Ornament Review: Defender - 2019 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Good representation of the video game

Cons: Screen lights up poorly; lacks nostalgia factor for me

The Bottom Line:

This Defender game

Looks good, but screen lights poorly

Little nostalgia

This Ornament is Hard to Defend

I grew up with the first wave of video games, so I’ve bought all of Hallmark’s video game cabinet ornaments.  While I played my Atari 2600 more than I played any real video games, I still enjoyed the occasional video game, and these have brought back memories of those games.  So I was a bit disappointed when I saw that Defender was the video game ornament for 2019.  Yes, I bought it, but the ornament itself did little to change my mind.

If you aren’t familiar with this lesser known game, you are a fighter pilot trying to save humans from being kidnapped by aliens.  You have to shoot down the alien ships before they can get the humans up to the mother ship.  Honestly, I think I only played this game once or twice in the arcade version.  I did have it for my Atari 2600, and I enjoyed playing it there.

The ornament is once again a faithful recreation of an arcade machine from back in the day.  It’s mostly black with the proper decals painted on it.  The joystick and buttons are on the front, and you can even see the slots where you’d put the quarter to play.  (Remember when video games only cost a quarter?)

Like the others, this is one of Hallmark’s magic ornaments.  It requires three button batteries to function.  Once they are inserted, you can hit the player start button to see the screen light up and hear the sound effects from the game.  This lasts about 30 seconds.

And this is where the ornament fails for me.  My enjoyment of the others has been based on nostalgia.  The screen looks like I remember, and I can picture what the characters are doing as we hear the sounds.  I don’t have strong enough memories of this game, even the sound effects of the Atari version, to know for sure what is happening as the sound effects play.  Meanwhile, the screen doesn’t light up well enough for us to see what is on it.  I know it isn’t just mine because the displays I looked at in several stores were the same way.

Yes, with all my talk about cutting back on Hallmark ornaments, this would have been a logical one to cut out.  But I bought it anyway.  (Have I ever claimed to have self-control?)  I’m sure that fans of Defender will enjoy it.  I like it, but I don’t have the connection to it I have to the other video game ornament releases.

Ornament Review: Donkey Kong - 2018 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Perfectly captures a classic video game

Cons: Flaws with some, but none in mine

The Bottom Line:

Must rescue the girl

Memories with ornament

Shrinks classic arcade

Jump at Your Chance to Get this Arcade Ornament

About a decade ago, Hallmark released two arcade ornament replicas.  It was right before I started seriously collecting Hallmark ornaments, and I back collected both of them very quickly.  I’d given up on them releasing any new arcade ornaments, but they did just that with this year’s Donkey Kong.

The ornament itself looks just like an arcade machine.  In this case, it is created to look like the Donkey Kong machine, which means it is light blue with decals showing Donkey Kong with the girl he’s kidnapped over his shoulder climbing away from Mario, or Jumping Man as he was known back then.  The front has a screen and the simple controls – a joystick coming out of the machine and the buttons.

As much fun as the ornament is to look at, it is even more fun because it is a magic ornament, complete with light and sound.  When the three button batteries are in the compartment in the back of the ornament, all you have to do is press the one/two player buttons to start the magic.  When you do, you’ll find that the sign at the top of the game and the screen light up, showing an image of a game in progress.  You get the music from the start of the game and then sound effects as Mario tries to climb and rescue the girl.  The entire thing lasts just under 30 seconds, and it is guaranteed to give a little rush of nostalgia to anyone who grew up on video games.

That’s why I was so happy to add this ornament to my collection.  While I don’t play very many video games these days, I loved them back in the day, and this ornament captures those happy memories.

I have been reading about issues people have had with this ornament.  Sometimes the stickers are crooked.  Worse, I have read about lines in the display screen when it lights up.  I haven’t seen any of these things myself, but do be sure to check out yours quickly when you get it.

And I recommend that you get it quickly.  I obviously wasn’t the only one hoping for more of these classic arcade ornaments.  This one has been flying off the shelves.  It is already hard to find, and I suspect that any reorders that do come in between now and Christmas will disappear just as quickly.  So if you want one, buy it when you see it and test it immediately.

Since this is an arcade game shrunk to ornament size, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that it stands up straight, perfect for enjoying year round.  And when Christmas rolls around, you’ll find that it hangs perfectly straight on your tree as well.

Those who love classic video games will absolutely love this Donkey Kong ornament.  I know I certainly do.

Original Price: $19.99

Video Game Review: Mario Kart 8 for Wii U

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: More racing fun with Mario and his friends

Cons: Extra content for purchase, some information only on GamePad

The Bottom Line:

Creative courses

Matched with familiar game play

Fun for series fans

New Racing Season Opens with Mario Kart 8

Who says that sibling rivalry dies when you reach adulthood?  For Christmas, my brother and his family got a Wii U.  Guess who bought one before New Year’s.  That’s right, it would be me.  And this is despite not playing my Wii much at all during 2014.  I also had to buy the latest version of my favorite Wii game – Mario Kart 8.  Yes, it is just as awesome as I expected it to be.

If you’ve played any of the previous seven versions of this game, you know the basics.  You are racing against 11 other characters around fantastic courses trying to get first place in various cups.  Depending on where you place in each of the four races, you earn points that determine your overall place in the cup.

So what’s different this time around?  There are new courses, for starters.  About half of the courses are new or at least new variations on familiar themes.  Of these, my favorites in the Twisted Mansion (a haunted house), Toad Harbor, and Sunshine Airport.  Then there are 16 retro courses from the previous versions of the game.  Since this is only the third Mario Kart I’ve bought, there are plenty on here I don’t recognize, but I do enjoy playing the familiar Moo Moo Meadow and Grumble Volcano from the Wii, the last version I bought.  And a couple of the courses are one long race instead of going around the same course for three laps.  For those, we get check points.

If you are familiar with the Wii version, the controls will be familiar as well.  Once again, you can use your Wiimote and tilt it to control your car.  Or you can use your Nunchuck controller.  And yes, the game pad controller that comes with the Wii U can also be used as a controller with either tilt or thumb stick control.

There are a couple of changes to game play from the last version.  They have brought the use of coins back to the game.  They had used them in the very first Mario Kart, the one of the SNES.  (And yes, that’s the other one I have.)  Collecting coins will increase your speed.  It’s a small amount, but I can see the boost at times.  You start with somewhere between zero (1^st place) and 5 (12^th place) and can collect up to 10.  They are scattered around the maps.  Of course, you lose three each time you are hit by an object or drive off the edge of the map.  (And if you do drive off the edge, they actually put you back on course faster than before, too.)

