DrainoBraino
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- Apr 11, 2012
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Much love for Pitfall! Anyone play Pitfall 2? Amazing game at the time. I remember playing it for the first time and thinking this was the most epic adventure game in the world. I don't think I blinked.
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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
The Top 25 Video Game Villains of Every Subtype Imaginable
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Pitfall 2 was amazing. it had a secondondary processor in the cartridge to help generate all the **** in the game.
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- #83
I certainly second the love for Pitfall!, but it's actually not the game I play most often on AA (that honor goes to Enduro, though Atlantis, Dragonfire and River Raid usually also get love from me when I open AA). Yes, it is amazing and a delectable taste of things to come re: Metroidvanias, but you really need to have at it with the game for a while to accomplish much of anything (I've actually never completed either original Pitfall!). Still, there's a first time for everything, right?
On a somewhat related note, what do you guys think of the Pitfall! endless runner that came out a few months ago? Personally, I found it pretty enjoyable, but do find that the quotes get old pretty fast, so I can only play it for so long at a stretch. I also find the idea of checkpoints in an endless runner intriguing, even if it's only done to make you either grind for funds or shell out for IAPs.
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- #85
That's...certainly one way of putting it. The current Activision really can't be linked to the Activision that made Pitfall!, though—it's changed hands several times and been acquired by Vivendi on top of that. Still, they've at least shown some respect for their roots (on a related note, The Lost Treasures of Infocom is another worthy pickup for anyone here with an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch). All we need now is a 3-D Ultra Pinball Collection...
Since there's been so little motion on this thread, I'll go ahead and take this answer as the closest I'll get. Here we go with entry #18!
18. Harry Hooligan (Keystone Kapers)
Developed & Published By: Activision
Platform: Atari 2600
Year of Release: 1983
I had a hard time coming up with a way to introduce this one, since I'd already done the spiel on how awesome retro Activision were in my last entry. However, the answer came to me in the form of something most people consider to be very new in gaming. I speak, of course, of the endless runner, a genre that anyone has probably partaken of, whether via Temple Run (either original flavor or 2), Pitfall! (as sacrilegious as that must sound), Lord of Blades (which is amazing), or one of countless other examples in the now-booming genre. However, the genre is not new, but rather has roots that go back at least as far as Keystone Kapers (appropriately enough).
You are Keystone Kelly, a beat cop tasked with running down and arresting Harry Hooligan. Unfortunately for you, the crook has proven quite adept at weaponizing the objects in the department store you're chasing him through, including biplanes, bouncing balls, radios and shopping carts. Only the biplanes will immediately cost you a life, but the other items will cost you precious time, which is the main way to score points here. You must track down Harry without getting hit by a biplane or letting the timer tick down to zero or else he will escape and you will have to start all over from the beginning of the level.
The link between endless runners and Keystone Kapers isn't one-to-one (the latter does have levels and is endless only in the Kobayashi Mario sense), but it does show how ideas from 20 years ago or more might simply have lain dormant until technology caught up to them. There is an idea here that could provide an interesting wrinkle to modern endless runners—the emphasis on vertical motion as well as horizontal (you can use escalators try and get the jump on Harry Hooligan, but to balance this out, he can descend to a previous floor). imagine the possibilities for something like that instead of yet another behind-the-back endless runner! Either way, this would be a great game for getting younger kids into retro gaming...if you can get them past the graphics, that is...
Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
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- Mar 17, 2012
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I want to say Burger Time, but I don't think that's right.
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- #87
No, it isn't, sad to say (although BurgerTime did have an ice-cream-themed sequel called Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory). You're actually closer than you give yourself credit for, though—let's just say that the premise of the game I have in mind is somewhat...inverted from BurgerTime's.
Kolchak357
Senior Pigeon
- May 31, 2012
- 8,102
- 2
Must be Food Fight, but I can't remember any of the character names. I used to play food fight, but it was so long ago.
