More than just Activision's Stampede for the Atari 2600, I watched the 1981 film Clash of the Titans and listened to the 1981 Kraftwerk album Computer World.
Stampede: This game is currently my favorite Atari console game. It's very simple but challenging. You control a horse and rider bearing a lasso. Approaching from the right are "doggies" or cattle that you have to keep from exiting the screen behind you. You can nudge them forward by bumping into them and make them disappear by lassoing them. Occassionaly you have to dodge a cow skull and lasso a stationary black cow, presumably a bull. There are three colors of cow, each of which runs at a different speed. When you clear a row of a specific type of cow, another type of cow appears. On the first setting, the pattern is predictable: white (fast), orange (medium), then red (slow). You try and manage the six or so rows of cattle so none gets past you. The game then ramps up in speed over time making it harder and harder. Harder settings have the cows weave around and the pattern becomes more random.
I played it on Xbox 360's Game Room and got to 1800 points. I think it was 2000 points that you got a medal originally. Now you can't get any medals except for the one for time played because the servers are down and you can't play the mode that awards medals for high score and survival. Rats!
Clash of the Titans: This was special effects expert Ray Harryhausen's last film, I believe. It spawned the silly one liner, "release the Kraken!". It's great though. You follow Perseus on his wingged horse Pegasus as he attempts to save Andromeda from the hands of the Kraken. He has to fight giant scorpions, Medusa and the meddling Calibos, all done masterfully in Ray Harryhausen's classic stop-motion animation using real models. No CG folks, this is 1981. And forget that 2010 remake. Just lame. Good CG is not enough. You need a great story and characters.
Computer World: By Kraftwerk, the German electronica band that practically invented the sounds used in New Wave music in the 80s. No one is free from their influence. I had to laugh at the list of songs on this album: Computer World, Pocket Calculator, Numbers, Computer World 2, Computer Love, Home Computer, and It's More Fun to Compute. It's an album more in tune with today's world than 1981 where computers were just beginning to be bought by the mainstream. Except maybe Pocket Calculator. Who has those anymore? I remember having one in high school though. Big time.
Comments
Cary Woodham
03/07/2018 at 03:00 AM
The neat thing about Stampede is that it looks simple when you first play it, but there are a few strategies you can use to boost your high score. Like you can predict when the black bull will come by I think how many skulls you pass. My favorite Atari 2600 game is still Pressure Cooker. You should play that one sometime, but make sure to read the instructions first. It's one of the more complicated 2600 games out there.
I remember that Stampede TV commercial as a kid. I'm glad it's also on the Activision Anthology. "Aw, Ma!"
I loved watching Clash of the Titans when I was a kid.
KnightDriver
03/07/2018 at 10:40 PM
I'll check Pressure Cooker out again in May when I'm on 1983. I just played a difficult, seemingly, Atari game Stellar Track. It's a space strategy game. I had to read the manual to get the coordinate system in the game but once I did it was easy and a lot of fun. My new favorite.
Matt Snee
Staff Writer
03/07/2018 at 03:06 AM
that kraftwerk album has been in my amazon cart for a couple weeks now. Been meaning to listen to that on vinyl.
KnightDriver
03/07/2018 at 10:37 PM
So awesome. I listened to it today. I'm so into electronica right now. Gary Numan too although I don't have any of his albums. Couldn't find them in the libraries or even in bargain bins. Annoying.
Matt Snee
Staff Writer
03/08/2018 at 09:58 AM
yeah he's great.
goaztecs
03/14/2018 at 12:33 PM
Hey Kraftwerk! Their stuff is hard to find around here, and I was super jazzed to find Tour de France on vinyl at a thrift store. The sad part is when I checked the record it was scratched to hell. As for the Pocket Calculator, the last one I had was a dinky $3 one I got in the impulse section while at the checkout line in high school. After that I had to buy a full on Graphing Calculator.
KnightDriver
03/15/2018 at 12:13 AM
I have a recent live album that features all their early stuff. i wanted the originals though. I wish I'd pulled the trigger on their first two albums in the bargain area of Barnes & Noble a year or so ago. But, I got Computer World from the library. I couldn't believe it. Lucky me.
Log in to your PixlBit account in the bar above or join the site to leave a comment.
Comments