Entry posted by Cybergoth
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Hi there!
Let's have a look at Ataris one and only innertubing simulator:
Okay, 'simulator' is a bit far fetched and actually I think Ski or Die also had an innertubing discipline, albeit there you were going down a mountain on snow, not water 
Thank heavens the NES version did not try to emulate the quirky controls of the Arcade like e.g. the C64 and Amiga ports did. On the NES steering up, down, left and right just takes you there, with precisely the amount of inertia you'd expect.
Some 20 rivers it goes down, with all the kinds of obstacles you'd expect there. Some of the rivers are themed after real ones, e.g. the Amazon or the Mississippi, while some have fantasy themes like the Styx or the Canals of Mars. Besides stuff in the water, there's also enemies placed on the sides of the rivers, who are usually hurling all sorts of projectiles your way.
You're defending yourself with cola cans, which you're collecting on your way down. They are very limited, so you're often forced to safe them for the tougher spots. The difficulty and length of the rivers varies a lot. There's some harder ones early on already and still some rather easy going near the end.
While the graphics are just average, the cool rock'n'roll music is a little highlight as far as NES games go. I'd consider it almost there with Snake Rattle'n Roll 
The game doesn't seem to have a real ending. There's a level called beach party, which has no enemies and shows some (rather ugly) dancing girls, but after that it just seems to continue, looping the levels in a rearranged order.
Some future day the "Playing..." series may see another Atari arcade conversion in the form of "Hard Drivin'", but first it'll continue with something else.
Greetings,
Manuel
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