The Video Game Critic's
Atari 2600 Reviews U-Z

Despite the ho-hum name, this was one of my arcade favorites way back in "the day". The object is to navigate your "buggy" (which looks like a Volkswagen Bug) down some single-lane, zigzagging streets, collecting flags and avoiding collisions by jumping over (or onto) other cars. I was really looking forward to reliving the thrills of my youth through this 2600 cartridge. Imagine my dismay when I turned this thing on and saw some of the most horrific graphics I've ever seen. The blocky, jagged roads look more like steps, and those cars are pixelated blobs! Vehicles and flags flicker badly and often disappear completely. This is one of the worst looking games I've ever seen on the Atari 2600, and that's saying something. After the initial shock, I started warming up to this game. The controls aren't bad; you can easily change speeds, and I soon remembered that jumping is not only for squashing cars, but also for leaping from one road to the next. Once you collect all the flags, you're off to a totally different course. The roads are poorly rendered, but you start to learn where the bridges and hills are by the color scheme. The game is seriously challenging and undeniably fun. I really couldn't put it down once I started playing it. The background music is annoying, but at least it's faithful to the original game. When all is said and done, I like Up 'N Down. If you can stomach the graphics you're in for a good time. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

Vanguard can be fun if you have a reliable arcade-style joystick. This shooter introduced several original concepts to the world of arcade games, including stages that scroll in different directions, the ability to shoot in four directions at once (!), and invincibility power-ups. But perhaps its most significant innovation was the "continue" feature, which let you pay another quarter and pick up where you left off. Like it or hate it, the continue feature caught on in a big way. This Atari 2600 edition of Vanguard attempts to incorporate the same features but comes up a bit short. For one thing, it doesn't do a good job of simulating the dual joysticks of the arcade game. In this version, pushing the joystick in any direction not only fires in that direction but moves your ship slightly. Holding down the fire button lets you move quickly but halts your firing. Typically players will rotate the joystick rapidly to maximize their firepower but gradually meander around the screen. It really hurts your arm after prolonged play. Atari half-heartedly addressed this problem by supplying the option of automatic forward fire, but that makes the game entirely too easy. Vanguard isn't much to look at, and even the rainbow colors can hide the horrid blockiness of backgrounds. Vanguard does have a nice variety of stages, each of which brings its own unique style of play. The zones scroll horizontally or vertically but not diagonally. The "stripe zone" is the most interesting, with two different paths and two sets of adversaries. The "bleak zone" features floating snakes that you can "dock" with for big points. The trick is to shoot the snakes just before docking, so you can collect the points for killing them (you can only do this three times). Vanguard's most disappointing stage is the "gond" (remember the commercial? "Luther kills the gond!"). This blocky rainbow snowman is supposed to be the "boss", but all you do is shoot him in the face. It's hardly a challenge and definitely anti-climactic. The second level features the same set of stages, only harder and in a different order. Vanguard isn't a great shooter, but it's certainly original, and it'll give your arm one heck of a workout. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

This bare-bones adventure game involves entering rooms, shooting monsters, and grabbing treasure. I've enjoyed Venture on several other systems (notably the Intellivision), but this version waters down an already minimal game to practically nothing. The arcade version was simplistic enough, but this translation strips it down to an unacceptable level. The blocky monsters are mere static images, and shooting them results in a pixelated mess. Your so-called "arrows" are single pixels! Your smiley-face character is easy to control, but he moves like a snail! This is a serious problem considering the impatient hall monsters tend to invade your room before you've even had a chance to snag the treasure. When you do "conquer" a room, it doesn't even fill in on the map screen, so you have to remember which rooms you've finished (lame). Lastly, the game only offers two sets of rooms for a grand total of eight! And I thought the twelve rooms in the other versions was lame! Venture for the Atari 2600 is a weak effort, reflecting poorly on a very fun arcade title. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

Tim Snider has brought new life to the venerable adventure game, creating new monsters, treasures, and more complex dungeons. The dungeon layouts are basically the same, but now the rooms have extra walls. This is a double-edged sword. Although the rooms are more interesting and allow for more strategy, they can also cause frustration as you easily get hung up on them. I found the new monsters to be pretty interesting and original. This time you'll encounter floating swords, swarms of bugs, and octopus among others. Venture II is a nice effort, but it still has the flaws of the original game. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Checkers isn't the most exciting concept for a video game to begin with, and this particular version has other problems to boot. An awkward control scheme forces you to move the joystick diagonally, which is painful if you're using a standard 2600 joystick. In addition, although the computer response is fast during the easy levels, the wait can be unbearable (up to eight minutes!) in the advanced ones. You'll just have to stare at a black screen while the computer decides what to do next. There are 19 game variations, but it's overkill. Check out the artwork on this game - that looks like Luke Skywalker! © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

This is the type of game that does not age well. The pieces are small and difficult to discern, and the computer can take up to a few minutes to make a single move. The computer AI is not bad, but I heard it's been known to cheat (absolutely true!). Intermediate players might find some challenge in Video Chess, but there's really no point in putting up with the slowness and bad graphics. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.