Happy Birthday...

On September 11, 1977 the Atari Video Computer System was released to store shelves and the hearts of children everywhere. The Atari VCS, or as it is more popularly known; the Atari 2600 would soon become one of the best selling video game consoles of all time.

So, today marks the 40th birthday of the Atari VCS. Happy Birthday 2600! 

-Jay

Music...

I have just made some of my music available online. Check it out:

The ATARI Ninja Music

If you are a YouTuber, or a Podcaster, or a Filmmaker, or a Video Game Developer, or a DJ, and you hear anything that you'd like to use in one of your projects, contact me. I can send you whatever track or tracks that you want to use. All I ask for in return is the proper credit.

-Jay

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (Movie Review)

With the recent release of a semi-controversial Bruce Lee bio-pic called Birth Of The Dragon and the fact that it is generally getting bad reviews too, I thought it might be the right time for me to review my favorite cinematic biography of the late-great Mr. Lee. And no, it's not Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, but this movie is probably less fictionalized than that one, even if this film is far from a legitimate biography of the martial arts superstar.

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth is a 1976 movie written and directed by accomplished Kung Fu filmmaker Ng See Yuen. The film stars Ho Chung-tao in the role of Bruce and if this actor's name is not familiar to you, it's probably due to the fact that for most of his fans he is better known by the alias of Bruce Li. In the long list Bruce Lee impersonators and clones he is probably the best and he does actually slightly resemble the real man, or at least more so than most of the other better known Bruce impersonators. 

The movie generally follows the actual major moments in Lee's adult life, from his leaving Hong Kong to come to the United States, his American television career to his return to Hong Kong cinema, and his untimely death. But, most of the drama, and most of the important facts of Lee's life are left on the back burner in favor of fights, lots and lots of fights.

As Bruce Lee related exploitation films go this is certainly one of the better ones. The overall simplicity and straightforward presentation all work to better deliver the goods. What are the goods? Well, Kung Fu fighting obviously, and in that sense the movie gives the audience exactly what it wants. And, I must say, I really do love this picture. It's not an award caliber film by any stretch of the imagination, but it's fun, and for me, that's really all that matters.

The story is practically non-existent. It just shows Mr. Lee traveling from one location to another and everywhere the man goes, there is someone there waiting to challenge his skills as a fighter. So, basically it's just a series of set-ups for fight scenes.

Worthy of mention is the inclusion of Unicorn Chan in the cast, he was in reality a lifelong friend of the real Bruce Lee, and he plays himself in the movie. Also notable is Ip Chun who plays Lee's Wing Chun teacher Ip Man, this is worth noting because Ip Chun was Ip Man's actual son.

All in all, Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth may not be the most accurate biographical depiction of the martial arts superstar on film. But, in my humble opinion, it is probably the most enjoyable. I dare not refer to it as a masterpiece, or a brilliant work of art, but I'm quite comfortable to call this an incredibly fun movie. Sure, it's exploitative, it's fairly inaccurate, but I'm relatively certain that the same can be said about both Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, and Birth Of The Dragon  as well. Just because those filmmakers attempted to apply a level of polish on their products does not necessarily mean that they actually rose above the honest exploitative entertainment of Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth, and that's the important part.

-Jay

The Mysterious Case Of Menticide For The Atari VCS Part One (An Atari Ninja Investigation)

Menticide was an allegedly unreleased game for the Atari 2600. Supposedly it was programed by Howard Eldritch and if the game really did exist, it would be the only game that Eldritch ever actually made. According to the rumors that I've heard and read over the years the game was so disturbing that Howard Eldritch was immediately fired after he presented the prototype version to his boss at Atari.

Howard's boss at the time was none other than Nolan Bushnell, the actual founder of Atari, and eventually Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza too. Many have called Mr. Bushnell the godfather of video gaming and I think he really does deserve that title. Supposedly Howard Eldritch's career at Atari ended before Bushnell left the company, so he must have been among the original group of programmers, because Nolan Bushnell left Atari towards the end of 1978, and the Atari VCS was commercially launched on 09/11/77, the day before my fifth birthday (and some of you have actually wondered why I have such an obsession with the Atari 2600).

The name of this strange game; Menticide, is an actual word. According to Dictionary.com, the word refers to the systematic effort to undermine, and destroy a person's values and beliefs. To use intense interrogation methods, drugs, and torture to induce radically different ideas into someone's mind. In some ways, the word kind of refers to brainwashing, or just completely destroying a person's mental identity, or their psyche.

