DragonVale Updates

I have created this sister page for DragonVale to keep it separate from the original review page for the game app.  I will keep the fresh information at the top and bump older data down the page.  This page is not intended to be a Breeding Guide.  That job has been more than tackled by Macenstein over at his page.  I strongly encourage you to check it out; he usually has the combos for new dragons within 12 hours of them being released.  This record will be a log to track new dragons as they come out, but it is primarily here to track the game updates and any new game play innovations that come with it.  Think of it like a fan/information page with lots of commentary. Enjoy!

Dragon Maxing Conclusion
Ok, so why did I drag everyone through 21 days of drudgery?  Who cares about me leveling up my River Dragon?  Any good DragonVale player should, because what I have attempted to demonstrate with this project is just how difficult it is to get your dragon to Level 20.  With a head start that equaled about 1 day's worth of work, it took me a total of 22 days to generate enough food to elevate my River Dragon from LV1 to LV20.  22 days. Three weeks.  That is insane.
It is more insane when you consider that I have 82 dragons capable of being elevated to LV20.  That means, unless the game changes in some significant way, it will take me 4.5 years to get all of my dragons to LV20.  I like DragonVale, but 4.5 years and new dragons being added all the time?  Something about the price of food or the amount of food needed to elevate dragons needs to change.
Why not create a new superfood that yields more food for less, but takes a bit more time?
Something, because this realization has dampened my love of this game.
Who will be my next 22 day LV20 dragon?  Probably my BlueFire Dragon, he's really cool.
Thanks to everyone for playing along.  If you have better strategies than the ones I employed for this project I would love to hear them (just don't tell me to fill my park with Rainbow Dragons.  I'm not doing that.)


Dragon Maxing Day 21
AND HERE HE IS!  The crowned head of Old Man, the River Dragon!  Yes indeed, he is mighty, he is majesty personified!  None can deny his indisputable greatness!  Every man wants to know him and every woman wants to change him!  He is Old Man, LV20!
Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you why I have put everyone through all of this...

Dragon Maxing Day 20
Oh, so close!  And no, there was no way to fudge a bit, I had already used Kairos this morning to get this far.  But, looks like tomorrow is the big day.  Go get your best coronation dress dry cleaned!

Dragon Maxing Day 19
No time for snarky comments, I've Skyrim to play.  You don't need to tell you that we've a long way to go to LV20 (ok, maybe time for one snarky comment...)

Dragon Maxing Day 18
Sorry again about the belated update.  Friday night is "date night" here in the EF house so tasks scheduled for that afternoon or evening often get a bump so the lovely wife and I can relax and watch a movie and eat take-out (we live the exciting life of people with a 7 month old...).
But, that does not take away from the fact that Old Man eked his way 1/5 closer to LV20 yesterday!  So close and yet so far away!  As you can see by the inset, the next 1.3 million food is a ways off...

Dragon Maxing Day 17
While it may not surprise you that we must wait yet another day to raise Old Man 1/5 of the way closer to that beautiful crown, I am surprised that I got as close as I did today!

Dragon Maxing Day 16
No surprises here either, but it is nice to see the symmetry in the amount of food I have.

Dragon Maxing Day 15
No surprise that Old Man was elevated 1/5 of the way to LV20, but I have another two or three days until I can raise enough food to take him up another 1/5.

The Evolution of Platform Gaming

Pitfall!, Prince of Persia, and Tomb Raider.

I recently revisited Prince of Persia for the SNES, a game that I had sworn off forever due to what I felt at the time was a ridiculous control scheme and an unwinnable timing mechanic.  I am glad that I came back to it, however, as it has proven to be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding games I have played in a long time.  It also got me to thinking about the nature of the game and platforming games like it in general.

It was whilst playing an evening’s worth of Prince of Persia that it occurred to me that what I was playing on my SNES was not so very different from other games I enjoyed a tremendous amount throughout the long and storied history of video games.  I realized that Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, and Pitfall! were in reality pretty much exactly the same game.  The same game, allowing of course for the evolution of video games in general and taking into the account some of the advancements in programming and graphics, but at heart, the same game.

While this 

 may look dramatically different from this,

what these two characters do and how they do it are essentially the same.  All three games, Prince of Persia, Pitfall!, and Tomb Raider are platforming games and platforming games all share some key, fundamental characteristics.

Tedious Jumping Puzzles

Nothing defines a platforming game more than boasting a hearty hoard of tedious jumping puzzles.  In case you are new to all of this, a tedious jumping puzzle is one that requires the player to execute a series of jumps that must be timed and spaced exactly right or doom is guaranteed. Often these puzzles require such jumps to be made in succession while avoiding obstacles or the on-coming assaults of numerous assailants.    Pitfall! is almost entirely tedious jumping puzzles.  Sure you occasionally have the opportunity to climb a ladder or swing from a vine (that you  must jump to...), but the rest of the time you are timing jumps across crocodile heads or calculating the precise moment to jump the double rolling logs to avoid losing points.  David Crane could have easily named this game “Tedious Jumping Puzzle,” but “Pitfall!” sums that up pretty nicely as well.  

