#rob strangman

Crystal Castles

Bentley Bear is in a jam. While out roaming the forest, he decided to take a nap in his favorite tree stump. The problem is that when he woke up, he found himself in a glittering array of castles. These were the Crystal Castles, home of the evil witch Berthilda. The only way to get out is to collect the gems scattered throughout the ten Crystal Castles. It won’t be easy for Bentley, though, as Berthilda has sent her minions to stop him and turn him into dinner!

Desert Falcon

In 1984, Atari was in trouble. The Video Game Crash of 1983 had taken its toll on the industry in America, and it seemed that the end was near for Atari’s two console lines, the 2600 and 5200. This didn’t stop Atari from announcing a newer, more powerful console, the 7800, in mid-1984. Developed by GCC for Atari, it was to be released that year, along with several ports of arcade games Atari had already released (and re-released) for their previous consoles. It received a very limited early release, but then a monkey wrench fell into the works. Jack Tramiel (of Commodore fame) bought Atari in mid-1984, and immediately halted production of the 7800. Then, in 1985, Nintendo released the NES, which over the next few years proved that the home video game industry hadn’t died in America, it had just been in hibernation. Tramiel finally gave the 7800 the green light for production in 1986. It was launched as a lower-priced alternative to the NES, and Atari did their best to entice consumers with “all new” arcade ports of games like Dig Dug, Joust, and Ms. Pac-Man, while also advertising that the 7800 was backward compatible with the entire 2600 library (which would benefit those that still had their 2600 games). However, Atari did have some new games in the pipeline, such as ports of Food Fight, Pole Position II, Ballblazer, and an original game that was referred to as both “Sphinx” and “Nile Flyer” in the initial 1984 announcement. It finally saw release in 1987, but by then had been renamed Desert Falcon.

Alien Abduction

John van Ryzin, the creator of H.E.R.O., finally revisited the concept forty years later, and the end result was a spiritual successor, Alien Abduction (legally, H.E.R.O. is still the property of Activision, so a spiritual successor was as close as he could get without being sued). It was released for the Atari VCS in 2024, and later that year, released for the Atari 2600 through Audacity Games.

Mountain King

A fortune in diamonds awaits an adventurer hardy enough to descend into the depths of the long-lost diamond mine deep inside the foreboding mountain. For those that dare venture into its depths, they may discover more than just diamonds, as in the heart of the mountain is a Temple Chamber. Inside this Temple Chamber rests an artifact beyond price, the Golden Crown, which must be brought to the Perpetual Flame on the mountaintop. But the creatures and spirits that inhabit the mine guard it, and no one that’s ventured into the mountain has ever returned. At heart, Mountain King‘s objective is simple: get the Golden Crown and bring it to the Perpetual Flame. The controls are simple: left and right to move, up and down to climb ladders, upper left and upper right to jump, and the action button shines your flashlight. However, you can’t use the flashlight and pick up diamonds at the same time. You can explore the entire mountain, without restrictions, with the exception of the Temple Chamber and the bottom level. Why not the bottom level? Because that’s where one of the only things in the game that can kill you, the Giant Spider, lurks. If it touches you once, you’ll be ensnared in its web. You must wiggle the joystick left and right to escape. Fail to do so before the Giant Spider comes back, and you’re dead. You’ll also find yourself falling a lot due to the tricky jumping controls, and when you hit the ground, you’ll be stunned. How fast it takes you to recover depends on what height you fall from.

Cave Walker

Legend has it that somewhere in the world lies the Great Cave of the Mystics, where the ancient wizards had hidden their gold and riches before they vanished from this earth, to be retrieved by them when they finally return. Of course, it’s just a legend. Or so you thought. But wouldn’t you know it, only day while exploring, you accidentally stumbled across the entrance to the Great Cave. You’re not about to pass up the opportunity to see if the legends are true. So now, with only your wits, your courage and your reflexes, you begin your journey into the Great Cave. Released by Spectral Associates on disk in 1986, Cave Walker continues the journey of the nameless adventurer from Downland. The relative simplicity of Downland has been replaced by a deeper game, one that even supports saving and loading, but it lacks the pick up and play aspect of Downland. Perhaps to make up for this, Spectral Associates included a practice mode, in which you can explore the majority of the caverns and not die (the first nine caverns are all you can explore in this practice mode, and the ability to save and load is disabled). Cave Walker is much larger than Downland as well, featuring over twenty-five different caverns.

Downland

You just entered the underground cavern you discovered, only to hear a thunderous roar behind you. It’s a cave-in! With the entrance sealed, your only hope is to work your way through the ten caverns that lay ahead of you. With any luck, you’ll get out in one piece. If you’re really lucky, you won’t leave empty-handed, as there’s a fortune in jewels and money scattered throughout the caverns. But beware the dangers that lurk within, or you’ll never see the light of day again. Programmed by Michael Aichlmayr for Spectral Associates, Downland was released on a cartridge for the TRS-80 Tandy Color Computer (aka CoCo) in 1983. It looks easy to play, but can be very difficult to master. You have four lives and no continues, and there is no way to earn extra lives. Working with what you have, you must guide your nameless adventurer through the ten caverns (numbered 0 through 9) that make up the underground. It’s not a straightforward trek, as there are times where you’ll have to double-back into caverns you’ve already passed through to get items that you’ve missed. The caverns range from simple to navigate to ones that require all of your skill just to get through.

A.R.T.I.

In 2023, homebrew programmer Lewis Hill (aka MuddyVision) released their own take on H.E.R.O., for the Atari 7800. This was no mere clone or upgraded port of the original game. The basic concept of the original game remains the same, but with a level of flair and polish that H.E.R.O. never had, plus a few new additions. Even better, Atari’s legal division confirmed that it wasn’t just “H.E.R.O. Redux”, and gave it the official greenlight for it to be manufactured and sold through their subsidiary company Atari Age. According to Hill, “Yes it’s inspired by H.E.R.O., but graphically, it’s a world apart. Also, the levels do diverge quite significantly the further in you get, and there’s an actual ending, with a bit of a twist. I also wanted to go a different route on the level design, new challenges and obstacles etc, and then add graphical themes and a bit of a story.”