Very little is known about the actual contents of this video game called Menticide short of the fact that supposedly the game's graphics were of the typically crude variety. I say 'typically crude' because a great many of the early games for the Atari Video Computer System were quite simplistic, even a lot of the good ones too. But, the graphics of the game-play weren't the disturbing part. The truly disturbing element of the game allegedly involved subliminal images, or perhaps messages that were implanted into the graphics. These basically invisible subliminal elements would leave people feeling queasy, or generally psychologically disturbed, and in some cases it was known to trigger hallucinations. These hallucinations were supposedly very realistic and were allegedly known to cause very frightening flashbacks that could occur anytime after even a single viewing of the game actually being played.

Of course, none of this can be confirmed, and the very existence of the game is really just a rumor. But, I need to know the truth, and I've devoted a great deal of my time over the last couple of years to uncovering any information that I can about Menticide. And I swear, eventually I will get to the bottom of the whole saga of this elusive video game.

-Jay

Alternate Controllers For The Atari VCS (An Atari Ninja Article)

This is less of a review and more of an article about the various alternatives to the standard Atari Joystick for the Video Computer System. There are many options out there and here a few that I personally have had some experience with.

I'm going to start with my personal favorite, it's a third party joystick that I had as a kid, and when I saw it at my local retro game shop, I had to own it again. The Pointmaster was made by Discwasher, a company that was best known for making cleaning supplies for vinyl records, CDs, and VCRs. Considering that my grandfather was a big audiophile and collector of both classical vinyl and later classical CDs too, I am pretty sure I know exactly why I ended up with this particular premium styled joystick when I was a little kid.

It enabled the user to control both the movement and the firing functions in a game with just one hand and I thought it had the feel of a jet-fighter control. It also looked pretty cool too and the grip was far more comfortable than a standard Atari brand joystick.

A similar joystick is the Gemini. I wasn't too familiar with this controller when I picked one up for a few bucks at a local thrift store this past weekend. Interestingly enough, this was the same store that I bought my Atari Video Computer System at too. I tend to visit this place every weekend and I never walk out empty-handed.

The Gemini functions similarly to the Pointmaster, but it has a second fire button on the base, much like the original Atari joystick. It also has a more comfortable grip, just like the Pointmaster too. I could say that it is a step up from the Pointmaster, but for me the Pointmaster earns extra points for sentimental reasons. As regular readers might have noticed, I can be a very sentimental guy. From a purely functional perspective, the Gemini is a real winner. It also has a very nice look to it as well, so it's an aesthetic winner too.

An even odder alternative to the original Atari controller is the Sega Genesis controller. Yes, believe it or not, any Sega Genesis controller can be used with an Atari 2600. And, some people really like using them because they are essentially a far more modern controller than the ones that were actually designed to work with the Atari VCS. That modern feel may very well be why I do not particularly enjoy using them with my 2600, it just kind of takes away from that overall retro-nostalgic look and feel. But, if it sounds good to you, give it a try.

 Also, there is an additional benefit to using a couple of these Sega Genesis controllers. It's one that many people might not even think about. I've noticed that Sega Genesis controllers are far more common in my area than the old Atari controllers. So, they are definitely worth considering for that reason alone, you might just have an easier time finding one.

One controller that I cannot speak of from a practical, or technical perspective, because I've never actually owned one, and I never even had a chance to try one out. But, I really want one, and someday I will obtain it. Because, this is a thing of beauty, and it was brought to us by M Network as a tie-in with one of my all-time favorite movies.

Yes, M Network, the people behind the Intellivision console did make a few games for the Atari VCS, and they made this nifty joystick too. Among those games that they made for both the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision were two Tron games. And, if you bought both games together you could get your hands on this free joystick too. To be absolutely technical, M Network was actually Mattel, a toy company that was better known for Barbie than anything else. But hey, they were also the company behind Masters Of The Universe, and of course the Intellivision too, so that makes them way cooler than just the Barbie company.

-Jay

Video Checkers For The Atari VCS

It is kind of surprising to think that Activision felt the need to release their version of Checkers for the Atari Video Computer System in 1981, when Atari themselves had already delivered Video Checkers to the store shelves a year earlier. But, now that I have played it, I can certainly explain why. Because, believe it or not, the Activision game is actually mildly worth playing, where as Video Checkers is a real hunk of junk. Despite having that typically lovely box art that is true for most official Atari VCS games.