Likewise, the most challenging parts of Prince of Persia require you to execute nearly pixel perfect jumping routines to leap across successive gaps all while avoiding collapsing floors, spikes, and the occasional guillotine.  There are levels in the game that require multiple trial and error deaths in order to learn the precise moments to press the jump button or when to execute a standing jump instead of a running jump.  I have often postulated that Prince of Persia (at least the jumping parts) is actually a puzzle game that requires you to execute exactly the right moves at exactly the right time in order to clear the puzzle.  If you knew exactly what those moves were you wouldn't even have to see the TV screen to play.  It may not be that dramatic, but PoP does feature many hair-pulling moments of frustration due to ill-timed leap.

Then again, so does Tomb Raider.  While later games in the series would expand a bit upon the theme and introduce variations in the game play, the original game was absolutely riddled with tedious jumping puzzles.  Many of these also required throwing switches or opening doors, and some even culminated in combat, but the vast majority of them just asked you to make a leap of faith with the hopes that the gap was narrow enough for Lara to get a finger hold on the edge of a ledge or just enough room to land without overshooting the target and landing in a trap. Tomb Raider is particularly evil about requiring a series of perfectly timed jumps, many of them blind, in order to complete a level.  I am reminded particularly of the final levels where jumps to small, craggy rocks over molten lava are required.  Just plain mean.

The very best platformers are those that feature tedious jumping puzzles that are plenty challenging, but not so demanding that the frustration outweighs the fun.  I think the three games featured in this missive exemplify the kind of balance a great platformer must possess.

Limited Offensive Capabilities

Good platformers also keep you on the run.  The goal of a platforming game is to reach the end of the level, literally.  Most traditional platformers are linear in that they have a starting point and an ending point and the goal of the game is to move from Start to Finish, not to collect items or squash enemies, but to advance through the level.  Those other things can happen and are often necessary to the overall goal, but the primary goal is to move from Start to Finish.  This is why so many great platformers give the player few, if any, offensive capabilities.  Most great platformers ask you to overcome obstacles not destroy them.

Pitfall! is a perfect example.  In Pitfall! you have no offensive capabilities and Harry is beset by instantly lethal obstacles.  From crocodile pits to scorpions and snakes, Harry must simply avoid everything in his path as he desperately tries to clear as many of the 255 game screens as possible in 20 minutes.

You cannot shoot, stomp, or slice anything, you can only jump.  You can’t even duck.  Prince of Persia does give you a sword to use against your enemies, but once you get the combat system down, death due to combat isn’t terribly common unless you are careless.  The vast majority of the game is spent avoiding perils and pitfalls and making incredible jumps.  You cannot hack your way through a three story drop or a bed of spikes.
Tomb Raider is a bit different since Lara has her inexhaustible pistols that shoot anything that gets in her way, but in the first game there isn’t all that much to shoot.  And like PoP, you cannot shoot a tight jump or a pool of lava.

Limited offensive capabilities dramatically increase the challenge of a platformer.  It is all too easy to find an invincible star and run rampant over your foes, even to the point of being able to literally by-pass all of the challenge and simply charge from Start to Finish.  A great platformer keeps your attack power low and your deft maneuvering at an all time high.

Doing the Same Thing in Many Different Ways

Great platformers keep things simple, but they find new and inventive ways to use the same basic devices over and over.  Tomb Raider is, oddly enough, the best example of this.  In the PSX Tomb Raider games you can always visit Lara’s posh mansion and tackle her personal obstacle course under the guise of a tutorial.  Everything you need to be able to play the game and succeed is shown to you during that obstacle course.  Everything.  Every kind of jump, grab, roll, what have you, is put before you in a consequence-free practice environment.  The main game takes those basic building blocks and finds myriad ways of implementing those elements into 15 extremely challenging levels.  You will still need to jump and grab a ledge in level 14 as you did in level 4, but the circumstances are likely to be rather different and what came before and what comes next are most likely going to be radically different.

Prince of Persia is founded on this principle as well.  There are two basic kinds of jumps you execute, but where and how you execute them is constantly being re-invented during the game.  Some levels are a series of rapid running jumps while others require a standing jump followed by a running jump, then a climb or drop.  Even Pitfall!, while rudimentary by comparison, is not without variation.  You may only be able to run and jump, but not every screen presents the same jumping scenario and some do not require a jump at all (if you time it right).  You cannot simply run forward at full steam and leap over every campfire and log in front of you.

By taking simple game play elements and obstacles and inventing new and interesting ways to blend them together in level designs, great platformers construct entire games out of very small parts.  The best platformers are constantly finding new and challenging ways to look at fundamental aspects of game play.

