Developer: Gammation
Publisher: Gammation
This is more the type of game I was expecting when I decided to rank super rare Atari games as it feels like a small time indie release. It’s another game that was only available by mail order and advertised for a very short time. It was made by a company called Gammation who made a rapid fire attachment for the 2600. In the few ads it was featured in Gamma-Attack was offered by itself or with a discount if bought along with the attachment. Gaming was still in it’s “cereal box premium” stage at the time, so offering one with another product wasn’t especially unusual. We had one given away with dog food, so selling one with a controller attachment was one of the less unusual promotions.
(Possibly the least advertised game in history)
The game being bundled with a rapid fire device makes a lot of sense in this case because it’s a very simple and fast paced game where all you do is move and shoot. The graphics are simple and the enemies are the same tank over and over again. The main object of the game is avoiding the enemy’s shots. I enjoy the way lives are lost. You can move your ship up and down, but when you get hit the height you can fly gets lower and lower. It’s game over when your reach the bottom of the screen and your little alien (Gammation’s mascot Gammy) pops out and just kinda looks at you until you hit reset. I like that it ends in embarrassment instead of death. I know I don’t want poor Gammy giving me that look for all eternity.
(Sorry Gammy!)
I have to say for the second game in a row I am pleasantly surprised. I know it is simple, but for the Atari 2600 simple can be a virtue. It’s fast, challenging, and easy to understand. With some distribution it could have been a minor hit. 1983 is infamous for its bad third party games, so it’s a bit of a shame when a decent one like this is almost lost to history. Thankfully it was very literally rediscovered in the 21st century when a copy was finally found by a collector and after some debating was finally made available to play online.
So where does it rank? Well once again I am looking at Baraduke. That little game is one I never thought I would be spending so much time thinking about. I think Baraduke is slightly better, but Gamma-Attack is more fun than The Legend of “Valkyrie.” So for the time being Gamma-Attack is sneaking into the top 10 right into the newly blue section of my list. It’s certainly one that’s worth checking out.
1. Galaga
2. Pac-Mania
3. Mickey’s Racing Adventure
4. Metro-Cross
5. Gaplus
6. Dragon Spirit
7. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour (GBC)
8. Red Sea Crossing
9. Baraduke
10. Gamma-Attack
11. The Legend of “Valkyrie”
12. Galaxian
13. Gyruss (2600)
14. Looney Tunes Racing
Next time: A game that would’ve been a perfect way to celebrate the day I was born
No comments:
Post a Comment