Now, you might be wondering why I would own both Video Checkers, and the Activision version of Checkers too. The reason is very simple, when I first got into retro gaming for the Atari 2600 I consciously decided that I would go out of my way to try and obtain every single game for the system. Which is basically an impossible task, I didn't realize that at the time, but I do now. But, because I still want to try my best to get all of the games that I can, I do buy anything for the VCS that I do not yet own, as long as the price is cheap enough. This includes buying Backgammon, which is a game that I do not even know how to play. 

That said, Video Checkers is a pretty lousy version of Checkers, it doesn't look as good, or play as well as the Activision version. So, if you absolutely have to have a Checkers game for your Atari Video Computer System, buy the other one, not Video Checkers. Neither are very good, but this one is the worst of the two.

The two versions play very similar, but I think that the graphics look better on the Activision version, and the interface is a little more enjoyable. Both games have that weird quirk where the screen goes blank while the computer thinks of its move. Oddly enough, that blank screen doesn't seem to last as long on Video Checkers, but that is not enough for me to recommend it over the other game. I do not recommend buying either one of these games necessarily. Unless, like I said earlier, you really want a Checkers game for your Atari VCS. Or, if you're as ridiculous as me, and you actually think that you might be able to collect every Atari 2600 game. Good luck with that, but do remember that you have competition out there, and one of those competitors is a guy who calls himself the Atari Ninja and he is just crazy enough to attempt this impossible feat.

-Jay

Tron (Movie Review)

Yesterday (07/09/2017) marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the theatrical release of the movie Tron, a film that I am not even slightly embarrassed to proclaim as one of my all-time favorites. A truly imaginative and spectacular looking science-fiction movie that has proven to be far ahead its time and perhaps more influential than most people would think.

The story is about a young software engineer who was pushed out of his job with a major computer and technology company after a less talented designer stole a number of video game programs from him. Flynn, the talented young engineer, has been repeatedly hacking into the system in an attempt to prove that Dillinger, the other programmer, committed theft when he presented the video games to the company that he is now running. Flynn eventually breaks into the corporate headquarters of his former employer as a last-ditch effort to uncover the proof that he needs, but Dillinger's Master Control Program (an all-powerful computer program which seems to possess both artificial intelligence and a stronger desire for power than even Dillinger himself) catches Flynn, and digitizes the young man sending him into the virtually reality world that exists within the computer realm. In this world the Master Control Program (AKA the MCP) is just that, the master of everything, and the MCP has enslaved tons of programs that are forced to physically play video games until they actually die playing. Flynn join forces with another program named Tron and together they attempt to defeat the MCP.

Jeff Bridges' performance as Flynn does nothing to hide the obvious amount of fun that the actor was having. David Warner in the dual role of both Dillinger and the program Sark is appropriately menacing and evil. Honestly Warner is the kind of actor that could play these roles in his sleep. Bruce Boxleitner plays both Tron and his human counterpart the programmer Alan Bradley, as Alan, Boxleitner is fine, but as Tron he is far more stoic, and appropriately heroic.

The direction by Steven Lisberger is tight and visually stunning. It's hard to believe that his only directorial efforts before this film was an animated television movie called Animalympics and a single short from the early 1970s. It's even more shocking to find out that Lisberger only directed two more movies after Tron.

If you've never seen Tron and this review has mildly piqued your interest, do yourself a favor, and seek it out. In that summer of 1982, the nine year old me must have gone to the cinema a dozen times to see this film. And, I've probably watched it dozens more times over the last thirty-five years. 

-Jay

Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter (Anime Review)

After being slightly disappointed with the Battle Arena Toshinden anime, I thought I might want to watch something that had come a bit more recommended than that one, and that thought brought me to Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter, because this title came highly recommended by people who have opinions that I tend to trust. Wow, this is everything that I had hoped Battle Arena Toshinden would have been, and then some.

The story opens with a karate competition where a seventeen year old boy with nothing but a white belt and no school to represent, is wiping out all of the competitors. His name is Baki Hanma and he is eliminating most of his opponents with just one move. After defeating and humiliating all of the other competitors, Baki quietly returns to his humble residence, and prepares for the real challenge which will follow the next night.

