ATARI BYTES

Red rover, red rover... Bubblegum, bubblegum, in a dish... Olly olly oxen free... So, at some point in the early 1980s, someone had the idea to turn the perennial children's backyard pastime, good ol' hide and seek, into a two-dimensional, piexelated video game. SNEAK 'N PEEK, 1982, from U.S. Games Corporation, was the result. How'd that work out? About as well as you'd expect. But we played it an...

This week on the podcast, we experience our own days of future past as we leap forward in time to the 7800 era of Atari to check out the 1987 classic DOUBLE DRAGON, a throwback '80's mullet and leg warmers classic. Also, lots of people get punched in the face. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance" and "Pinball Spring". Thanks al...

This week on the podcast, we hit the slopes for a little downhill fun...by which we mean sit in the ski lodge with a hot toddy. Or two. Activision's 1980 SKIING is our focus. We love us some Activision on the podcast. Does this game make all the gates in record time or is it just one big ugly series of moguls all the way down? Tune in to find out. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for crea...

BEEP BEEP! This week, we take a bird seed break, which should give us just enough time to talk about the 1985 Atari game ROAD RUNNER before the coyote catches us.* *Kidding. You've seen Looney Tunes, right? No WAY is he going to catch us.** **Actually, I haven't gotten past level 2, so the coyote does catch us. A LOT. Discussion topic for the week: Is the Acme Corporation really just the 1940s ver...

Well, 2017 has firmly affixed itself to our calendars, much like a parasite feeding on our very souls. So! Do we hide in a carton of ice cream and binge Netflix? Or do we embrace the adventure that life has in store? Well, we here at Atari Bytes have a compromise. If adventuring outside is too scary...just play this week's game -  Atari's 1980 legend ADVENTURE!* *You can still have the ice cream....

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hey! Wake up. Splash some cold water on your face and drown your hangover in coffee. Then crawl feebly onto the couch to check out this first episode of 2017. Our focus this month is Atari's 1983 port of the legendary GALAXIAN (legendary mostly in the sense of being the forerunner of the way more popular Galaga). Like the Baby New Year, does this game fills the diaper of our souls...

It's Christmas Day! Merry Christmas! (If you're listening to this in, like, June, then, um, happy Tuesday or whatever.) Here's a brand new, shiny yuletide package of pod-goodness from me to you. And maybe, just maybe, if I've been a good little podcaster, there'll be a new game under my audio tree. But what game will it be....? It's a Chrismystery! So ignore your relatives for thirty-eight minutes...

This week, episode 48 of the podcast is going to the dark side. In fairness, it wasn't a long journey given life in late 2016. But it's all good because we're celebrating the release of STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE by playing the 1983 Parker Brothers game STAR WARS: JEDI ARENA.  You versus a fellow Jedi in a fast-moving battle of light saber on light saber action. If this is not the droid game you're look...

This week on the show, we plummet into the abyss and hope the parachute opens. It's like life, really. Our focus is Atari's 1979 port of the class arcade game SKY DIVER. As you plummet to the ground from a zooming plane hoping to hit the tiny landing pad, you'll wish you had that golden parachute. That's dumb, of course, since a gold parachute would be way too heavy and you'd crash to the ground l...

You know how sometimes people say "this isn't your father's...whatever" to imply that the version of that thing YOU have is way cooler than what YOUR DAD had? Well, this week on the show, we talk about your father's whatever. That sounds weird. I'll explain. The focus this week is Atari's 1980 port of the 1978 arcade classic SPACE INVADERS. When pong clones (soon to be a BBC series starring Tatian...

This week on Atari Bytes, we're burnin' down the house! Well, burnin' down a skyscraper anyway. Also, technically, we're supposed to be saving the building. Would have been nice to know that sooner. Our focus is the 1982 U.S. Games production TOWERING INFERNO, which may or may not be based on the 1974 classic disaster film "The Towering Inferno". (Pick whichever enhances your enjoyment of the expe...

A funny thing happened on the way to the podcast, this week... We intended to do Codebreaker, as announced on the last episode. Turns out, though, that you need keypads to play it. This is a problem inasmuch as I didn't know Atari keypads existed. Fear not! Armed with this knowledge, Codebreaker will appear in a future episode. Instead, we've got one of the original nine Atari games: 1977's AIR SE...

