The Video Games!
Quick Tips F<
Hot Shots
James E. Galton
Publishing
Michael Z. Hobson
Joe Claro
Dan Koeppel
CONTRIBUTORS
ROfTzALME
CON
TENTS
NEWS BLIPS
THE HULK
EE~S==r 4
CONFIDENTIAL
10
PLAYER’S
CHOICE
BLIP TIPS 1
BSrST— io
LETTERS
ana questions Irom our readers. 21
BEYOND
VIDEO GAMES
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28
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GIVE US A HAND!
FEDERAL FUN FANS
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ig to be there. So will Willie adays. books aren't the only way to
When you see a new arcade
game for the first time, with all
bing about, you can't help but
feel overmatched. You're go¬
ing to be wiped out, you fig-
POLE POSITION: As
you steer the course, keep your
eyes fixed near the top of the
screen, at the point where the
roadway first becomes visible.
Beginners often watch their
cars instead. By keeping your
eyes near the top of the play-
FRONT LINE: You're a
combat infantryman seeking to
pick your way through a battle¬
field covered with mines. Your
obstacles are enemy soldiers
who are protected by heavy
tanks. You're armed with a pis¬
tol and an endless supply of
‘- 1 grenades.Keep in mind
direct hi
re to s
n order to elin
near hit will do the job. You cai
also use enemy mines to you
advantage. Lob a grenade a
one and explode it, and you’l
do away with all the enerrv
MILLIPEDE: In this suc¬
cessor to the very popular
CENTIPEDE, you're chal¬
lenged by enemies old and
new. Small red beetles are
among the new baddies. They
can enter the playfield from
either the left or the right side.
They're easy to outsmart. If a
beetle is moving, say, from right
to left, simply keep to the right.
He won't bother you. But a bet¬
ter strategy is to zap the bee¬
tles one by one as they appear.
Any beetle not eliminated cre¬
ates flowers by touching mush-
JUNGLE HUNT: As the
hero of this saga, you must
cross a crocodile-filled river,
climb hills as big boulders cas-
through the jungle on stout
vines. Timing is the key as you
swing from one vine to the next.
When you leap, aim for the
lower part of the vine. This will
make your next jump much
easier. (JUNGLE HUNT is
known in some places as PIR¬
ATE PETE.)
SUBROC 3-D: You scan
the playfield of this futuristic
war game through a 3-D view¬
ing system. There's also stereo
sound. Don't let these features
distract you. however. The key
to success is firing as rapidly
enemy warships and airships
that assault you. You can get a
rapid-fire effect by constantly
taping the fire button. Be care¬
ful to fully release the button
after each tap, though. If you
don't, your gun will misfire.
KANGAROO: You're the
mother of a baby kangaroo,
and you must rescue your off¬
spring from a gang of evil mon¬
keys. Considering the title of
this game, you'd expect a lot of
jumping. And there is jumping
galore. The joystick enables
you to execute everything from
modest hops to super leaps.
You must use the joystick to
avoid apples that the monkeys
throw at you. Leap apples that
come in at waist level or be¬
low. Duck apples that threaten
to hit above the belt.
SUPER PAC-MAN: This
revamped version of PAC-
MAN has a neat twist. When
Pac-Man devours an energy
dot, he grows to super-size.
Our hero then looks more like
a manhole cover than a choco¬
late chip cookie. And, natural¬
ly, Super Pac-Man has super
powers. He can gobble up
locked doors, and ghosts are
no longer a peril. To keep Pac-
Man in an agitated state for as
long as possible, hold down the
speed button and keep eating
the small gold dots that line the
maze pathways.
DIG DUG: Mr. Dig Dug,
the central character of this
game, gets rid of his opponents
—fire-breathing dragons—by
blowing them up with an air
pump until they explode, or by
flattening them with big rocks.
Dog, and Mr. Pickle), he shakes
pepper at them. Just one well-
directed shake puts a pursuer
out of action. Bear in mind that
you can only throw pepper in
the direction that Peter hap¬
pens to be facing. And the pep¬
per never travels very far, so
get as close as you can to the
target before smacking the
shake button. Ah-choo!
method more effective if you
remember to dig a tunnel di¬
rectly below a boulder before
you make it drop. The dragons
will try to escape by fleeing into
the tunnel. You've then got
them trapped. Let the boulder
fly!
