) when it's about to explode (blinking red). Each stage ends with a black cannon you need to destroy to earn a hefty bonus. Front Line's graphics are blocky to the max, but that doesn't detract from the fun. Offering four skill levels of shooting satisfaction, Front Line will unleash the pixelated Rambo that dwells within us all. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

As first glance you might mistake this for "Frogger on ice", but Frostbite is actually more of a Frogger/Q*bert hybrid. The screen features a river with four rows of criss-crossing ice floes. Playing the role of a colorful Eskimo in snowshoes, you must leap between the floes while avoiding birds and crabs. Hopping on a row of ice turns it blue and adds a brick to the igloo being constructed on the top of the screen. Once the igloo is complete, you enter it collect a bonus and proceed to the next stage. Advanced stages feature a polar bear patrolling near the igloo - a nice touch. What really sets Frostbite apart is your ability to reverse the direction of the ice floe you're standing on by pressing the fire button. This adds a lot strategy but it's not easy to use effectively. The game does suffer from one major flaw, and that's how you become paralyzed when touched by a bird or crab. Watching a bird pecking your face as you're helplessly pushed off a floe is frustrating. Still, you have to love the challenge. Frostbite is deceptively simple, but gamers will need to really concentrate in order to wrap their minds around this one. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

Yes, Funky Fish has finally made his not-so-eagerly-awaited arrival on the 2600, much to the excitement of his legion of three fans. I'm guessing he got his name for the fact that he stinks! Funky Fish resembles no other game from the past, present, and hopefully future. In it, you move your slow-ass fish across an ugly, side-scrolling green ocean. A Defender-like scanner on top of screen tracks your four stationary targets. These four so-called "monsters" are evenly spaced out and apparently disguised as square blocks. As you approach each one, they excrete several odd shapes that move erratically. If you touch one, your fish turns to bones and sinks to the sea floor. Fear not however, for Funky Fish can shoot those objects, transforming them into - you guessed it - cherries. These can be ingested for bonus points. Once you've eaten a certain number of cherries, the monster becomes defenseless, allowing you to "sit" on him until his energy drains. Your slow trek between each monster is almost unbearable. Adding insult to injury, you can't simply move off one end of the scanner and re-emerge on the other side, which would have eased the pain somewhat. Funky Fish has some nice color schemes and satisfying sound effects, but it's a chore to play. Funky Fish is available from Atari Age. Get your copy today! © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

Bizarre to say the least, G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike is definitely not what I was expecting. It features a huge cobra looming on the upper half of the screen, slithering side to side in a menacing fashion. The snake looks imposing, and the manner in which its body twists and contorts represents a pretty nifty piece of programming. Army recruits can be seen running between buildings at the bottom of the screen, making them vulnerable to the cobra's venom and devastating laser beams. To protect these men you move a shield across the middle of the screen and fire missiles at the snake with cannons situated on each side. Paddle controllers are used, but they don't provide for very precise control. Your shield tends to slide around, evoking the feeling of trying to pick up a watermelon seed. Holding in the fire button unleashes a missile from your cannon, but its movements are equally squirrely. Did the programmers purposely made the controls inexact in order to maximize the difficulty? Despite the erratic controls however, G.I. Joe is not a bad game. A coop mode allows two players to protect the troops, and a third player can even control the cobra! G.I. Joe is probably too weird for its own good, but Parker Bros. almost managed to pull it off. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

A logical evolution of Space Invaders, Galaxian puts you up against a colorful armada of dive-bombing aliens with two "boss ships" positioned at the top. At first glance, you might be tempted to dismiss this as a watered-down rendition of the arcade hit. The playing field is surrounded by a tacky orange border, and the aliens are spaced out more than they are in the arcade. Fear not - this is one of the more exciting and frenetic shooters for the Atari 2600. Your shots travel rapidly and holding down the fire button initiates continuous fire. In later stages multiple aliens glide across the screen at a time, so you'll need to avoid collisions as well as falling bombs. Pay special attention to those dangerous purple ships that make extra-wide sweeps. You can usually "thread the needle" between the falling bombs, but take care not to get trapped in the corners. Galaxian has a nice flow to it, and once you get in a zone you can pick off as many as dozen aliens in a row. As with the original arcade game, it's possible to blast two with a single shot, and dude - that is awesome. The audio effects perfectly recreate the same pulsating electronic sounds you'd associate with a typical alien invasion (we've all been there). With solid gameplay and nine skill levels, Galaxian delivers pure shooting satisfaction. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

