A look at Krull from Atari (Atari 2600)

Happy 2026 everyone! In my first blog post of the new year, we head back to the early days of movie-video game adaptions to look at the 1983 release Krull for the Atari 2600. The 1983 Sci-Fi adventure movie of the same name concerns a prince named Colwyn (Ken Marshall) and a princess named Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) who were to be married in an alliance against an alien beast threatening their small world of Krull. However, hordes of the beast's unstoppable warriors known as Slayers kidnap the fair princess and whisk her away to the evil creature's Black Fortress. And it is up to the brave Colwyn and his group to undertake a seemingly suicidal rescue mission in order to save the planet. Exciting indeed! Now let's take a look at the game.

The wedding of Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa is rudely interrupted by slayers

The game consists of four screens, the first of which is the aforementioned wedding between your character Colwyn and the princess. After a very brief snippet of "Here Comes the Bride" music, the slayers descend from the top of the screen aiming to capture Lyssa who is below. One leading slayer at a time will display a bright weapon called a Neon Spear, which means death for you (the loss of a life) if touched. To kill the slayers, simply run into them, while avoiding making contact with a spear (whether still being held or thrown). This is by far the easiest and most straightforward of the screens, and I've found the best strategy for racking up points is to zip around eliminating all the slayers not carrying spears, then quickly taking out the remaining one as soon as the spear is thrown. However, even if one plays well here, the enemies will eventually get past you, capture the princess, and take her away to the beast's lair. Onward!

On the next screen you'll travel across the Iron Desert riding a Fire Mare in your quest to rescue your beloved Lyssa. As you traverse the territory, extra lives and / or glaives will appear on the terrain below. And when either is directly below you, they will flash momentarily. Here you must quickly push the controller button in order to pick them up. Picking up an extra life will add it to your count, and picking up glaives is essential in order to have the weapon necessary to defeat the beast in The Black Fortress. The very first time the Iron Desert screen appears, you're riding slowly, and it's not that difficult to pick up whatever appears. However, in subsequent screens the Fire Mares ride at a quick pace, and so far, I've found it to be rather difficult to snag the needed lives and weapons. I often think I'm hitting the button precisely when the objects flash, but nevertheless tend to miss most of them. I'm guessing this is a timing thing that I'll get the hang of as I play more, and soon instinctively know how to successfully pick up more of these essentials. But we'll see...

You are Prince Colwyn riding a Fire Mare through the Iron Desert in Atari's Krull

After your long trek through the desert (which actually goes quite quickly), you'll arrive at the Widow of the Web. This screen consists of a giant, moving spider web with a lethal arachnid walking about, and a cocoon (which looks like a white door) on the top of it. Your task is to jump over strands of the sticky web and make it to the cocoon, in order to learn the location of the Black Forest. A flashing indicator will appear when you make it to the top, revealing which way to move off the screen to proceed on your mission. (The indicator disappears when you move off the cocoon). But this must be done in a limited amount of time, before the sun sets, and before the hourglass indicator runs out and the killer spider makes a beeline towards you. Of the four screens, I've found this one to be the most difficult and frustrating, primarily because each jump and movement must be incredibly precise, otherwise you'll find yourself being endlessly stuck and/or pushed backwards. So far, I've struggled to make it to the top, even in earlier, slower stages, and often gotten endlessly stuck in the web once up there. In fact, several times, my prince has been stuck for so long, I've forgotten where the correct passageway is by the time I'm finally free of the web. It's also worth mentioning that, even having read the instructions, it was initially unclear what the "correct passageway" meant. Through trial and error, I finally realized it meant moving my man right across what looks like strands of web and off the screen where the flashing indicator appears. I think this could have been better articulated, since my natural inclination was to move through the clear spaces between the web strands because they more resemble a "passageway".