In addition to being on the maps, coins might be hiding in the mystery boxes you can pick up along the way.  If that is your prize, you’ll find two coins.  Other new surprises are plants that will attack your fellow races and gobble up coins, a boomerang, and fire power.  Of course, there are plenty of the old standbys like Bullet Bill, red and green shells, and invincibility.

The final change to the game is the gravity defying part of the game.  Parts of the courses allow you to race up walls and even upside down.  There are clear indicators in the game when this is happening.  It really doesn’t change how your car operates, but it is fun to think about.  Oh, and if you crash into an opponent in this section of a course, you get a boost!  Obviously, this is more prevalent on the new courses, but they’ve switched up a few of the old courses to let you do this as well.

In addition to the traditional races, you can also do timed trials and fight battles to pop your opponent’s balloons.  And you can race by yourself or with up to four people in the same room.

Plus they’ve brought back the ability to play against people all over the world thanks to the internet.  One or two people per machine can log in and race or battle to their hearts content.  One change here I really like is that at the start of each new race, you are given a choice from three randomly selected courses.  Everyone votes for one of those three and then the game randomly selects the course you actually race.  If those three really don’t appeal to you, you do have a fourth choice – random, which will randomly pick any course in the system not necessarily one of those three courses.  Overall, this cuts down significantly on those annoying people on line who always select the same course over and over again.

There are a couple of things I don’t like about this game.  First, the rankings and course map don’t appear in part of the TV screen but on the GamePad during the race.  Any time I glance down to see those things, I lose track of where I am on the TV screen.  Maybe I’ll get used to it as I go along.

I’m also not happy that they have developed some extra content that is for sale separately.  Oh, we get as many courses with this version as we did for the Wii, so they aren’t skimping on us, but after spending $60 for this game, it seems a shame that I have to pay extra for the final few characters and courses.  I’ve resisted – so far, but I have a feeling I will wind up buying them.

The game looks and sounds great.  The picture is crisp and the sounds effects are fun.  Both are definitely a step up from the last version, but what else would you expect from new video game system that uses an HDMI cable.  Of course, it’s all still highly stylized cartoon action, but for what it is, it looks great.

I’d been debating for a while about buying the new system, but I’m glad I did.  So far, I’ve been concentrating on Mario Kart 8, just because it’s always been a favorite franchise.  I’m sure I’ll be racing around these tracks for some time to come.

Video Game Review: Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for Wii

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun way to play through the Pirates of the Caribbean films

Cons: Nothing much new for the Lego games franchise

The Bottom Line: 

Become a pirate

Familiar Lego style game

Still fun game, Matey

Why Be There No Lego Rum?

I have become quite addicted to the Lego video games, and my latest game is Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for Wii.  It’s a fun addition to this video game franchise.

In fact, if you are familiar with the franchise already, I’m going to make this short and sweet.  It’s more of the same.  If that sounds good to you, get the game.  If you were hoping for something different, you’ll be disappointed.  You get five levels for each of the four movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.  Other then a couple of small variations on the theme, you’ve seen it before.

Looking for more detail?  Keep reading.

The Lego video game franchise takes popular movie franchises and recreates the movies using Lego characters and settings.  This game features all four Pirates movies, and five levels for each movie, so all told there are 20 levels of play here.  The first time you play through each level, you play in Story Mode, doing your best to get through that part of the story with the assigned characters.  Once you’ve done that, you can start playing in Freeplay.  In this mode, you can bring other characters who weren’t in that scene with you.  You can also bring villains you’ve unlocked along.  There are some areas you can only unlock and explore in Freeplay, so you'll definitely want to do that.

Along with just completing the level, you have several missions.  You need to collect Lego studs.  Quite a few of them are sitting on the ground, but you can find more by building and/or destroying things.  When you hit a certain threshold (different on every level) you reach “Real Pirate” status.  The points from the studs you collect carry over, and you use them to unlock certain characters for Freeplay or helps that you’ve unlocked.  You also need to collect 10 "bottles" in each level to complete a minikit.

Really, it usually takes more than once through Story and Freeplay to unlock everything I need to from a level.  That means you get lots of play time from this game.

There are always at least two characters you can play on the screen at a time since this game is designed for one or two players.  I’ve only played by myself, and it’s easy to switch between characters as you need to.  In fact, they’ve added a wheel, so if there are multiple characters on the screen, you can choose which one in particular you want to play as.  When enemies attack, the computer won’t defeat them, just keep them at bay.  But if a puzzle requires two players to solve, the computer will do its part.

When an enemy or something else kills you, you lose some of the studs you’ve collected.  Even if you get down to zero, you can keep playing.  This is one feature I like since there are no more frustrating parts of getting to a certain point and dying.  As long as you keep moving forward, you will finish all of the level.

The game uses the Wiimote and the Nunchuck controllers, and frankly everything becomes second nature after a little bit of game play.  It does seem a bit more finicky about picking things up than other Lego games have been, but once you know that, it’s okay.

Graphic?  They won’t blow you away.  This game is on the cartoony side of animation.  The graphics are certainly good enough that you can tell what is happening and what you should be doing.  But this is a Lego video game, and I wouldn’t expect anything realistic from a game with plastic characters as the main characters.

The sound effects are good.  They’ve got swords clashing and other fun things like that.  And the background music includes the soundtracks from the films, so it’s great.

The Lego games always have fun cut scenes taken from the film to bridge the various stages of the level.  This one is no exception; however, I feel they overwhelm the game play at times.  This is especially true of the opening, which takes a couple of minutes to recreate the first scene of the first movie.  You can’t skip it but must watch every time you turn the game on.

Still, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for Wii is another fun installment.  Fans of either franchise will have hours of enjoyment before them.

Pass the rum!

Video Game Review: Scramble with Friends for iPhone

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun way to play Boggle electronically

Cons: The coin system is mostly pointless

The Bottom Line: 

Create many words

Stringing letters together

Scoring points to win

Boggle Goes Digital

The “With Friends” brand of games seems to be always expanding.  I’ve recently started playing my third game they’ve released – Scramble with Friends.  Since I’ve been a fan of Boggle for years, I’m enjoying it.

I initially tried to download this game for my iPod Touch, but it’s 3 years old and the software won’t support it at this point.  But when I got a tablet recently, I downloaded their version of that, and I started playing, and now I've moved on to playing it on my iPhone.