BURGER TIME: Peter
Pepper, the merry chef, is the
star of this game. To ward off
his enemies (Mr. Egg, Mr. Hot
JOUST: In this highly
imaginative game you play the
role of a gladiator who goes
forth to do battle, not on a fine
horse, but mounted on a flying
ostrich. The controls include
a "flap" button that provides
thrust and keeps you aloft. The
trick is to move up and down
as you stalk the enemy. Mov¬
ing from left to right, or from
right to left, can lead to disas¬
ter. Tapping the flap button
furiously, soar to the top of the
screen, keeping close to the
right-hand edge. There's a
ledge there; take refuge be¬
neath it. Wait for an enemy to
exit on the left side of the
screen. Because of the game’s
“wraparound” feature, the
enemy will reappear on the
right side, just beneath where
you're hovering. That's when
you pounce.
—George Sullivan
August, 1983
\
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fPI ayer’s Choice
If you're reading this magazine, yc
probably a big fan of video games. And
if you're a big fan of video games, you’ve
probably noticed one thing. There are a
lot of them out there. Some people liken
the rush of new products to a flood.
Everything is coming in wave after wave
It's a good thing you have BLIP to tell
you what to expect. Most department
and specialty stores that sell video
games can't keep a complete stock on
hand. There are just too many new prod¬
ucts, and the stores don't have the space
to keep all that stuff in.
So we've put together a list of what's
new, so that you won't have to go to
every store in town to get the most out
of your home game system. If you can't
find what you want in your favorite store,
ask. Most retailers will be happy to order
what you want.
M attel and Coleco are hot on Atari's
heels in the quest for leadership of
the home video game market. So Atari
is pulling out all the stops. Over the next
three months, look for four new arcade
adaptations from the industry leader.
The first new Atari game is actually
an old favorite. GALAXIAN was one of
the original arcade hits. It also went over
pretty big on the Atari 5200 advanced
game unit. Now, Atari is releasing a ver¬
sion of GALAXIAN for 2600 owners. That
game should be out by the time you get
hold of this magazine, so look for it in
August, 1983 13
Right after GALAXIAN hits the shelves,
swinging Atari fans should look for JUN¬
GLE HUNT. This is the Taito arcade
game that features an adventurer who
has a real vine time trying to save his
girl friend. By August, the VCS version
should be out, soon to be followed by a
52Q0 cartridge.
Next is a game that should have KAN¬
GAROO fans hopping for joy. The 5200
version of this arcade favorite will have
four different screens. The 2600 game
will have only two. Both of these games
should also be available by the end of
August.
If KANGAROO leaves you feeling a
little punchy, maybe you should go for a
country drive. Atari will be coming out
with two different versions of its hot driv¬
ing game, POLE POSITION. The 2600
game should compete well with Acti¬
vision cartridges that have pretty much
been the best road games available for
the original Atari unit. The 5200 version
of POLE POSITION will compete directly
with ColecoVision's TURBO.
In addition to the arcade adaptations,
Atari will also release thirteen original
games. Five of these will be part of the
new "Kid’s Library," which we told you
about in an earlier issue of BLIP. Atari
teamed up with the Children's Computer
Workshop and Walt Disney on these, so
look for games that will be both educa¬
tional and fun.
’ All of the kid's series games are
aimed at younger children, ages three
to seven. This means that your little
brother or sister won't just have to watch
you play DEFENDER anymore. They'll
be able to join in the fun with games like
BIG BIRD'S EGG CATCH, OSCAR'S
TRASH RACE and COOKIE MONSTER
MUNCH. These games will teach the
alphabet, counting and spelling.
Atari and Mickey Mouse will also come
together in the Kid's Library. A game
called the SORCERER'S APPRENTICE
should be out by the middle of August.
Atari is also continuing its RealSports
series. We've already told you about
RealSports TENNIS and SOCCER. Also
due out are various 5200 versions of the
RealSports games, along with a new,
improved version of FOOTBALL.
T his summer, Atari won t be the only
company busily releasing new prod¬
ucts. Coleco will keep trying to nibble
away at its competitor's lead by coming
out with games and accessories that try
even harder to capture the arcade feel.
Precise action is the name of the
game with Coleco's Roller Controller set.
