Here we are for another round of older games. So this lot takes me from 1981 where we left off last time, up to 1983 (though there are still a handful from 1983 to play). If you've played any or disagree with any of my admittedly quick assessments, sound off!
Qix - I remember playing a clone of this on the Amiga. Imagine an empty field bounded on all four sides. The object is to move your cursor from anywhere around that border, to rejoin the border somewhere else, and claim a portion of the board. The catch? The 'Qix' that moves randomly within those borders. If it touches your line before you complete a pass, you die. Also to complicate matters are sparks that wander around the border, or along your line if you stop, meaing you can't wait forever to make your move. Also interesting is the addition of being able to move slow or fast. Moving slowly means more chance of getting hit, but also doubles your score. If you've never tried such a game, I recommend giving it a go. It wasn't enough to keep me interested for long, but the main mechanics still hold up well.
Scramble - Another shooter that didn't hold my interest for too long. Still, it's probably among the better ones that I've played amongst these older titles.
Stargate - Aka Defender 2. I found this much more playable than the original, it seems to have slowed down just a little bit, but it's enough to make a huge difference to the playability for me. I think the version I played had funky sound problems, otherwise this was a terrible sounding game. Once again, even though this is an improvement over its predecessor, it still didn't hold my interest for more than one play.
Venture - I thought this was one I might actually enjoy. But I was wrong. Enemies just seem to move too fast and randomly to avoid. I gave it several goes just in case I needed to get back into the 'old school' groove, but I never found it, and decided to give up before I got frustrated.
Ms Pacman - I gave this one play. Basically just a slightly modified Pacman, still playable, but not enough to hold my interest for more than one play. Lots of people raved about the latest iteration, so they probably add more intricacies that I could enjoy more.
Gorf - Gorf managed to get a second play. A shoot-em-up with 4 different levels, a couple of which ape strategies from other similar games, Space Invaders and Galaxian. It got a second play because I wanted to see all the different levels (it loops and gets harder) but that was enough for me.
Ultima I - This doesn't sound promising "In spite of its importance in the story of the CRPG genre, Ultima I now seems an impossibly dated and awkward game, in everything from setting to design." Ah well, the emulation I tried wouldn't let me save my character as it couldn't find a disk to save it on.
Gravitar - I had a feeling I would like this one given the description, and my time spent with Lunar Lander. It is more complex, but I probably didn't enjoy it quite as much. Mainly because you have to try and shoot defenses that are on the ground... and you have to be aiming down to do that. That combined with gravity made it hard to pull off.
The Hobbit - Another text adventure. This one actually has graphics, but they are drawn so slowly it is excrutiating. There was a chest in the middle of the floor, which I figured out how to open, but I had no idea how to look in the chest; typing 'look chest' just redrew the area again, while I had to wait until it finished to try again. In the end I attacked Thorin, who counterattacked, killed me with one blow, at which point I was told I had finished 0.0% of the adventure. About as much I want to play. And that's the problem with these text adventures. I know what I want to do, but not how the game wants me to word it. Graphical adventures overcome this by allowing you to interact with anything important you can see.
Choplifter - I found the Master System version of this game. I remember enjoying this when I was younger. Not so much now. Only gave it a single play and died pretty quickly.
Robotron 2084 - I played a remake using mouse and keyboard. Wasn't too bad, but nothing I'd rave about either. Great advancement in its day, but I'd rather play any number of dual stick shooters instead using a controller.
Miner 2049er - I'm not sure if there is a better version, but I played the Atari 2600 version. I can see how it would have been good in its day, but just isn't captivating to me now. Seemed a bit random when I fell down bits that didn't seem like there were holes in the ground.
Moon Patrol - I played a remake which seems like it did a pretty good job or replicating the original. Played it a few times. Pretty simple and not much variety. Amusingly each time you die the message appears 'Next time will be better?" as if proffering a question.