Before you begin, you need to find an opponent.  You can either enter a user name for someone, like the game’s page on Facebook to find out which of your friends play, or play with a random opponent.

A feature I don’t like is the tokens.  You get 15 tokens, and you use one for every turn you take.  Every 20 minutes, you get a new token until you are back to 15.  You can always buy more, but I haven’t seen a need for that.  I’m only playing about half a dozen games at most, and some of those people only play every two or three days

If you are familiar with the game Boggle, you’ll get this game no problem.  When you take your turn, you are presented with a 4 by 4 grid of letters.  Your job is to make words with those letters.  They can connect horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  Select letters by dragging your finger across your screen; lift your finger to complete the word.  Each letter has a point value, and each word gets a score based on the sum of the letters you use plus a bonus for the length of the word.  While it does accept two letter words, those are only worth one point.  You have two minutes to find as many words and earn as many points as you can.  If you make a word that doesn’t exist or you’ve already done that round, it makes a noise and doesn’t count it – no penalty involved.

Once your turn is over, your friend will be notified to play next time they log in.  When you’ve both taken your turns, you’ll be able to compare scores and word lists to see what you both got and what only one of you found.  All words count, even if you both found that word.

A game consists of three rounds.  For round two, three letters are double letter score and one letter is a double word score.  Round three ups that to triple letter and word.  Create the right word, and your score will shoot right up there.

After all three rounds are done, scores are totaled and the game announces that I’m not the winner.  Okay, so I’m bad at it, but I do occasionally win and I have fun along the way.  I’m getting better, but unfortunately so are my opponents.

To help out, there are four potential aids every time you start a round.  You can choose one or more.  The first one is free.  After that, you have to paid an extra coin for one more or 3 coins for two more.  This is the only reason for the coins, and if you really use the aids, you might need to buy more.  Personally, my favorite is “Inspiration,” which will highlight three words for you when you request the help.  There’s also “Vision” which gives you three words to find and a time bonus if you do, “Scramble” which rotates the board, and “Freeze” which gives you more time.

Sounds and graphics are pretty basic, but they are perfect for this game.  Everything is intuitive and you’ll get used to what you see and hear in no time.

I started with the free version, which means you get a 5 second ad after every round.  Hey, a round takes 2 minutes.  It's not that bad a thing.  However, when I got my iPhone, I went ahead and upgraded to the paid version by paying a one time price.  Now I don't see the adds and I get a new coin every 10 minutes instead of every 20 minutes.

Each round takes a bit longer than the other games I play, but I enjoy seeing just how many words I can find in the grid.  Scramble with Friends is another keeper.

Video Game Review: Space Invaders for Atari 2600

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun game play with tons of variations

Cons: Still grows repetitive; need to be able to fire more

The Bottom Line: 

Simple, early game

Still fun yet repetitive

For classic gamers

Your Mission - Keep Earth Safe from the Space Invaders

Video Games of the 70’s and early 80’s were much simpler than the games of today.  You had a clear objective and did everything you needed to do via simple controls.  They tended to be repetitive.  And yet they are also highly addicting even today.  That’s almost true of the Atari 2600 version of the classic Space Invaders.

The game play is simple and straight forward.  You are in a ship at the bottom of the screen, and your job is to kill the wave of aliens trying to land on earth.  There are six rows in each wave, and they move left and right across the screen.  Each time they reach one side, they drop down a row and start back in the other direction.  As the number of aliens on the screen grows smaller, the remaining aliens speed up until the last one zooms across the screen.

Of course, they aren’t just standing there waiting for you to hit them.  They are dropping their own bombs at you.  Fortunately, you can get away fairly quickly since usually only the column or two right above your current position is actually dropping bombs.  You also have three shields that you can hide under, although those do slowly go away as they take damage from you or the alien’s shots.  And if the aliens drop too low, the shields disappear completely.

Simple game, simple controls.  You use the Atari joystick controller for this game.  All you need to do is more your ship left or right to aim your shots or dodge the alien’s shots.  You hit the red button to fire.

Actually, firing is my biggest complaint about this game.  You are only allowed to have one shot on the screen at a time.  That’s fine if you are in the groove and constantly hitting aliens.  However, if you miss (and there is some space between the columns), you have to wait forever for it to hit the top of the screen before you fire again.  This is especially hard when you get near the end.  If you don’t time your shot just right, the final alien will speed by and you’ll have to wait until your shot reaches the top, hoping that happens before he zooms back by you.

Like most games from the time period, the object here is to get the highest score possible.  The six rows of aliens range in value from 5 to 30 points.  The more you hit, the higher your score.  Every so often, the mother ship goes across the very top of the screen, and if you time your shot just right and hit it, you get a bonus of 200 points.  You have three lives to rack up as many points as you can.

This was the early ages of video games and home video games, so the graphics and sound are simple.  In fact, you might even call the graphic crude since all of the various aliens and your own ships are made up of blocks touching each other.  However, the graphics are good enough to get the point across, and they never interfere with game play.  The sounds are simple as well.  You get a sound when you fire and when the mother ship is flying across the screen.  And each time the aliens move, there is a clicking sound almost like a typewriter.  It gets higher in pitch as the aliens start to move faster, and it really increases the tension for those final moments of each round.

When you do clear a round of aliens, you immediately get a new one.  They start a little faster and a little lower to the ground, meaning you need to be quicker to defeat them.

So let’s talk game variations.  Atari games always had plenty of them, so you could change things up to make it more or less challenging depending on skill level and desire.  The first game is the classic, and is the easiest.  From there, you can change things up four different ways.  First, you can have the shields move.  This makes it harder to hide behind them or shoot around them.  Then you can have the shots from the aliens zigzag as they come down, making them harder to dodge.  Or, you can make the shots come down faster.  Finally, the aliens themselves become invisible – your only changes to get them are paying attention to where the shots come from or the brief flash you see when you hit one.  And you can mix and match so that you’ve got invisible aliens with fast bombs or moving shields with invisible aliens or fast moving zigzagging bombs or….  You get the idea.  There are a total of 16 game variations just on single player alone.

Then we get to the two player games.  Yes, there is the traditional two players alternating turns.  But you can play where both of you are on the screen firing at the same time, both of you are on the screen but must alternate firing, still trying to get more points than the other person.  Or you can cooperate and use two ships to kill all the aliens or share controls via the two joysticks of just one ship.  And, of course, all 16 of the original variations are in play for all these different ways to play two player.  All told, there are 112 different variations on this one cartridge.