The nifty Krull box art

Upon leaving the Widow of the Web, you'll traverse the Iron Desert and hopefully pick up extra lives and / or glaives along the way. Then, if you've correctly identified the path to The Black Fortress in the time allotted, you'll battle the Beast. If not, you're sent riding back to the web minus one life or (if no lives remain) one glaive. The Beast moves back and forth, guarding a prison holding the captured princess. You must have a glaive to fight it, and the weapon is activated by pressing the joystick fire button and thrown by releasing it. It can be guided on the way to the wall by moving the controller and must be caught on the way back. Each time the glaive hits the wall a brick is removed (similar to Atari's classic Breakout), while your weapon is lost if it hits the beast or you fail to catch it upon return. If there are no more glaives, you must make a hasty retreat out the left or right side of the screen. Then it's back across the Iron Desert and to the web yet again. If, on the other hand, a hole is made in the wall, the princess will be released and turned into a deadly weapon which will destroy the Beast. And Krull will have been saved, at least until the game begins again at a faster, more difficult pace.

Destroying the Beast is a bit easier than the web or riding stages, and is mostly a matter of learning and / or anticipating the enemy movements in order to keep your glaives. I've found it's better to be strategic and concentrate on punching a hole in one section of the wall, rather than firing haphazardly as fast as possible and quickly losing glaives blocked by the Beast. Put another way, patience is key. And, I might note, The Beast itself is rather blobby and non-descript looking, reminding me a bit of the ape in the 2600 version of Donkey Kong. I would have liked to have seen a bit more definition here, although this is just a minor complaint.

I've dedicated an abundance of text describing gameplay in this post, due to the fact that Krull has a lot going on in each of its various stages. And this is a good thing which adds to the appeal and challenge of the game. And challenge really is the key word with Krull, because with the exception of the wedding stage, which is merely a matter of accumulating as many points as possible while avoiding making careless mistakes, the other stages are all heavily intertwined and dependent on one another. And mastering very detailed movements and skills (such as the web jumps) determines how well one does in terms of both getting to the next level and racking up higher scores. That is to say, it's not a game one can get a complete handle on after just a couple play throughs. At least, it hasn't been for me since I began playing. So, it may turn off some players who aren't willing to put in a bit of extra effort to get past what often seem like overly difficult spots in the game. But for those willing to keep at it, Krull presents some unique challenges that are satisfying when finally mastered. All in all, it's a well-made adventure game with mostly adequate graphics, inspired by a uniquely 1980's piece of fantastical cinema. As Prince Colwyn famously said, "The reward is freedom... and fame!"

A look at Bank Heist from 20th Century Fox Games of the Century (Atari 2600)

20th Century Fox produced a number of interesting titles for the Atari 2600 in their "Games of the Century" line during the early 1980's. And in November of last year, I looked at the fast-paced Beany Bopper, where the objective is to stop those "meany beanies from buzzing the city". This month I'll be discussing their 1983 release Bank Heist, a game that doesn't feel quite as frantic when compared to bopping beanies but nevertheless offers enough of a challenge to keep it interesting. 

Bank Heist is a maze game designed by Bill Aspromonte where you control a getaway car driving through various cities robbing banks for cash. (Why else would a thief rob a bank after all)? Four different cities are represented by mazes of different configurations, with all having two passageways on both the left and right side of the screen. Three of these are wraparound tunnels which simply bring your car to the opposite side of the screen, while the final tunnel (the one on the upper right) is an exit to the next town. When you rob a bank by running over it, you're awarded points, but a cop car also appears and begins pursuit. To disable them, your car can drop a stick of dynamite out of the back tailpipe. And once a police car is disabled, a new bank appears ripe for robbing. Up to three banks can be on screen at a time, as can three pursuing police cars. In addition, your car burns gas as time goes by, and as a result of dropping dynamite. If you run out of gas, are caught, or blow yourself up accidentally you'll lose a getaway car. If you can rob nine banks in a town, you're awarded an extra car upon leaving the town. After the four cities have been cleared, you'll loop back to the first city, but the pace of the game quickens. The objective of the game is to get as high a money score as possible before running out of getaway cars.

