Illinois Game Con 2023

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2023 AT 9 AM – 5 PM
Illinois Game Con 2023
1106 Interstate Dr, Bloomington, IL 61705

Notable arcade ports to the Atari 2600 - part I

There were many arcade ports for the Atari 2600. Although an extremely primitive game system like the Atari 2600 VCS has a difficult time looking and playing as good as the more advanced arcade machines, some ports caputured the feel of the game very well. I'm going to try to do a simple review of three 2600 arcade game ports a week. So here are the first three:

Asteroids     -- average port, fun to play, most of the same concept, but look, 
                 feel, and action does not mirror arcade.  If you are looking 
                 for something really close to the arcade, this is not it.
                 If you are looking for something in the ballpark and same concept,
                 this will do.
Rating:          




Battlezone    -- great port, most of the same feel as arcade.  Really, graphics 
                 are pretty good for the 2600, but not vector style like orginal.
Rating           




Berzerk       -- great port, not exact... but fun and same feel as arcade.
                 If you like Berzerk, a must have. Even without the voice.
Rating           

Notes about Pitfall II

Unlike Pitfall, Pitfall II has no time limit.

Checkpoints (red crosses) - Cross these and when you die you will start back at the last one you touched.

You win the game when you rescue:

- a woman named Rhonda
- the Raj diamond ring 
- a monkey name Quickclaw 

Perfect score is 199,000.  To achieve this score, you must find 28 gold bars, Rhonda, Quickclaw, the diamond, and the primitive cave rat.

Scoring:

- 5,000 points for every gold bar.
-15,000 for primitive cave rat.
- 20,000 for the Raj diamond ring
- 10,000 for the rescue of Rhonda
- 10,000 for the rescue of the monkey

Tip:

Use the ladder in the part ahead to get past the frog by ducking into it as it leaps over your head

Map of the game:

https://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/Atari2600/PitfallII-LostCaverns-LostCaverns.png