caveman

If Atari had released it on schedule, they would have given the NES a real run for their money. Had they released it INSTEAD of the 5200, Atari just might still be with us. Too bad we'll never know.

It most certainly was ported to the 7800 by Activision in 1989. Yes, it's got it's faults, but it's still a fun game. I'd grab it. I'm NOT parting with mine, as I was almost TOO lucky to find it when I did. Not bad for $6. Best money that I spent on that console.

T-Mek was a brilliant game. Have you ever finished it? I've done so a few times playing the slow but fierce Assault Mek. It's a challenge, and you're gonna SWEAT trying, but it can be done. Too bad it didn't make it to the Jag.

Major Havoc is definitely in my top 10 Atari Coin Ops, roughly neck and neck with I, Robot. I liken it to what Berzerk would look like as an XY game. But unlike Berzerk, I was halfway decent at it. Yes, precision is a must in this game, especially with the cylindrical trak ball (more often than not replaced by a Tempest-esque spinner). the animation was superb, and it showed that you could do a lot with simple vectors.

S.T.U.N. Runner, without a doubt. It came out in '89, and is one of my favorite Atari coinops of all time. If anyone reading this could tell me where I could find a ROM for a Lynx emulator, I'd appreciate it.

That SOUNDS like Blasteroids. If you had a spinner/paddle controller and three buttons- FIRE, SHEILD, TRANSFORM, it's Blasteroids. If you had a joystick in the center of the console and two buttons- FIRE, SINIBOMB, then it was Sinistar. Both had speech, and both had "bosses" to defeat and get you to the next level. I'd check www.klov.com to see for sure.

I remember DREAM MACHINE in Worcester, MA too. There's one in the Greendale Mall (sucks), and before that there was the other Dream Machine in the Worcester Center Galleria up until about '88 or '89. That's where I'd play Crossbow, Choplifter, and Xenophobe until my luck ran out. The other (and better) arcade was the Playoff Arcade, where I'd hit Xenophobe, NARC, Cabal, and too many others to name until I moved out of Wormtown altogether in '97. Those days are gone, but now I've got my 7800, Infogrames Atari Collection (PSX), Stella 2600, Jum52, and Handy emulators for the Mac to bring most of it all back at my fingertips. Nothing made me feel more wisened than showing my roommate's nine year old kid Tempest, Battlezone, and Pong (!), and seeing him getting into it and giving me a run for my money Yes, my generation will have our turn to gloat during the 80s retro craze, and after we're gone, these games will always be a part of the culture, and they'll never die.

I, Robot was an incredibly weird, original, and fun game- way ahead of its time. That's probably why it didn't do so well. People don't like things that they can't relate to easily, especially when indulging in such a mindless pursuit - like VIDEOGAMES. I played it right when it came out, and I got the biggest kick out of being the first to get to the higher levels in such a bizarre game. I guess that you had to be a really weird kid to play a game like that back then. I'm now a pretty strange dude now in my early 30's, and that's probably why I'm looking for a MAME version of Reactor, which has now turned into a cult classic partly because nobody at the time could figure out how to play the thing.

Hmmmm...I have it down to about 10 real good ones, but I'd have to say it's probably I, Robot. The weirdness of the game has been unmatched since Williams' NARC. Too bad that it didn't catch on when it came out. It's neck and neck with Major Havoc for originality.

One of my favorite pinball machines is without a doubt Gottlieb's Haunted House, and of course, my namesake, Caveman. Williams made great tables, but they weren't the only ones.