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Funkmaster V Reviews
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7800 Rank: Unranked
Genre: Action
Awards: None
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So Your Teacher Told You Ostriches Can't Fly... AND YOU BELIEVED THEM? |
Pros:
Includes most of the features from the arcade/ Excellent 2-Player modes
Cons:
Flapping over and over may induce cramps and wreak havoc on old controllers |
... maybe if I stay still... they'll go away... |
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Overview: The game Joust was featured in the megahit book "Ready Player One", but was inexplicably left out of the movie. My favorite part of the book was in Act One, where players had to find a hidden temple located inside the virtual
reality universe: OASIS. Deep inside the dangerous temple was the classic arcade machine Joust. To win the prize there, the player would have the defeat the high score of the fella that created the OASIS itself. It was his favorite game. So then... Joust must be great, right? Well... it kinda is... but truth be told, I rarely think about Joust. The game is unique for its time, where space-age knights traverse cool looking boards via flying ostriches and buzzards. To eliminate opponents, you don't shoot them like a normal pedestrian arcade game... you land on top of your foes with your big bird butt bottoms, sending the poor fools to their squishy fates below full of nary-region bird stench. If you are a fan of the arcade version, you'll be pleased as medical mead to play with 7800 port.
Graphics: It doesn't take much to make a translation of Joust look good, because even the Atari 2600 version of the game looks decent. Sometimes the programmers for the 7800 screwed easy things up, but thankfully they didn't do any of that mess here. The game is nearly flawless as far as presentation is concerned. The color schemes are tasteful and not tacky, the riders are detailed, there are ornate details on the platforms, motions are smooth and level titles/ messages are easy to read. My only beef graphically is the gaudy title screen... but that sucked in the arcade version as well.
Sound: While void of thumping soundtracks and modern ear candy hoop-la, the blips, buzzes, blurps, and "sonic what-not" are done as well as possible on the 7800's POKEY-less technology.
Gameplay:
There are two ways to look at this category. The first way, and the way that I will give the most weight to my score is this: How close does the game come to feeling like the Joust arcade game? The answer is very, very close. In fact, it is nearly flawless. The rider's ascent/ decent with each flap is perfect, and the stages and enemies are dead-on. The 7800 version includes all of the arcade's different stages: Egg wave: where the riders begin as eggs, and you have to smash as many as possible before their buzzards arrive. The surviving riders hatch and then mount up on their winged companions. If you are slow on the up-take in this level, you can be in for a long night. Wait a minute--- the game designers are nuts. The riders hatch from the eggs? Not the damned birds? I never thought about that absurdity before. Weird. There is also a survival wave, where you get a points bonus for not losing a man. There is the Pterodactyl wave, where the opposing riders are accompanied by the evil, grumpy and nearly indestructible Pterodactyl.
The second chunk of my score will come from this: How fun is mashing the fire button over and over and over again? The answer is not very. In fact, this game kinda irritates me. Hitting the button over and over to make this guy's lard butt ascend requires a lot of sweat... and that translates to abuse on decades old controllers. I wish this guy would diet! Defeating a fellow jouster requires making contact with him from above. Therefore, getting to the top of the screen is vital. But beware, flying near the top of the screen at all times rarely seems to work... because bouncing off of the ceiling is hard to avoid. Maintaining a steady altitude is a difficult chore. I rarely enjoy games where I am not in control, and sadly, this is a game where gravity is in control.
Interpretation: This game is a dead ringer to its arcade daddy. The ability to play this game on a 2600 joystick will probably make the game easier to control and makes the experience feel more like the arcade, since the side buttons on an Atari 7800 Proline controller aren't suited well for this game. Excellent port.
Value: Again, value will vary with each user. Many people are fond of this game, and that is understandable. The game is unique and well done, but people who prefer not mashing buttons over and over again will probably shy away. There are four difficulty levels for the people to choose from. Atari buddies will be happy to know that a two player mode is included, where you have to worry about the buzzard bullies and your human pal as well.
Overall:
Joust is another in a long line of excellent arcade ports for the Atari 7800. The abuse of the controllers is a real concern for me as the machine, its controllers, and my "attitude about breaking things unnecessarily" matures. To avoid destroying the Pro-line controllers, one should consider purchasing a Seagull 78 controller adapter from AtariAge.com. This will allow you to beat the hell out of an old Sega Genesis controller instead. Who cares about those damn things...amirite? The flapping madness of Joust may or may not entice you to play over and over, but no one can say that this game is not a great translation of an arcade classic.
Also, if you enjoyed the film "Ready Player One" but didn't read the book, do yourself a favor and get the book and plow through it to the Joust part. In my opinion, its the best part of the story and they left it out like a bunch of Hollywood dum dums.
Other Reviews:
Video Game Critic: A
Tomorrow’s Heroes: 88%
Atari Times: 8 out of 10
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 4.0 out of 5.0 (Very Good)
Additional Info: I would like to take this time to thank Mitch Orman, owner of The Atari 7800 Page for allowing the use of his
screenshots for this review.
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