A Revolution of Sorts

Wow, so, from the time I stopped to the time I am now writing, GameTap has taken.... a weird turn.

I do not know about anyone else, but I feel this new design change to GameTap seems like a step down. The menus seem more clunky than they ever were, game titles load in at a staggering slow pace, and my beloved Wheel is now noiseless~! It's as if my master has been castrated....

And above all that, it now seems games can be taken off the service. I did not plan on this, but it does not change my over all goal. With that said, the Wheel has wheezed into my ear, and it has said this.

Shark! Shark!
Intellivision, 1982

Been a while, I know. I am sorry. And, as usual, The Wheel makes sure to make me realize that I should love this job.... I think.

Shark! Shark! is a game about a fish. A fish that you control in what seems like a tiny fish tank. Which seems to ruin the illusion when you realize it is supposed to be an ocean. Oh well.
So, you swim around, you dash, you stop... and other fish do the same. And then a Sark comes! i guess thats where the name came from. Was beginning to worry there. So yeah, you then avoid the Shark or not. And thats about it. If you avoid him, he swims away and comes back again and again. If not, you die. Simple as that.
Now, this may have been fun back in the day, but my lord, it is as boring as could be.

Gametap says (for some reason) 7.4, I say 3. A definite delete.

Lets go for as many as I can stomach, shall we?

1942
Capcom, 1984

Ahhh, who doesn't love the 19xx games from Capcom? I must have dropped at least $50 into 19XX at my local arcade back in the day. But, where did it all come from? Well, it all started with 1942, the very first game in the series. Does it live up to it's successors legacy?

Well, yeah really. It was all very simple back then. You have a plane, and it has guns, which you shoot at other planes. Oh, you can also do a loop to avoid bullets. Simple and classic really. There are power ups, yeah, which just make your bullets wider and more plentiful. I recommend playing with a gamepad though. The keyboard is painfully imprecise.

Really, I'm glad I got to see where the series began. You can easily see the roots of the greatness that would follow it. A must play.

The GameTap peoples say 6.6. This I cannot understand, and give it an 8. Kept.
34 of (now) 952 complete.

Lets Pray for More Quickies

So, I take another spin and I find myself on the most joyus of joys, the Atari game Fun with Numbers which carries an awesome 2.0 rating.

Well, gotta play em all.

Fun with Numbers

Right off the bat, I am confused as all hell. Now, I was a late eighties kid. I missed the whole Atari scene, hell, I mostly missed the NES scene, though I did play with it well into the mid 90's, but even after trying to think back to the mentality of the era, I can't see the enjoyment in this. My god, I can barely tell what I supposed to do! And it's got the audacity to be called fun with numbers! Really, what I see is, a puke green background, with a number 9 with a plus sign to the left of it. The game is now asking me to input a number above it. I have now tried 6 numbers and the game has yelled at me for all of them. It then asks me what 6 divided by 4 is. A real calculator tells me it's 1.5, which is all well and good until a realize I can enter decimal places. Then it hits me, the game is trying to tell me something... 1.5... OH! It's telling me its deserved score!

Gametap Score = 2.0
My Score = 1.0
2 out of 958 complete.

NEXT! SPIN THAT WHEEL!

Oh joy! A Sega arcade game from... 1979... It's time for...

HEAD ON!

So I have a bit more hope for this game, as it holds a 5.1 on the ol' rating board, and 5.1 usualy symbolizes "fun, but not to interesting... or fun for that long." What I find is exactly that. Head On seems to be a weird hybrid of Pac-man and Off Road Rally. The gist of it is you are a car, and you are driving in one direction while picking up dots for points, while the "evil" red car is doing the same... IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. *revealing organ music cue* There are multiple "lanes" in which you can switch to very stiffly, all while trying to avoid crashing into the EVIL RED CAR, who seems intent on killing himself along with you.

I actually ended up playing this game for a good ten minutes and actually enjoyed myself. It's not very deep or nearly as strategic as some arcade games, but it was at least good fun for a bit.

Gametap ranks it as 5.1, I say it deserves a 6.
3 out of 958 complete.

SPIN SPIN SPINARUUU!

Oooooo, an Intellivision game. Another system from before my time. Here we go!

Night Stalker

So apparently I'm some secret spy, who's been caught... and now I'm in the evil guys labyrinth of doom or something... and I need to get out. Compelling! Lets see how I do!

Well, the controls are slow and unresponsive at best, but it controls well enough. Long story short, you are chased by a robot, you get out of your cage, get chased around, get a gun, and fight back. All while scoring points. Wasn't that fun, if you ask me.

Gametap Score =5.4
My Score = 4
4 out of 958 complete.

Time to spin it right round baby, right round.

Alright! An arcade game! I loves me some arcade games. Has a nice 6.3, lets see how it fares.

Return of the Invaders

Thats right, its what you think it is. This is the sequel to Space Invaders. Whats that you say? Didn't know they made a Space Invaders sequel? While, prior to about 10 seconds ago, neither did I. Does it stand up to the original? Lets see.

Wow, so, yeah. Thats actually a really really good game. For all ostensive purposes, the game is just Space Invaders with color, good color mind you, more dynamic enemies, and actual music. I actually had a real good time playing this one and could imagine playing it again in the future.


GameTap score = 6.3
My score = 7
5 out of 958 complete.

And thats it for now. Food and a break, maybe some more real soon.