Previous owner was a critic, apparently

[BigO]

Doing a little bit of closet cleaning/collection re-evaluation today.

I've had this game organizer of O2 carts and manuals for years and never really have looked at it.

There's a little booklet with all(?) of the games listed. 

 

As best I can read through the permanent marker, it says "The keyboard is the key to over 50 games!"

 

Thumbing through, I see bold, black, mostly one word reviews so thought I'd entertain myself for a few minutes by reading through.

 

THE VOICE OF ODYSSEY - rates a "good"

TYPE & TELL! - apparently is "ok"

FOOTBALL! - seems that football is just "stupid"

BOWLING! - also "stupid"

COMPUTER GOLF! - gets a "yuck" (or maybe it's "yack", which seems similar but somehow worse)

VOLLEYBALL! - I'm not sure whether it's a step up or a step down from "stupid", but this one gets a "dumb"

POCKET BILLIARDS! - "stupid"

ARMORED ENCOUNTER! - here the critic chooses to go artistic, marking this one with a drawing that I can neither understand nor describe.

COSMIC CONFLICT! - Here they stray into what I reckon to be a pejorative use of "gay"

INVADERS FROM HYPERSPACE! - I may have to check this one out as it's rated as "good'

THUNDERBALL! - is just "ok"

SHOWDOWN IN 2100 A.D.! - this one made me a laugh and tells me it's probably not a keeper if I have it. This title gets a big fat "na!"

WAR OF NERVES! - writer breaks the pattern here and rates this with a "have". Maybe these reviews really constituted a wish list at some point

OUT OF THIS WORLD! - another semi-cursive "have" lends a little more insight into the author's collection

PACHINKO! - "stupid" (I've never played the O2 version, but, I won't argue on this one)

COMPUTER INTRO! - "dumb"

BUZZWORD! - "stupid"

BLOCKOUT! - "ok"

ECHO! - well, here things get exciting as words and art are combined to yield a large, and surprising "cool" with the second o being decorated as a happy face. With eyebrows even.

DYNASTY! - "have", which is among the cartridges that came with the pamphlet so maybe I got their collection

SPEEDWAY, CRYPTO-LOGIC!, SPIN-OUT! - another "have", adding to the thought that the other titles are have-nots

UFO! - this one garnered the uncharacteristic use of capital letters with a hearty "UFO is Weird"

ALIEN INVADERS PLUS! - "have", confirmed by its presence in the box I bought

KEYBOARD CREATIONS! - "ok"

FREEDOM FIGHTERS! - "ok"

MONKEYSHINES! - "have", yep it's in the box

PICKAXE PETE! - "have" - also present

THE QUEST FOR THE RINGS! - "ok"

CONQUEST OF THE WORLD! - "ok"

THE GREAT WALL STREET FORTUNE HUNT! - "ok" (that's quite a title right there...)

SMITHEREENS! Under "COMING SOON! Challenger Series With Voice" - the hype seems to have failed to impress with yet another "stupid" awarded

KC's KRAZY CHASE! - it's a "have"

ACROBAT!* (COMING SOON! Challenger Series With Voice) - "stupid".

         *"Descriptive name only" 

          Did this title ever come out? I'm a fan of Circus Atari so I'd like to try this. Playing Circus with a joystick is terrible, but I'd still try this.

         Going to check my multi-cart. Maybe this is the thing that would get me to try my hand at O2 programming. Maybe try to build a paddle controller since I have a removable controller console.

 

 

 

 

Per the last page of the pamphlet, I wonder if I can still get a 1 year, 4 issue subscription to Odyssey2 Adventure by sending $3.00 to P.O. Box 6950 Knoxville, TN 37914

It's only $3.00. Might be worth it to see if I get a response.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by BigO

[BigO]

I now see that P.T. Barnum's Acrobats! was released. 
And I have it. I guess I'll have to dig out the console and give it a try.

