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Oldies but Goodies – RC Pro AM

Genre:  Racing
Platform:  NES

I still play this one from time to time on my GCW Zero.  This was a fun little racing game where you were racing an RC Truck.  There were supposedly 32 tracks, but I certainly never made it through them all.  As you raced your truck around the track, you could pick up new parts for upgrades, letters to spell out PRO AM and other boosts.  There were also hazards on the track such as oil spills and water.  The crew at these tracks were not very good at cleanup and cautions weren’t a thing.  I know this is not unique in any way to racing games, but it was one of the first I played and thought it was a blast.

The AI (computer) was also notorious for cheating in this game.  You could be almost a lap ahead and suddenly the second place car would come soaring up right behind you, often passing you.  It was complete and utter BS, but that was a part of the game.  The idea of the RC cars was also very appealing to me as a kid.  The sound effects were good and hearing the music brings a smile to my face every time.

If you missed this one the first time around, I strongly recommend finding it and giving it a try!

 

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Oldies but Goodies – Astrosmash

Genre:  Arcade
Platform:  Intellivision

As previously mentioned, we had an Intellivision growing up.  I loved it.  This was one of the games that we had, and I remember it fondly, although I am not sure I ever reached the second level.  Games back then were so hard because they had to be – you had to keep players coming back to play, and a good way to do that was the high score.  These days, games rarely even have scores.  But it was an effective way to keep people playing and talking about your game.

This was also one of my mom’s favorites and she could get all the way up to at least level three.  The sky background changed for each level, and you could drop levels as your score was constantly changing as asteroids were either destroyed or hit the ground.  There were also satellites to shoot, an occasional UFO or other space-inspired pixelated blob.  When you shot the larger asteroids, they would break into smaller ones, which you also had to shoot.  It made for chaotic fun, and I have pulled it out from time to time on my GCW Zero.  I can only play it for about two minutes before I’m  ready to throw it across the room, but I still at least remember it as being a positive experience.

Live Astrosmash

This happens when you live near the Space Center in Houston.


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Oldies but Goodies – Jetpack

Genre:  Arcade
Platform:  PC

Oh my gosh I loved this game.  It was freeware, so I grabbed it up early.  This is another DOS-game, so I guess I’m really showing my age in this blog.  No matter.  All of you youngin’s  today missed out on a great generation of games!  You can get it here:  http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/jetpack/.  To play the old DOS games now, though, you will likely need the program DOSBox.  You can get that here:  https://www.dosbox.com/.  It’s a little bit complicated, but the site has some good resources to help.

Anyway, back to Jetpack.  This game had a ton of levels, and you could create your own or get them from other players.  Your goal was to get all of the orbs from platforms throughout the level and go through the door.  As the name suggests, you got a jet pack to help.  However, your fuel is limited.  More fuel packs may pop up on the screen as well as money.  There are also bad guys that are trying to keep you from the goal.

This was a challenging, but fun, game.  My 6th-grade self enjoyed it a lot on our Windows 3.1 computer.  I never beat the game, but that wasn’t my goal.  I was just having fun.

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Oldies but Goodies – Combat

Genre – Shoot ’em Up
Platform – Atari 2600

We’re going way back today, folks.  Most everyone who had an Atari 2600 played Combat at some point because it was the game that came with it.  It is a collection of 27 “different” games, although it’s really only different versions of two main modes – tanks and planes.  As expected from such an early console game – it was simple, but this one was a lot of fun.  Let’s call it World of Tanks 1.0.

My grandma actually had an Atari 2600 and we would play this game together when I would spend the weekend there.  I had a cool grandma.  We would laugh for minutes on end while we played the tank mode where the bullets ricocheted off the walls and made funny noises.  We didn’t care about actually shooting each other, it was more about the funny noise and I guess a time and place thing.  I will forever have fond memories of this game because of that.

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Oldies but Goodies – McKids

Genre – Platformer
Platform – NES

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of McKids on the Nintendo Entertainment System.  This was a game inspired by McDonald’s, which may have turned a lot of potential gamers away.  Underneath the advertising, however, was a pretty solid game.

My parents rented this for us and my sisters and I played it a lot.  We really had a lot of fun with it.  This is a fairly standard platformer, but it did offer a couple of fun elements like the ability to walk upside down.  The gameplay was fluid and intuitive enough for three kids aged 12, 8 and 7 to figure out.  I’m sure there were a few parts that I had to get through for them, as seems to be the way when playing with younger siblings.

I have very fond memories of this game and the time spent with my sisters.  I have it on my GCW Zero and have played it within the last year or so.  It still holds up after all these years.  Check it out if you can!

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Oldies but Goodies – Lemmings

Lemmings

It’s time for an oldie but goodie!  It’s Lemmings!  This game was introduced back in the DOS days (1991, very early PC).  It has had so many different versions on just about every console.  I have it for my Playstation Portable (PSP), but the version I remember best is that old DOS version.  You can still download it here:  http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/37/Lemmings.html.

Lemmings are a real animal and the story is that they will run off a cliff in mass numbers if they feel threatened enough.  This has since been proven to not be true, but it makes for a fun concept for a video game.  Your job is to save as many of the little critters as you can by guiding them to a safe door, where Twizzlers or whatever lemmings like to eat, are waiting.  However, each level is a bit of a maze.  The lemmings can only fall so far before they die.  You can assign lemmings a specific role, such as blocker or digger, which will aid in your task.  Blockers will prevent a lemming from going a certain direction (and are really cute!) and the diggers will dig.  There are others as well.

The early levels are easy, but it does get challenging later on.  The graphics still hold up today and there is a soundtrack which gets repetitive.  This game didn’t make my top 25, but it sure was fun, anyway.

 

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