And if all this still isn’t enough for you, you can flip the difficulty switch in the back from B to A and double the size of your ship, making it an easier target for the aliens to hit.  (Frankly, I’ve always found the fat ship funny.  It really does look like it just double in weight more than size and needs to go on a diet.)

Despite all that, my other complaint about the game is the repetitive nature.  Some games from the era have enough different things happening that, while repetitive, are still challenging and fun.  This game is actually a bit too straight forward.  If it weren’t for all the game variations, I wouldn’t have played this one as much as I did as a kid.  As an adult, after a round or two, I move on to a different mix of game variations, but after 20 minutes or so, I’m ready to play something else.  It’s still fun in small doses, but it’s not as fun as it could be.

So Space Invaders' simple game play doesn’t make it quite as addicting as its more challenging brethren.  But it is still fun to pull out every so often, and its status as a classic makes it a requirement of any serious Atari 2600 collection.

Video Game Review: Q*Bert for Atari 2600

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Good game play that will suck you in for hours

Cons: Dated look and sound (which you'd expect)

The Bottom Line: 

Jump from block to block

All just to change the color

Still so addictive

Q*Bert and the Ultimate Addicting Pyramid Scheme

The 80's were the golden age for creativity in video games.  While now you get lots of shooters or driving games, back then you got puzzlers that make no sense if you think about them but are addicting to play.  Q*Bert is a great example of that, and the Atari 2600 version of the game is still addicting to play.

You are playing as Q*Bert, an alien creature who has decided to change all the squares on a pyramid from one color to another.  Why?  Why not?  We're never given a reason to back story as far as I've heard, but then again, why is Pac-Man eating all those dots.  Because they are there.

Anyway, it's a six level pyramid, which means there are 21 blocks that Q*Bert must hit in order to advance to the next level.  All he has to do is jump on them.  Sounds easy enough, right?

Not so fast.  What kind of game would this be in all you had to do is jump from level to level?  You've got Coily, a snake that starts as a purple ball and becomes a snake when he hits the bottom of the pyramid.  As a ball, he just goes straight down, but as a snake, he follows you around the pyramid, trying to kill you.  Then there's Sam, another alien dude who changes the color of any square he lands on back to the original color.  Still not challenging enough?  The only game variation is with the game difficulty switches in the back of the Atari 2600 consul.  If you put the switch in A (always the more difficult position), you also get red balls that fall down on you and try to squash you.  They fall off the bottom of the pyramid, but they can make it easy for Coily to corner you.

Fortunately, you do have some ways to fight back.  There is a green ball that will freeze everyone for a few seconds, allowing you to get away if you watch it.  You can stop Sam in his tracks by landing on him.  And there are flying saucers on the edge of the pyramid that allow you to lure Coily off the pyramid (taking all the other characters with him) and deposit you back at the top.

Just when you think you've got the hang of things, they make it more complicated by giving you an intermediate color, so you have to hit every square twice.  Then, the squares don't stick with the final color but change every time you land on them.  That's when this game goes from being a fun challenge to a fast moving puzzle game.

You start with four lives, and the goal is to wrack up the highest level and point total you can before you lose them all.  And did I mention you can also lose a life by jumping off the pyramid?

Either way, it's highly addicting.  I sat down to play it to refresh my memory and wound up having to force myself to stop to get on with other things.  It's simple enough in concept that anyone will understand, but it's harder than it seems it should be.  Just one more round is an easy justification to make as you try to beat your last score/level total.

The game requires the basic Atari joystick.  The fire button only starts a new game.  The instructions recommend turning the joystick in your hand since you use nothing but the diagonal directions.  I did that, and I had absolutely no trouble controlling Q*Bert.  In fact, more often than not, my deaths were from my own stupidity.  They certainly weren't from the controls.

The graphics are decent enough for an Atari game.  They certainly aren't arcade quality or up to today's standards.  But you can follow who the various characters are and who to avoid.  That's all that really matters.

The colors are mostly okay.  The various characters are all distinct enough, which is important when it comes to recognizing the green ball versus the other balls.  A couple of times, the color you are turning blocks into is hard to tell from the color you are starting with.  In one case, you can only see the tops of the pyramid blocks.  I'm not sure why those color choices were made, but you can get through the levels even though they are harder than they need to be.

The sounds are pretty basic and repetitive.  You and Coily make noises every time you jump from block to block, and the various balls and Sam make noise as well.  There's some music when you finish and level and when you jump on the saucers.  Nothing exciting, but once you get concentrating on the game, you start to cue your movements off the noise without even thinking about it.  In fact, it was amazing to me how quickly I fell back into those habits even though I haven't played the game for years.

And I need to fix that because I've been reminded just how much fun this game is.  30 years out, and Q*Bert for the Atari 2600 is still an addicting game that is a blast to play.  This is one to definitely track down and add to your collection.

Video Game Review: Lego Batman for Wii

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Lots of fun as Batman and Robin save Gotham City

Cons: Vehicles levels not so easy to control

The Bottom Line: 

Classic comic book

Characters with Lego twist

Makes for tons of fun

Keep the Lego Bricks of Gotham City Safe

I have become addicted to the Lego Wii games.  They are so fun and rather addicting.  If I'm not careful, I'll play by the hour.  I'm also way behind on these releases, so the latest one I've been playing is Lego Batman, which was released several years ago.  (The sequel has just come out in fact.)  It's another fun entry in the series.

Unlike the other games in the Lego series, this one isn't based on one or move movies.  Instead, it tells it's own story (or really stories) as things progress.

There's been a massive break from Arkham Asylum.  (As Alfred points out in the booklet that comes with the game, that place is more porous than a tea strainer.)  All of Batman's most famous foes have managed to get out, and it's up to Batman and Robin to track them down and put them away again.

There are really three stories here, each with its own ultimate villain, Riddler, Penguin, or Joker.  Each story is broken down into 5 levels, and in each of those levels, the main villain of the story teams up with another classic villain to cause mayhem.  As you play through the level, you might defeat one villain or they might both escape to the next level, but eventually you'll round them all up and save the day.

The first time you play through a level, you play in story mode.  You're Batman and Robin (either one person switching off characters as needed or two players cooperating).  To get through the level, you have to defeat any bad guys that come your way (villain or henchman) and solve puzzles to get further in the level.  To help you out, our heroes get various suits that allow them to glide or walk up metal walls, for example.  And, of course, you'll need to collect Lego studs, which earn you points that you can use to redeem for various upgrades in the game.