It seems ironic that Atari's competitor is
coming out with the TrakBall attachment
first. Although Wico has been marketing
a responsive roller controller for a while
now, it's really the Atari games that would
benefit most from an Atari TrakBall.
Packaged with the Coleco device will be
a new game called SLITHER, which will
remind you a lot of CENTIPEDE.
Coleco is also out to control the con¬
troller market by releasing a new, im¬
proved joystick for ColecoVision. The
Super Action Controller set consists of
four precise-touch fingertip triggers. By
pressing the triggers individually or in
combinations, players can control spe¬
cific areas of game play. The Super
Action Controller also features an ad¬
vanced keypad, a super-responsive joy¬
stick, and a speed roller that allows the
player to move faster.
Like all Coleco expansion units, the
Super Action Controller will come with a
new Coleco game. The game will be
SUPER ACTION BASEBALL. In the pre¬
views that we've seen, the game looks
fantastic. It will have multi-screen graph¬
ics, realistic “camera angles." and a wide
variety of strategy options.
Coleco is getting into the realistic
sports market quickly. Besides SUPER
BLIP
ACTION BASEBALL, fans will also get
to try their skill at FOOTBALL and BOX¬
ING by the middle of the summer. The
football game will feature realistic sound
effects and more players under your
control than other games offer.
Coleco's BOXING is more than just a
video game. It is one of those movie
adaptations that we've told you about in
the past. Guess which popular film this
Coleco cartridge comes from? Here's a
hint: one of the boxers pictured in the
game has a Mohawk haircut.
Coleco is devoting a lot of attention to
sports games that rival Intellivision and
Atari RealSports. But Coleco isn't forget¬
ting that its big strength is in bringing
arcade games into your living room.
Fans of BUCK ROGERS, MR. DO and
TIME PILOT will be happy to know that
Coleco is bringing these favorites home
D uring the next few weeks, look for
the release of seven new cartridges
for Intellivision and two new cartridges
for the Intellivision computer keyboard.
Mattel was the first home video game
to have a voice. We haven't been very
happy with Mattel's use of its voice syn¬
thesizer unit. But now there’s a game
for Intellivision that does more than just
yap away at you.
SPACE SHUTTLE is one of those in¬
terstellar strategy games that make you
think as well as act. In this one, you've
got to repair satellites, maneuver through
asteroid fields and refuel your ship.
Three different voices will help you get
through your mission. The game also
has seven different screen views. You
can watch your instrument panel, launch
pad, radar screen, deep space, and
Mattel is also getting into arcade adap¬
tations. Both BURGER TIME and LOCO-
MOTION should be out by the time you
read this. Mattel has really had to scram¬
ble since ColecoVision grabbed a large
part of the arcade-game market. These
two adaptations should measure how
well Mattel has done at competing with
the newer company.
One place where Mattel’s leadership
still remains pretty strong is in sports
games. But even here, Coleco and Atari
are gaining ground. Coleco's new
baseball game will feature a series of
multi-screen views. Mattel is also releas¬
ing a new baseball cartridge, MAJOR
LEAGUE ALL STAR BASEBALL. It will
include views of the action that look a
lot like TV sportscast pictures. Improve¬
ments over the original MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL include fly balls, more
pitches, and better sound effects. Sorry
—you'll still have to bring your own hot
dogs.
Mattel will also be coming out with a
whole slew of original adventure games.
In MISSION X, you're on a secret
bombing mission. You fly over enemy
territory, wiping out battleships, tanks,
artillery guns, and bridges. Action takes
place both at day and during the night.
Then there's the second DUNGEONS
AND DRAGONS cartridge, called the
TREASURES OF TARMIN. This will be
a continuation of the search-and-strategy
game that we told you about in an ear-
For old-time game fans, Mattel will be
coming out with a video version of PIN¬
BALL. "Tilt" controls will not be avail¬
able, however.
For aspiring rock stars, Mattel will be
coming out with a new variation of AS-
TROSMASH that uses the piano keyboard
accessory available with Intellivision II.
In ASTROMUSIC, you have to shoot
down notes to play well-known songs.
Another game for musicians is called
MELODY MAKER. This one is more
serious than ASTROMUSIC. It allows
you to compose your own music.
August, 1983 IS
Behind the fantasy of flintenda’s electronic games is an element of reality
One look at a Nintendo electronic game and the difference will excite you.