Bank Heist is a game where mazes represent cities full of banks to be robbed

Upon first look, Bank Heist is a straightforward maze game that harkens back to the early Atari 2600 release Maze Craze (which was billed as "A Game of Cops 'n Robbers"), as well as having some things in common with Pac-Man and other games like it. However, there are many enjoyable Pac-Man clones, so similarities like the wraparound tunnels aren't necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, I found Bank Heist to be a lot of fun and noticed the game does have its own unique style. So put on your pin-striped suit, hop in your antique car and read on to learn more...

The first plus is that Bank Heist doesn't have an overly steep learning curve, except for getting the hang of when to drop the dynamite sticks, which makes playing it enjoyable fairly quickly. Basically, in the beginning stages, when the pace is slower (I played on the easier difficulty level), the trick is to let the cop cars get fairly close to you before dropping the explosive. And only in later stages, when things have sped up quite a bit, should they be dropped a bit further ahead of time (but still not way ahead). It also takes a bit of practice to get out of the habit of making any abrupt about-face turns that result in your car running into the dynamite which was just dropped. That factor differs from many other maze games where the only danger in such turns is the possibility of running into a pursuer. And speaking of turns, making them accurately (even with the trusted Atari 2600 joystick) in the somewhat complex mazes can get very challenging as the pace quickens. And the better one is at it, the higher the score. Indeed, my latest high-score run ended primarily from losing getaway cars due to missing crucial turns.

The colorful box and cartridge art for Bank Heist

The graphics and sounds in the game are fine, and what one might expect from an Atari 2600 title of this era, with the siren sound of the cop cars adding to the anxious feeling of being chased. But the real challenge is balancing the quest to rack up points in each maze with eliminating the threat of running out of gas by quickly moving on to the next city. While it's fairly easy to rob the nine banks required for an extra getaway car, it's also desirable (especially in the early stages) to stay as long in each city as possible and rob additional banks which become worth the maximum 90 points each. And doing this to best effect before the gas gauge depletes requires mastering several things, such as the aforementioned skill in making turns, learning to use the tunnels to save time, memorizing where the banks appear (on the right difficulty switch B setting only) and of course being adept at using the explosives. All of this makes for some challenging gameplay.

Another Bank Heist screen (showing my current high-score)

Though not completely original, Bank Heist has just enough going for it to offer some fun, challenging gameplay. This is due mainly to the fact that with each game it's possible to get a little better at one or more of the aforementioned crucial aspects and inch up that high-score. Also, playing a bank robber being chased by the police (as opposed to the reverse) is a neat plot device which adds to the fun. So, while I doubt this title will ever make my top ten list, it's an enjoyable Atari 2600 game which I recommend.

A look at the Atari 2600/7800 visual compendium (book)

As mentioned in my very first For the Love of Atari blog post, Tim Lapetino's book Art of Atari rekindled my interest in the consoles and games from the classic company. His most excellent hardcover tells many stories of the unsung graphic artists who were responsible for some of the most iconic and memorable Atari artwork of years past. And like that book, the Atari 2600/7800 visual compendium (which only recently came back into print) is a must-read for any Atari fan.

The first section in this 528-page volume from Bitmap Books gives an extensive history of the company, detailing its inception all the way through to the "New Atari" of today. Along the way we learn about the many different people involved, from founder Nolan Bushnell to Ray Kassar, to the talented Atari programmers who would leave to form the first-ever third-party competitor Activision. And of course, there is much discussion about the development of two of Atari's most classic consoles, namely the 2600 VCS and the 7800 Pro System. Also discussed are technical and aesthetic details of these systems, release dates, marketing considerations, competitors, sales performance and much, much more. I've always found the story of this company, with its various ups and downs over the decades, to be fascinating. And although this information is available in pieces through many sources, both in print and online, having it here all in one place with such detailed discussion is great. This alone is worth the price of this fact-packed hardcover.