Once you've beaten a story, you aren't done.  That unlocks the ability to play as the villains.  It's the same story and similar levels, but from the other side.  It's a fun twist to things, and once again you get to collect as many studs as you can as you try to put your evil plot into motion.

So, you've finished all 30 levels (15 as hero and 15 as villain) in story mode?  Great, but you're just getting warmed up.  Now, you can go back through in Free Play and collect power bricks (which give you special abilities) and canisters that are hidden in each level.  You can find some of these in story mode, but to unlock all of them, you need to go through in Free Play and really take the time to explore.  In Free Play, you can switch between any character you've unlocked, and sometimes you need the super strength of mind control ability of one of the villains to reach something, even in the hero levels.  Plus, you have to reach a certain Lego stud point level in each level to achieve true Superhero or Supervillain status.

As you can see, there is lots of do, so you really can play by the hour.  You'll go through each level several times, and with 30 levels, there's more than enough to keep you busy for a while.  That makes the game a great value.

Plus it's just fun to get through the levels.  I love the fact that you can smash and destroy much of what's around you to collect studs.  The puzzles are fun to figure out, although a couple of them can be a little tricky.

The controls are also fairly easy.  You use the Wiimote and the Nunchuk to control the characters.  The joystick on the Nunchuk is how you control the characters, and various buttons make the characters jump of smash or attack and other such things.  Even when I haven't played for a while, it's easy to jump back in because the controls are so easy.  In a fun touch, by pointing the Wiimote at the screen, you can aim where Batman and Robin through their Batarangs.

I also like the fact that you get unlimited lives to complete a level.  You do lose stud points from the Lego studs you've collected along the way, but that's the only penalty.  This means you will get through every level.  You might not do it well, but there is no getting stuck at a certain point and never finishing things.

The graphics are not going to blow away serious gamers, but then again, they shouldn't be expecting that.  Really, we are dealing with animation for a game aimed at kids, and for that the graphics look great.  Likewise, the sound is good for that the game is.  There's background music that can cue you to approaching danger and sound effects as you do things.  Both fit the game well, and that's all that matters.

There are animated cut scenes that help tell the story in each level, and they are a riot.  They make Robin out to be a klutz, and you just can't help but laugh as how much he fails and how Batman reacts.  These scenes just use movement, facial expressions, and grunts to tell the story, but they get the job done.

This is the first time I've played a Lego game with some (before I've played with just one person).  My roommate, who loves Batman, joined me in defeating the villains (or being them).  I loved it.  It gave me someone to talk through the puzzles with. (Which is partially why I found the levels easier than before.  I also knew what I was looking for.)  It's also easier to defeat a band of henchmen since both of you are truly attacking (unlike in solo mode where you have to do it yourself).  I highly recommend playing with a friend if you can.

If there's one frustration in this game for me, it's the vehicles levels.  Each story has one, and I hate them because it's so hard to control the vehicles.  You have to move just right to get them to do what you want.  I must prefer the control I have of moving actual characters around.

But solo or with a friend, I do recommend Lego Batman for Wii.  It's a fun game that you will play for hours on end.

Video Game Review: Popeye for Atari 2600

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Good graphics and some creative game play

Cons: Poor controls add to some frustrating game play

The Bottom Line: 

This game can be fun

But some limitations do

Add frustration, too

Simple Game but Frustrating Execution

While I never played the arcade version of Popeye more than once or twice, I just had to get it for my Atari 2600.  It wasn't a game I'd turn to often, but I do remember enjoying it.  I recently dusted it off and gave it another spin and found it more frustrating than I remembered.

The object of the game is simple.  You're playing at Popeye, and you have to win the love of Olive Oyl.  She is throwing out hearts, musical notes, or kisses (depending on the level), and it's your job to catch them before they fall in the water and sink.  Sounds easy, right?  Not so fast.  Brutus is after you as always, and if he catches you, you lose a life.  The unseen Sea Hag is also throwing bottles at you, so you have to dodge or punch those.  You can turns the tables briefly once a level buy picking up the cans of spinach floating around and throwing Brutus over board.

Each level of the game features multiple platforms you can stand on.  The higher up you catch that Olive is throwing, the more points you get.  On the very highest platform, Brutus can only jump at you from behind.  He moves slowly and stupidly, so if you can catch stuff up there, you are pretty golden.  Every time you catch something, the Sea Hag throws a bottle, but you can punch those.

The frustrating part comes when you miss something and have to go down a level or two.  If you are on the same level at Brutus, he just keeps throwing bottles at you.  It's almost impossible to escape because when you try to climb a ladder, you can't do it in time and get hit by a bottle and die.  And if the objects you are trying to catch get too low, it's almost impossible to catch back up and reach the highest platform again.  (If one sinks in the water, it also kills you.)

The graphics for this game are surprisingly good.  Yes, they are still Atari 2600 levels, but you can tell who each of the characters are and what it is Olive is throwing in each level.  The "bottles" are really just rectangles that come at you, but that's the worst thing graphics wise.

The second and third levels are red on a black background, which I remember being a huge issue when I first played this game on a black and white TV.  I had to adjust the contrast like crazy to see what I was doing.

The sound is fairly good as well.  There are the right cues when things happen, and the constant background music is decent.  When Popeye picks up his spinach, you hear the theme song, and it's a good version of it.

This is a one player only game, and unlike other Atari 2600 games, there are no game variations.  You get one version and level of play, and that's it.

The other issue with this game is the controls.  You use the joystick controller, and moving side to side is easy.  The fire button is how you punch either the bottle or the can of spinach.  The problem comes when you have to climb the stairs.  You have to get and keep the controller at just the right diagonal angle for that, and it's hard to find it and keep it.  That makes getting away from danger another challenge.

Having said all that, when I stuck this game in after years of not playing it, I still was able to make it to level 3 (of 3, the game starts over but harder after that) both times I played.  It's not impossible, but it's not as easy as it could be.

I played the arcade version so seldom, I'd be curious to see if these were problems with that or issues that came over with the port.  Popeye for the Atari 2600 isn't truly bad, but it is more frustrating than it has to be.

Video Game Review: Jr. Pac-Man for Atari 2600

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: It's still fun running from ghosts and eating pellets.

Cons: Twists might not make it required for all.

