My Back. My Log. My Backlog – The Lost Atari Games (Part 7)

(Still have a couple of my Atari game manuals!)

Like my last post, I’m on a mission to document every video game I ever owned – and the rabbit hole goes deep! (Perhaps my next post could include even the weird stuff). I was very disheartened to learn that one fine afternoon, my Dad got rid of all of our Atari gear. Do you realize what you’ve done!?

Well, I’ve since come to terms with the loss, and I understand his need to declutter (just wish he would have asked me first…). In any case, it turns out that I have a great memory! I managed to recall all TWENTY-FIVE Atari games that were lining our old plastic container with just a couple trips to an online directory to remind me of the obscure ones. I’m confident that this was our full collection. I spent a lot of time with that system!

And, of course, no update would be complete without a check in with my backlog. I finished TWO games since the last post!

If you haven’t been following along, catch up below:
– Games from the 2020’s (Part 1)
– Games from the 2010’s (Part 2)
– Games from the 2000’s (Part 3)
– Games from Last Century (Part 4)
– Games on the PC (Part 5)
– The Lost Nintendo Games (Part 6)

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Games Finished Since Last Post:

Myst III: Exile
(PC, 2001)

By Atrus, I’ve done it! Myst III hit all the nostalgic highs that I came to expect from the series without driving me to insanity – or boredom. A challenge with many point-and-click adventures is that you can feel lost and aimless, and that’s the reason I had stopped playing Riven. This third entry, however, felt comfortably accessible, containing all the puzzles to their respective areas. Being able to focus on one or two objectives time was perfect for my schedule.

What made Myst III stand out the most was the iconic antagonist, Saavedro, who kicks off the adventure by stealing a precious book at the beginning of the game. I loved how I was fed bits and pieces of his story through videos and scattered pages of a journal found throughout the game’s three ages. I actually had to do some serious in-game reading to grasp the full narrative. Brad Dourif’s acting was over the top, perfectly capturing his character’s motivation in way that almost felt empathetic. You could understand why he was so upset, and honestly, if I were in his shoes, I might be pretty pissed, too!

If you want to succeed, it is essential that you keep a notebook nearby. I needed to draw pictures, track symbols, and even do some basic math in order to solve the various puzzles laid before me. I’m somewhat thankful that I’m in a time where if the symbols was too whacky, I could also just pull out my phone and snap a quick photo. (Believe me, by the end of the game, I would have had to draw dozens of complicated symbols if I didn’t have a camera). Like I mentioned in my last post, I only looked up hints as a last resort, and that only happened three times total. The final reason I needed a hint was mainly just to know if I was on the right track with my solution – otherwise I’d be trying all sorts of combinations with no indication otherwise.

Happy to say Myst III is finished, and I enjoyed the multitude of different (bad) endings that could be achieved depending on your choices. Of course, I topped it off with the best ending when I was ready to be done. Thankful for this backlog project or I may have never went for this game!

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
(Originally on Xbox, 2005)

I didn’t even have time to talk about Stranger’s Wrath as a “currently playing” game before I reached its conclusion! I have no shame playing it on Easy difficulty, allowing me to enjoy the story without getting stuck on sections that would take multiple attempts. The challenge was still there – and you don’t gain anything from beating it on a higher level.

Stranger’s Wrath is the fourth game in the Oddworld series, and I adored the first two games Abe’s Oddysee and Abe’s Exoddus (puns intended). While those first entries were sidescrolling platformers harkening back to the original Prince of Persia games, Stranger’s Wrath switches between a 3rd-person and 1st-person perspective and gives some major The Good, The Bad, The Ugly vibes.

You start as a bounty hunter going after various criminals in order to raise money for a mysterious operation. However, the game pivots about halfway through when there’s a major reveal, and suddenly you’re going after greedy corporations (there’s the old Oddworld I know and love!). Stranger, as he’s called, talks like a rough and gruff outlaw with a southern drawl, questioning the locals about his current task. The dialogue is probably the biggest draw to the game, and my favorite characters show up later on talking like a bunch of west coast surfer bros who are in dire need of the Stranger’s help.

One last unique feature of the game is the use of “live ammo,” small creatures that the Stranger must collect, load in his crossbow, and then fire at unsuspecting enemies. Each creature has its own special effect such as luring enemies away from their posts, wrapping them up in a binding, or outright exploding! Ammo is limited, so you have to really assess your situation well in order to figure out the best way to move forward.

Scratch this one off the list! I had a pretty good time with it!

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Currently Playing:

Outer Wilds
(Various, 2019)

Shortly after finishing Stranger’s Wrath, I had my own pivot to my life – summer was over, and I went back to school to teach again (woo, year six!). Knowing that the first few weeks are usually the craziest, I had to be strategic in choosing which game would work best with my new schedule. Outer Wilds was by far the top tier selection.