The difference that has sold over 25 MILLION Nintendo games worldwide
Only Nintendo offers incredible life-like arcade and cartoon characters: Donkey Kong,™
Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, Popeye and more. Plus dramatic sound effects and music
that give you more than boop... beep. And only Nintendo brings you our exclusive LCD
technology that creates exciting just full-color graphics, incomparable animation and
the greatest player involvement ever. At the forefront of a whole new generation of
handheld games is Nintendo’s Pocketsize Electronic GAME & WATCH.™ In Wide
Screen or Multi Screen, only GAME & WATCH provides endless challenge,
thrill-packed adventures, even licensed characters America loves.
And TABLE TOP. Ruggedly durable with a high impact case,
TABLE TOP is unsurpassed for its superior
graphics and challenging action.
You can expect more from Nintendo electronic games.
Backed by a multi-million dollar national advertising
campaign for TV, radio and print.
This year, let Nintendo make the fantasy of
record-breaking sales a reality for you.
Nintendo
Nintendo of America Inc.
4820-150th Avenue N.E.
P.O. Box 957
Redmond, WA 98052
Tel: 1-206-882-2040
^■1
TIF
|n the original DONKEY KONG, brave
1 Mario tries desperately to rescue his girl
friend from the clutches of an evil ape.
*~ There's no question about who's the good
guy and who's the villain.
■ Now there's a sequel, and you might ex-
J pect it to take the original idea and make it
more challenging. That's what video game
sequels usually do.
(991
WWN9NGJR.
■■■■ But DONKEY KONG JR. isn't a typical
sequel Nintendo has switched the good guy
and bad guy roles. The action concept is
■ similar to that of the original game But in
DONKEY KONG JR., the story line has been
■■■UBjlll reversed.
In the new game Mario has already res-
cued his girl friend and put the offending
BlIFB ape in a cage. The little gorilla has to save
his daddy from the nasty carpenter
The home version of this game is terrific
Once again, Coleco has captured all the fun
HOW TH
IE GAME IS PLAYED
the jungle and at h
barrels and fireba
with Snapjaws ('
Piranhas), Nitpicki
probably won t fine
in your social st
deadly to Donkey
mean, in anybody
carpenter had ha
three screens
Junior
some people
ers and Stooky Birds You IjiffrBjB BIB'S SB
any of these beasts listed
udies book. But
/ Kong Jr. and they are n:l:Xll:I]l||l ffl
has a bunch of weapons ' j If il ;119:1 fl JllXlfl
■ original game Mario
mmers to fight with You B
won't find many h,
to climb. Like any
ape loves to dim
Because by climb
^papain.
death for Junior. j
August, 1983 19
20 BLIP
August, 1983 21
Component waited for that
keyboard. And waited. And
waited. Going from games to
computing wasn't going to
be as simple as people
A CROWDED
FIELD
arcade-like cartridge games.
STAR RAIDERS, intro¬
duced in 1980, was the first
computers. It was soon
followed by MISSILE
COMMAND, PAC-MAN,
DEFENDER and SPACE
INVADERS. All these games
were available for Atari's
video game/computer system
manufacturers by this time.
Magnavox reintroduced the
Odyssey system with a
keyboard. The keyboard
looked like a computer, but
it couldn’t make the system
perform like one.
game/keyboard computer
Mattel's design. But the
games available for the
"Imagination Machine" were
never very good, and the
system was a failure.
Atari was the first company
to really make the video¬
game/computer connection.
They introduced the now-
famous 400/800 series, which
Apple. These computers all
had full-color graphics,
quality sound effects, and,
maybe most important,
These days. Atari's engi¬
neers design a game for the
arcades first. But if a game
is a success, they redesign
it for all the Atari systems
currently available. A game
like CENTIPEDE is now
produced for all Atari players,
whether they have their fun
in the arcades, with a VCS
or Atari 5200, or by using
one of the 400/800/1200
series computers.
If you get the chance,
compare the different
versions of CENTIPEDE.
You'll find that the game
is the same, but the differ¬
ences in the action within
each version are varied.
These variations tell us what
the future of video games is
all about. Atari is well aware
of that future, as are
hundreds of other companies.
But you'll have to wait until
next month's column to find
out exactly what that
future holds.