The Bottom Line: 

Fun for Pac-Man fans

But twists might not be enough

For all the players

Youngest Member of the Pac-Man Family Gets the Biggest Mazes

During the 80's, Pac-Man fever swept the nation, and they created as many sequels and rip-offs as they could.  (See, sequels are nothing new anywhere.)  I only remember seeing an arcade version of Jr. Pac-Man once or twice, but when I saw a version for the Atari 2600, I just had to have it.

Not surprisingly, the premise involves controlling the main character, in this case Jr. Pac-Man, as he eats his way around a maze full of dots.  There are four ghosts chasing him trying to stop him by eating him.  But you get six power pellets that make the ghosts vulnerable for a limited time so you can eat them.  Instead of fruit like in the original, this time there are toys that bounce around the maze and give you bonus points if you eat them.  They also make any regular pellet they touch into a bonus bigger size, which slow you down a bit more as you eat them but are also worth 50 points instead of the 10 everything else is.  However, if it hits a power pill, it destroys the pill and itself.

So far, it's sounding like pretty much standard fair for the franchise.  And, really, it is.  The twist is that the maze is super big.  It scrolls, so it's hard to tell for sure, but I'd say it's easily two and a half times the size of the screen.  Might even be three times as big.  That's a lot of dots to eat.  There are also no tunnels to get you from one side to the other quickly and easily.  Frankly, I miss those tunnels, and I find it is easier to get trapped than in the earlier games.  But you can also scroll your way out of danger fairly easily if you are near the edges.  Unless you flee quickly, the ghosts do stay in the same part of the maze as you, so it's very rare you run into one as you leave one section to work on another.

There are a total of seven different prizes you can get, and I believe each one comes with a different maze.  I know that each maze was different for a while, but eventually, I'd start to get repeats.

The fire button on the joystick controller starts the game, but other than that does nothing.  As you'd expect, you use the joystick to guide Jr. Pac-Man around the maze up, down, left, and right.

You can play with the traditional four ghosts, or simplify it down to one, two, or three ghosts.  You can also scroll through and find the maze you want to start on.

For an Atari 2600 game, the graphics are decent.  Then again, they don't have to be super impressive in this game.  You can easily tell what you need to eat, yourself, and the ghosts.  What else do you need?  Still, they do give Jr. Pac-Man a beanie, and you can tell that's what it is.

Likewise, the sound consists of the standard game cues, eating the dots or turning the ghosts.  Since you can't always see the floating prize, there is a noise when it is on screen as well.

If you have the others, you don't need to get this game unless you really love the Pac-Man franchise.  But for those like me who do, tracking down Jr. Pac-Man will be well worth it because its twists are fun.

Video Game Review: Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga for Wii

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun, creative levels built around Star Wars

Cons: A few overly hard levels, a few issues with characters

The Bottom Line: 

Collect Lego studs

In galaxy far away

Through all six movies

Work Your Way Through the Entire Star Wars Saga Lego Brick by Lego Brick

I normally don’t do movie based video games, but I am hooked on the Lego series.  They are way too much fun and contain so many levels you can spend hours playing them.  And that’s one reason why I don’t get through them very fast since my time spent playing the Wii is sporadic at best.  Recently, I’ve been making my way through Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and I’ve been enjoying it.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Lego series, they recreate movies, but with Lego characters and sets.  So in this case, you are playing through all six movies from the Star Wars franchise.  Each of the six movies gets six different levels.  The game is designed for one or two players, and you must work your way through collecting Lego pieces (called studs) and solving puzzles by building or destroying things.  Occasionally, one part will require a certain character to get through (some doors can only be opened by R2-D2 or C-3PO, for example, while other places require a Jedi).  You can switch to that character or your partner can do that part, depending on whether you are playing by yourself or with someone.

There are multiple goals to the game, which requires playing each level multiple times.  The first time through, you play in story mode, and you play as characters who were in that scene.  Once you have done that, you can go back and play in freeplay, which allows you a greater variety of characters that you’ve unlocked from other levels or bought with the Lego studs you’ve collected along the way.  Why would you do this?  Because there are 10 Lego canisters hidden in each level, and it often takes all the types of characters to find them.  There are also red power blocks hidden in each level that give you cheats to get through the levels faster - once you've unlocked them with the studs you've collected.

Some of the levels do involve vehicles.  These are my least favorites because I have more trouble using the controls.  However, actually defeating the Death Star more than makes up for that.

Frankly, one reason I love this game is how much fun it is to play as these characters I love from the movies.  I’ve got to admit I do see the appeal of the movie based video game after playing this game.

The controls are fairly straightforward.  You use the normal Wiimote plus the Nunchuck.  The joystick on the Nunchuck moves your character, and the various buttons do other things.  Within a couple of minutes, my fingers are moving on their own, and I’m not even thinking about what they are doing as I try to work my way to safety.  In a fun use of the remote, you can wave it around to activate and swing a light saber if you are playing with a character that carries one.

The graphics are fine, although they won’t impress the serious gamer.  They are a bit on the cartoony side, but then again, you are controlling and fighting Lego characters.  It’s hardly a surprise.  I never find the graphics a distraction as I play.

The music and sound effects pull stuff from the movie soundtracks, so any fan of the movies will love them right away.  And there are special cues to help you notice approaching danger.

Of course, these games aren’t just a walk in the park.  You can be killed by the bad guys you have to fight.  Most of the time, the only real consequence is losing studs you’ve collected.  You come back where you were and continue.  And, in a detail I love about these games, you get as many lives as it takes to complete the level.  So there’s no almost finishing and then being destroyed by the final enemy no matter how many times you play.

Of course, a few of the levels are harder than they need to be.  Despite having infinite lives, trying to get through them can still be an exercise in frustration.

I’ve played through the game solo.  What I’ve noticed is the overabundance of characters who follow you around.  Sometimes there can be four or five members of your party, and that means they get in the way as you are trying to do something, especially fight a group of bad guys.  Also, when switching characters, you have to be right next to them, and that creates problems with the large group of characters around you.  On the other hand, I have noticed a couple of levels where the second player would get bored since the only character they could play with doesn’t have much they can do.  Irritants?  Yes, but minor ones.

All told, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is another fun game for Wii.  May the force be with you as you play.

Video Game Review: Tetris Attack for Super Nintendo (SNES)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Highly addictive and fun puzzle game

Cons: Graphics dated; some elements are childish

The Bottom Line: 

Don't stop flipping blocks

They'll rise before you know it

You won't want to stop

Addicted to this Puzzle Game after Just One Time Playing It

I was introduced to the SNES version of Tetris Attack at a friend's house.  I was immediately hooked and haunted Best Buy to play their in store version until I was able to get my own copy of the game.  Even know, I'll pull it out and enjoy some time playing it.