Do It Again

It is rare that you are going to plug in a game like Prince of Persia for the first time, sit down and run through it in a single sitting with only one life.  I suppose it is possible, but I have yet to see anyone accomplish such a feat.  Great platformers require lots of practice and nearly endless bouts of trial and error.  The best platformers are also learning experiences that teach you how to succeed at the game as you go along.  My initial experience with Prince of Persia is a perfect example of this. The game seemed so difficult that I walked away from it because I didn't have the time or inclination to learn how to play the game.  I can easily recall my first 5 minutes playing the game were spent running off of ledges and falling into spike pits over and over and over.  Figuring out when to use a standing jump versus a running jump took time.  Learning how to ease my way up to a ledge and then turn around and lower myself to the next platform required lots of practice.  Heck, figuring out when to press the jump button to properly execute a running jump was still not a guarantee when I was on level 13! (SNES remember...)

As mentioned in the section above, tedious jumping puzzles are only overcome by trial and error.  Tomb Raider requires may leaps of faith to far away ledges or even just out into the open.  Chances are good you are not going to make the right jump every time just on instinct and luck alone.  And even when you do get lucky, you often find yourself just as dead on the next obstacle and starting the level over again.  Many times I have cheered as Lara completed a tricky jump only to watch her turn a corner and be crushed by a boulder.  Do it again, this time avoid the boulder.  Pitfall! is a bit less forgiving.  Unlike in PoP or Tomb Raider, Pitfall Harry only has two lives.  If thrice you succumb to any of the various hazards on Harry’s journey, you’ll be starting over from the very beginning.  On the upside the game cannot last more than 20 minutes, so at the very most you are only 19:59 away from the starting point should you lose all of your lives.

Go ahead, jump!

It is the trial and error nature of great platformers that make them so rewarding.  It is also this feature that creates the learning experience mentioned in the section above.  By repeating jumps and other obstacles over and over you become more adept at overcoming them and better prepared for new and more difficult challenges ahead.  You also get really good at the early parts of games!  The best platformers avoid having the player repeat extremely long sequences of the game due to trial and error and reward doing something repeatedly with new challenges and more importantly, in-game check points!

Conclusions

Therefore I maintain that Pitfall!, Prince of Persia, and Tomb Raider represent a snapshot of the evolution of the platformer genre of video games.  Stripped of their fancy trappings, these three games are, at their core, the same basic game: Move from Start to Finish avoiding the majority of the obstacles in your path and executing tedious jumping puzzles by process of repeated trial and error across a diverse body of game levels.  By this logic, if you enjoy the game play of Tomb Raider, you should be right at home with Pitfall!.  For me, I find this to be quite true as the elements that they share appeal to me as a player and I find them all enjoyable for pretty much the same reasons. (well, and Lara’s ample if somewhat pixilated physique)

And what of the present day?  I’m not sure.  I've not seen too many modern games that exemplify the essence of a classic platformer.  I am sure they are out there.  Games like Lost in Shadow and Kirby’s Epic Yarn give me hope, but I've not found many games past the PS2 era that scratch my platforming itch the way these three games do.  If you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them.

“What About Me? Mario?”

Yes, yes, we all love you Mario (at least those of us who still have a sense of wonder and whimsy in our lives), but you've strayed a bit too far from the beaten path and you break one of the most important rules of platforming: you have too many offensive capabilities!  It seems like you gain three or four new ones every time you release a game.  Don’t you turn into a bee now or something kind of goofy?  Super Mario Bros. (and the newly revisited games of the same concept) is about the closest the Mario franchise comes to being a pure platformer of the type I describe above.  Mario simply has too much firepower (some of it literal) at his disposal.  He can stomp on most things and those that he cannot, he simply blasts with a fireball or knocks off with a koopa shell.  Mario games are all about getting from Start to Finish by taking out bad guys not avoiding obstacles.  And then there are the invincibility stars.  While a platforming game might have a power-up like this, Mario damned near banks on their existence to get through some levels and many can be cleared by running straight from Start to Finish while under the influence of the penta-pointed opium.  After SMB3 when you could start stockpiling power-ups, Mario transitioned from a pure platformer to something else.  The franchise literally transcended the genre.  Mario games are something alright, and there are plenty of clones out there that try to capture that same magic (looking at you Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro), but they have moved beyond the simple pleasures of the pure platformer.  

Playing it Through: Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass

I got LoZ: Phantom Hourglass for Christmas last year (yes, I know, I am always late to the game on modern stuff), but I was just wrapping up the absolutely amazing Skyward Sword and I was saturated with Zelda goodness.  That was not the time to embark on another Zelda epic.  And I had always heard that PH was an instant classic.  The debut LoZ game for the DS with innovative controls, great story and tricky puzzles, Phantom Hourglass earned the hype it received.  Or so they say.  Me?  I got Spirit Tracks the year it came out (the previous Christmas, no less) and fell in love with the railroad theming and the whimsical game play that takes its cue from Wind Waker (which I hold is a really great game BECAUSE of the sailing, not despite it).  Everything I read said that ST was a veritable clone of PH just with a train instead of a boat.  Well, I loved ST, so if PH is the source material, it must be great, right?

