Enter Pitfall Harry, a brave archeologist in the Indiana Jones mould with a maze-like jungle to navigate and numerous ancient relics to recover within a 20-minute time period.
Īrcade games were now all the rage and, while simplistic at best, the characters we were requested to manoeuvre were starting to become more lifelike. But defeat was inevitable and it was a solemn sight watching the poor little guy vaporize time and again. It wasn’t all doom and gloom as there were always power pills on hand to turn the tables on the persistent spooks in question. However, just to add a little cyanide to the cherry cluster, he was opposed at every conceivable turn by a rowdy rabble hell-bent on stopping this jaundiced juice ball dead in his tracks. The world wasn’t yet ready for legs so he had to be content with rolling around a cunningly designed maze in search of his five-a-day. Pac-Man may not have been able to boast a pair of fuzzy danglers, but at least he possessed some kind of identity. Pong was all well and good as a novel way to pass ten minutes but videogames were still in their infancy, and sooner or later, it’s only natural that they’d grow a little hair on their balls. Technology is known for many things but patience sure as shit ain’t one of them. That was until those gusts of change came rolling in. Indeed, failure to keep a hula hoop above our hips was considered far more shameful than losing at Pong and made us look a darn sight more ridiculous in the process. We didn’t lay awake at night agonizing over sending another bat to its early grave. However, it didn’t see fit to laugh at your demise punish you any further than the knowledge that you’ve come off a rather poor second best. Eventually the round would be won or lost and the game will have claimed another victim. Of course, this was far easier in theory than practise, as you couldn’t hope not to fail miserably without judging the bounce and the sensitive controls made this downright infuriating. Using the supplied paddle, the sole objective was to prevent the speeding pellet from exiting via your side of the screen. A bat and a ball was all we needed to entertain us, frustrate us to the nth degree and beyond, make us feel utterly pathetic. Perhaps I fertilized my own foe.Īnd to think that it all started with Pong.
Actually perhaps that isn’t such a shrewd idea as that may be what got me into this fine mess in the first place. The next time I happen across a Rhododendron on my travels, I’m going to tug the little bastard out at its root and plant it in the nearest pile of freshly laid manure. The next checkpoint beacon was barely seconds away and all that was required to reach it intact was to not get eaten by the gargantuan man-eating flytrap.Ĭurse Mother Nature and her cruel sense of irony. But this live will just have to be chalked down to experience.
Maniac flashdance soundtrack plus#
On the plus side, it’s not quite time to dust off that sarcophagus as you will be likely provided another bite of the cherry, courtesy of the continue tab. It’s an unvoidable rite of passage, the moment when all those best efforts count for nothing, and a bitter reminder that you failed to make the cut. Culture Club “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”Īnyone who plays videogames will be all too familiar with the above message. The Dillinger “Escape Plan One Of Us Is The Killer” Josh Mancell & Mutato Muzika “Sanity Beach” Shigeru Miyamoto & The Roots “Super Mario Bros.”
The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star”