Windows Phone Thoughts: Atari Retro Brings Back Memories

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Monday, March 15, 2004

Atari Retro Brings Back Memories

Posted by Perry Reed in "SOFTWARE" @ 10:30 AM


The Ultimate Test

I wanted to see just how good the emulation of these games really is, so I decided to test a hidden feature in Adventure, long one of my all-time favorite games. The goal in Adventure is to maneuver through castles and mazes, avoiding or killing the dragons, and ultimately to bring the chalice to the gold castle. Along the way you can collect various objects that will help you, like the sword (to kill dragons), the keys to the three castles, the magnet (draws other objects towards it) and the bridge (allows you to pass through some walls).

Well, as the diehard fans will remember, there is a secret object. A tiny dot is hidden in the maze inside the black castle. You need the bridge to find it, but once you have it, if you take it to the "hallway" room below and to the right of the gold castle, the wall on the right side of the room disappears and you can enter the secret room. Inside the room you'll find one of the earliest examples of an "Easter egg" hidden in a game; in this case a message from the game's programmer that says "Created by Warren Robinette".

If the Atari Retro version has the easter egg, I'd call it nearly perfect. I found the dot, right were it should be, although it wasn't easy. On a TV with the original it was hard to see, and on the small Pocket PC screen it was all but invisible. But it was there, and when I brought it into the right room, what did I see?


Figure 12: The secret room in Adventure.

It was there! Just as it is in the original. Atari Retro passes the test.

Conclusions

If you're a classic videogame nut -- like me -- or not, you'll enjoy these great reproductions of classic Atari games. The gameplay and simple fun more than makes up for the relatively simple graphics and sound. For the old folks like me, playing them will bring back some fantastic memories.


Figure 13: Yar's Revenge -- Hard to explain this one, but it sure is fun to play!


Figure 14: Breakout -- Knock down the bricks in this popular Pong successor.

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