A game that thrives on exploration, discovery, and learning with a death loop built into the main mechanics, I could pick it up whenever I wanted with relatively low stakes in regard to my time investment. I first purchased the game back in December of 2024 (right before I dove hard into Skyrim). I played it here and there, and the bulk of the adventure took place when I was on an airplane. A year and a half later, I couldn’t remember much, so I decided to start over. In fact, I started over twice because after I finished the prologue, I didn’t know how to save and ended up just quitting before the game did its first save!!

I’m now fully reacquainted with flying my ship, using my tools, and reading the computer log which helps to track my journey. I’m excited to chip away at it, and of course I especially love that music plays a key role in your search throughout the galaxy!

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My Departed Atari Games:

We had A LOT of Atari games, so I’ll try to keep my memory of each short. I also had a hard time tracking down exact release dates for the 2600, so those years are my best guess based on what I found. Enjoy the list!

Combat
(Atari, 1977)

A simple two-player tank game where you’d hunt each other down in a maze. I remember the tanks would spin out of control after being shot!

ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
(Atari, 1982) 

Arguably the worst game in the Atari’s library and famously cited for causing the video game crash of 1983, E.T. was as horrible as it sounds. I spent most of my time in this game just falling in holes.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
(Atari, 1982)

Almost as terrible as E.T., Raiders was so cryptic that I couldn’t even make it past the second screen!

Space Invaders
(Atari, 1980)

The classic arcade game on your home screen! You can’t really go wrong with this one. But, it’s not as good as…

Megamania 
(Atari, 1982)

Megamania is leagues ahead of Space Invaders. Faster action, more responsive controls, and some very satisfying explosion sounds!

Amidar 
(Atari, 1982)

Can you guess what this game is about? Would you believe it’s about a “gorilla in a maze pursued by wild warriors?” That’s what the manual says! But really you’re just trying to color in squares. That’s it.

Space War
(Atari, 1979)

The FIRST game ever is now an entire game. While the main object is to try to destroy your opponent, we tended to fly our ships as fast as we could in one direction, watching them endlessly loop across the screen.

Donkey Kong
(Atari, 1982)

This was one of my most-played games, though that first stage got the best of me 90% of the time. Mario badly needs a wardrobe upgrade.

Mario Bros
(Atari, 1983)

Great to play with a friend, nothing quite like removing local wildlife from the sewers!

Frogger
(Atari, 1982)

Absolutely awesome – I loved Frogger. I remember there was a time when just getting to the river was a huge accomplishment!

Kangaroo
(Atari, 1983)

My favorite Kangaroo character with boxing gloves, I detested those stupid monkeys. Like Frogger, even just getting up the second ladder on the first stage took some gumption!

Dodge ‘Em
(Atari, 1980)

I loved pulling this game out with friends, and now that I look at it, it kind of reminds me of one of the Super Mario Kart battle stages! The goal was to collect the most dots without crashing into the other player.

Summer Games
(Atari, 1984)

Track, hurdles, swimming, skeet shoot, vault, and rowing (did I miss any?), we spent hours competing for the gold.

Pac-Man (x2)
(Atari, 1982)

I’ve only added the “x2” indication because I remember that we owned two copies of this game! They both played just fine, so I’m not sure why we ended up with two.

Riddle of the Sphinx 
(Atari, 1982)

As far as I know, I never solved the “riddle.” I was very good at just moving up vertically on the screen and then quitting after 2 minutes.

Dig Dug
(Atari, 1983)

Dig-Dug probably had the most satisfying music out of all the Atari games. The sound would stop and start with your walking animation. And, it’s always fun to blow up dragons with an air pump!

Breakout
(Atari, 1978)

One of the few games to use the Atari paddles to control the platform at the bottom. A fine challenge.

Super Breakout 
(Atari, 1981)

But, if you have Super Breakout, you would never play the first game. This game adds more layers, and I remember a fun mode where the ball could cut through severals rows at a time.

Circus Atari
(Atari, 1980)

A game where you bounce two acrobats between a teeter-totter, launching them to collect balloons. The animation they make when they hit the ground was low key devastating. Their poor, wriggling legs!

Moon Patrol
(Atari, 1982)

I’m not sure if we owned this game or borrowed it (maybe forever), I played Moon Patrol at the Arcade, and I’m certain my parents picked up that I liked it. So, it showed up in the collection one day!

Asteroids
(Atari, 1981)

There’s something so satisfying about seeing big shapes turn into smaller shapes. Just watch out for the UFO.

Pitfall!
(Atari, 1982)

20:00 minutes to Tarzan-swing over lakes of alligators to collect treasure! Is there an end to this game? Beats me.

Blackjack
(Atari, 1977)

Blackjack is a simple as it sounds. You play blackjack. BUT, I played this more than I thought I would.

Yars’ Revenge
(Atari, 1982)

I’m almost certain we had this game but it was way beyond my understanding. I think the goal is to clear away the orange force field on the right in order to shoot at the thing in the center. I couldn’t figure it out.

Q*Bert
(Atari, 1982)

They tried.

Honorable Mention:

Pong (1976/1977)

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Thanks for stopping by to check out my post! Did you have an Atari? Did you own any of these games? Which were your favorites? I’d love to hear about it! If you’re enjoying my content, please “like” and follow!

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