This primitive first-person shooter has some interesting elements, but it lags a bit in the fun department. When you first flip on Gangster Alley, the word "Wanted" is displayed on top of the screen, along with the mug shots of five villains. Take a good look, because these are the low-life scumbags you'll be shooting in the face. One looks like a red Frankenstein, and another is a dead-ringer for the Grinch. A third looks like a hitchhiker from Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. As the game begins, you're staring at the side of a building with randomly placed windows. People slowly rise from each window, and if they're bad, you need to shoot them before they shoot you. Be careful not to accidentally shoot a woman or child, or you'll be penalized severely. You move the crosshair with your joystick, and the collision detection is forgiving - to a fault. Occasionally you're presented with a "night level" where the building is pitch-dark, illuminated only when you fire your gun. Since you have limited ammo, these stages are particularly challenging. Lurking on the roof at all times is "Nitro Ed" - one of the worst lowlife scumbags you'll ever see in an Atari 2600 cartridge. When he holds a grenade above his head, you need to blast him immediately or he brings your game to an abrupt conclusion. Check out his reaction when you shoot him - the son of a [expletive] actually likes it! Adding insult to injury, if he ends your game he mocks you relentlessly with a pixelated close-up and the flashing word "ha". I try not to take my gaming too seriously, but this bastard just made it personal! © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

This rare game has questionable play value. Playing Gas Hog involves driving a vehicle over a planet's surface while jumping over holes and shooting aliens approaching from front and rear. A scanner on the bottom of the screen displays your progress through each stage. That description should sound very familiar to Moon Patrol fans. UFOs drop bombs from above, but despite having what appears to be a roof-mounted cannon (quite an imagination I have), you can only shoot forward, which really sucks. In addition, there are actual numbers that appear between 20 and 90 which you can touch for points. Yes, we're talking about numeric digits floating in space. Be sure not to shoot them, however, or they'll subtract from your score. I hate games that take away from your score - it just doesn't sit well with me. But wait - it gets worse. Every so often, the screen turns red and beeps to indicate you are low on fuel. In order to replenish, you have to fall into the underground area where fuel cells can be found. The problem is, once you're down there, you automatically move towards the LEFT, negating much of the progress you've already made! Once you refuel, getting back to the top level is extremely hazardous, usually resulting in death. Gas Hog isn't the worst game I've ever played, but it sure tries to be. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

Ghost Manor is a remarkable haunted house game featuring five unique stages. The graphics and sound are first rate, and you can even choose between a male or female character. You only get one life, so one slip-up will end your game in a hurry. The action begins with some of the scariest music you'll ever hear on the 2600, and the first screen is set in a graveyard with a red castle looming in the background. Your mission here is to collect "spears" from a rainbow-colored ghost (or skeleton in the advanced levels). You can't get hurt here, so you just run around until you've collected your quota. To be honest, this stage doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Next up, you need to use these spears to infiltrate the castle. The huge, impressive castle entrance is guarded by skulls, bats, scorpions, and even a axe-wielding mummy named Choppy (hee hee). I like this stage; it plays like a mini-shooter. Next the game moves indoors for some maze action, the object being to collect crosses from coffins while avoiding moving walls. Since the wall moves slowly and there are numerous safe areas, the action isn't too intense. It is however frustratingly easy to get caught up on the edge of the walls or coffins, especially in the advanced stages which are pitch-dark! The final stage places you in a tower with Dracula himself bearing down upon you. By using your crosses (hold down the button), and pushing upward, you can drive him into one of the towers and rescue your girlfriend (who looks white as a ghost). At that point the game ends and your score is displayed. If you want more of a challenge, you'll just have to restart the game at a higher skill level. Actually, Ghost Manor is relatively hard even on the easiest level, so you're not likely to master all four skill levels. But while Ghost Manor looks great and offers plenty of variety, once you beat it, it's probably not a game you'll revisit often. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