The real challenge comes in the form of an illegally organized underground fight club. And, when I say underground, I do mean underground literally, as in six levels below a stadium in Tokyo. Baki is the toughest and youngest champion in the history of this sport, where there are no rules, no move is outlawed, and where every fight might just end in death. 

This Original Video Animation (or OVA as anime fans like to call them) is incredibly violent and gory, but oddly not as dark as you might expect. Part of that lighter feel comes from the charmingly innocent and happy-go-lucky spirit that Baki himself seems to bring to even the most brutal of fights. The contrast of some of the more horrific elements matched with lighthearted characterizations is nothing short of astounding. Needless to say, despite the childlike nature of the hero, this film is definitely not suitable for younger viewers.

The program is based on a Japanese manga comic book series that I have never read, but I do hope that it has been translated into English, because I really want to read it now. I'm sure there is way more to Baki's story than what is seen in this film and I'm hungry to find out what all there is to be learned about this intriguing character.

Do I recommend it? Yes I do. But, only for those who find this sort of thing interesting. Be warned, it is violent, and gory.

-Jay

Battle Arena Toshinden (A VHS Review)

I stated when I started this site that I would be writing about more than just video games. So, if you were under the false impression that I'd only be reviewing old video games for the Atari 2600, here it is, my first review of something else. Although, I'm sticking to something that does seem appropriate for a site called the Atari Ninja, in that this is a review of a program based on a video game, it's also a Japanese animation, and it does involve martial arts. So, this review of the Battle Arena Toshinden anime seems like a very good fit for the Atari Ninja.

For the record, I love fighting games, and Battle Arena Toshinden is one of my all-time favorites of the genre. It was one of the American launch titles for the original PlayStation and it was one of the biggest reasons that I broke down and bought that console in the first place. But, this is not a review of the video game (I'll write one of those later), this is a review of the two-part original video animation that was released in 1996.

This is not a dramatization of the actual game, because it does not actually feature the tournament that was featured in the video game. Instead, this takes place one year after the tournament, and gives some background to the reason that the competition happened in the first place. 

The story centers mostly on the characters of Eiji and Kayin and they are clearly portrayed as the real heroes of both the game and this program. Our two heroes are out to stop an evil group known as the Organization. The Organization are hunting down the competitors from the tournament and challenging them to fights so that they can develop a computer program that can predict the martial arts moves of any possible challengers. Along the way we are introduced to all of the characters from the first game and characters from the second game as well.

The story is incredibly convoluted and surprisingly harder to follow than it should be. If any show demanded a simple-minded plot, it was this one. In their attempt to add layers of sophistication to the story, the writers bog down the program in exposition, and unnecessary character development. Ordinarily I would find these devices to be beneficial to a show's narrative, but in this case they are not at all needed, nor are they particularly welcomed.

This show was not well received when it was released. It was panned by both critics and casual viewers alike. But, I didn't find it to be as bad as I had heard it was. Was it good? No, but it was fun to watch. And, at a running length of less than an hour, I can't say it isn't worth a viewing. Particularly if you are a fan of the video game.

-Jay

Demon Attack For The Atari VCS By Imagic

Along with Activision, Imagic was one of the biggest outside developers of games for the Atari Video Computer System, and just like Activision, Imagic was also founded by a group of disgruntled former Atari game designers. Imagic had a number of big hits in the video game cartridge department, one of the biggest of them all was Demon Attack.

Although modeled after the hit arcade game Galaxian, Demon Attack was usually accused of being a rip-off of the video game Phoenix instead. Personally speaking, I really prefer playing Demon Attack on the VCS over both of those other two games. When I was kid, Demon Attack somehow managed to find its way into my Atari 2600 multiple times a day, every single day.

The player controls a laser cannon fighting-off multiple waves of demons as they repeatedly attack from the sky above. According to the video game's backstory, as the player, you are supposedly stranded on the planet Krybor. As a little piece of personal reminiscence, there was a truly creepy television movie from my childhood called Gargoyles, it starred Cornel Widle, and it aired a lot on TV when I was little kid. When I played Demon Attack I used to pretend those demons were actually the gargoyles from that movie. If you come across a copy of it, check the film out, it's dated, but still fun to watch.

