Joust
PUBLISHER: HAL Labs
DEVELOPER: Williams Electronics (port by HAL Labs)
RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30th, 1987 (JP), October 1988 (US)
Like Xevious, another influential classic from the so-called “Golden Age” of arcade video games, Joust has never done anything for me. Shame too, because the premise has merit. Who wouldn’t want to control a knight on an ostrich and skewer all who oppose you? Unfortunately, the bad-on-purpose controls and monotonous gameplay turn an otherwise noble pursuit into a limp medieval display.
In Joust, your ostrich-riding knight appears stuck somewhere outside of a volcano. Only floating rock platforms keep him from falling into the lava below. At once, from these same platforms, rogue knights emerge perched on buzzards, keen to seek your demise. From here it’s a game of stab or be stabbed – but take heed! You must stab them above the waistline, lest their lances find your organs. Once an enemy is slain, an egg appears. Collect the egg quickly or another knight will emerge from the yolk within. When all the enemy knights are defeated, the landscape will change. Rock platforms will disappear. The lava will creep ever closer and try to pull you under. An unkillable pterodactyl will emerge from out of nowhere and fly wildly around the screen. It’s dark and hell is hot.
Yes, the gameplay is simple, as is often the case with old arcade games. Sometimes simple arcade gameplay works for me, like with Pac-Man or Galaga. In Joust’s case, I quickly grew weary of hitting knights and avoiding rabid pterodactyls. Particularly when the controls varied wildly between slippery and unwieldy. Honestly, it feels like the knight doesn’t have full control of the ostrich; not good, the ostrich is your faithful steed! Without these poor controls, would Joust even be notable? Would getting to the higher levels of the game be too easy without this intentional hindrance? I don’t know and – you guessed it – I don’t care.
D+
SIDENOTE: The NES version was ported by HAL Labs, the same developers behind Balloon Fight, which took its inspiration from Joust. Balloon Fight has similar, but far less irritating controls and is absolutely the superior game.
MagMax
PUBLISHER: FCI
DEVELOPER: Nichibutsu (Nihon Bussan)
RELEASE DATE: Mar. 19th, 1986 (JP), October 1988 (US)
Not to be confused with Mad Max or Magma-X, MagMax is a horizontal shoot-em-up where you transform into a robot while you play! Yes, this is a neat idea. Yes, poor execution hinders the game from moving into full-on “Transformers” shooter fantasy territory.
You control MagMax, a ship that really wants to be a robot. Just some legs, a head and chest, and a wave beam gun, sir, nothing more. Luckily for Mag, these parts are strewn around the location of his next mission. Seems an evil three-headed dragon named Babylon wants to kill all humans and take over the galaxy. Coincidentally, only a ship-turned-robot can stop him.
Slowly acquiring the robot parts and seeing your ship expand is the best part of MagMax. Once you’re fully formed, you feel invincible, and you look like one of those cool 1960s-era robots to boot. The shooting around the shapeshifting, however, is very basic with little to recommend. Vague, formless enemies come at you in waves, while the environments – the desert, the caves, the ocean – are plain and drab. The lone exception is the Automated City, a mess of inorganic material that carries an unsettling vibe.
MagMax’s one other interesting feature is the ability to go below the surface while you fight. The “underneath” areas feature different landscapes, are much tougher than the ground levels, and are wholly optional. If you want an easier time, stay above ground. If you want your robot parts to go flying hither and yon, venture underground. Since the game loops, you could stay above ground for your first playthrough and move underground for your second, but that’s if you want to play MagMax for more than fifteen minutes.
Robots are cool, and Magmax knows this. Without the game’s unique (and enjoyable) transforming concept, the perfunctory shooting, bland level/enemy designs, and short play time would make this one of the NES’ worst shooters.
C-
Not sure if you’re calling out the NES version specifically, but the arcade game in pretty fun IMO. Yes, the ostrich takes a bit to stop, but so do we all.
I remember Joust and Balloon Fight being murder on the fingers. They were games you played at your own risk without turbo fire, like Pro-Wrestling.