Ghostbusters is hard to stomach on any platform, but this Atari 2600 edition is better than most. It forgoes the tedious set-up screens found in other versions so you can immediately begin vacuuming ghosts off roads and trapping them in front of buildings. On the main screen you guide a Ghostbusters logo around a grid of city blocks to your next destination. The driving sequences don't go on and on as they do in some other versions (notably the NES), and your hearse looks remarkable! Taking up a huge chunk of the screen, this is probably the largest single object I've ever seen in an Atari 2600 game! When it comes to trapping ghosts in front of buildings, the graphics are equally impressive with multi-colored characters and nicely detailed building fronts. The green "slime ghosts" look terrific, but those yellow "street ghosts" look more like smiling bananas. Unfortunately, the controls for trapping ghosts are even more confusing than in other versions (if that's even possible). Certain parts of the game even require you to fiddle with the difficulty switches - never a good sign! Advancing to the finale is just as hard and perplexing as it is in the other versions. The Ghostbusters theme plays throughout the proceedings, and while it's a decent rendition, you'll tire of it after a few verses. Ghostbusters is not bad on a technical level, but as a video game it leaves much to be desired. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

Subtitled "One Tough Cookie", this new platformer is one of the most challenging games I've played on my 2600. Its five unique screens will require a little bit of brain power in addition to reflexes. Gingerbread Man may be a tasty treat, but he knows how to take care of himself. In the first stage our hero hurls cookies at fire creatures using a decidedly non-intuitive control scheme. Since your cookies travel in an arc, it's sometime possible to take out several baddies at once, and that's pretty sweet. In other stages you'll construct a roof, collect balloons, help a baby bird, and even face a boss! The controls are crisp and responsive, and this is one of the few 2600 games where you actually have the ability to duck! G-Man (as he's known in the hood) can jump, but not high enough to hurdle enemies, which increases the challenge substantially. The graphics are as blocky as blocky can be, but the stage layouts are very thoughtfully designed. Deadly to the touch are pixilated, single-colored adversaries like dogs, cats, birds, and flames. Just reaching the third screen is a major accomplishment, although the game does include a handy "continue" feature which appropriately resets your score. Also notable is the harmonized music of the title screen, incorporating sinister undertones normally associated with Gingerbread men that come to life. I invited a few guys over to play Gingerbread Man with me (and no, that is not a euphemism) and I really expected them to embrace the challenge. Instead they dissed G-Man, even wishing bodily harm upon our sugary hero. Those guys just don't get it. Each stage is a puzzle, and once you find a pattern that works, the game doesn't seem quite so insurmountable. Personally I like Gingerbread Man for its variety, originality, and unlikely hero. © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

Here's an uninspired, simplistic shooter that doesn't amount to much. Based on a true story, Glacier Patrol is about aliens invading Earth who decide to create a wall of ice around the planet. The colorful graphics include a large spaceship moving back and forth across the top of the screen and a freak with really short legs that you control on the bottom. The alien ship methodically drops ice blocks which you attept to disintegrate using your laser weapon. With only one block falling at a time, the gameplay is fairly dull and repetitive, although you'll occasionally need to jump over a snowball that rolls across the bottom. Glacier Patrol's control is okay - I like how you can jump and shoot at the same time. Eventually, a wall of ice forms above you, and once it's complete, the game mercifully comes to an end. Should you manage to hold out until 10,000 points, however, the sun rises and melts the wall. Since each block is only worth 50 points, you'll be playing for a quite a while before you see 10,000. Once you collect your bonus, you have to start over, proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished. The two-player mode lets a human control the spaceship - as if that's going to make any difference at all. Glacier Patrol is one of those games that leaves you with a very empty feeling inside. NOTE: I had problems inserting this cartridge into my old-style Atari 2600, and had to play it on my Atari Jr. instead. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