While the game has Tetris in the title, it bears no resemblance to the famous Russian game.  Here, you are trying to clear a field of blocks coming up from the bottom before they reach the top of your screen.  You can move two adjacent blocks at a time horizontally, and when you make a match of three or more bricks, they disappear and the rest of the field lowers to fill in the gap.

Sounds simple and easy enough, right?  It can be, but it can also be quite challenging depending on speed and level of play.  It's amazing how addicting it can be.  Just one more time so I can beat the level.

This game works for one or two players.  As one player, you can all kinds of options.  You can play for time and score, work to solve a puzzle, or work to clear blocks below a line.

While those are fun, I always found the two player version to be the best.  You can play this version with an opponent or against the computer.  The object here is to keep your blocks from getting to the top while forcing your opponent's to the top.  How do you do that?  Well, every time you clear more than three blocks at a time or create a chain of clearing blocks, a "garbage" block lands on top of your opponent.  First, they must clear a block touching these garbage blocks.  That will case the garbage block to break down into regular blocks which can then be removed.  If you are good at the game, those garbage blocks can add up quickly, making it very hard on your opponent.

The one player "vs." mode creates a bit of a story based on the Nintendo character of Yoshi.  His friends have been placed under a spell by Bowser.  As you defeat them, you free them from the spell.  Once they are all free, you have to defeat some of Bowser's minions and then Bowser himself.  Obviously, the higher up you go, the harder the opponent is.

That does bring up my only real gripe with the game - by centering it around Yoshi, it seems a little childish.  The graphics surrounding the game board are very cartoony, and the SNES graphics don't help that.  The sounds, also, are very much aimed at kids.  Fortunately, the sounds have no impact on the game play, so I usually turn the volume down and play without the sound.

Even the game board is rather simple graphically.  Then again, that's not really an issue since you don't really need much.  We are talking about squares with different shapes on them.  Yes, it would look better on a system that isn't almost 20 years old, but the graphics are never an issue with game play.

The controls are also straight forward.  You use the plus to move up and down or left and right and you use the buttons to switch the two blocks you've selected.  The game is very responsive and, much as I'd like to, I can't blame the controller when I lose.

Tetris Attack for the SNES may be dated graphically, but it is just as addicting today as it was when it came out in the 90's.  I suggest you set aside some time when you sit down with this one because it will fly by before you know it.

Video Game Review: Tetris Party Deluxe for Wii

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Addicting game play that is fun as always, lots of new puzzles

Cons: Let me puzzle that one out - none I can think of

The Bottom Line:
Align falling blocks

To clear lines.  Simple concept

That's still addicting




Just Keep Clearing Those Lines of Blocks

I have been addicted to Tetris since the first time I played it.  While I hate trying to pack stuff in real life, I seem to be able to fit those blocks into just the right spot.  So, naturally, I wanted to get Tetris Party Deluxe when I found out it was available for the Wii.

The idea behind the game is still pretty basic.  Blocks made up of four squares connected in some manner drop from the top of the screen and you have to rotate them and move them left to right to make them fit with each other.  When you completely fill in a line, it goes away.

Since the game is simple, the game controls are fairly simple.  You just need the Wiimote for this one.  The plus pad controls the left and right direction of the block and to drop it fast and faster.  You use the 1 and 2 buttons to rotate it clockwise or counterclockwise.  You can use the A button to take a falling block and save it for later.  Just hit A again, and the block you saved will switch with the currently falling block.  That's a new to me feature that I love.

And it can really be that simple.  You can go in and play by yourself for hours trying to rack up the highest score by clearing lines (clearing multiple lines at once gives you a higher score).  They even have a simpler version they call Beginner Tetris that has simpler pieces and a smaller play field.  But it can also get much more complicated than that.

Before I move on, I should mention you can play this game with your Wii Balance Board.  I don't have one, so I don't know how that works.

Now, let's discussion the variations and puzzles.  For the single player, there are all kinds of options.  You can play against the computer (although it seemed a little easy to me).  You can take the challenge to fill in a certain area or get a climber through a series of gates as you fill in the pieces.  You can race to clear 40 lines.  And they have Bombliss, which is the puzzle modes from the Gameboy Tetris Blast.  In this mode, you have to clear lines with bombs in them and blow up the bombs to actually clear the lines.  I loved Tetris Blast and wish they included the free play version here, but I'll certainly take this.

So, you want to play with your friends?  Great, you can have up to four people playing at one time.  The big change here is that when you clear multiple lines, your opponent gets those lines, but if you only clear one line it goes away.  That's always a challenge to me because I'm more of a clear lines as quickly as possible guy instead of building to multiple lines at once.  It's a very different mindset, but if you can get into it, you'll do well.  You can actually play many of the single player games in multiplayer versions as well.  There's also a co-op version where you work with a friend to clear lines on one screen.

Then there are items.  When you are playing against someone, you can chose to have items involved.  These range from speeding up your opponents blocks to hiding someone's queue to sending random squares to your opponents pieces or clearing a bunch of your own lines.  These items hide in blocks that fall, and when you clear the line with the item in it, you get the chance to use it.  Just press the B button to cause all kinds of extra mayhem.  It can be frustrating at times when you are struggling and someone hits you with smoke, for example, but it's fun to do that yourself.  It makes it an extra challenge.

Still not enough?  You can go on-line and play against up to 5 opponents from around the world (or your friends if they have the game and are signed in).  For the Wi-Fi version, you only have the option of playing the traditional building and clearing lines version, although you can play with the items.  I must admit, I am sad at this game on-line.  I tend to lose almost all the time.  But it's still fun to play and try to do better.

There was a version of Tetris Party you could buy over WiiWare that includes the items and original game play.  You could play it against friends or over Wi-Fi.  Yes, I have that, and I enjoy it, but I like all the additional variations this game offers.  Yes, I tend to play traditional Tetris the most, but those variations are fun for something different, and just as addicting.

And let me tell you, this game is a couple decades old and still addicting.  I can start playing, and an hour has passed without me even realizing it.  Just one more game becomes my mantra until I finally give in and turn it off.  It's really that much fun.

The graphics are.  There isn't much more to say about them.  There is some nice detail in the background, but I am always focusing on the falling blocks of squares.  Since those blocks are the real focus of the game, it's fairly basic.  I never find the graphics an issue for game play.