Let's find out.  I had a lot of fun playing through FFVII in the first PiT, and that was a game I had played a million times.  Let's see how it goes with a game I'm playing for the first time.  If you are reading along with me, I'd love to hear your experiences.  Drop me a message in the Comments section.  I'll also take any tips or tricks you might know, but please keep spoilers to a minimum unless I ask for specific information.  Discovery is a great deal of the fun in Zelda games!

After playing Phantom Hourglass for a few hours, I can already see the parallels between it and Spirit Tracks.  Both games feature a frame quest off which the main quests spoke.  In Phantom Hourglass the Temple of Ocean King is the frame quest and as you explore it you unlock the other major quests of the game.  Since Zelda games tend to start at the micro level and work to a much larger scale, I am certain this game will follow suit.


The game starts out with a retelling of Wind Waker, kind of, after which Link shows up on the shore of Mercay Island.  Navi shows up (I know its not really Navi, but you and I both know it pretty much is, so just go with it) and leads Link to the her Grandfather's house, who also happens to be the wise man of the island and, as later events will suggest, more than he appears.  From the outset, the game doesn't really have a tutorial level, per se, but the first parts of the island introduce many of the basic skills that will be required to play the game.  Using the stylus to move isn't exactly intuitive, but you get used to it.  The hardest part is rolling, as into trees.  Scribbling along the edge of the screen tends to just wiggle Link around, not always prompt the desired action.  Combat is pretty simple since tapping a foe causes Link to attack it.

I get through the first cave easily and enter the town.  It is a relief to see that "town" equals about 3 houses.  This will greatly reduce the amount of inane chatter before I can get on with the quest.  The goal is to meet the smarmy and tattered sea captain who will be our dark horse companion for the trip.  His name is Linebeck and he is effectively a foppish ninny.  To that effect he has gone missing in the Temple of the Ocean King and must be rescued.  The Temple is, unsurprisingly, a huge puzzle that lays the groundwork for the game's key gimmick.  Parts of the temple are ensconced in an evil pink fog that will drain your life. Fortunately, there are also safe zones.  The key is to get in and out of the fog while solving the puzzles that will set Linebeck free.  Very standard Zelda stuff.

You called?

The temple is pretty easy and Linebeck is soon free.  Once freed he characteristically flees the Temple forcing Link to follow him back to town, specifically to the dock.  Speaking with Linebeck at the dock prompts the Old Man (not Mister Old Man, mind you, but similar in many ways...) to show up and send Link off to find clues as to the whereabouts of the Ghost Ship that kidnapped Zelda (I failed to mention that this was the point of the game, but this being a Zelda game I assumed you would have already guessed what our objective was).  The first place the Old Man suggests to look is Ember Isle, where there lives a wise soothsayer called Astrid. Since Linebeck is now tied to the quest, his vessel has been volunteered for the job.

Driving the boat has been significantly changed since Wind Waker, and maybe for the best, although I really enjoyed the sailing in that game.  You pretty much just draw a course on your map and then let the boat go along.  You have to pay attention as hazards will crop up and you may have to avoid or jump over them, but for the most part you just let the boat go its way.  On the way to Ember Isle, I ran across Beedle's ship, which wanders the seas selling all manner of interesting things.  I picked up a part for the ship, more on that later, and checked out many other goods a budget of 60 rupees will not support.  Leaving Beedle, I proceed to Ember Isle where a whole new puzzle presents itself.

Astrid appears to be locked in the basement of a house as precautionary measure when the Ghost Ship recently paid a visit to the island.  Her assistant was meant to come let her out after the ship left, but he has not returned.  The secret to opening the door to Astrid's room is to find the three torches on the island and touch the map on the wall outside her chamber where those torches stand.  Clues are pretty obvious and the biggest tip off comes when you meet her assistant's ghost near the first torch.

With the torch locations discovered, Astrid points you toward your next objective: freeing the spirit of Power trapped inside the volcano.  The trek up the volcano is pretty easy, but getting in the door introduces another new kind of puzzle and one of the novel game play aspects the Nintendo DS features.  To open the door of the volcano dungeon you must blow out the candles that flank the door, literally.  By blowing into the microphone on the DS you actually blow out the candles in front of you!  I realize that by now this is old hat to the rest of the universe, but is is still pretty cool.  (A similar game play aspect was utilized when you first meet Astrid as you must call out to her behind the door.  Any noise will suffice, but it's a lot more fun to actually call out)

Once inside, standard Zelda dungeon rules apply.  The puzzles are fun and not overly complicated.  A puzzle with a mouse and a key led to some fits until I figured out exactly the best way to trap the little bastard.  The puzzles get a boost when the boomerang is found.  Here the stylus control really shines as you draw paths for the boomerang to follow to hit triggers and unlock doors.  And in typical Zelda style, the boss fight at the end of the dungeon requires you to use the item found within it to achieve victory.  One nice touch is the boss key gimmick which sees you carrying the key to the door and tossing it in to unlock it.  This adds a new kind of puzzle to the dungeon which is equal parts fun and frustrating.