PSO0FMUMBSSS
Up-to-the-Minute News on Video Games
ON THE SHELVES RIGHT NOW: Believe It or not, the Atari 5200
is finally coming into its own. After months and months of waiting
and waiting, game players were getting a little upset at the lack of
software for this advanced system. But now, Atari has released a
whole series of arcade adaptations, most of which should he in the
stores very soon. Look for DIG DUG, ROBOTRON, PENGO, JOUST
and POLE POSITION. Coming soon: TEMPEST!
C/5
cc
C/5
H
C/5
LU
CO
Arcade games
1. POLE POSITION (Atari)
2. TIME PILOT (Centuri)
3. POPEYE (Nintendo)
4. FRONT LINE (Taito)
5. JOUST (Williams)
6. Q*BERT (Gottlieb)
7. SUPER ZAXXON (Sega)
8. BABY PAC-MAN (Bally)
9. MILLIPEDE (Atari)
10. JUNGLE HUNT (Taito)
Home games
1. MS. PAC-MAN (Atari)
2. RIVER RAID (Activision)
3. PITFALL (Activision)
4. FROGGER (Parker Brothers)
5. CENTIPEDE (Atari)
6. VANGUARD (Atari)
7. PHOENIX (Atari)
8. PAC-MAN (Atari)
9. DONKEY KONG (Coleco)
10. DRAGON FIRE (Imagic)
UP-AND-COMERS
28 BLIP
OLD ARCADE HITS DONT DIE, THEY JUST GET PLAYED OUTI
HERE IS OUR VIEW OF WHICH GAMES ARE HOT, AND WHICH
ONES ARE COOLING DOWN MORE THAN A BIT. Blazing Is Sega’s
space adventure game, BUCK ROGERS PLANET OF ZOOM. But over
on the other side of the arcade, it’s getting a little chilly around
Taito’s QIX.
N
A sequel, says the dictionary, is
something that follows as a
result of some earlier happen¬
ing. Video game sequels in¬
clude SPACE INVADERS
DELUXE; FRENZY, which came from
BERZERK; and STARGATE, a child
of DEFENDER. There are quite a few
others.
Book and movie sequels have a repu¬
tation for not being vei y successful.
Video game sequels did nothing to
change that image—until MS. PAC-
MAN. While the game may never equal
the enormous popularity of just plain
PAC-MAN, MS. PAC-MAN is loads of
fun, and kids line up to play it. It may
change people's thinking about sequels.
Ms. Pac-Man herself has bright red
lips, a little ribbon in her hair, and flut¬
tering eyelids. When a monster catches.
her, she faints instead of deflating.
As for the game, the biggest difference
between it and the original is that there
are four different mazes to master. PAC-
MAN, of course, has only one. This fea¬
ture helps to make MS. PAC-MAN a truly
challenging game, one in which you're
constantly being tested.
It's possible to score well over 100,000
points in MS. PAC-MAN. (At this writing,
the record is 286,410, held by Mike
Lepkosky of Houston, Texas.) But
scores in the one million range, which
are racked up in PAC-MAN every once
in a while, seem out of the question.
30 BLIP
HOW THE GAME
IS PLAYED
As in PAC-MAN, you try to eat dots in
a maze, avoiding the monsters that are
pursuing you. You also gobble up the
monsters whenever it becomes possible
(after you've eaten an energizer and the
monsters have turned blue). And you
gulp the various fruit symbols that
appear.
Point values for eating the various
objects are as follows:
I DOT.10 points
ENERGIZER.50 points
FIRST BLUE MONSTER.200 points
SECOND BLUE MONSTER ...400 points
THIRD BLUE MONSTER.800 points
FOURTH BLUE
I MONSTER.1,600 points
For eating the fruits and other sym¬
bols that identify the various boards, the
bonus point values are:
TACTICS
i.
At the beginning of each board,
concentrate on devouring dots.
Save the energizers until most of
the dots are gone. Try to wait until
at least three monsters are near¬
by before eating an energizer.
This increases your chances of
eating the monsters after they've
V.
August, 1983 31
32 BLIP
AN EXCITING NEW FRONTIER
IN VIDEO GAMES
ASK FOR IT AT YOUR LOCAL ARCADE
Star League Baseball.
It Makes Dreams Come True
On The Atari 400/800/1200XL
And Commodore 64.
WE BRING SPORTS ALIVE.