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- #89
I wasn't sure that anyone would piece this one together, but it is indeed Food Fight! Here's the writeup:
17. The Chefs (Food Fight)
Developed By: General Computer Corporation
Published By: Atari
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1983
Food Fight is really difficult to say very much about in terms of its impact on gaming. This is largely due to its impact being rather limited and wuite subtle compared to most of the other entries on this list. It came out right around the Great Video Game Crash of 1983, which limited interest in it severely, and the only real descendants this game can lay claim to are minigame compilations, with their emphasis on super-fast bursts of gaming goodness. This is really a shame, as the gameplay holds up very well, even today, playing almost like an extremely condensed version of Robotron: 2084 or Smash TV.
The game could scarcely be simpler—you are Charley Chuck, a young boy who wants an ice cream cone, but four chefs (Oscar, Angelo, Jacques and Zorba) are trying to stop you. You must get around them, avoid their edible projectiles (ranging from peas to watermelons) and reach the ice cream cone before it completely melts away (which takes around 32 seconds). You can also throw food at the chefs, which will temporarily remove them from the game, giving you an opening to pass through and get your ice cream. The food types available all have different properties (peas have short range, but fan out in video game shotgun style; bananas spin, making it more likely that they'll hit something; pies and tomatoes have long range, but are narrow, so you need to be accurate with them; finally, watermelons never run out of ammo).
Aside from taking too long and letting the ice cream melt or getting hit by one of the chefs' projectiles, the other way to lose a life is to drop into one of the holes that the chefs come out of, so be careful where you step! Also, look out for Oscar (the chef with the large, rounded hat); he'll try and get between you and your well-deserved ice cream, but it's nothing a well-aimed handful of peas can't deal with. Finally, keep an eye out for watermelons—they'll show up on every fifth level (where they'll be the only food in the level) and every tenth level (where they'll be intermixed with other food types). Just go to the watermelon and then go to town on the chefs (but don't let the ice cream melt!).
The only other thing I can think of for this one is to praise its Atari 7800 port. This is often hailed as one of the system's best games and is a must-have for owners of that ill-starred console. You can find the cartridges for around $5-10 on eBay, so there is no reason not to have it if you own an Atari 7800. If you lack an Atari 7800, then the arcade ROM will run OK on MAME, but there's just something about the original hardware that you miss (which I think could be summarized as "personality", but that's a discussion for another time...).
Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: ...Omanyte, Slowpoke, Pidgeot, Arbok—that's all, folks!
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- #91
I genuinely thought there was a chance nobody would be familiar enough with Pokemon to figure out what I was referring to. Now, I can at least rest easy knowing that part of the clue didn't go over peoples' heads. Here's a little clarification: the ellipsis means that the answer lies before the snippet I gave you all. Look at what's before Omanyte and think of what that could possibly have to do with any old-school arcade or console game and that should give you the answer.
P.S. Was that really the highest-quality recording of the Pokerap you could find, netizen?
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Probably not, but I really didn't feel like sifting through pokerap files to determine which would be best. I can only take the song once maybe twice at best.
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- #93
That's too bad—I actually think it's pretty catchy, even if it is one of the weaker English-language songs written for Pokemon (Polkamon and Double Trouble are tied for best). Anyway, here's another clue to help you along: in certain versions of the game I have in mind, you can kill our next entrant as many times as you want, thus allowing you to farm extra lives and a huge score.
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- #94
I didn't think this clue was all that hard to decipher, but here's another one: the game I have in mind was made into a pinball machine in 1983.
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Joust, the enemies are Knights?
