Anyone who remembers the Atari VCS will recall that its games boasted some of the finest cover art in the history of gaming. Most of us will also know that there was something of a gulf between that promise and the reality of what the VCS was capable of. Here are ten examples. SUPER BREAKOUT It looks to be something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey - a trippy, profound, intergalactic adventure, which promises to reveal to the player the true meaning of their existence. ASTEROIDS A thrilling journey through deep space, blasting away at rocks as they tumble past you, threatening to rupture the thin metal skin of your craft. BERZERK The killer robots! They're coming at you from all sides, distracting you from those tight, tight underpants! Blast them! They're gonna kill you! Nononono! STAR WARS JEDI ARENA You get to be Luke Skywalker, in the Jedi Arena - an early foray into the expanded Star Wars universe! What secrets of the Jedi religion will you learn? This surely has to be a Star Wars fan's dream! CODEBREAKER All the intrigue of the Cold War distilled into game form! You'll be peering behind the Iron Curtain, to learn the deepest, darkest truths of the Soviet Union. BEAT 'EM & EAT 'EM Hubba hubba! This is gonna be some real hot stuff! Mama will never know the dirty thing you made her buy! Come on now - let's get to our bedroom, and get this hot stuff started! FLAG CAPTURE Yaaaar! You can almost smell the sea air, and hear the gulls. Brace yourself for a new life as a virtual buccaneer! Careful you don't get scurvy! HAUNTED HOUSE Look at those wide, terrified eyes, the bats, the spider... are you ready for the potential psychological damage this game could cause? This might just be the single most affecting experience of your life. HUMAN CANNONBALL Roll up, roll up! See the daredevil launch himself through the air! Thrill to his exploits! Touch his impressive moustache! STAR SHIP It's time to step up and accept your place on the front lines of the great war that is burning through the galaxies! Take to your ship, and lead your outer space armada into battle! Prepare to accept the mantle of living legend, or suffer a war hero's death!
15 Comments
Adam
25/8/2016 12:43:53 pm
A slightly harsh article!
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Bruce Flagpole
25/8/2016 12:50:55 pm
That 'Human Cannonball' game looks great!
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Chris
25/8/2016 04:18:42 pm
The one player mode, the two-player mode, the one-player doubles mode, the two-player doubles mode, the cat and mouse mode, the two-player cat and mouse, the invisible mode, the two-player invisible mode, then multiply all of those by the three marginally different maps, and you get 60,000 different "games".
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Paulvw
25/8/2016 12:51:40 pm
How does this square with the wasn't game art much better back in the 80's article?.....You're scaring me......
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Mr Biffo
25/8/2016 01:11:37 pm
But that was about logos!
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Koozebane
25/8/2016 02:48:42 pm
Pardon my ignorance but what does the “X videogames” on the boxes mean? Are they clamming Super Breakout for instance has 9 different games on the cartridge? Being a young whippersnapper of 37 the VCS is a just before my time.
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Koozebane
25/8/2016 02:52:44 pm
Should have read all the comments. Thanks Mr Flagpole.
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Slider271
25/8/2016 11:24:07 pm
Let's be honest...the games may have been pish (though my 10 year old self really enjoyed VCS Berzerk and Haunted House), but that's some properly good artwork on those games boxes.
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Keith
26/8/2016 01:09:33 pm
Thing is, at that time the exciting cover art worked to some extent like a leg up for the imagination - you just had to think of the blocks as representing the thing.
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Oliver Wright
26/8/2016 05:53:28 pm
Good old Berzerk. The Hotline Miami of its day.
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Tim Bresnan's Heavy Ball
27/8/2016 09:41:23 am
Super Breakout? I'd rather play SUPERB REEK OUT!
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Nicholas Taylor
28/8/2016 01:17:22 am
My favourite Atari games (of the few I own) pitfall, et, centipede, qbert and space invaders. I was quite disappointed by the lot though. The beeps weren't even pleasant sounding beeps. I agree that et is pretty bad, but have you seen atari games? It isn't a very capable machine, and et had a forest that actually looked a bit like a forest. Et also looked a bit like et. He could make flowers happy and the idea of him extending his neck, using his chin like a grappling hook was almost as beautiful as being sent to jail of roman looking architecture.
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Superbeast 37
29/8/2016 06:06:28 pm
I can't get over how great some of those covers are.
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