The final boss of the volcano dungeon is Blaaz, whose name I think wants to be pronounced "blaze'" but looks more like "blas." Blaaz attacks by splitting into three parts and lobbing fire attacks.  As mentioned above, the boomerang is required to smash all of the pieces of Blaaz back together.  Once reunited, bash Blaaz with the sword until he regroups and the whole thing starts over again.  Hit Blaaz enough times and he goes out in a puff of smoke.  Your reward is the freedom of the Spirit of Power and, of course, a heart container.

According to Astrid there are three Spirits:  Power, Wisdom and Courage.  (familiar, much?)  All three must be located and their power drawn upon to reveal the location of the Ghost Ship.  Apparently there are also these tear drop things which can amplify the powers of each spirit.  I have seen a red one like the one you get on Ember Isle in Beedle's shop and another in the shop tent back on Mercay.  They were both really expensive, so I am guessing they are important.  More on that as I play along.

For now, though, it's back to Mercay Island so that the Old Man can tell us where to go next.  On the way back, I make another stop at Beedle's ship and pick up another ship part, a sickle anchor.  On Mercay Island there is a ship builder who can modify your ship (the same goes for the train in Spirit Tracks).  As you collect parts you can visit the builder to upgrade the ship.  Different parts bestow different benefits and if you use all of the parts from a given set you get an extra bonus.  If this is anything like the aforementioned train in Spirit Tracks, this will be a neat addition to the main game.

The Old Man suggests a return trip to the Temple of the Ocean King might help illuminate the next part of the adventure.  Linebeck accompanies for some reason (treasure he says).  Once inside, the Old Man appears and points Link to the pedestal on the second floor of the Temple.  There Link finds the gimmick object for the game: the Phantom Hourglass.  The glass has the power to protect Link from the pink fog in the temple that drains life, but only for a short time.  Once the sands have drained they must be recharged by the sun.  Thus, it must be used sparingly.  Having claimed the Hourglass, the secrets of the Temple can be revealed, slowly over the course of the adventure, that is.  And that's where I left things.  In the Temple, ready to explore the next level.

So far this seems like a pretty standard Zelda adventure.  It borrows much from Wind Waker, and I am hoping for more divergence in the adventure as the game progresses.  I'm in the minority that has no problem with the kid Link adventures or the cell shaded style they are done in.  All I really am looking for is a fun adventure with great puzzles and lots of action.

Follow Link and I through Hyrule after the JUMP!

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 After Party

The Big Wrap-Up!

Thank you to everyone for reading along this month as we have counted down (or up) the very best vertical shooting games for the Atari 2600.  The VCS is an incredible gaming console that gets pigeon-holed by its age and perceived limitations, but if this list shows us anything it is that pigeon-holing this system is extremely unjustified.  The games on this list demonstrate the versatility of the 2600 and its ability to showcase a variety of games within a well loved genre.  From simple games like Space Invaders and Galaxian to games as complex as Solaris, the VCS has the power to create an amazing arcade-worthy experience.  One of the greatest things about these kinds of projects is that it allows me to explore libraries of video games and discover incredible games I had never played or heard of before.  During this project, I discovered Glacier Patrol, Espial, and Guardian.  Three games I now need to add to my collection.  These projects also give me a chance to dust off a few games I haven't played in a while and give them another go.  Over the course of this project I have set six new personal best scores, many on games I don't play as much as I maybe should.  Creating this list has been a lot of fun for me, the Atari 2600 being one of my favorite video game console from childhood, and I hope that you have discovered some new games or maybe rediscovered some old favorites along the way.  Thank you to everyone for reading along.

For those of you late to the game, below is the complete list of The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600.  Rather than link them all here, you can find a handy-dandy listing on the right side of the blog.  You know, over there ----->
1. Beamrider (Activision)
2. Solaris (Atari)
3. Millipede (Atari)
4. Plaque Attack (Activision)
5. Fantastic Voyage (20th Century Fox)
6. Demon Attack (Imagic)
7. Astroblast (M-Network)
8. River Raid II (Activision)
9. Spy Hunter (SEGA)
10. Espial (Tigervision)
11. River Raid (Activision)
12. Megamania (Activision)
13. Phoenix (Atari)
14. Wabbit (Apollo)
15. Galaxian (Atari)
16. Centipede (Atari)
17. Shootin' Gallery (Imagic)
18. Deadly Duck (20th Century Fox)
19. Glacier Patrol (Telegames)
20. Guardian (Apollo)
21. Communist Mutants from Space (Starpath)
22. Space Invaders (Atari)
23. Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom (SEGA)
24. Zaxxon (Coleco)
25. Crackpots (Activision)
26. Carnival (Coleco)
27. Name this Game (US Games)
28. Threshold (Tigervision)
29. Spacechase (Apollo)
30. GORF (CBS Electronics)

And finally, because I am a bit of a dullard, I present you with the game that I forgot:

Worm War I
20th Century Fox

I cannot believe I forgot this guy.  He's not the greatest shooter out there, but he is most definitely a vertical shooter for the Atari 2600, the most basic criteria for this project!