The Atari 2600/7800 visual compendium

The book also spotlights numerous notable games for both the 2600 VCS and the 7800 Pro System. Each title is featured in a colorful two-page layout with a screenshot showing what the game looks like along with information on the platform, release date, genre and publisher. And the folks writing about the various titles include games journalists, designers and programmers. I really liked these short write-ups which provide a nostalgic reminiscing on these classic games from Atari and various third-party companies. And additionally, there is also a section featuring some of the best cover artwork on video game boxes for both systems. These pages show photos of many memorable 2600 and 7800 video game boxes, with the text speaking about the mechanics of each game and the way the impressive cover art relates to it. Indeed, as is pointed out at the beginning of the section, at a time when game visuals were often fairly basic, it fell to the cover art to appeal to prospective players. And the folks who created these designs definitely delivered.

The colorful graphics of Yars' Revenge

The box art for Atari 2600 Space Invaders

Another impressive part of this book is the information provided through interviews with some true retrogaming luminaries including Dan Kitchen, Carol Shaw and Howard Scott Warshaw, among others. These folks give some truly unique perspectives into the state of the burgeoning video game industry at the time, as well as on their own significant contributions to it. And the conversations are all quite good, providing interesting stories and insights into how they started in the industry, their memories of working on early video games, and discussions of where their professional lives took them as the years went on. I found these interviews to be informative and enjoyable, to say the least.

The Atari 2600/7800 visual compendium includes a section on homebrew games

And finally, this compendium also contains sections on prototypes and homebrew games. The prototypes section has a lengthy listing of titles and some nice photos of the game screens, along with platform, genre and developer credits for each. Some titles receive a bit of informative discussion, while others simply get a small photo with the credits, presumably because more details are available about some of these prototypes than others. I have to admit, the only one I've played (as of yet) is Save Mary, which I found to be a lot of fun. But after reading about some of the others, I may seek out more of the ones that are available.

And I'm also still relatively new to homebrews, having collected only a small number of Atari 2600 releases (mostly from Champ Games) over the past few years. (See several of my past posts about some of those homebrews). But some of the titles for that system and the 7800 detailed here look quite impressive and only fueled my interest in perhaps looking into purchasing other games. Like the prototypes section some titles simply get a photo along with basic credits, while others get more coverage. Either way, it's a nice addition to this impressive book.

The Atari 2600/7800 visual compendium is just that - a visual, comprehensive guide that walks the reader through the fascinating history of Atari and their classic games and systems from the inception of the company to modern day. Packed with insightful information and brimming with colorful visuals, it's a must-read for any retrogaming enthusiast. Highly recommended.

A look at Subterranea from Imagic (Atari 2600)

The 1983 space shooter Subterranea is a hidden gem from an Atari 2600 third-party publisher that arguably released several of the most memorable titles during the heyday of the classic console. Imagic of course followed closely behind Activision (the first third-party publisher) in competing against Atari's own games and is best known for classic hits like Demon Attack and Atlantis, among others. Both of these well-known space shooters have solid, addicting gameplay, and the same can be said for Subterranea. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at this lesser-known game.

Subterranea is a horizontally scrolling space shooter similar to the arcade (and Atari 2600) classic defender, where your ship (called a ranger in the instructions) has the freedom of movement to travel and fire in either direction on the screen. And holding the joystick button down produces rapid-fire. The action starts as the monstrous Hexuplex, a spider-looking creature which guards the dark tunnels below, unleashes lethal Aerobots upwards to try and collide with you. As the beastie slides back and forth, the challenge is to anticipate when it will release these tracking projectiles so you're far enough away to maneuver and destroy them before they destroy you. This can get quite tricky considering how relatively close you are to the Hexuplex, and often requires quickly zipping to the opposite side of the screen, turning and blasting away before it's too late. It's engaging gameplay right from the start.

The monstrous Hexuplex releases Aerobots which you must destroy!