Adventure has one name and that name is...James Bond. Wait. That's not it. What is it again? *Whip cracks* Oh, right. Adventure has one name and that name is INDIANA JONES. This week, we're off to Cairo as we race Nazis to get to the fabled lost ark first in Atari's 1982 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK adaptation. Also, Henry has a snack. So there's that. Join us if you dare. But fair warning: there will...

Mega! Mega-mania! it's gonna drive you insane! Not really. if it does, maybe you should dial it back a bit. BUT...the 1982 Activision (we love us some Activision!) game MEGAMANI is tons of crazy fun. (Spoiler: I really like this game.) It's our focus on this meaning-of-life-defining episode 42 (That's for you Douglas Adams fans) and we are crazy excited to get to it. Maniacal even! Join us, won't...

It's Halloween! (As this episode drops). Here's a little pod-treat for your goodie bags, you little goblins. I'm joined by not one, but TWO, cohosts as both Henry and Sophie light candles and come along on a tour of Zachary Graves' spooky old mansion in Atari's 1981 fright-fest HAUNTED HOUSE. Join us...if you've got the guts. BOO! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons u...

Grab a martini and Radar's teddy bear and come play M*A*S*H! The video game! On your TV!* *You might need to put down either the martini or the bear to hold the joystick. In episode 40, our focus is the 1983 20th Century Fox Video Games edition of the game based on the HUGELY popular show about whacky doctors and nurses plunked down in the army camp 4077 during the Korean War. Plus...We have a spe...

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? G.I. JOE: COBRA STRIKE, the 1983 Parker Brothers Atari game, is here to slither its way into your ear holes. The game finds the evil COBRA organization targeting new Joe recruits with a HUGE laser-shooting and venom dripping snake. As one does. In the game, you are manning the guns to defend the Joes. All of this smacks of bad military strategy to me. Does the...

In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", Harrison Ford saved his father. Ian Ziering saved his dad David Hasselhoff a bunch of times in those "Sharknado" movies. And now, this week, Donkey Kong Junior steps - make that leaps - up to claim his own place as daddy-saver. Will he do the family proud? If not, there's always "Sharknado IV". Also in the episode: I rap, apparently. Thanks to Kevin McLeod...

Back when this full-grown podcaster was but a wee audio sprout, there were the BIG THREE GAMES that were integral to forming his arcading self: Frogger and Pac-Man were two of them, both of which we have talked about on this show. And now, we look at the third of the triumvirate: DONKEY KONG - Coleco, 1981.  Does this port live up to the thrill of the arcade version? Does the story of a little Ita...

Well, we wanted to find signs of alien life, and now we're being conquered by our new alien overlords. Yet another reason why interaction with the outside world is a bad thing. In Atari's 1982 space adventure DEFENDER, you are all that stands between the invading hordes and civilization as we know it. Don't worry! We believe in you!* *Podcaster writes farewell letter to his fellow humanoids.* Than...

"Animal Farm" was a freakin' petting zoo compared to what's going on in this game. This week's focus is Activision's (!) 1983 game Oink! It's an adaptation of the "Three Little Pigs" story that lets you work out your very understandable porcine hostility in a light-hearted romp where you kill a bunch of pigs with halitosis, apparently. Join us, won't you? My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.c...

It's autumn and you know what that means. Yep, time to sit on the couch by the fire getting drunk on spiced rum. But autumn also means FOOTBALL! If video games do nothing else, they provide a fine substitution for physical activity outside in the sunshine amongst other humans. This week's game - REALSPORTS FOOTBALL, a 1982 Atari game - is no exception. So, suit up and get out on the field. Let the...

Atari's 1981 adaptation of the classic board game OTHELLO is our focus this week on the show. Apparently, we were really desperate. This is a fine strategy game, but flipping black or white tiles from one color to the other doesn't exactly scream character and plot. So tune in, if for no other reason than to witness the audio trainwreck. Good luck, me. Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charli...

Pitfall Harry returns! Just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in..to PITFALL II: LOST CAVERNS, 1984, from Activision. By "they", we mean water, condors, bats, albino scorpions, and many, many caverns to fall into and get lost in. Sounds like a party to me! Atari Bytes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes Patreon page The Atari Bytes Zazzle.com store AB_Pod_Store My thanks t...

Little Orphan Annie might say the theme on this week's episode of ATARI BYTES is "Leapin' Lizards!" She'd be wrong, of course. No lizards here, but there are a bunch of frogs! Our game is Parker Brothers' 1982 port of the classic arcade game FROGGER. You can't possibly lick all the frogs in this daring adventure cataloging all the ways to kill a defenseless bit of nature.* But keep on tryin'! This...