Great... now both thumbs hurt
Entry posted by Nathan Strum
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After some time away from it, I'm playing in the 2600 High Score Club again (not to be confused with the 2600 Mile High Club), and this week's game is Activision's Robot Tank. Not sure why I never bought this one back in the day. It's much better than Atari's 2600 version of Battlezone (yes... I know people disagree with me about that), since to me - it's closer to the arcade version of Battlezone. The tank is first-person perspective, instead of sitting above and behind it, and you're only dealing with one tank at a time. I never liked the changes Atari made to the 2600 version, but that's because Battlezone is my all-time favorite arcade game. Between the two 2600 games, the graphics are about a toss-up. Although the player's tank in Battlezone looks really nice, the enemy tanks are much better looking in Robot Tank. Plus all the time of day and weather changes in Robot Tank are very cool (although they can be a little annoying, since I got three snow storms in one game - where was I anyway, Alaska?).
Anyway, if you're looking for a diversion, the High Score Club is a good one. Emulators are welcome, although I've been loading my games up on my Krokodile Cart and playing them on real hardware whenever possible. There used to be a MacMAME high score competition which I was a part of, but it died off due to a lack of updates, and subsequently, participation. I didn't see much point to joining the 2600 HSC at first, since so many weeks had already gone by, I figured I had no hope of climbing the ranks. But I found out that wasn't the point. The point was just enjoying the competition week-to-week (my favorite so far being Ice Hockey). Oddly enough, since few people play every week, I've found myself in the overall top-ten, just by being semi-consistent. And for me, that's more than good enough. So if you're looking for something to do, whether you dust off your real 2600, or just use Stella, c'mon and join in. And if there's a game you don't like some week - skip over it. There will be something the next week.
So that's why my left thumb hurts.
My right thumb hurts because I just got my PlayStation 2 hooked up to my new TV (component video!), and I'm playing Burnout: Dominator, the umpteenth game in the Burnout series. After Burnout: Revenge, this is a return to more of the frantic, warp-speed driving that was the hallmark of the series, that reached its peak in Burnout 3: Takedown. In Revenge, you were able to collide with cars going the same direction as you, and launch them as weapons against other racers. Lots of fun, to be sure, but it lead to some pretty careless driving. Now, with Dominator, I've got to unlearn all of those habits, since running into anything except other racers results in Instant Death™.
Dominator is a bit of a step back in the series, and some of the cars (unlicensed knock-offs) are rather ugly, but as far as arcade racers go, it's a lot of fun. And I'm way too impatient right now to work my way through Gran Turismo 4 (especially since I never even finished GT3). If you haven't picked up any of the Burnout games, start with Burnout 3, and then Burnout: Revenge. Skip 1 & 2, since they're both dull as dirt. And wait for Dominator to hit the sales bin next year. It's a fun game, but not $40 fun.
Oh, and back to my left thumb for a second (the 2600 thumb). If you haven't been following this thread in the homebrew forum, you should check it out. Lead is an excellent twitch-style shoot 'em up. Terrific fun, and another great game from Simone Serra (be sure to also check out the 1k version of Lead).
Enough blogging for now. My thumb has stopped aching, so it's time to go smash-up some more cars.
And pretty soon, I should have some blog updates on new 2600 sprites, homebrew reviews, and just maybe... Stella at 20. Stay tuned!
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