Likewise, the sound is simple.  You get some music on the menus, but when playing, you get a few game play noises, but that's about it.  Since I always turned off the music in the older Tetris games I have, that's a good thing in my eyes.

Tetris is a classic, and I've loved many of the variations over the years.  Tetris Party Deluxe is another winner in that very long line.

Video Game Review: Millipede for Atari 2600

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lots of variety of insects make for a fun but crazy game

Cons: Graphics and sound effects are only okay

The Bottom Line: 

Challenging mission

With average graphics, sound

Still good in short spurts

Millipede is a Million Times Crazier than the Original

Sequels quickly became the rule of video games, and when Centipede became a hit, it wasn't too long before it was followed by Millipede.  The game play is similar, but they've added many more creatures to make the game more challenging.

The point of this game is to shoot the insects that are attacking you.  Each level is determined by the millipede, which starts at the top of the screen and moves across until it hits the side or a mushroom and then it drops a row toward you.  You are at the bottom of the screen trying to shoot up and hit it.

If only it were that easy.  There are all kinds of other critters.  Spiders pop in from the sides; beetles crawl around you.  Mosquitoes, Bees, and Dragonflies attack from the top.  And inchworms and earwigs crawl across the screen creating havoc of their own.  Fortunately, you do have DDT bombs that will destroy any pest that touches the poison cloud when you set them off.  (Unfortunately, I usually seem to hit them by mistake.)

Of course, your main point of attack is the arrow you shoot up toward the top of the screen.  While you can hit the red button each time you want to fire, just holding the button down is also an option.  While you are only allow a certain number of arrows at a time, it saves your thumb, and usually I want to be firing at all times anyway.

And have I mentioned the mushrooms?  Every time you hit a segment of a millipede, it turns into a mushroom.  Other insects leave them behind.  Fortunately, spiders do take them away because the more crowded the screen with mushrooms, the quicker the millipedes advance to the bottom and really threaten you.  Also, mushrooms seem to pop up on their own between rounds at times.

If you get the feeling that a lot happens quickly in this game, you'd be correct.  It's hard to have much of a strategy since it seems like something new is always coming at you.  Your best bet is to dodge and fire.

Fortunately, the controls are very easy to master.  Point the joystick I in the direction you want to go, and you'll move there.  You can only move about a third of the way up the screen, and there is actually a line to show you where that is.  The arcade game used a trackball for the controller, and Atari sold an option trackball controller for their system.  I loved to play this game with that controller because it was even easier.

The only choice you have in the way of game variations is what level score you start with.  Obviously, it's harder the higher you start.  There is no two player option, and the difficulty switches don't do anything either.

Graphics on this game aren't the greatest.  You and the mushrooms are blocks (although that was the case for you in the arcade if I remember correctly).  The various creatures have squarish parts, although you can still pretty much tell what they are.  The only truly strange ones are the mosquitoes with are diagonal lines with two "wings" sticking off them.  It's hard to tell the dragonflies and bees apart, not that it really matters.

The insects make all kinds of sound effects when they are on screen.  It's to help you indentify which ones are out.  It's all electronic sounds that really don't mean much until you learn to tell them apart.  Even then, it's often hard to tell because multiple things are happening at the same time.  As I recall, the arcade version was like that as well.  It's not a bad thing, but it could have been better.

Because of the variety of the bugs, this game is much harder than Centipede.  I enjoyed this one for a challenge, but I enjoyed the first one because it was relaxing while still presenting a challenge.  (And yes, I have them both.)  I don't know that this game calls for more than half an hour at a time because of how repetitive it is, but it's still fun.

And that fun holds up today.  Dated graphics and potentially overwhelming sound don't really hamper Millipede at all.

Video Game Review: Super Breakout for Atari 2600

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Simple yet addictive game play.

Cons: The sounds when the ball hits the bricks

The Bottom Line:
Simple idea

Bounce the ball and hit the bricks

But addicting fun




Super Simple Yet Super Addicting Sequel to Breakout

By the time I bought my Atari 2600, they had released Super Breakout, a sequel to the game Breakout.  While I always intended to go back and get the original, I never did track it down until I was an adult.  But that hardly matters because this game was pretty addicting enough.

The concept is super simple.  You control a paddle at the bottom of the screen.  Your mission is to keep one or more balls in the air and knock out the bricks in the wall in front of you.  Any time you miss a ball, you lose a life, and you get five lives to rack up the highest score.

Yes, it's a variation on Pong, one of the first video games ever.  But darn it, it's still fun and addicting.  I stuck the game in again to refresh myself on it before writing this review, and I played for a good 30 minutes and didn't really want to stop.  Usually, it's because I just barely miss my last ball, and I know I can do better.

Of course, the game variations help, too.  You can play with just one paddle and one ball in the variation called Breakout.  There's a child's variation on Breakout where the ball never speeds up and the paddle size never shrinks, something that happens in all the others.  Double gives you a dual level paddle and two balls at the start of each turn, while Cavity sets two balls in the middle of the brick wall that you can use once you've freed them.  In all of these, if you hit all the brinks, you get a new playing field.  Finally, Progressive keeps the brinks coming toward you with new rows filling in behind in a never ending game.

Honestly, I hardly ever played the plain Breakout version.  I loved having multiple balls I was trying to control.  Not only does it multiply the points you get for hitting a brick, but it makes having one ball feeling boring.  The exception is the Progressive version.  The longer the ball is in play, the faster the field moves toward you.  You can wind up in some pretty sticky situations on that one very quickly.  Unfortunately, Progressive is the only version here with no two player version, something I've never understood since you always just took turns playing two players on the other games.

This game uses the paddle controllers, which were sold separately.  Basically, there was a knob on the controller you turned to move the paddle on the screen.  You used the button on the controller to release the ball at the beginning of your next turn.  The controls respond well and it's very easy to play.

The graphics are simple, but they don't need to be anything else.  The bricks form a solid line with rectangles disappearing as you hit them.  The paddle you control is also a rectangle.  The only thing that's odd is the ball, which is really a square.

When the ball hits the paddle or bounces off the sides of the playing area, it makes an appropriate noise.  What I don't get are the musical sounds that are made as you hits the bricks in the walls.  They sound like a cross between a piano note and a string being plucked.  It's a weird combination.  It can grow a little tiresome, but it's easy to tune it out, and if you do decide to mute the sound on the TV, you aren't missing much.

Super Breakout is further proof that simple can be quite fun and addicting.  If you've missed this Atari 2600 classic, add it to your collection today.