After destroying all the Aerobots a sparkling crystal appears on the bottom of the screen, which when picked up increases your point score and opens a tunnel that you descend through to the underworld. You'll then face more flying attackers, some of which (in later levels) can fire at you, that must also be destroyed. These enemies appear on either side of the screen and move horizontally. Destroying all attackers in a wave without being hit earns another ship. I find the best strategy here is to get behind them as they are exiting the screen and then shoot, thereby taking away the risk of a collision or being blasted (since they only fire forward). This gets more important as the skill levels increase, because the enemies often fire immediately as they appear on the screen, leaving little time for reaction. It should also be noted that touching the sides of the tunnels decreases your score more and more the longer the contact continues, while touching a skull costs a life. Conversely, if you're good enough to clear a wave of enemies without being hit, you're awarded a bonus ranger (up to a maximum of seven). Like the opening action, these battles are engaging and require getting a feel for the best way to deal with the different foes. 

After defeating all enemies in a tunnel, you'll encounter the Electro-Gates, which are narrow passageways with flash pulses you must descend through in order to advance to another tunnel. This is a matter of timing, which means waiting for each pulse to appear and disappear, then inching your ship past it to the next pulse, and so on until all are cleared. Unlike the frantic space battles, this requires precise, nuanced movements of the joystick which takes some getting used to. And it's also an exercise in tension, because touching the Electro-Gates or a flash pulse puts you back to the beginning again. And after three failed attempts you're sent back to the previous tunnel which must be replayed with no points awarded for destroying enemies. Conversely, taking too much time to descend through the Electro-Gates costs points. I think the cool thing about this stage is how the game shifts abruptly from fast-paced battle action to concentrated, calculated maneuvers. It's a very nice touch.

Your ranger must descend through the Electro-Gates in order to advance further

Following successful completion of the bottom tunnel, you fly through a transit port and enter another big cavern where... the Hexuplex is back! And now it's unleashing faster and smarter Aerobots at you! And the whole adventure starts all over again at a higher skill level. As the instruction manual says, "try to capture another crystal!"

Subterranea box art, featuring Imagic's distinctive silver and red coloring

Subterranea is a fun space shooter from a company known for some excellent space shooters, such as the titles mentioned above. Those two games put Imagic on the map and are still among my favorite Atari 2600 titles to this day. And this game is arguably even more accomplished, given its multiple screens, varying gameplay and different types of enemies. It's also got decent graphics and sounds, with a gradually increasing difficulty that will leave retro gamers eager to play again to top that current high score. Highly recommended.

A look at Name This Game from U.S. Games (Atari 2600)

In the history of classic video game consoles and what is today called retrogaming, there are certain things that have become the stuff of lore and legends. And of course, because of the internet and modern instant communication, this lore can now be read and learned about very easily. For example, the religious-themed video game Red Sea Crossing, which was sold only via mail order in 1983, is widely regarded as one of the rarest Atari 2600 games. Another rarity from 1983 is Pepsi Invaders, a modified version of Atari 2600 Space Invaders, which the company made exclusively for Coca-Cola to give out to their salespeople at a yearly convention. And a third example, also involving extremely limited production of a game cartridge, was a contest Imagic held in 1982 where top players competed in Bermuda on a modified version of their hit game Atlantis (on specially made "Atlantis II" cartridges).

Another contest, this one planned by Atari 2600 third-party publisher U.S. Games (a subsidiary of the Quaker Oats Company, no less), would have awarded a cash prize to the person who came up with the best name for their title Name This Game and Win $10,000. However, that never happened because the company went out of business first. Compared to the previous examples, this nixed competition probably isn't as legendary in retrogaming history. But the game in question, usually titled Name This Game, is a heck of a lot of fun and what I'll be discussing here.

Print Ad - Name This Game and win $10,000!

In Name This Game you are an intrepid diver who has discovered sunken treasure in the ocean. But instead of celebrating, you find yourself having to fight off a hungry shark and a curious octopus, while at the same time making sure to keep an eye on your air supply. Fortunately, your buddy in a boat on the surface assists with that breathing challenge by dropping you a line to fill up. That is if you can catch it!

