CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

While Atari had some great first party games for their Atari 2600 VCS system, it was Activision that consistently brought out some of the best games you could find on the system. With big names like Pitfall, Kaboom, and River Raid, there was no shortage of great games. But there was one game that came out in 1982 that just became a must-have shooter, and is still to this day, one of my all-time favorite games. That game was Megamania! Steve Cartright developed a lot of my favorite Atari 2600 games including Barnstorming and Plaque Attack, but there was just something about shooting Space Dice and Bowties that just always brought a huge smile to my face. I still drag this game out of the closet every now and again just to rack up a few hundred thousand for old time's sake.

What made Megamania so much fun and so challenging was the way the falling space garbage was coming down towards your ship. Each different wave had a completely different pattern of falling which always kept you on your toes. Some items, like the Cookies had to be taken out as soon as they began falling downward because if you missed too many, they would trap your ship and crash into you. As if these insane patterns weren't enough, after you began to repeat the waves, the speed with which the debris was falling increased each time to the point that things were falling so fast, you could barely keep track. It was like Space Invaders on crack. If you've never played Megamania, try to find you a used copy of the game and give it a go. I think you'll be impressed with how well it's stood the test of time.