Publisher: Atari
Release: 1988
Controller: Joystick
Players: 1 – 2
Genre: Shoot’em Up
Alternate: Title N/A
Model # CX26139
Rarity: 2
Programmer: N/A
This port of the arcade game
does an admirable job of
capturing the spirit of the
original.
Your friends have set off on a quest to find the Evil Master and retrieve the treasure he stole from your people. While your friends are brave, they are apparently also pacifists since they have no weapons of their own and require your assistance to survive the journey. Armed with your trusty crossbow you take aim and protect your comrades against all comers. They say that nobody who has embarked on this adventure has ever come back alive, which should not come as a surprise to anyone since nobody is armed.
The journey begins with a simple choice, the red path or the green path. After making the decision your friends wander off towards such exotic locales as the Desert, Cavern, Volcano or Jungle. Once there they must make the treacherous journey across the landscape, with you fending off whatever obstacles are in their way attempting to kill them. If at least one of them makes it through unscathed you are rewarded with a new companion (up to four) and get to pick another colored pathway from red, green or occasionally blue. 
Each of the landscapes has their own unique indigenous enemies that you must snipe with your crossbow. For the most part they are pretty basic, like giant ants and scorpions in the desert, or fireballs near the volcano. One of the biggest killers in the game is the monkey in the jungle, since he is armed with heat seeking coconuts that are both fast moving and small, making them difficult to hit. On some levels there will be a gap in the road that requires you to shoot a specific object to create a bridge (such as a giant ice block hanging from the ceiling). Outside of the coconut homing missiles nothing is particularly difficult in the majority of stages; the basic strategy involves you hovering your target around your slowly moving hero and shooting anything that gets close. While it sounds easy the shear volume of targets can easily overwhelm you, especially since your friends die with a single touch.
The biggest problem with the game is navigating the map, which is nearly impossible without cheating by looking it up on the internet, or doing an incredible amount of trial and error. In order to get to the castle and retrieve your stolen goods you have to select the correct color coded pathways. Unfortunately, there is no rhyme or reason to where the colors take you, nor is there any indication of where to go next. As a result, the casual player will find themselves wandering aimlessly around the landscape, replaying the same levels over and over again.
More in the Atari 2600 Encyclopedia on great games like this! Plus subscribe to Old School Gamer for FREE by clicking here!
Derek began playing video games in the early 80s, cutting his teeth on every Atari 2600 game he could get his hands on. This kickstarted a lifelong love of games, which continues to this day. No matter how advanced the systems and games become, the love for Atari remains supreme, which is why the Atari 2600 Encyclopedia project was done. With this massive project completed, Derek looks to begin work on another system encyclopedia, hoping to pay tribute to the games that shaped his childhood.