In Worm War I, you wage war against giant worms in a tank as you traverse an endless field of colored blocks.  Yeah, that's about all the story the instruction manual gives you; don't accuse me of summarizing.  The playfield scrolls vertically as you march toward your Lumbricus terrestris foes and the blocks that make up your world.  Your tank is invulnerable except for its need for fuel.  Run out of it and you are dead in the water, game over.  As long as you can blast worms and blocks out of your way, you can virtually play forever.  Contacting worms or blocks severely drains your fuel so you must be careful.  Every so often a refueling pagoda (straight from the instructions) will show up.  If you shoot it you will lose the chance to refuel and everything on the screen, except you, you will be destroyed.  Bad idea, though, because you are going to need the fuel.  The worms come at you in increasing waves until you have faced six on-screen at the same time, then the game resets with deadlier worms and more blocks.  You can speed up your attack on the worms by pressing forward or slow down by pulling back on the controller.

Worm War I presents a decent challenge, but the only real difficulty comes in not shooting your fuel pagodas and not scrolling too quickly so that worms and blocks are on you before you can blast them.  I've not been playing the game terribly long, but I can already see that the difficulty maxes rather early in the game.  There is a variation where the worms are only visible for a brief time, and while that adds some definite challenge, that is not the main game they give you.

Had I been more attentive, I blame the late placement in the alphabet and the fairly bland name, I probably would have ranked this game somewhere in the low twenties or late teens.  The concept is interesting and the challenge is there, if a bit minimized.  The game looks ok, the worm effect is nice, but the sounds are dreadfully reminiscent of Pac-man (shudder).  My main issue is with the lack of vision.  The base game is good, but it lacks any kind of depth and the difficulty maxes too quickly to have much replayability.

Worm War I is a decent game, but ultimately pretty unspectacular.

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #1

Beamrider
Activision

This is it.  The absolute best vertical shooter for the Atari 2600 and that is not faint praise.  Beamrider simply is the best.  It has it all.  Incredible graphics, arcade grade sound effects, addictive game play, tons of variety and more challenge than you could ever really want.

Beamrider is such a simple game and yet as you play, it unfolds this maddeningly intricate plot of game play elements that takes you from simple vertical shooting to a fight for survival.  Don't fret, however, because Beamrider increases in difficulty with absolute precision.  Each time you feel like you have the hang of things and that you have adjusted to the new game play elements, the game introduces something new and completely unique to throw you right back off track again.

The base mission is simple, ride a grid (that beautifully disappears into the background forcing a 3D perspective) and eliminate waves of enemy targets that race the grid along with you.  After each wave is defeated, you use your super weapon to take out the mothership.  Early on, that's all you have to do and that is plenty.  But soon, new obstacles and enemies appear.  Rocks manifest on the grid and will destroy you upon contact.  Enemy squatters appear and, if not blasted, will sit on a line of the grid for several seconds blocking your movement.  There are obstacles that move from line to line on the grid in sequential pattern forcing you to move around constantly.  Other obstacles will seek you out and zoom at you along whatever line you are on.  And many more!

Beamrider just keeps throwing new stuff at you until the grid is so busy you spend less time shooting targets and more time just trying to stay alive by constantly moving along the grid.  Finding a safe spot can sometimes be impossible!  The good news is that the game gives you an ample supply of extra lives to keep your game going...if you can catch them.  Once per level an extra life will come zooming down the grid.  If you blast it, it turns to sludge and can kill you, but if you catch it, you are golden.  Even more so, because you are awarded bonus points at the end of each stage where you successfully blast the mothership for each life you have in reserve.  Sweet...if you can catch them.

Beamrider gives you a fighting chance to keep your game going, all the while tossing greater and greater challenges at you.  And the synthesis of this is a game that is endless amounts of fun.  There is so much variety in the game play and the challenge is crafted at such a high level the game is infinitely replayable.  The only real frustration comes from having to start over after reaching a higher level.  But once you realize that those early levels are important for stacking up extra lives and bonus points, the frustration becomes fun again.

Beamrider delivers on all fronts.  It is the obvious choice for the top spot on this list.  When building the list, I put it in the top 5 right away and the more I played these games for research, the more it became clear that this game offered everything you could possibly want in a vertical shooter and more.  It elevates the base game play, it provides lots of challenge, it perfectly balances the frustration/fun factor, it looks and sounds great, and plays fair even as it becomes insanely difficult.

