Joust
Knights on birdback!
By Dan LoosenDecember 6, 2005
The 2600 did a lot of great things... and
Joust is definitely one of them. The gameplay of this particular
title holds up extremely well against both the arcade and the Lynx
version. Hop aboard your trusty ostrich steed and take to the sky to
destroy the buzzard riders by bopping them on the heads. It's wacky, but
it does work. Some stuff is missing -- namely the lava monsters and the
challenge of flight that both the arcade game and Lynx game have -- but
for a 2600 game, that might be asking a little much.
The graphics are ample. You will never be stuck wondering what is going
on, and that's all that you really can ask for from most 2600 games.
Then again, the game was released in 1983, and it probably should have
had at least a little more going on with the graphics considering that
games like Pitfall! had been around for a while. I think that the
sound is great, with each beat of your bird's wings producing a very
satisfactory "flap." There are many other sounds in this game too, and
the 2600 pulls them off with style.
Admittedly, this is not the best port of the game out there (see "Lynx -
Joust" for that, in my opinion). Then again, this is the 2600 and
if you are looking for a game of Joust that is pure fun whether
it is arcade perfect or not, this is a fine port of it.
Game Data |
Scores
|
| Title |
Joust |
Graphics |
50% |
| Publisher |
Atari |
Sound/Music |
90% |
| Genre |
Action |
Gameplay |
75% |
| System |
2600 |
Control |
85% |
|
|
Overall |
80% |
)