The game was programmed by Rob Fulop who while he was still with Atari was the programmer behind the VCS port of Missile Command, those two games alone make for an impressive career, but Fulop had a couple of more hits to his name, and was later responsible for the infamous video game Night Trap. Demon Attack was critically praised at the time of its release and is remembered as one of the best games ever produced for the Atari Video Computer System.

Is it worth owning? What do you think? This is an essential title for all Atari collections.

-Jay

Video Pinball For The Atari VCS

I have this sort of love and hate relationship with video game versions of pinball. I hate the concept of trying to recreate the joy of a manual arcade machine with digitized pixels, but I still love playing games of this variety, and in all honesty, a video game cartridge is a lot cheaper to purchase than a genuine pinball machine, and it takes up a whole heck of a lot less space too.

The Atari 2600 version of Video Pinball was released in 1980 and it was programmed by Bob Smith. Smith would eventually become one the founders of Imagic, a video game company that would go on to create a number of great titles for the Atari Video Computer System. 

The game is fun to play, but the limitations of the joystick controller become very apparent rather quickly. Pulling back on the joystick brings back the plunger and hitting the single button on the controller releases the plunger and launches the ball. The flippers are controlled by moving the joystick to the left or the right to move the corresponding flipper. Sure, the controls work, but they do lack the feeling that one would get using something more akin to the kind of controllers that would be used with more modern gaming consoles.

The game's graphics are really good too, better than a lot of the other cartridges available for the Atari VCS at the time. The game-play is quite enjoyable once you get beyond the awkwardness of the setup of the controls. It's not a great game, but it can certainly be addictive once you have decided to succumb to the game's charms.

-Jay

Berzerk For The Atari VCS

Short of adaptations of board games like Checkers or Chess, or games that have no excuse calling themselves games (Basic Math AKA Fun With Numbers), or something like 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, you cannot find something more simple looking than Berzerk. It's the very definition of pure visual simplicity in the form of a video game. Which in this case is far from a bad thing. Sometimes, simplicity actually equals pure genius.

A stick figure working his way through what can barely be called a series of mazes, confronting, and shooting a bunch of extremely bare-bones robots. The description of the game sounds as if it shouldn't be particularly any good, but I'd have a hard time naming a video game that is actually more addictive, and incredibly enjoyable on the same level as Berzerk.

The Atari Video Computer System port was delivered to the store shelves in the summer of 1982. The arcade version had been around for nearly two years already and at the time I didn't know any video game fans that didn't love Berzerk. I can't help but think that part of the appeal had to be the stripped-down look that deceptively made the game appear as if it would be easy to master. But, appearances can be misleading, and the frustrating difficulty of the game-play only added to the addictive nature and popularity of the game. Needless to say, this was a highly anticipated cartridge, and most of the video game fans that I knew were fairly pleased with the Atari VCS rendition of this arcade classic.

This is a must-have cartridge for any respectable, or even a bare-bones for that matter, Atari game collection. It is so much fun to play and can even sometimes border on paranoia inducing as the player's level of frustration builds.

-Jay

Checkers For The Atari VCS By Activision

 

Activision's version of Checkers is a bare-bones standard Checkers game. All of the usual rules apply and I'm not going to bother explaining them right now. Because, if you don't know the basics of Checkers by now, why are you reading this? 

The interface is nothing spectacular and is exactly what one would expect from a very old video game version of the classic board game. If you're expecting anything unique looking or groundbreaking, you'll be greatly disappointed.

I never bothered buying this game as a kid, pretty much because if I wanted to play Checkers as a youngster I'd grab the board, the pieces, and bug my grandpa to play with me. The idea of playing the game on the Atari Video Computer System struck me as fairly silly at the time and frankly, the idea still strikes me as rather silly today too.

I ended up with a copy of this game when I bought a pretty large lot of cartridges off of eBay. And, it took me running into a scanned copy of the manual online before I realized that my copy wasn't actually a faulty one.

My biggest complaint about this particular game is something that I kind of just hinted at. Once you make your first move, the screen goes blank for anywhere between a matter of seconds to a matter of minutes while the computer's AI decides what move it's going to make next. And, it does this for every move it makes. The first few times I tried the game out, I really thought that it was a broken, or just a defective cartridge.

Is the game worth seeking out? No, not really. It's fine, but nothing special. Is it worth adding to your Atari collection? Sure, if you can find it for cheap, or better yet, for free.

-Jay