First, the graphics in Name This Game look pretty good. Your diver in green with his little spear gun, a toothy gray shark, smiling black octopus, and your buddy in the boat with his hair blowing in the wind are all well-defined. The blips and bleeps sounds are what you'd expect from an Atari 2600 title of this era, but it's the gameplay that really shines. On the average skill level, the challenge starts out manageable enough, allowing new players to ease into the action and get a feel for the game while keeping the dangers at bay. And as the manual hints, a good strategy for racking up points on the early levels is to let the shark get down the screen close to your diver before blasting him. This makes the toothy menace worth more points, as well as allowing you to start to anticipate the increase in speed as it gets nearer. 

Fighting to hold onto undersea treasure in Name This Game from U.S. Games

As the speed of the game picks up, so does the fun. It's satisfying to work at the strategy of staying under your pal's boat as much as possible (for air), while fighting off the undersea menaces. This involves picking off the shark high up on the screen, while constantly blasting back the octopus tentacles. This latter point may well be where the real challenge lies, because as the tentacles start both wiggling around and descending faster, they're harder to hit. I've found myself losing lives quite frequently when the octopus tentacles reach the bottom of the screen and everything goes black. 

A boxed version of Name This Game from U.S. Games

Name This Game is a simple title with a low learning curve which makes it fun and engaging on the first play. It's also a game that encourages players to focus on strategy (for example, the aforementioned staying under the boat) in order to increase high scores. It will prompt you to hit that reset button often and is therefore highly recommended.

The joys of physical media and classic Atari 2600 box art

Having grown up during the heyday of the Atari 2600, I remember fondly the excitement of going to the store to buy a new game cartridge. There were many specialty and department stores that sold them (including Sears, which sold the Tele-Games versions of Atari cartridges), but my favorite retailer was undoubtedly Toys 'R' Us. This toy store had a ticketing system which made the whole experience that much more exciting. The game boxes were on display on a wall, and underneath each were tickets you took to the cashier, who would then get the game from a locked glass case. And finally, you could pay for it. How thrilling that was for a kid!

Buying a new Atari 2600 cartridge was also exciting partially because of the longing to play whatever new title I had my eye on, and partially because the packaging was just so darn cool (visually appealing). Of course, this started with the colored boxes, as well as the amazing artwork which was also duplicated on the cartridge label. Yes, the artists behind this Atari artwork, and those behind some third-party artwork as well, created some truly stunning imagery. (For those interested in reading about some of these amazing graphic artists, I highly recommend Tim Lapetino's excellent coffee table book Art of Atari). And the box art is also part of what makes collecting Complete in Box (CIB) Atari 2600 games fun today as well.

And with that nostalgia fresh in mind, here are just a handful of my favorite Atari 2600 game boxes:

Dodge 'Em from Atari (1980)

In this game you control a race car in a closed maze. The objective is to drive over all the dots to score points and finish the maze, while avoiding an opposing car trying to collide with you. The splendid, highly detailed box artwork portrays a well-dressed man and woman driving in an old-fashioned car at presumably high speed, narrowly avoiding another driver with dust whipping through the air.

Dolphin from Activision (1983)

You control a dolphin pursued by a persistent and nasty squid in this side-scrolling game (see my May 2025 post). Like most early Activision titles, the box art features a variation on the company's signature Rainbow design. Here those colors are part of the dolphin and the water splashing up above the sinister squid lurking below the surface.

Enduro from Activision (1983)

In Activision's fine racing game Enduro (also released in 1983), the goal is to beat the clock to keep on driving. I like how the Rainbow colors on this box art are part of the road, and also part of the folded road going off into the distance. It's quite an impressive and interesting design.

Outlaw from Atari (1978)

Based on the arcade game of the same name, the (appropriately colored) brown box features fine Old West images that nicely portray that long-ago time in history.

Riddle of the Sphinx from Imagic (1982)

There was never any mistaking the signature silver-chrome color scheme of Imagic's box art which definitely made their releases stand out. The art for this vertically scrolling adventure game features the titular title character, pyramids and hieroglyphics, which together make for some appealing imagery.