Simply put, you will not find a better vertical shooter for the Atari 2600.  So sayeth I.

My Top Beamrider Score: 76,714  Sector 22  (a record I set last night!!)

But wait, there's more!  Come back and check us out tomorrow for the wrap up party and find out what game I missed!

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #2

Solaris
Atari

This is hardly fair.  Solaris is pretty much an NES game. It is so huge and so complex that it was borderline disqualified for this list.  But at its heart, it is a vertical shooter.  The basic game play consists of moving horizontally and shooting vertically at targets.  Yet, Solaris has so much more.  So much more.


Solaris puts you in command of a lone space ship which is tasked with reaching the distant planet of Solaris.  Doing so will require nothing short of a miracle and perfect vertical shooting skills.  I kid you not.  In many ways Solaris is a very nice collection of increasingly difficult vertical shooting mini-games.  These mini-games are linked together by a gigantic map that is much like the video equivalent of a board game board.  You move across the board by traveling through squares (quadrants).  Some squares contain encounters with enemy fleets, some require you to travel across enemy planets, while others give you a chance to refuel and repair your ship.  You'll need to keep your eye on your fuel supply and enemies can knock out your radar making you very vulnerable.  There are even squares that allow you to advance further in the game via wormhole.

That's the frame game, but the mini-games are where your Solaris adventure plays out. Many of the mini-games pit you in direct battle with enemy spaceships and their motherships.  The hardest of these games puts you up against the deadly Cobra fleet who kill with a single hit and can dodge your shots with deft maneuvers.  Other mini-games ask you to navigate a mine field or traverse an enemy planet to take it out of commission.  Occasionally the enemy fleet (also moving across the game board as the CPU player 2) will attack a friendly planet.  When this happens you have to remove the enemy presence from the planet. Failure to do so will cause reverse controls in the entire quadrant.  That is a very bad thing.

I was transfixed by Solaris as a kid.  It showed up toward the very end of the Atari 2600's life and it absolutely blew my mind. I spent hours playing it, desperate to reach that mythical planet.  To this day I have only made it a bit past halfway, but I love to keep trying.  Solaris still impresses me.  The VCS really shouldn't be capable of doing what Solaris does.  The VCS is the system that brings us Space War, not Solaris.  And yet here it is.  Perhaps one of the best games for the VCS period, much less one of the best vertical shooters.

Solaris is impressive because of the complexity of the game play, the depth of the game design and the excellence of the execution of both.  Solaris is #2 on this list because it boasts some amazing vertical shooting games with brilliantly increasing difficulty.  The same shooting game you play in the first quadrant and win fairly easily, will hand you your ass in the later quadrants of the game because the difficulty increases smartly as you progress in the game.  The game is hard, but it is fair.  This is the kind of game where the more you play and learn the game, the better you will get.

Don't be fooled, that's just the Star Raiders box art reused.  Atari got cheap toward the end.

Solaris is fun, not frustrating.  It is a dazzling achievement on the VCS and there is only one vertical shooter better than it for the system.  Come back tomorrow and see what it is.

My Top Solaris Score: 164,360

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #3

Millipede
Atari

Insanity.  Millipede is distilled insanity in a video game.  Compared to it, Centipede feels like a child's game.  There are so many things happening at once on the screen that it is literally impossible to keep track of it all.  The best you can do is to keep moving and keep shooting and hope you last long enough to earn another life.  It is absolutely absurd that a game this frenetic can also be this incredibly fun.

Millipede is, at its heart, just Centipede with more going on.  In addition to the millipede that marches across the mushroom field, you'll be joined by spiders, beetles, inchworms, mosquitoes, bees, dragonflies, and earwigs.  Sheesh!  Furthermore, each pest does something different and some can even help you live longer.  The inchworm, for instance, will slow down time temporarily when you shoot it.  This has obvious benefits, but is actually one of the most important helpers in the game.  Mosquitoes will help scroll the screen up and clear some of the mushroom field.

Another innovation that sets Millipede apart is the intermission waves.  After successfully destroying a millipede you are regularly treated to a swarm of some other kind of pest.  This swarm rains down upon you and can be shot for mega bonus points, but you have to be careful because they come at you quickly and can easily overwhelm.  With the right swarm of pests you can rack up major points, clear the screen of mushrooms and even score an extra life.

This all sounds well and good, but the game speed in Millipede is dazzling.  The game starts out with a fast pace and then rapidly ramps to madness speed.  This sounds like it would make the game infinitely frustrating, but somehow the balance of challenge and fun is just right.  You'll most likely die quickly your first several games of Millipede, but the thrill of the action will bring you right back for one more game, time and again.

Millipede is pure action.  You will not find a vertical shooter for the Atari 2600 with faster-paced, frantic action.  I was initially intimidated by Millipede's blazing game speed and level of challenge, but after a few games I settled right in and now it is a must play for me anytime I'm looking for some shootin' action!

