RTFM Games - Games that you realise are actually fun after you take the time to, you know, RTFM

[MrChickenz]

1 hour ago, Intellivision Master said:

Also, Junior Pac-Man has an easy mode where only one ghost chases you.

Ha! I wasn’t aware of this. That’s another manual I have to read. 👍

[JetmanUK]

4 hours ago, MrChickenz said:

Today I am revisiting PAC-MAN for the Atari 2600 on the 2600+.

Let me say RTFM!

 

So this is one game I had in my collection since the early 80s. And that’s pretty much where it stayed was in my collection.

I never gave this game a chance. The few times I tried it was always game 1, never played for long it was too slow.

I never liked the look of it. But when you think about it, it’s an Atari 2600 game. This is how a lot of Atari 2600 games were. There’s nothing wrong with this game. The game play as far as controls are concerned it’s very smooth and responsive!

 

After I RTFM I selected Game #4 difficulty B PAC-MAN moves faster, Ghosts are at walking speed and difficulty is novice. Now I’m actually enjoying playing PAC-MAN it’s playing at a better speed. I will be trying the other variants as well.

 

There are those who look for good 2 player games for the 2600 and this is one of them!

 

And there’s even a mode for children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah the much maligned VCS Pac-Man. Yes it's quite different to the arcade, but to me this WAS Pac-Man! It's the version I had easy access to and played over and over. 

 

Flickery ghosts, which I always thought was an intentional graphical effect (🤣), a sprite which doesn't change direction and that shrill game start mini tune, I didn't care, it was fun. I do love the eating a pill sound though, so good. 

 

It does sound like RTFM would be of benefit, I will download the PDF and try game 4, I have always played game 1. 

 

EDIT:

I tried game 4, the extra speed is very welcome, it feels much slicker! However, it was a little easy so I tried game 5 and 6 and they felt better for me. Perhaps I should flick the difficulty switch to A and try game 5 again, that might be a good balance of fun and challenge. 

Edited May 17 by JetmanUK

[MrChickenz]

2 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Perhaps I should flick the difficulty switch to A and try game 5 again, that might be a good balance of fun and challenge

Good idea. Same here. I’m going to give it a try also. 

[Sean_1970]

6 hours ago, MrChickenz said:

Today I am revisiting PAC-MAN for the Atari 2600 on the 2600+.

Let me say RTFM!

 

So this is one game I had in my collection since the early 80s. And that’s pretty much where it stayed was in my collection.

I never gave this game a chance. The few times I tried it was always game 1, never played for long it was too slow.

I never liked the look of it. But when you think about it, it’s an Atari 2600 game. This is how a lot of Atari 2600 games were. There’s nothing wrong with this game. The game play as far as controls are concerned it’s very smooth and responsive!

 

After I RTFM I selected Game #4 difficulty B PAC-MAN moves faster, Ghosts are at walking speed and difficulty is novice. Now I’m actually enjoying playing PAC-MAN it’s playing at a better speed. I will be trying the other variants as well.

 

There are those who look for good 2 player games for the 2600 and this is one of them!

 

And there’s even a mode for children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The VCS I had was the four switch woody that had this and Combat as pack-in titles. I was so excited to both have an Atari and a home version of Pac-Man and crushingly disappointed at how little it resembled the arcade game. Nevertheless I still played it because that’s what I had 🤷‍♂️ Whilst it’s nowhere on my radar now to get a copy now I get a massive feeling of nostalgia just thinking about it because it was the first time I played Atari and it was the only single-player game I owned initially 😊

[Video]

Yes Pac man. I always played on 6 or so. The additional speed makes the game infinately better imo. This is also the dumper game for 2600, when people dump on games, this one is in the list (like et, another rtfm game)

 

I too looked at flickering ghosts as a "feature" rather than a problem (comeon, their "transparent) most peoples issue with the game are graphical, not any actual problem, like I play on one and it moves like a slug.

 

Rtfm, it really can make a difference, even on a common or even " hated" game

[+Intellivision Master]

19 hours ago, MrChickenz said:

Ha! I wasn’t aware of this. That’s another manual I have to read. 👍

I found out about it from a YT video I think.  Or else I read it online.

[MrChickenz]

22 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Also, Junior Pac-Man has an easy mode where only one ghost chases you.

I need this mode. I don’t get very far in Junior Pac Man. One ghost is too many for me lol!

 

Edited May 18 by MrChickenz

[+Intellivision Master]

11 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

I need this mode. I don’t get very far in Junior Pac Man. One ghost is too many for me lol!

 

Also, the stages are bigger too with no exits.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jr._Pac-Man

 

Here is the manual: https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=1098

[MrChickenz]

10 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Also, the stages are bigger too with no exits.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jr._Pac-Man

 

Here is the manual: https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=1098

How did you do the link to AtariAge? I was trying that the other day but I couldn’t figure out how to post a link to the forum.

Edited May 18 by MrChickenz

[+Intellivision Master]

3 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

How did you do the link to AtariAge? I was trying that the other day but I couldn’t figure it out.

I just typed in Atari 2600 Jr. Pacman manual in my browser and that was the first result shown.

