=============================================== = = = "VIC-20 Cartridge Software Reviews" = = (One section of four total) = = AKA: Cartzilla! = = = = Release date: February 14, 1999 = = = =============================================== Copyright notice: (c) 1999 Ward Shrake. All rights reserved. However, the author and copyright holder grants his permission to any individual(s) for any non-profit use of this document. I just ask that any such people will be fair and honest in giving me my due credit for any and all work that I have done, just as I have gone to great pains to credit those before me. Thanks! Visit "VIC-20 Digital Archaeology" on the web: http://members.aol.com/wshrake/index.htm Also be sure to check out: ftp.funet.fi (See the /pub/cbm/vic20 directories.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Machine Language Monitor COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1213] AUTHOR : unknown (198_) GAME TYPE: Utility program. A tool for programmers who want to code in ML. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart, you'll need the original instructions. This program may also be called VicMon at times. The keyboard commands used in the program are explained in the "Vic Revealed" book by Nick Hampshire, if you can't find the original docs anywhere. (If I ever get some free time, maybe I'll type them in and upload.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mario Bros. COMPANY : Atarisoft (?) AUTHOR : Unknown. (198_) GAME TYPE: Vaporware. Would have been an authorized port of "Mario Bros." COMMENTS : From Jimmy Huey via the Internet: "More vaporware: vic-20 Mario Bros! I did the Apple II port. A version for the vic-20 WAS being worked on. How far the programmer got, I don't know. I got the impression that he did get pretty far, though." Coolness! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mastertype COMPANY : Broderbund AUTHOR : See trivia. (1983) GAME TYPE: Educational game. Learn to touch-type by shooting space objects. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Good. Some graphics are more detailed than others but it works. The explosions look unrealistic but are very colorful. SOUND : Good. Sound effects almost sound blurred sometimes, but are nice and clear on others. Nice deep Game Over effects, nice zaps, etc. GAMEPLAY : Fun enough. It has its tension built-in if you don't know how to touch type very well! (Hee hee.) But that's the point, isn't it? OVERALL : Good for either learning to touch-type better or blasting things. TRIVIA : Title screen says the copyright is held by "Lightning software", and credits "Bruce Zweig & Jim Fox with Edward Chu" as authors. TRIVIA : I couldn't resist bragging about this ... I own a prototype cart of this game! In a special, hand-openable case, with a dot matrix printer label which states "Mastertype. Sample. Property of Broderbund software not to be sold or given away." It also has a handwritten "38" in the upper right corner. A piece of history? COMMENTS : To really use this cart, you may need the original instructions. However, if you're willing to experiment with touch-typing, know that your four left fingers rest on the ASDF keys, the right hand sits on the JKL: keys and your thumbs rest near the space bar. This is the "home position" that is used when touch typing. It will make sense as the game progresses through its exercises. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Maze COMPANY : HES (Human Engineered Software) [C3__] AUTHOR : Tom E. Griner (1983) GAME TYPE: Original treasure collection / maze game. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Another techie show piece by Mr. Griner. Neat title effects! Character based, but nice animation on the various characters. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Good or better. Nice tension from the monsters chasing you. The concept isn't very original but the game is fun to play. OVERALL : Dungeon games were very popular in this time period. This is a nice example of that genre. Competent in all areas, I'd say. TRIVIA : I am slightly biased against this program since my absolute, all- time favorite simple dungeon game is a 1982 piece by Don Worth of Quality Software... "Beneath Apple Manor" for the Apple II. It kicks butt, in my humble opinion! That game is the only reason I still have an Apple II computer, actually. Don, if you still have the source code, please release it on the net. The world deserves to see more of that game, IMHO. Another good one was Epyx's "Sword of Fargoal" game, released on both the Vic20 and the C64. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Medieval Joust COMPANY : Thorn EMI [THC 22007] AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Original game; a medieval jousting simulation. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Very good, considering Vic20 limits. Hi-res and split-screened. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Without the original instructions, who knows? OVERALL : It has potential, I suppose, once you figure it out. Might be an interesting novelty item. Where else can you simulate jousting? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Menagerie COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1926] AUTHOR : D. W. Johnson (1982?) GAME TYPE: Variant of arcade coin-op "Frogger". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Plain looking. Big empty backgrounds, big one-color characters. The characters are nicely drawn and detailed however. SOUND : Below average to pitiful. Could be much better, even on the Vic. GAMEPLAY : I like the original Frogger better. So will you, most likely. OVERALL : This is one of Commodore's worst efforts, as far as originality, gameplay and sound is concerned. What were they thinking? This is the type of game that should have been released on tape only. TRIVIA : I am beginning to think Commodore got pretty lazy, or something, at about the mid section of their Vic20 cartridge library. Had they already bought up all the good licenses then available? This game and a few near it, numberwise, strike me as "filler". COMMENTS : Normally, I'd say that you should go see the authorized version of Frogger but it isn't much better. Sigh. Go see it anyway. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Meteor Run COMPANY : UMI (United Microware Industries, Inc.) [1613] AUTHOR : Roger L. Merritt (1982) GAME TYPE: Part "Defender", part "Asteroids". REQUIRED : Two versions; 8k or 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5.) Joystick. OVERALL : This review is going to be redone. Paul LeBrasse has always had the suspicion that the 8k version we had a copy of was lacking something. Turns out he was right; there is a larger version of the program that is much nicer in just about every way. (Paul is sure happy, now that he has a copy of the game he had such fond memories of!) Later versions of this list will review them both. AD TEXT : "You're in command with Meteor Run ... guiding your craft through treacherous meteor fields ... fighting alien ships ... dodging exploding photon torpedos ... fighting your way to the red star, Alderbaran. The closer you get, the more hazards you encounter. You're surrounded with challenging adventure! This action-packed game will hold you spellbound for hours. Just imagine the fun you'll have!" (Seen in Electronic Games magazine, Nov 82, page 44) COMMENTS : (From Eric Gustafson, via the Internet) "In Meteor Run, it's possible to kill aliens without ever pressing fire. Once you start a game, your ship doesn't appear until you actually hit the fire button - but meteors start to appear and the aliens are buzzing about. If an alien hits a meteor, he's destroyed. Wait a while and the game will clear levels for you. I used to leave my Vic on for hours - you see, the manual promised that you eventually got to a 'black hole', and I reasoned that eventually the game would kill aliens off by itself until it got there. Sadly, I suspect that any 'black hole' was simply poetic writing on the part of the authors." (I verified it. It works, but I never saw points registered for it. As to the black hole I haven't a clue.