I have low expectations.

[onlyinajeep]

UFO review was spot on!

[+LS650]

Weird... But great!

[BigO]

[Flojomojo]

That's hilarious!

 

@BigO the Circus Atari type game came out, and it was called P.T. Barnum's Acrobats! in North America. The joystick control wasn't as precise as the Atari rotary paddle, but the travel distance wasn't as great either, so it wasn't so bad. 

 

Did your package come with K.C. Munchkin! ? That and Pick Axe Pete! are my favorites and I still fire them up from time to time in emulation. 

[toiletunes]

Could you post the armored encounter drawing? The Atariage sleuths may be able to decipher the meaning...

[Flojomojo]

Photos of the whole thing would be fun, if you're willing to indulge us

[BigO]

11 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

That's hilarious!

 

@BigO the Circus Atari type game came out, and it was called P.T. Barnum's Acrobats! in North America. The joystick control wasn't as precise as the Atari rotary paddle, but the travel distance wasn't as great either, so it wasn't so bad. 

 

Did your package come with K.C. Munchkin! ? That and Pick Axe Pete! are my favorites and I still fire them up from time to time in emulation. 

I watched a YouTube video and it didn't seem as terrible as I expected. I may fire up the game later today. I had a Jakks all-in-one joystick with a port of Circus. Awful, it was.

 

Yes, I have both K.C. games and Pick Axe Pete. Maybe I'll try those, too. All providing that my console still works.

[BigO]

13 minutes ago, toiletunes said:

Could you post the armored encounter drawing?

You asked.

Edited July 24, 2022 by BigO

[BigO]

9 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Photos of the whole thing would be fun, if you're willing to indulge us

I may have time later. For now:

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

Either Math-a-Magic! was so bad it wasn't even worthy of a response, or it was simply so bland and uninspiring the author of the critiques couldn't even be bothered to complain about it. 

 

That's really saying something, given someone found a simple game of Simon to be "col"

[jimj]

18 hours ago, BigO said:

SHOWDOWN IN 2100 A.D.! - this one made me a laugh and tells me it's probably not a keeper if I have it. This title gets a big fat "na!"

I have to respectfully disagree with the anonymous critic/artist on this one.  IMHO this is one of the best two player Odyssey games (right up there with Monkeyshines).  The randomness of the ricochets really ups the fun value for me.  Whether it's my brother or my daughter, this game gets played every time I break out the Odyssey.

[BigO]

[BigO]

[Cebus Capucinis]

Hi!

[BigO]

[BigO]

[BigO]

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by BigO

[BigO]

[BigO]

[BigO]

[BigO]

[BigO]

Not the greatest image captures ever. But it's the best I could do with a few minutes, an aging cell phone, a piece of glass salvaged from a dumpster dive multi-function printer, and cobbled together yet-to-be-diffused LED array lighting on my IKEA table/workbench.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by BigO

[youxia]

21 hours ago, BigO said:

VOLLEYBALL! - I'm not sure whether it's a step up or a step down from "stupid", but this one gets a "dumb"

A question for the ages! Seeing as there are only two dumbs and numerous stupids, I suppose the former is supposed to be a more serious charge.

 

The whole thing is rather brilliant, though admittedly I spent way too much time staring at the Armored Car sketch, trying to solve its mystery (the interpretation of Freudian symbolism of Cosmic Conflict and the subsequent review is a little bit easier to understand). Was the author an alien? A person with only imaginary knowledge of the opposite sexes anatomy? I guess we will never know. (bonus question: what is the possesive of "sex"? Sex's? Sexes' ? Try to put it in search engine and, oh, dear.)

 

I do love finding these little blasts from the past in game boxes or manuals, though I do prefer when they are less destructive than this one. Usually they're old receipts, high scores, tape counter positions, game codes - this sort of stuff, but once I had found a heavy metal poster tucked under the box's (oh, not again) cover, and some other oddities too.