Space Cavern from Games By Apollo (1982)

You control an intrepid explorer who has landed on a foreign planet inhabited by deadly creatures in this fun space shooter (see my May 2024 post). Simply put, I always loved the cool red beastie featured prominently in this artwork. Watch your back or you'll be zapped and turn into a glowing skeleton!

Super Breakout from Atari (1982 / 1981 Sears Tele-Games)

The box art for Atari's classic Super Breakout is both futuristic and colorful, with one astronaut looking pensively through his space helmet while another swings at colored bricks in deep space. Highly impressive.

Space Invaders from Atari (1980)

Any list of iconic Atari 2600 box art wouldn't be complete without including their "killer app" game Space Invaders. Simple and effective, this artwork perfectly depicts what would immediately come to mind if someone said, "alien invasion".

This is of course not an exhaustive list. There are many incredible box designs for many equally incredible Atari 2600 games. And of course, everyone has their favorites. Hopefully you've enjoyed perusing some of mine.

A look at Planet Patrol from Spectravision (Atari 2600)

In this post I take a look at the 1982 space shooter Planet Patrol from Spectravision (also known as Spectra Video, Inc.), another third-party developer of games for the Atari 2600 during the early 1980's. The company produced eleven Atari 2600 titles in those years, among them some rarities such as the mail-order only game Chase the Chuck Wagon. They also made games for the VIC-20 home computer and later went on to introduce their own line of computers before going defunct in 1988.

Planet Patrol is a horizonal space shooter in the vein of such titles as Defender and Chopper Command. However, unlike those games where there is more freedom of movement around the screen, here your spaceship simply flies (points) right to left, and can only move up and down. The backstory in the instruction manual is a variation on a familiar tale, with you as a pilot being called up from leave to battle enemies who have invaded a planet. In this case it is the planet SPECTRA in SECTOR "S" GALAXY. You must destroy drone missiles being fired at you, avoid indestructible heat seeking torpedoes, rescue stranded pilots, destroy enemy bases, and refuel to keep on flying. All of this takes place above the planet surface, with a skyline and shapes that vaguely resemble buildings seen in the background.

Missiles and torpedoes attack in Planet Patrol from Spectravision!

The graphics and sounds in Planet Patrol are best described as ordinary. The drone missiles (which I think of as spaceships) look okay, as do the torpedoes and enemy bases, but they certainly don't "pop" on screen like in some colorful Atari 2600 space shooters - for example the Imagic classics Demon Attack and Atlantis. And the planet surface is a dull, greenish-yellow color, although this may vary depending on the monitor, given that the instruction manual shows it as orange. Similarly, the scrolling scenic background is reminiscent of Atari 2600 games from Activision, with perhaps a little less detail. And while the blips, bleeps and explosion sounds are alright, they don't really stand out as enemies simply disappear when hit. 

The neat silver box design of Planet Patrol

But while the look and sounds of Planet Patrol are ordinary, I'm happy to say that playing it is still a lot of fun. This game is very challenging, with the difficulty level starting out manageable but accelerating at a deceptively rapid rate. In particular, the enemy drone missiles appear easy to hit, but are actually quite easy to miss, especially as the pace speeds up. And because of this, I've continually found myself beginning to lose ships after a few thousand points, due mainly to collisions from missiles I thought were destroyed (or being forced by said missiles into collisions with nearby torpedoes). 

Destroy those enemy bases in Planet Patrol from Spectravision!

Additionally, although the large enemy bases provide big enough targets, the debris fields they leave behind are not always simple to navigate. This also leads to rapid ship losses and is another reason why I've yet to reach the coveted 10,000 points needed for a bonus life. And these challenges of needing to be very accurate with firing and swift in maneuvering (while also watching the fuel level) provide good replay value. 

In summary, while Planet Patrol is just a straightforward space shooter in terms of visuals and sounds, the solid, addicting gameplay will have you hitting that reset button quite often in the quest to improve. Therefore, I'd recommend this title to fellow fans of this particular genre of old-school space games.