Q*Bert - I played an online version a few times. For those not aware, it looks like an isometric platform/puzzler, and as weird orange thing with a massive nose, you are tasked with changing the colour of all the tiles on the map, and to do that, you have to step on them. The enemies are pretty relentless though, and the map design sometimes means there really isn't a way to avoid them if you've made a wrong step. Good for a few plays, but then I was getting a little bored of it.
Xevious - I played the demo on XBLA close to when it came out. I thought it sucked. Not going to play it again. Next.
Sokoban - I decided to search for this on Megans iphone. Its a simple concept, but devilishly clever, and I expect most older gamers have seen it in some form. The presentation is simple, you are on a 2D warehouse floor, and you are tasked with pushing boxes that are strewn about to fill in the designated spaces. You can only push a crate, not pull it. Therefore if you push a crate into a corner and it isn't the correct spot, you need to start again. The clever part is the level design. You need to think ahead, and make sure that you aren't pushing a box into a spot where it will block the path of another that you need to push later. The last level I tried, I've looked at for probably half an hour and I know I'm so close to the solution... I know what I CAN'T push, but can't quite figure out where to start... so even without much action, this is still an amazingly engrossing puzzler.
Time Pilot - The first time I tried playing this, the version was obviously about 10 times too fast, and I went back to the main screen after about 5 seconds after losing all my lives. Then I found an arcade version that was better emulated. Reasonable, but not enough to really hold my interest. A bit different than other shoot-em-ups of its time, you turn your jet while it stays centred on the screen.
Utopia - Requires two players to play, so this one won't be happening. Pretty sure I played a sequel that was set in the future, which was somewhat akin to Sim City with terraforming requirements.
I, Robot - I tried briefly to look for this online, but came up with scores of entries that had 'robot' in the title, but not the one I was looking for. I found out there is a company called irobot that make a robot that scrubs floors though.
Archon - I didn't play this for too long. I can see where the appeal is though. This is a turn-based strategy game crossed with real time battles. It plays a little bit like chess, though I didn't learn all the rules. I imagine it was great back in the day, but there have been many enhancements in this field to be entirely interested in it today. Like Valkyria Chronicles which I'm playing at the moment. That could be considered the evolution of this game.
Star Wars Arcade - I'm too lazy to look for this game because the search will turn up billions of results. And the fact is, I've played it on the Amiga. It was pretty decent and looked great with its vector graphics back in the day. My fondest memory was having a cracked version for the Amiga that had different audio. It was hilarious when Darth Vader would say "Ah, bastard!" in a British accent whenever I shot his craft.
Chuckie Egg - A simple single screen platformer, where your goal is to collect all the eggs while avoiding the chickens that roam the level. Jumping gets you across platforms, but you don't jump high enough to leap over enemies. This it all about anticipating what your enemies will do, but they are randomised, not always following the same path. If anyone can find a chicken that can climb a ladder in real life, let me know.
Dragons Lair - I think I played a version of this on the Amiga. I just tried to look one up, but couldn't find one quickly. I did find an NES version, which is an action game, not like the original arcade. A horrible horrible action game. The original arcade was on a laserdisc, and therefore the animation was superb, it was like watching a cartoon (which was amazing in 1983 for its release) but it played different scenes depending on whether you moved the joystick in the right direction or pressed the button at the right time. But you never knew what it was, it was trial and error. It was great for its time. Now, imagine a game with quick time events that didn't give you button prompts. Sound like fun? Yeah, thought not.
Gyruss - Among the shoot-em-ups, this is probably the one I like the most... but still not enough to play for long. Another 'circle' shooter where you shoot from the outside in, probably the most awkward part was playing with a keyboard. Pressing left will only get you to the left hand side of the screen, then you have to press up to get to the top. There is probably a good update in there that could benefit from an analog stick.
Mad Planets - Apparently this was hard to emulate due to the control scheme. So I settled for watching some video. I don't quite understand what is going on, but instead of fighting aliens you are fighting... planets. And they get pissed if you shoot their moons. Looks like it could get manic.