[MrChickenz]

https://www.atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SystemID=2600&SoftwareID=1098&itemTypeID=HTMLMANUAL

 

@Intellivision Master Ok, I got it now thanks! I was trying to copy and paste the URL. But I have to click on the link in the top bar on my screen

Edited May 18 by MrChickenz

[JetmanUK]

Jr. Pacman I have always felt is spoilt by its difficulty. Technically a great game, for me it doesn't play as well as it looks. It should be fun, but something is missing.

Thanks for posting this @Intellivision Master, a great reason to RTFM.

 

Here's my tier list of official 2600 Pac-Man games:

 

1) Ms Pac-Man

2) Pac-Man

3) JR Pac-Man

 

Edited May 18 by JetmanUK

[+Intellivision Master]

17 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

https://www.atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SystemID=2600&SoftwareID=1098&itemTypeID=HTMLMANUAL

 

@Intellivision Master Ok, I got it now thanks! I was trying to copy and paste the URL. But I have to click on the link in the top bar on my screen

Glad I could be of help.  Sounds like you got it figured out.

[+Intellivision Master]

5 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

Thanks for posting this @Intellivision Master, a great reason to RTFM.

No problem.  And reading the manual is top priority.  

[shane857]

Superman is a game where you DEFINATELY need to read the manual.

Why you would need to build a bridge thou kind of confuses me. You are...Superman after all 😂.

 

[+jeremiahjt]

54 minutes ago, shane857 said:

Why you would need to build a bridge thou kind of confuses me. You are...Superman after all

Superman can fly over it, but Clark Kent needs to walk over it on his way to work at the Daily Planet.

[JetmanUK]

2 hours ago, shane857 said:

Superman is a game where you DEFINATELY need to read the manual.

Why you would need to build a bridge thou kind of confuses me. You are...Superman after all 😂.

 

Yeah I have this game and tbh I loaded it up to check that it worked, and um that was it.

I had no idea what was going on so I turned it off and thought to myself, not a quick blast game this one, I need the manual. 

[shane857]

2 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

Superman can fly over it, but Clark Kent needs to walk over it on his way to work at the Daily Planet.

They should have put a phone booth either side of the bridge. Obviously the game would have probably been too easy then, and the bridge is important to the economy of the city...💪🏻😂

[shane857]

2 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

Superman can fly over it, but Clark Kent needs to walk over it on his way to work at the Daily Planet.

Clark Kent needs to walk over the bridge to work every day, to remind himself he is half human after all...

[JetmanUK]

Today’s RTFM game is:

 

Star Wars – Return of the Jedi – Death Star Battle

 

I can see why anyone with a manual may not have read it, they were probably exhausted from reading that title.

 

I have had this game for a while but have not really had an in depth go at it. Well, I decided to try it out, note – I have a loose cart so I was going in blind.

 

This game features nice graphics on the first and second stages, with a transition in between, but the stand out thing for me is the fantastic audio, great sound effects. Real unmistakable ‘Atari’ depth to the sound, love it.

 

I played the game thinking is this it? I fly the Falcon back and forth in a tiny play area occasionally getting shot by TIE Fighters. When I tried to approach the top of the screen I was continuously getting blown up. Now remember I had not seen this game being played or RTFM. I dunno, maybe I was being dumb. Maybe it’s only an RTFM for me, maybe I didn’t play long enough without reading the manual to figure it out, but I was getting bored thinking how many TIE fighters and other ships do I need to shoot? How many waves of them? I must get to the next stage soon. I knew I was missing something. I think by now I’ve learnt that you should always RTFM with VCS games.

 

I did not realise that the thin grey line was a force field and you have to basically await it’s disappearance and the simultaneous appearance of a black splodge (hole in the structure) above it. When this occurs fly up to it quickly. You get a nice little transitional screen and then you face the Death Star! This stage is very different from the first. You blast away at the Death Star in a way that reminded me of a sort of a vertical Yars Revenge, then it's time to survive the explosion.

 

I do quite like this game and think that it’s well worth a play if you are a Star Wars fan. If you aren’t then what’s wrong with you?!

 

Here’s the manual and a screenshot.

 

Star Wars - Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle.pdf

Edited May 21 by JetmanUK

[Video]

Wow, I never played (or even heard of) that game. That looks awesome, ill dl a ROM and keep an eye out for a hard copy at the local gamestores.

[Alex_813]

Today's purchase from a local retro shop.

 

[JetmanUK]

2 hours ago, Alex_813 said:

Today's purchase from a local retro shop.

 

Time to read. 😊

[JetmanUK]

Jon over on Gen X Grown up made a good video detailing a great game mode in Yars Revenge that he discovered, of course, by RTFM.

 

Like Jon I had always just played the standard game. Gotta love that these games are still giving us fresh experiences all these years later, at least if you didn't RTFM.

 

 

Edited May 25 by JetmanUK

[Hawkeye68]

On 5/20/2024 at 11:23 AM, shane857 said:

Superman is a game where you DEFINITELY need to read the manual.

Why you would need to build a bridge thou kind of confuses me. You are...Superman after all 😂.

 

Back in the day, long before Blockbuster, one of our early home video stores rented Atari carts.  I begged my parents to rent Superman.  I got the cart without the manual and had no idea how to play it.  It was my one and only cartridge rental.