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- #96
It is indeed Joust, but I actually wasn't thinking of the knights–you'll see what I mean in just a moment:
16. The 'Invincible?' Pterodactyl (Joust)
Developed & Published By: Williams Electronics
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1982
Around here, most people associate the Williams marque with fantastic pinball machines, but their legacy in video gaming is just as well-regarded, if noticeably less prolific. One of the most forgotten in the modern day is Joust. Like many arcade games of its era, its concept is almost radically simple: hit your enemies from higher ground to defeat them, then scoop up the eggs they leave behind before they can hatch to fight you again. However, you don't have forever to accomplish this–if you dawdle too long on any given level, a supposedly invincible pterodactyl will come after you; however, he can be defeated with a precise blow to his neck. This was actually the basis of an exploit in the red label versions of the game–on certain levels, one could position one's knight on a platform such that the pterodactyl would be destroyed by your lance again and again, thus allowing you to farm points and extra lives at your leisure.
Joust is yet another old-school game with fantastic ideas that do not, at first glance, appear to have made much impact on modern design. Its only direct descendants are the highly bizarre Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest and Nintendo's Balloon Fight, which also added a hit point meter to the affair. However, Joust has had some more subtle impacts, including the notion of a "hovering" antagonist as a way of forcing the player to go quicker than they might have liked (an idea that would resurface in the form of Baron von Blubba in Bubble Bobble and in the form of The Bees in both Crystal Castles and 720º, among other places). In addition, its basic design almost certainly influenced the original Mario Bros., which plays much like an inverted Joust (younger gamers may recognize this game as the minigame you and a second player can play if you both are on the same level on the overworld screen in Super Mario Bros. 3). That may seem a little underwhelming for something this high up the list, but Joust also scores massive points with me for its bizarro medieval setting and radical simplicity. Even if you still found this one disappointing, though, don't worry–we haven't heard the last of Williams' video game division yet...
Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Drugs are bad, m'kay?
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Narc - Mr Big
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- #98
Got it in one! Here comes the next entry:
15. Mr. Big (NARC)
Developed & Published By: Williams Electronics
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1988
NARC represents an odd confluence of events in the world of video gaming. It was the first video game under the Williams marque since the singularly strange Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, the first game designed by Eugene Jarvis in 5 years, the first 32-bit video game of any kind and one of the first post-crash video games to cross over into other media. You may recognize Eugene Jarvis from such arcade smash hits as Defender, Robotron: 2084 and Blaster, but he would leave the industry in 1984 to get an MBA at Stanford University, which he accomplished in 1986. NARC was his triumphant return to the industry and what a return it was!
For being the first 32-bit game, the graphics hold up very well today, with large, colorful sprites and distinctive character designs carrying the day, especially for the protagonists, Max Force and Hitman (that ridiculous strut they do with their machine guns akimbo is also one of the greatest things in any video game to date). The music also rocks, always keeping up the driving, hard-hitting pace that a game about mowing down drug dealers with machine guns, rockets and fancy cars really ought to have; in addition, the fully voiced dialogue surely stood out in a 1988-era arcade and still holds up today. However, the battle with Mr. Big and the hilariously self-aware ending are by far the most memorable parts of this awesomely & ironically trippy anti-Drug-War game (one almost thinks that the designers meant to parody the Drug War as least as much as to endorse it). Words can do this no justice, so I'll post the link and let you all see it for yourselves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52hHU4UxYF4)...
When you can stop laughing for 15 minutes at a stretch, you might also want to look up Video Power. Around 1990, Acclaim wanted a piece of Captain N's action, so they commissioned The Power Team, a cartoon that ran as part of a larger show called Video Power and centered around the protagonists of several games they had published for the NES and Game Boy, including Kuros from Wizards & Warriors, Max Force from NARC and rather hilariously, Tyrone from Arch Rivals (who was literally just a guy who played basketball–no, really!). Mr. Big and two of his minions, Joe Rockhead and Dr. Spike Rush, served as the main antagonists of the series, but they were obviously (though disappointingly) toned down from their arcade counterparts. Still, the show is good, stupid late-1980s quarter-hour commercial fun, so give it a watch on YouTube if that's your thing. Hey, at least it's less insulting than DOA Volleyball!
Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: You've just won a year's supply of meat products! What are you going to do next?
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Burger Time - "Let's Get Cooking!"?
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- #100
Not quite...but I will say that "I'd buy that for a dollar!"