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mine Madness COMPANY : Thorn EMI [THC 2200_] AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Original maze / elevator game. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Average. A hi-res set of character graphics with very few colors. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Darned if I know. I haven't figured out the point to it all. Just don't get squished by the elevators coming down; that's obvious. OVERALL : Not much fun at all, if you don't know how to play it. May be a fun game. It certainly tries to be tense and fast paced. TRIVIA : Almost surely one of the last cartridges put out by Thorm EMI for the Vic20. It seems rarer and harder to find than its siblings. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Miner 2049'er COMPANY : Reston (See comments.) AUTHOR : Jerry Brecher (1983) GAME TYPE: Climb and run game, released on many gaming platforms. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Excellent. Very nicely done, all around. Bright colors, clear layouts, nice graphic and technical flourishes throughout. SOUND : Excellent. Few sound effects but what is there is very well done. GAMEPLAY : Great. A very nice version of the popular game. Don't be ashamed to show it off to people who own other consoles. Play, play, play! OVERALL : A wonderful example of what could be done if only programmers and their employers took the time and effort to do it right. As this was a late release (1983), it is all the more impressive. Most other companies were slacking off horribly on Vic stuff by then. TRIVIA : Full cartridge label text: "MINER 2049er - VIC20 by Jerry Brecher Original design by Bill Hogue. (c) 1983 by Big Five Software Licensed in conjunction with Compu-Vid International ISBN 0-8359-4423-9" COMMENTS : Press fire to start each level. It is making sure you're ready. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mission Impossible Adventure COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1916] AUTHOR : Andy Finkel (1981) GAME TYPE: "Scott Adams Adventure Games" series. (#3 of 5.) REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 2 and 3). Keyboard controlled. The game starts when you type "SYS 32592" and hit the RETURN key. AD TEXT : "'Good morning, you mission is to ...' and so it starts. Can you complete your mission in time? Is the world's first automated nuclear reactor doomed? This one 'radiates' with excitement!" (Seen in "Commodore Power Play" magazine, Spring 1983, page 105) COMMENTS : See the entry for Adventure Land Adventure for more information on any of the games in this series. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mobile Attack COMPANY : MSD AUTHOR : unknown (198_) GAME TYPE: Variant of arcade coin-op "Targ". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Simple but functional. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Good. Smooth enough movement, reasonable game balance, good pace. OVERALL : Good. I like fast paced games with good response ... this works. COMMENTS : We only have access to a tape version so far. The cart is presumed to be identical or better. See also Crossfire; it's very similar. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mole Attack COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1912] AUTHOR : unknown (1981?) GAME TYPE: Part of Commodore's "Children's series". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Good. The graphics of the moles are large and easy to recognize. At least at first. As the game speeds up, you'll make mistakes. SOUND : Good. Definitely aimed at little kids; hit the moles on the head, and you get the expected bonk noise. Hit them on the butt, and... GAMEPLAY : Excellent for its intended audience. Some fun, even for adults. And maybe hilarious at adult parties, with enough cold beverages? OVERALL : My little nephews ought to love this when they get old enough! AD TEXT : "A colorful 'cartoon action' game. You're trying to keep those nasty moles underground where they belong but they keep popping up! How many can you clunk before time runs out? Fast, fun, frantic!" (Seen in "Commodore Power Play", Spring 1983, page 105) REVIEW : "It's a mole invasion! The pesty little devils are popping up all over, and its up to you to rout the beasts and send them fleeing back underground -- and you've only got 60 seconds to do it! ... Mole Attack will probably be a favorite among younger arcaders. Even though the eye-catching graphics combine well with the time- limit excitement, adults will probably find the game too simple and repetitive to get many repeat plays." (Review by Charlene Komar, page 70, in the June 1983 issue of Electronic Games.) COMMENTS : The keyboard may work better than the joystick does, as it is set up more like the 3-by-3 grid the moles are displayed in. Ideally you'd have a custom-made controller for this game, with a big arcade button per mole. I just might make one for my nephews. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Money Wars COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1925] AUTHOR : Commodore and Hal Lab. (1982) GAME TYPE: Variant of "Space Invaders" for the most part. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard. GRAPHICS : Fair to middling. Mostly plain, but some nice effects. Your death by electrocution is cute in a sick sorta way, for instance. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Fair. It moves too slowly for me to love it. Kids might like it, as might anyone who likes slower paced games. OVERALL : Fair to good. Depends on how much credit you give them for their creative flair in re-using elements from various other games. COMMENTS : When using an IBM and an emulator, use the comma (,) key to move right. The semi-colon key (;) mentioned onscreen is differently placed on the original Vic20 keyboard. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Monster Maze COMPANY : Epyx / Automated Simulations AUTHOR : R. A. Schilling (1982) GAME TYPE: First-person maze game. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Simplistic line drawings for rooms and you don't even want to see the monsters up close. Then again you could diss Doom and its clones, many years later, for being blurry and pixelated, so.... SOUND : Average, but they were trying. Sorta cute funeral dirge. GAMEPLAY : You can get the basic idea by just fooling around but having the original instructions would be nice. Standard maze stuff, mostly, except for the fact that you are looking at it via first person. OVERALL : See gameplay. Not a bad game. I prefer Epyx's "Sword of Fargoal" myself but what the heck. One of Epyx's first efforts at gaming. TRIVIA : Just waiting to be "DOOM"-ized by somebody? See also "Capture the flag" and "Creepy corridors" for similar honors. COMMENTS : Some keys to use: P shows an overhead map and R is to restart. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Moon Patrol COMPANY : Atarisoft [RX8532] AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Translation of William's 1982 arcade coin-op "Moon Patrol". REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Good or better. Not all they could be? Atari was also releasing a version for the Commodore 64 then; their effort went there? Don't get me wrong. These graphics aren't bad, just large and blocky. SOUND : Very good. The tune is catchy and the effects all sound good. GAMEPLAY : Good. Some other home versions are better but this is not bad. OVERALL : Good to very good. A nice porting job, overall. AD TEXT : "Leaping patrol cars? Yes, you drive a Moon Buggy across the lunar landscape in this action-packed cartridge that combines all the thrills and challenges of space driving and maze games." (From the multi-lingual box art.) TRIVIA : Internal messages at $a013 say "Jan 16 1984 FPR rev 5L". TRIVIA : Atarisoft put part numbers on their outer box art but not on the actual carts. This makes it harder for us to track part numbers as most places to buy these old carts only have the cart itself. The reason we want the info is to help track down vaporware; to either confirm a cart was actually made or was just planned. We can't tell if there is a pattern until we get more part numbers. Any solid info appreciated if you have access to original boxes for any of the other Vic20 game cartridges by Atarisoft. Thanks! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Moses (with or without 8k RAM) COMPANY : Century AUTHOR : unknown (198_) GAME TYPE: Utility program; 65C02 machine language assembler. REQUIRED : Unknown, as we don't have one. TRIVIA : Ads claim 27 new opcodes available. The 65C02 is an upgraded and more advanced processor than the standard variety 6502 chip. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart you'll need the original instructions, etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mosquito Infestation COMPANY : HES (Human Engineered Software) [C3__] AUTHOR : Tom E. Griner (1982) GAME TYPE: Part "Missile Command", part "Galaxian". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Plain looking, but relatively sophisticated for a machine that wasn't supposed to be able to do bit-mapping. The title effect is a show-off piece for sure. (Jeff Minter once commented online about Mr. Griner's coding skills, using proportional fonts as his example.) Does it compare to Tempest 2000? No, but for a Vic.... SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Response seems a little slow, so you'll have to plan in advance rather than just do twitch responses. But chasing all those bugs around builds more game tension than you might think. And lest you think the game is pointless and soon over, that funky looking hose thing at the top of the screen is a refill for your bug spray gun. OVERALL : Good to very good. The game can be fairly fun and its coded well. There isn't much to whine about; maybe that plain looking arm? If that. The Intellivision bragged about its graphical abilities; do you remember that doctor game they put out? Enough said, eh? TRIVIA : A secret message found coded into the carts internals (at $AF4B to $AFFF): "(THIS SPACE FOR RENT)(THIS MEMORY IS PROTECTED BY A MEMOGUARD ALARM SYSTEM-SOFTWARE PIRATES BEWARRE(C)1982-)!PROGRAM BY TOM GRINER, 777-36 SAN ANTONIO RD. PALO ALTO, CA. 94303! TAKEO" (Might TAKEO perhaps have originally been TAKEOFF? ... my guess.) COMMENTS : This is a 4k game internally, although it requires 8k to run. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Motocross Racer COMPANY : Xonox AUTHOR : unknown (198_) REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. COMMENTS : Review in progress. We just now found this ultra-rare cart and archived it. We'll have a review in the next release. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mountain King COMPANY : Beyond AUTHOR : Concept by Bob Matson, programmed by Jim Stolzenfeld. (1983) GAME TYPE: Original game, released for many home gaming platforms. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Nice! This is one of the better graphical games. None of the ports were all that complex looking, so they spent time on getting the movement very smooth and making the character animations good. SOUND : Great. The sound effects actually add to the gameplay instead of just being something tacked on at various intervals. The falling effect, for instance, is really enhanced by the sounds. It makes the game experience deeper because of it ... which is very, very rare for a Vic20 game. Bravo for your extra effort, folks! GAMEPLAY : Lots of fun. I suppose the gameplay is much the same on most of the other ports. Same concept, anyway. This games response to your input is very finely tuned. Just quality all the way. OVERALL : Bravo! 1983 seemed to be a turning point in the Vic's life. Some programmers got better with time while others just gave up and did as little as possible once the market started moving towards the C64. This is a fine example of quality, craftsmanship and fun! TRIVIA : The Vic20's programmers were definitely learning the machine well at this point. Too bad the market dropped out of Vic20 stuff ... but then again, we all had fun with our C64's, right? Just as a point of interest, take a look at other 1983 games. Like Frogger, for one. Or Ms Pac-Man. I rest my case about quality standards! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Ms. Pac-Man COMPANY : Atarisoft AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Authorized translation of arcade coin-op. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Average, maybe even poor. The characters are blocky as heck. The Vic20 is capable of far more but you'd never know it from this! It is pretty hard to see how a game like this wasted all of 16k? SOUND : Good. The sounds are recognizable enough to enhance the gameplay. GAMEPLAY : Good. I play the accelerated arcade version most, so perhaps my sense of timing is off when I feel like this pace is a bit slow? But aside from nit-picky purist type flaws the gameplay is good. OVERALL : Good but not great. Maybe I'm being harsh on this game as it is one of my (and lots of others) all-time arcade favorites, but I think they could have done better on this conversion. It isn't bad, per se, just not a convincing simulation of the real thing. I guess it's good enough for casual play if you are not a purist. TRIVIA : Internal messages at $a013 say "Dec 31 1983 Revision 4L". TRIVIA : This game was one of three still listed as being sold as late as 1989, per "A MENU information directory for Commodore Computers", Volume 5 Number 2. There were far more PET entries than VIC-20 entries throughout that book, however most were not entertainment titles. That book lists this cartridge as being $20 in 1989. This cartridge ISPN # is 05750-630. See also "Donkey Kong" and "IFR". COMMENTS : Another game I loved in its arcade version but am not thrilled with at home. For those of you who love Ms. Pac Man (arcade), if you are disappointed with the VIC version, try the Atari 7800 one. It is fast and smooth and all on one screen. I like that version best, even though I have fancier versions for later home machines like the Sega Genesis, and many other home ports of the game. I feel that only the actual emulated arcade code beats the 7800. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Mutant Herd COMPANY : Thorn EMI [THC 22004] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: Original game, involving herding creatures into a central pen. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Plain and simple. What were they thinking about on color choices? SOUND : Average. Some of the sounds can get annoying fast. GAMEPLAY : Mixed. One of those "you'll love it or hate it" things. OVERALL : I didn't like it much, but others play it often. You decide. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Number Nabber, Shape Grabber COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1941] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: Educational. Two math-related games on one cartridge. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. Disable bank 1 if present. TRIVIA : The last known cartridge in the series made by Commodore. If any one knows of a Vic20 cart number higher than #1941, let us know. But with carts of such dubious value to the Vic's main market, which happened to be avid gamers, this is probably the last one. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart, you may need the original instructions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Omega Race COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1924] AUTHOR : Andy Finkel with Eric Cotton (March 1982) GAME TYPE: Translation of the coin-op arcade game "Omega Race". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Excellent. Translating vector graphics is always hard to do. SOUND : Excellent. They seemed to have captured the arcade's essence. GAMEPLAY : Excellent. They did a good job of converting this classic game. OVERALL : Excellent. Commodore worked hard on this game, and it shows. AD TEXT : "(The smash-hit arcade game!) The ultimate space game. You've got one Omegan fighter maneuvering against droid ships, command ships, death ships, photon mines and vapor mines. Fantastic 'rubber band' boundaries, multiple levels of difficulty ... all the features that make the Bally/Midway game so successful! One or two players" (Seen in Spring 1983 issue of "Commodore Power Play"; page 104.) REVIEW : "This translation of the coin-op space shoot is, in the minds of many, the best game currently available for the Vic-20. It's not in full color, but that's only a minor annoyance." (Seen in the Nov 1982 issue of Electronic Games, page 49.) A photo caption in that same article says "Despite the monochrome graphics, Omega Race is a top-notch computer game program." REVIEW : "High-powered conversion of the classic arcade game. Race around an oblong block where the score is displayed, firing lasers at Droid ships and mines they've planted in space. Lack of gravity is convincingly worked into action; you must wheel around and hit the engines to stop. Droids turn into Command ships if not knocked out fast enough. These become Death Ships, which release more powerful Vapor Mines." (From page 53, Jan/Feb 1985 Computer Games) TRIVIA : Yes, this game is reproduced in black and white instead of color. The reason for that is simple; the original arcade game was also black and white! It was an early "vector graphics" based game. In other words, the arcade graphics were similar to those of the arcade classic "Asteroids," or to those on the Vectrex machine. The arcade original of Omega Race was a 1981 Midway game. TRIVIA : One of the first video games with a built-in secret feature? "Power Play" magazine, put out by Commodore themselves, ran a two-page article on bugs found in this game and in Gorf, another converted arcade classic. (See Summer 1983 issue, page 38.) In part it says "...is not really a bug in the true sense, so let's call it an 'undocumented feature.' Normally in this game you get three ships when you start. However, if you hold down the SHIFT key while pressing either F1 (for joystick) or F3 (for paddle) at the beginning of the game, you will get -- count 'em -- five ships! Let's see if that improves your score!" (Article written by Jeff Bruette, one of Commodore's in-house game programmers.) TRIVIA : An interview with Andy Finkel, another Commodore programmer, said that there is another secret keypress sequence. If you hold down Commodore, Ctrl, and Shift at the title screen, then press Return you will see the programmer's credit screen. You may have to wait a few seconds into the title or press the keys twice, but it does work. (Interview by Rick Melick and posted on his homepage.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Outworld COMPANY : UMI (licensed from Tensor Technology?) [1635] AUTHOR : Thomas A. Giguere (1981) GAME TYPE: Original game, heavily influenced by "Missile Command" and others. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Very nice. Colorful, detailed, nice moving starfield ... they even went so far as to sign their name to it in script! A cute touch. SOUND : Good. They really tried. Impressive, given the Vic's limitations. GAMEPLAY : Fun. The play mechanic is a mix of many games; protecting your ground-based city with a moving crosshair is obviously Missile Command. However, the asteroids that drop on you break into two and then four pieces as in Asteroids. And the force field over a cityscape looks a lot like Imagic's Atlantis game. All in all, I think they integrated these separate elements well. It plays well. OVERALL : A good game regardless but all the more impressive since it was done in 1981; right in the beginning of the Vic's lifespan. Some game companies took until 1983 to start making similar efforts! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pac-Man COMPANY : Atari AUTHOR : See Trivia. (1983) GAME TYPE: Official translation of the "Pac Man" arcade coin-op. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick required. GRAPHICS : Fair. The maze seems half-sized and there are some small glitches in the character's graphics. Even so, the graphics are much more recognizable than those in the infamous Atari 2600 conversion! SOUND : Fair. Some parts sounds like Pac Man should. Some aren't so good. GAMEPLAY : Good. Not much better or worse than game console versions of the arcade classic. At least it lets you choose a level to begin on. OVERALL : Playable but perhaps a bit uninspired? Flawed but still OK. TRIVIA : A book called "How to win at video games" had this to say about the arcade original: "Pac-Man holds the record. Since its development in 1980, approximately 250,000 Pac-Man machines have appeared all over the world. That's a quarter million machines! And approximately 95,000 of those are in the United States. In numbers alone, Pac-Man reigns supreme. They have set a marketing goal that all other games strive to achieve." The book goes on to say "Pac-Man has been the center of controversy. Many enterprising computer-based businesses have been 'ripping off' the Pac-Man idea. Laws are being developed as quickly as possible to ensure the Pac-Man trademark. What all this means is that Pac-Man has gone far beyond most video games. Songs, T-shirts, bumper stickers, ties, coffee mugs, and numerous other 'fan' items have recently flooded the market. And all of this for a game that was originally considered 'too cute'." (Consumer guide, 1982, pg 35.) TRIVIA : From Jimmy Huey via the Internet: "I don't think Atarisoft programmed any of their carts in house. They were all contracted out to 3rd party developers. Pac-man was also programmed by Designer Software. The original programmer abandoned the project in the middle and I finished the game." That seems to explain a lot to me. This cart is half the size of most of Atari's other efforts; Mr. Huey was used to coding memory efficient games. And the two-person effort may explain some of the unevenness, too. I imagine Atarisoft just wanted it finished up, not a work of art. They probably pressured Mr. Huey into releasing it a bit early. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Panic Button COMPANY : First Star Software, Inc. AUTHOR : unknown (198_) COMMENTS : Vaporware? The game was reviewed in the May 1984 issue of Compute magazine. See page 124 for the details. Nothing else known yet as no one we've heard of seems to have seen a copy of this game. We'd love to get our hands on one to archive it for everybody. First Star had a very good reputation on other machines so if this cart does really exist it's probably a pretty good game. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Personal Finance COMPANY : Commodore (Licensed from Creative Software) [Vic-1929] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: Not a game; a home utility to help you with your finances. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard controlled. TRIVIA : One of the hardest Commodore cartridges to find. Probably due to its non-game nature; the Vic20 was primarily used by avid gamers. TRIVIA : Creative Software may have sold their "Household Finance" cart to Commodore. Both companies separately released this one program. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart you'll need the original instructions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pharaoh's Curse COMPANY : HES (licensed from Synapse Software) [C321] AUTHOR : Alick Dziabczenko (1983) GAME TYPE: Original climb and run game. REQUIRED : Two versions; 8k or 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Nice! Mono-colored (Hi-Res) characters may detract a bit but the overall effect is very well done. Nice character animation, good thought put into each level's particular look and so on. SOUND : Could use a little more work but they made a reasonable effort. Nobody seems to have mastered the Vic's sound capabilities enough to keep from being annoying after (a short) while. A nice try. GAMEPLAY : Whoa! Boy did they make good use of their 16k memory! (I'm sure I haven't said that yet!) Multiple levels that actually look and feel like different levels, instead of just another screen? Wow. This is one of the deepest Vic20 gaming experiences I've seen. OVERALL : You have to see this one. Another example of what the Vic20 was capable of doing all along, once programmers learned the machine for a couple of years or so. (Then just as they were getting very good at it, along comes the C64, and bye-bye Vic20 market!) This is one to show to people if they tell you the Vic20 died due to poor software titles, low machine capabilities and so on. AD TEXT : "A fortune -- yours for the taking. But can you avoid the ghost of Rama & the evil mummy? Are you nimble enough to leap the chasms and avoid the booby traps standing between you and freedom?" (Text from Synapse Software ad in Oct 1983 "Compute's Gazette" magazine) TRIVIA : Title screen says: "Original by Steve Coleman". COMMENTS : Some instruction-type help, from Eric Lundquist on the Internet. (This was also verified by Eric Gustafson on the I'net.) "The secret code allows you to start at different difficulty levels, as I understand it there are four, and when you win 1 through 3, you get more of the code. The whole code is 'DEADMUMMY' and I think you get 3 characters each time (DEA, DMU, MMY). Starting on level 4 is much more difficult. The flame traps are setting themselves off all the freakin' time! Noise-o-rama. Too fun. The 'enter code or use joystick' was if you didn't enter the code, just move you man over to the hole and drop into level 1." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pinball Spectacular COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1920] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: A variant of both pinball simulations and breakout-style games. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Paddle controller. GRAPHICS : Large and blocky, but at least they are colorful. Nice scrolling title / instructions screen. Fair to middling in overall quality. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Some interesting ideas but I don't care what their ad says ... this does NOT play "just like" real pinball. For one, pinball has electro-mechanical flippers, not a breakout style paddle. Yeesh! Lots of hidden stuff to find/activate, or so others tell me. OVERALL : A decent game on its own merits, but real pinball this is not! I normally wouldn't bristle this much over Commodore's stretching the truth, but on this one I do take offense. Heck, I've been a "real pinball" fan since the days that someone first told me that "Space Invaders" was just a fad that would soon pass, and in any case no videogame could ever replace pinball machines. So there! AD TEXT : "Plays just like a true pinball machine ... only computerized ... flashing lights ... quick 'flipper' action!" (Seen in "Commodore Power Play" magazine, Spring 1983 issue, page 103) TRIVIA : An article appeared in the Spring 1983 issue of "Commodore Power Play" magazine; see page 72. The then-current champ, Joe Ferrari, talks about strategies he used to score over 1,500,000 points. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pipes COMPANY : Creative Software AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: "Concept home education program" REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. AD TEXT : "Arlo is a hard-working plumber, but a touch absent-minded. He's building a water supply system for the whole neighborhood, and he really has his hands full. Help Arlo decide what kind of pipe to buy and where to put it... his limited budget doesn't leave him much margin for error. Figure out the shortest, most economical way to get everyone hooked up... and just hope poor Arlo has remembered to open and close the right valves. A marvelously entertaining and challenging exercise in planning, economics and spatial relationships for all ages." (Seen in EG, Dec 83, page 78) TRIVIA : Ad also mentions this program was "selected as some of the 'most innovative computer programs' 1983 CES Software Showcase Awards" COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart, you'll need the original instructions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pirate's Cove Adventure COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1915] AUTHOR : Andy Finkel (1981) GAME TYPE: "Scott Adams Adventure Games" series. (#2 of 5.) REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 2 and 3). Keyboard controlled. The game starts when you type "SYS 32592" and hit the RETURN key. AD TEXT : "'Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum ...' You'll meet up with the pirate and his daffy bird, and encounter many strange sights as you attempt to go from your London flat to Treasure Island. Can you recover Long John Silver's lost treasures?" (Seen in "Commodore Power Play", Spring 1983 issue, page 105) COMMENTS : See the entry for Adventure Land Adventure for more information on any of the games in this series. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Poker COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1908] AUTHOR : S. Matsuoka (1981) GAME TYPE: Video poker game. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard. GRAPHICS : Mixed. Nice deck of cards but awfully blocky title graphics. SOUND : Average at best. You'll want to make liberal use of a counter- clockwise hand motion, after finding your volume control knob. GAMEPLAY : Sorta neat. I like the card games on my IBM just fine, thanks, but this was a trip down memory lane. I just wish the darned game didn't make me wait so long between button presses. Oh well. OVERALL : Las Vegas' poker machines look much nicer, but this is cheaper. AD TEXT : "Casino-style poker recreates the real thing! Superb animation and sound effects add to the fun, mystery, and luck." (Ad in the Spring 1983 issue of "Commodore Power Play" magazine, page 103.) REVIEW : An article in the Nov '82 issue of "Electronic Games" has a photo caption for this game. It says "The high resolution graphics of Poker produce a beautiful electonic deck of playing cards." Keep in mind that the Intellivision had "high resolution" back then. TRIVIA : Internal codes indicate the program was written by S. Matsuoka of HAL Labs in Tokyo, Japan. But no credits were given onscreen. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Polaris COMPANY : Tigervision AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Original submarine game. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Hi-res graphics but with a very limited color palette. Maybe this suits the game just fine, as its supposed to be underwater? SOUND : Average, maybe even a little sparse. Just missile sound effects. GAMEPLAY : Multi-screen (and therefore multi-mission) does enhance gameplay. You're not endlessly repeating the same exact tasks all the time. And it's paced fast enough to please me, which isn't too easy. OVERALL : More fun than it looks at first. Give it a try before you dismiss the game as an underachiever. It "grew on me" quickly enough. AD TEXT : "Polaris. Three screens triple the action. Captain a sub in enemy waters. In three action-filled screens, you're attacked by every- thing from bombers and subs to underwater mines. With 16 progress- ive levels of difficulty, only a military genius gets through." (Seen in Electronic Games, Dec 83, page 128. B&W ad; 1/4 page.) TRIVIA : The ad above also stated that the game was "nominated 'Best Action Video Game' (by) Electronic Games Magazine". TRIVIA : The screen credits "the electronic boat division of Tigervision" for what that's worth. No person was actually named, however. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Pole Position COMPANY : Atarisoft (Licensed from Namco) AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Translation of the arcade game "Pole Position". REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Pretty good. Considering the limitations of the Vic, impressive. They simply dropped some game features (like road signs) rather than try to include them and make the whole game suffer due to it. (Wise.) Some flicker at times, perhaps, but nothing too annoying. SOUND : Good. Sound effects are nice, engine noise is nice. Well done. GAMEPLAY : Good. Purists may object to the missing stuff. Others won't care. OVERALL : Good or better. Someone was really getting to know the Vic. See what I've said before, about the programmers maturing at the end? TRIVIA : Internal messages at $a013 date the cart at "Jan 30, 1984". TRIVIA : One subtle graphic detail that may go unnoticed; notice that the screen goes from full left to full right. No border. Neat, eh? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Predator COMPANY : HES (Human Engineered Software) [C316] AUTHOR : Tom E. Griner (1982) GAME TYPE: Original game, perhaps with a bit of influence from "Joust". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Pushing the poor little vic into territory it was never meant to go! Bit-mapped graphics, tiny little fonts, etc. Check out the impressive little animation, complete with fireworks, when you set the top high score. Cute touches like that make games special. When Jeff Minter was interviewed online, he said much the same. SOUND : Average or better. GAMEPLAY : Unusual subject matter makes it harder to "get into" the game at first, but gameplay is well balanced. OVERALL : Some may love its style of gameplay, some may not. But it is a technologically impressive game either way. TRIVIA : A message found secretly coded into the carts internals (at $BFA6 to $BFFF): "PROGRAMMED BY TOM GRINER 777-36 SAN ANTONIO RD.PALO ALTO CALIF. U.S.A.(C)1982-KEEP OUT....." Mr. Griner said in an online interview that he once kept a list of all who responded. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Princess and Frog COMPANY : Romox Inc. AUTHOR : Bob Horn (1983) GAME TYPE: Clone of the arcade coin-op game "Frogger". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Colorful enough. Might be impressive on some other gaming console. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Experienced gamers might not like it, but perhaps kids would? You decide, but personally I like many other Frogger clones better. OVERALL : I tend to agree with the magazine review shown below. REVIEW : "This is a copy of Frogger and a pathetic one at that. Since Parker Brothers and Sierra already make excellent versions of Frogger for the Atari, the last thing anybody needs is another one. Romox puts their games on erasable chips that allow you to go back to the store and have another game transferred onto them. With games like this, that may be the only redeeming quality." (Review text for Atari computer version, from page 52 of Computer Games magazine, Jan/Feb 1985 issue.) We have no knowledge about the internals Romox used for Vic20 carts; ROM, EPROM or EEPROM? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Programmer's Aid Cartridge COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1212] AUTHOR : See trivia. (1981) GAME TYPE: Utility program. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard. TRIVIA : This seems to be 4k internally, although it requires 8k to run. TRIVIA : A tiny (5/16th" x 1.5") sticker on the back of my original cart says "Copyright (c) 1981 Commodore Business Machines, Inc. and copyright (c) 1979, 1981 Palo Alto I.C.S." COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart, you'll need the original instructions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Promenade COMPANY : Jason-Ranheim AUTHOR : unknown GAME TYPE: Utility package. Specialized hardware for very advanced users. TRIVIA : Included here because the company's main product, the Promenade EPROM programming tool, could create cartridges from parts the company sold. Even as late as July 1996, the company still sells parts and the latest (C64) Promenade EPROM programing tool. But no longer has any stock of any Vic20 products, unfortunately. Believe me, I asked them more than once, with no luck! Oh well. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this product, you'll need the original instructions and all the original hardware plus other accessories and EPROMs. Aside from the historical interest, go find a modern ROM burner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Protector COMPANY : HES (Human Engineered Software) [C308] AUTHOR : Alick Dziabczenko (1983) GAME TYPE: Variants of both "Scramble" and "Defender". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Good to very good. They look a bit plain at times but everything is clearly defined, the color use is good and the animation nice. SOUND : Above average but still not fabulous. This is more the Vic20's fault than the programmers fault. He certainly worked at it. GAMEPLAY : Somewhat difficult, but rewarding. He squeezed a heck of a lot into an 8k game! The puzzle solving and action mix is well done. OVERALL : Very nice! Give this one a good, long look. It deserves it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Q*bert COMPANY : Parker Brothers (licensed from Mylstar Electronics, Inc.) AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Authorized translation of the arcade coin-op "Q*bert". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Below average. I don't think they tried very hard. Note that each of the "sprites" are surrounded by a black border all the time, indicating that the simplest form of character graphics were used. The large size of the individual blocks confirms they were. SOUND : Fair. The tune, which doesn't play much, is short but done well. The sound effects sound a bit muffled but are generally ok. GAMEPLAY : Average. The diagonal movement scheme is tricky on any system so I won't mark down for that. Game speed is fairly good, overall. OVERALL : Average at best. This is not the best conversion, by a long shot! REVIEW : "(A-) A mostly successful conversion of the arcade hit. Hop your 'hosenose' around the pyramid until all the cubes are the same color. Various weird and amusing enemies are chasing you. The home game lacks the incredible sound effects of the arcade game, and the graphics aren't nearly as good. But it's still fun to leap onto a flying disk and watch Coily take a dive off the pyramid." (From Computer Games, page 53, Jan/Feb 1985 issue) TRIVIA : Note that the early ads from Parker Brothers show that they were making and selling C64 and Vic20 games at the same time. I can only assume they put far less effort into the Vic20 market's game as this version is rather uninspired. OK, but certainly not great. TRIVIA : The original arcade game had cool "speech" features, for lack of a better word, that most home games never did reproduce well. The original arcade game also had an electro-mechanical "thumper" in the bottom of its cabinet. When Q*bert falls, he appears to fall off the screen. Then there was a short pause. Then it sounded and felt as if something had hit the bottom of the game's cabinet. In its properly working original cabinet, this gave the impression that Q*bert had been the object that had struck bottom. This made it almost worth losing a guy, just to hear and feel it happen! COMMENTS : The joystick uses diagonals only. Turn the joystick partway on its side to try to compensate for this, if it bothers you. Just about every home system conversion dealt had this same problem. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Quick Brown Fox COMPANY : Quick Brown Fox AUTHOR : unknown (198_) GAME TYPE: Utility program. A word processor. REQUIRED : Unknown, as we don't have one archived yet. It was very popular during its day, so it must have been pretty good then? The same company released tape-based add-ons for it, besides their cart. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this cart, you'll need the original instructions. And I can't see the vic's memory and screen limits being a big plus. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Radar Rat Race COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1910] AUTHOR : Bill Hindorff (Nov 5, 1981) GAME TYPE: Unauthorized clone of the arcade coin-op game "Rally-X". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Very good. Everything that Rally-X had, this has, except changed a bit to look less like the every-detail-intact copy that it is. Just change the mice and cats to be cars, the cheese to be flags, and redo the onscreen text, and you have Rally-X. Seriously. SOUND : Generally good. The background music gets a bit old, but it is at a lower volume level, so there. ("Three blind mice, see how they run...") The sound effects are ok, but could be better. GAMEPLAY : Just like Rally-X. Everything seems to have be duplicated. The changes in the graphics don't hurt the gameplay a bit. Still fun. OVERALL : Give this one a try. It is a lot of fun, and will grow on you. AD TEXT : "The magical mouse maze makes for a fast-paced, challenging game of wit, strategy and reflexes. Excellent graphics." (From the Spring 1983 issue of "Commodore Power Play", page 103) REVIEW : "This scrolling maze chase sends the player scurrying along corridors on a mission to grab all the available cheese." (Seen in Nov 1982 issue of "Electronic Games", page 49.) TRIVIA : Another one of Commodore's early attempts to get away with copying another manufacturer's games and sell them as their own? (See also Star Battle and Jelly Monsters.) Those two were apparently yanked off the market early. This clone of Rally-X was apparently very popular at the time, judging by the relative ease of finding one. TRIVIA : The arcade coin-op "Rally-X" was a 1980 Midway game. The arcade industry saw Rally-X as the next big thing, until Pac-Man took an unexpected popularity ride. Rally-X was all but forgotten then. It had serious potential, I'll grant you that. Simple enough to attract a wide audience, with enough tension to keep interest up among the more advanced players. A quarter hog, for sure. But the best laid plans of mice and men.... (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) TRIVIA : There are some interesting notes hidden inside the actual code of the game ... "this program was created by -bill hindorff- nov. 5, 1981 vic commandos k. of p., usa" it says at $A34B in the unmodified game code. (Does K of P = "King of Prussia, PA"?) TRIVIA : Neil Harris confirmed that "Vic Commandos" was the inhouse name for the small group that was working to launch the Vic20 system. He also mentioned in that same online interview that the group often spent long lunches at local video arcades doing "R&D" work. TRIVIA : This game is so close to being Rally-X, that the "cheese" almost resembles the original flags and all the other graphics also look very close to their inspirations. But the clincher as far as I'm concerned; the onscreen text has *precisely* the right amount of characters to have originally been text right from "Rally-X"! I suspect they made a literal copy first, then made their changes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Radiotap COMPANY : Kantronics AUTHOR : unknown (1984) GAME TYPE: Specialized hardware. Interface package for ham radio operators. REVIEW : This cartridge was reviewed in the April 1984 issue of Compute. See page 100 for the article. COMMENTS : Not given a very thorough review due to its non-game nature. To really use this, you'll need all the original instructions and hardware, ham radio equipment, etc, etc. This came out towards the end of the Vic's life, when it was obvious that many people would soon replace their Vic20 with something like the C64. It gave the Vic20 something useful to do, or that was its pitch. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Raid on Fort Knox COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1913] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: Maze game. See also "Radar Rat Race". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Good. The graphic characters are smallish but fairly precise. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Slow-paced in the early rounds, with little danger of being hurt. The game adds more guards each round, so it gets more difficult. OVERALL : Average. Try "Radar Rat Race" for a better but similar game, if you feel this one is too slow for adult play. Kids may love it. AD TEXT : "You're scurrying through a complex of tunnels below Fort Knox. Just ahead you spot the gold ... now grab it and try to escape before the guards find you." (Seen in "Commodore Power Play" magazine, Spring 1983 issue, page 102.) TRIVIA : This game is basically a rewritten version of a Commodore game called "Bank Robber". BR has a copyright date of 1981, ROFK has a date of 1982. Other than that and screen color changes, they appear to be identical. Makes me wonder if BR wasn't originally going to be Commodore's # Vic-1903? Could be, perhaps. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Rat Hotel COMPANY : Creative Software AUTHOR : Joanne Lee / "Jolee" (1982) GAME TYPE: Original game, involving climb-and-run and treasure collection. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Simple, but they do the job well enough. Nice scrolling. SOUND : Simple, but it does the job. Theme music gets a bit repetitive, but it helps add a bit of tension to the game. Effects are OK. GAMEPLAY : The gameplay is the fun part here. Slow at first, but the speed builds with each round, adding to the "chase" tension. And you have to know which are the safe spots to hide out in, like a rat. Hurry, but too much speed equals mistakes! Pretty well-balanced. OVERALL : One of my personal favorites and one reason I became re-interested in Vic20 software in the first place. Really. Try it. It is fun to play, even if the graphics are laughable by today's standards. REVIEW : The game was reviewed in the Nov 1983 issue of Compute's Gazette. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Renaissance COMPANY : UMI (United Microware Industries, Inc.) [1600] AUTHOR : Louis X. Savain (1982) GAME TYPE: Computerized version of "Othello" board game. REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. COMMENTS : Not given a thorough review, as I don't play Othello myself and therefore don't feel qualified to comment. Try it for yourself. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: River Rescue COMPANY : Thorn EMI [THC 22001] AUTHOR : unknown (1982) GAME TYPE: Variant of the Atari 2600 game "River Raid" by Activision. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : Fair to good. Some portions are better than others, but overall Activision did a much better job on the Atari 2600 version. SOUND : Average. Nothing to write home about. Again, Activision beat it. GAMEPLAY : Average to good. It depends if you like fast-paced games or not; this game depends on blazing speeds to amaze you as it goes on. If you don't know that, you'll quit in boredom pretty early on. OVERALL : Average to good. The Activision game is much better rounded and will appeal to a larger audience. Nevertheless it has some charm. Just don't try to use it to show off what your Vic20 can do! TRIVIA : A pain to fit the original cart into its slot! Good luck, if you use a third-party expansion chassis, like I do. It barely fits. This is obviously Thorn EMI's first-ever Vic20 game; it shows. COMMENTS : This game scrolls sideways instead of vertically, but other than that, its obvious this is a game based on Activision's classic. (They both have copyright dates of 1982.) I'm willing to cut them some slack simply because this is their first-ever Vic20 game, but it could have been much better. How hard were they trying? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Road Race COMPANY : Commodore [Vic-1909] AUTHOR : J. Suzuki, HAL laboratory, Japan (1981) GAME TYPE: Clone of the arcade coin-op "Night Driver". REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Keyboard controlled. GRAPHICS : Good. Compared to the original B&W game, perhaps even very good. SOUND : Good but not great. Adequate sound effects. GAMEPLAY : Fair. I suppose you have to get used to it first, over time? OVERALL : Good. True enough to the original coin-op, but not a great game. TRIVIA : The original Atari arcade coin-op was black and white. It had the excuse of being born in 1976, so what did you expect? TRIVIA : Because this title is based on a mid-seventies arcade title, it may seem a bit uninspired in its play. However, the idea of being in the driver's seat was a novel idea in its time. And don't be too hard on the graphics; Pong was only four years old in 1976! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Robin Hood COMPANY : Xonox AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Original game, ported to many platforms. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : It's fairly obvious that this was a port of a multi-system game. SOUND : Average or better. They seemed to have tried to make some decent background music. It's catchy, within the limits of Vic20 sound. GAMEPLAY : Why bother? Maybe some people will like it, but it isn't for me. OVERALL : My opinion on most of Xonox' games should be well understood by now. Most of Xonox's programmers probably had the talent to do much more, but they apparently had to cater to the lowest common denominator to make all the games alike across many platforms. I blame Xonox's management; they apparently thought that any random plastic box sitting on a store's shelves would be a money magnet. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Robot Panic COMPANY : HES (Licensed from Rabbit Software UK) [C310] AUTHOR : Steve Clark (1982) GAME TYPE: Original vertically-scrolling space shooter. REQUIRED : 8k RAM in bank 5. Joystick. GRAPHICS : At first glance, this is an underachiever. The backgrounds are plain, empty and black. Your ship is a bit colorful and has some nice detailing but the enemy ships are rather plain looking. But once you start playing the game it becomes obvious where they put their main emphasis; many fast-moving things onscreen at once. Empty backgrounds are almost a necessity once you start playing! SOUND : Average or better. Nice effects. GAMEPLAY : Fast paced and fun. If it had fancier background art this would be a lot like the modern arcade classic "Raiden". Really! Try it. OVERALL : They named the game aptly; the panic part of things, I mean. It's obvious they made the game to take advantage of what the Vic does well, and just ignored what it wasn't really good at. Good plan. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAME NAME: Robotron: 2084 COMPANY : Atarisoft AUTHOR : unknown (1983) GAME TYPE: Authorized translation of William's arcade game "Robotron: 2084". REQUIRED : 16k RAM (8k each in banks 3 & 5). Joystick. GRAPHICS : Fair enough, within the limits of the Vic20. Disappointing, of course, compared to the original arcade machine, but no shock. SOUND : Average. GAMEPLAY : Without two joysticks it just isn't the same experience at all. OVERALL : Don't expect miracles, but give it a shot. None of the home game versions really capture the original's pacing, tension, or sheer number of enemies onscreen. I know, because I own the original arcade game itself, along with beaucoup home renditions for my collection of various gaming platforms, new and old. None of the home games I've seen really come all that close. Judge them as separate products? I think you have to, in a few cases like this. TRIVIA : Another classic Eugene Jarvis blastfest. (See also Defender.) He really knows gaming, that's for darn sure! Bless his hyperactive heart for giving the world such pure adrenaline rushes, says I. COMMENTS : Just to give you an idea of the original's intensity, I paid big bucks for two brand new arcade joysticks to upgrade my original cabinet. These sticks use no mechanical switches inside; instead they use beams of light. Even with these sticks you'd better move fast; I don't last forever regardless, but man is that fun! I'm just glad I don't have to keep pumping quarters into the game. My six yess, but man is that fun! I'm just glad I don't have to keep pumping quarters into the game. My six year old nephew also loves the original game, even if he has to stand on a chair just to see the screen and control it. I can't wait to see what he End of this section of "CARTZILA!" (See the other three sections or the full document for more information.) http://members.aol.com/wshrake/index.htm