If you're expecting an Atari 2600 version of Shark! Shark! (Intellivision, 1982), I'm afraid you'll be very disappointed with Go Fish. In both games you are a fish that grows by consuming other fish of equal size or smaller, but the similarities end there. In the Intellivision game the other fish moved in unpredictable patterns, but here the water is separated into neat rows, with one fish (or electric eel) traveling across each. There's not nearly enough danger in this game. Even with the difficulty switch set to "A", the game is entirely too easy, despite the fact that you only have one life. The action unfolds very slowly, and you have to eat a ton of fish just to grow slightly. The other fish grow proportionally to you, causing the degree of pixelation to go from bad to just plain ugly! The sharks are pretty small, and their predictable movements aren't likely to strike fear in your fish's little heart. The two-player head-to-head game is surprisingly lame. The first fish to grow can continuously eat the other player, leading to a very lop-sided victory. The musical soundtrack also got on my nerves after a while. I do like how the game supports the AtariVox voice attachment, but it's only used to save high scores. A few underwater bubble sound effects would have been nice. I was looking for some summer joy, but with Go Fish, I'm afraid my high hopes were scaled and gutted. © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

Take one look at Golf's crude graphics, and you might be tempted to dismiss it as an ancient relic best left forgotten. That however, would be a mistake. Golf's blocky graphics and sparse audio are certainly rudimentary, but there's some fine gameplay under the hood! Golf features a single course with nine screen-sized holes dotted with trees, water hazards, and sand traps. The controls are the precursors of today's modern golf games: aim, wind up, and swing away. Upon hitting the ball onto the green, a second "close-up" screen appears for putting, and that's pretty cool. You don't have many options (none really), but that simplicity makes it possible to play nine holes in less than ten minutes, and I like that a lot. Playing against a friend is especially fun. There are no game variations (besides number of players), but the difficulty switches determine if the ball will sail over the rough or stop on the edge, and that dramatically affects how you approach each hole. Golf would have been awesome with multiple courses or randomized hazards, but it's still worthwhile just as it is. Rumor has it that Tiger Woods himself honed his game by playing Golf on the Atari 2600. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

I never claimed to be a gopher expert. In fact, the bulk of my gopher knowledge is derived from repeated viewings of the movie Caddyshack. But I do know one thing: this bargain-bin game does little to repair the pesky vermin's reputation. You play the role of a farmer obsessed with protecting three measly carrots. Umm, ever heard of a grocery store? Duh! I like how the programmer rendered the farmer in five colors, but did he need to make the guy so creepy looking? He looks like John Malkovich for crying out loud! Under the ground a gopher can be seen busily digging tunnels, and it's amusing to watch him scuttle around unpredictably. After digging side-to-side, he'll burrow multiple tunnels to the surface, occasionally making a dash for the closest carrot. This gopher is a cocky little fellow, occasionally sticking his head out of the ground just to taunt you. Son of a gopher! You move the farmer sideways, using your hoe to fill in holes or "bonk" the gopher over the head for a cool 100 points. Good reflexes come in handy, but there's also a lot of guesswork involved. Adding a wrinkle is a seed-dropping duck that periodically flies across the top of the screen. If you catch the seed, you can use it to replace a stolen carrot. Gopher isn't a great game, but there's enough substance here to justify hitting the reset button a few times. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

Gorf distinguished itself in the arcades with its five-games-in-one design, but it was some cutting-edge voice synthesis that really grabbed gamers' attentions ("My name is Gorf"). I wish CBS had incorporated the voice into this Atari version, because it would have spiced up an otherwise lackluster shooting experience. Four out of the five stages have been retained for this home version (Galaxian is gone), and several elements of the arcade game were also ditched. The first stage offers standard (maybe sub-standard) Space Invaders-style gameplay, but there's no shield to poke your shots through. The next stage is somewhat original and far more challenging. As a group of aliens whisks from one area of the screen to the next, they stop only to unleash a killer laser beam. Orange aliens will break off from the formation and descend upon you quickly, so keep moving. The third stage depicts a "black hole" of sorts with alien ships scaling out of the center in a circular pattern. You can take out most of them quickly by firing repeatedly to the left of the hole. The final stage features a mother ship which moves side-to-side as it works its way down the screen. Once you hit the vulnerable spot on its underbelly, its pixels sizzle for a few seconds and then the game cycles back to the first screen. Unlike the arcade, you can only move your cannon side-to-side and not up-and-down. You can still abort your shot by pressing the fire button before your previous shot has left the screen, but that's not terribly useful. Alien bombs often cancel out your shots, which is really annoying. Only one skill level is available. All in all, this is a lukewarm effort that will just barely provide your daily recommended allowance of Gorf. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