My Top Millipede Score: 111,262

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #4

Plaque Attack
Activision

Love vertical shooters, but are a bit bored with the genre?  Plaque Attack is the answer.  The very best non-traditional shooter on this list, Plaque Attack takes the standard vertical shooter format and turns it upside down, literally.

Non-traditional shooters are great because they open the format to all kinds of new possibilities.  Blasting aliens and space ships is fun, but can feel a bit confining.  Then a game like Plaque Attack comes along and breathes new life into the genre.  And who better to bring you such a game than Activision.

Plaque Attack pits you, a tube of toothpaste, in defense of a mouthful of healthy teeth.  Your enemies, all of the evil cavity causing foods that are so wonderfully delicious.  To stop these delightful delicacies from rotting away the chompers, you'll have to blast them with your toothpaste.  Don't fire indiscriminately however, as you are only as strong as your tube lasts.  The more you shoot, the more your tube rolls up.  When you run out of paste you lose a life.  The various foods will march in and attack the teeth. If they touch a tooth, it will begin to rot.  You can still shoot the food and stop the decay, but hesitate and the tooth will be lost.  Fear not, you can earn extra teeth in defiance of nature and replace teeth that are lost. You can even stockpile reserve teeth (we'll call them wisdom teeth) for replacement later.

The food zooms in from either above or below alternately and attacks the teeth.  All you have to do is blast it away before you end up with an empty set of gums.  Sounds pretty easy, but Activision pulled out all of the stops in terms of difficulty for this one.  You will do pretty well for some time, but then the game speed ramps and ramps quickly.  Before you know it, food will come flying by faster that you can react and you'll find yourself guarding one last tooth hoping against all hope that you can last long enough to get a reserve tooth.  But you can only hold out for so long.  Eventually, you will lose that tooth.

Plaque Attack is great because it challenges even the best gamer's reflexes and hand-eye coordination.  You can get really good at Plaque Attack and still get crushed in a single round of flying cheeseburgers.  The game is hard, but never really frustrating and therefore extremely replayable.

I love Plaque Attack for being such an oddball concept and for being so challenging.  It is truly one of the best vertical shooters for the Atari 2600, but is often overlooked.

My Top Plaque Attack Score: 59,800

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #5

Fantastic Voyage
20th Century Fox

You want a vertical shooter that has it all, this is your game.  A lot of people probably have no idea what this game is or even that it exists, but it sits there quietly being one of the best vertical shooters for the VCS.

Fantastic Voyage is loosely based on the film of the same name wherein a team of sailors are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into a human patient to relieve a blood clot in the patient's brain.  By the same token in this game you take command of the microscopic submarine in the bloodstream fighting your way to the blood clot(s) and ultimately saving the patient.  You'll have to navigate the bloodstream, blasting dangerous elements like bacteria, avoiding helpful agents like blood cells, and trying to keep the patient alive long enough to blast the blood clot.

What's great about Fantastic Voyage is the variety of challenges you face in the course of the game.  First you have to navigate the blood stream successfully.  Touching the walls or anything else in the bloodstream will cause the patient distress and increase the heart rate which is essentially your HP meter.  If the patient's heart rate gets too high the patient will flat line and die and your mission will be over.  As long as you can keep the patient's heart rate low, you will keep playing, no matter how many hits you take to your submarine (obviously you cannot take too many or it is game over anyway).  So you have to be extremely careful just moving around.

You'll be pressed into action pretty quickly as bloodstream elements appear ahead of you.  The diversity of elements in the bloodstream is impressive.  You'll have to shoot out deadly bacteria (which take three hits to kill), defense cells that launch from the walls, and anti-bodies which are sent out to destroy you if you touch the walls.  You must shoot these things for if they pass you by, the patient's heart rate will spike.  Not all targets must be shot, however.  A couple must be avoided entirely.  Blood Cells can be shot, but they are helpful to the patient, so taking them out will mean a quick end to your game.  Blood Clotlets will start appearing as you near the clot itself and are indestructible.  You'll need to avoid them entirely.  This is extra difficult because the artery narrows as you approach the clot.  The Clot itself takes 15 hits to destroy.  With the clot gone, the patient is saved and you can move on to other patients with the exact same problem.  Along the way you can restore the patient's stamina by shooting enzymes that appear.

That's quite a challenge you've got there and once you get pretty good at that, the game gets faster and the patient's tolerance for trauma is greatly diminished.

Fantastic Voyage features minimalist graphics, but the various sprites are well rendered and the game is full of color.  None of that will matter when you are zooming down an artery shooting bacteria while dodging blood cells and praying for enzymes as the walls close in on you.

This is a truly great vertical shooting game.  It has fast-paced action, numerous game play elements that increase the level of challenge, and an interesting concept that elevates it above the basic vertical shooter format.  If you have not played Fantastic Voyage, I highly recommend it, but be ready for a challenge.  I always look forward to taking another trip into the bloodstream.

My Top Fantastic Voyage Score: 253,342