DoctorSpuds Reviews Things - Fast Eddie (20th Century Fox)

[RSS Bot]

The 2600 has several single screen platformers in its library. Some are excellent like Donkey Kong, others are decent but with flaws like Infiltrate or Tron, and others just suck like Miner 2049’er. There is one platformer that I feel doesn’t get enough attention though, and that is 20^th Century Fox’s Fast Eddie. If I were to equate the gameplay other games in the library I would have to say it’s a decent mix of Tron and Infiltrate. Graphically the game is nothing special and sound-wise the game is adequate, but it’s in the gameplay where Fast Eddie truly shines. The layout of the screen is a simple five floors with two ladders connecting each to the level above, there are several placements for the ladders so simply press reset until you find one you like (at least for screen one). There is an enemy on each level, they look like the assassins from Infiltrate or the enemies from M2049R, but are suitably goofy. On the first screen some enemies will remain still while others, mainly on the floor you start on, begin moving after several seconds, in subsequent screens all of the enemies will be moving side to side, with the aforementioned delay on the starting floor. Your goal is to collect items floating above the enemies to collect points and move on to the next screens. The Items are a fairly random selection, starting with a love heart to a fish to a tank that looks straight outta Turmoil, but all still look good for Atari. All you have to do is jump and collect these floating items whilst avoiding the enemies, when you have collected enough items the super tall enemy on the top floor will shrink allowing you to jump up and collect the key floating above its head. Fast Eddie is indeed a fast game, from screen two onwards you are allowed no moments of respite from avoiding enemies, and thankfully the programmers thought to give you invincibility while climbing on the ladders allowing for some extremely close shaves. I would classify this as a pick-up-and-put-down game, it is incredibly enjoyable for 10-20 minutes but you will quickly find something else to play. As this is a Red Sirius style Fox release the prices are a little hectic, with loose carts and even the instruction manuals being listed on Ebay for 9-20 dollars and for boxed BIN listings the prices, at least for Red Sirius titles, are usually in the 140-400 dollar range, though for Fast Eddie it seems that it has sold at auction for much less. If you can find it for the right price I’d say to go get a copy, I would just advise caution if you’re going after a boxed copy and simply wait until a more sensibly priced listing shows up.

http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15482-fast-eddie-20th-century-fox/