While not especially "deep", Grand Prix still offers a nice combination of slick visuals and high-speed racing. You control an Indy-style racecar on the left side of the screen, moving up and down as traffic approaches from the right. A timer on the bottom of the screen clocks your run to one-hundredth of a second. Once you get going, your car can build some serious momentum, and the game is at its best when you're flying down the road at full speed. The shiny, multi-colored vehicles look sharp, and you can even see their wheels turning - a pretty big deal by 2600 standards. Four courses of varying lengths are available, but they all look exactly the same. There's nothing to see besides the endless green bushes lining the road, and occasional "tunnels" which reduce the road to a narrow strip. The engine sound effects are quite realistic, especially as you whiz past other cars. But despite its fine production values, Grand Prix's play value is limited. You're not really racing as much as you are dodging cars. While the object is to beat your best time, there's no indication of your proximity to the finish line, so there's little drama or suspense. Grand Prix really needed another element added to spice it up. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

In this port of the less-than-popular arcade title, a triangular space ship travels to various planets, destroying cannons and picking up fuel for points. Each "planet" is one screen in size, with its own unique landscape and gravitational field. Gravitar's challenge is immense, as you must guide your tiny ship though an array of narrow openings while cannons open fire. There's an occasional appearance by a UFO, but it's not very aggressive. As an alternative to clearing out all the planets, you also have the option of attacking the "alien reactor base". This special stage consists of a spiral-shaped tunnel, and if you can navigate its winding path, you can activate its reactor core and attempt to escape as the seconds count down. It's tough, but don't expect any visual reward for pulling off this monumental feat, because you simply move on to the next stage. Gravitar requires a lot of finesse, so gamers looking for something wild and chaotic will quickly lose patience with it. Although the control is responsive, it can be hard to find a decent shooting angle. The graphics are rough, and the sound effects include some unpleasant noises that sound like static. Unlike most 2600 games, the first game variation is the most difficult. Gravitar is a worthy challenge, but for a better gravity-defying shooter, try Thrust. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Gremlins was a very dark and often funny 1984 film about evil little creatures that overrun a small town. Gremlins begin life as cute, furry "mogwai" creatures, but transform into green, scaly gremlins under specific conditions. Don't expose them to bright light, don't get them wet, and never ever feed them after midnight. After playing Gremlins on the 2600, one question comes to mind: Is this game really the best Atari could come up with? Really Atari? How could such an imaginative film be reduced to such a generic, derivative piece of garbage? The action alternates between two equally uninspired stages, both of which involve moving a guy across the bottom of the screen. In the first screen you catch mogwai falling off the roof of the house, and it's a little like Kaboom (Activision, 1981), only without the good control. Instead of supporting a paddle controller (which would have been a natural fit), you're forced to use a joystick with stiff, imprecise movements. In the second screen you simply shoot gremlins slowly marching down the screen. When the action speeds up in later stages, your character becomes extremely jumpy and hard to position. Atari obviously didn't put much thought into this one, and squandered a valuable license in the process. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

The successor to Atari's Outlaw (1978) has finally arrived, and it's outstanding. Gunfight's musical intro features a superb rendition of the great Johnny Cash tune "Ring of Fire". As if that wasn't enough to earn Gunfight an instant "A", the gameplay itself is fast and exciting. The cowboys are well rendered, and can fire two bullets at a time. I can't emphasize how key this feature is, because it allows you to catch your opponent in your crossfire. And you'll need to shoot him twice, since the first shot just takes off his hat! Selectable stages feature an impressive array of obstacles that separate the fighters, including cactus, stage coaches, rocks, arrows, and even a saloon! Using the right difficulty switch, you can select between a human opponent and a skilled CPU outlaw. The left difficulty switch adjusts the speed of the bullets, and the black/white switch enables horizontal bouncing. On top of everything, there are four distinct gameplay variants. The first is your standard shoot-out, the winner being the first player to take down the other one seven times. The second variation, "six shooter", only gives you six shots before you have to pick up some more ammo. The "escape" variation lets the left player shoot at a defenseless right player, who tries to survive until the counter expires. Finally, a "score" variation lets players earn points by shooting obstacles. I can't say enough good things about Gunfight. I can only hope to see more new quality games like this one for the 2600. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

See review for Outlaw. Gunslinger is the Sears version of the same game. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.