So the guy says, "It's like Kaboom! only sideways" and I'm all like "'nuff said. Sold."

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Monday, 06 November 2006 04:00

Sometimes the product sells itself to the right person. It appeals to something inside you that triggers that "I must acquire this" mentality. When someone holds a 2600 cart in front of me and tells me it's like Kaboom! only sideways and a little more involved, my wallet's already out of my back pocket before I've even uttered the words, "I'll take it."

Ultra SCSIcide is a hombrew game for the 2600 that I picked up during the VGXPO in philly from the good people at AtariAge.com. In the game you control a hard drive read head (no joke) and you scan back and forth across a spinning HD platter to read the bits of data in the correct order. How do you know the right order? Each bit is a different color and you have to match the changing read head color to the bit color. As the bit passes through the head you "read" the data by pressing the button, then it disappears. When all the bits are gone, the level is done and you start over with everything going a little faster.

It's definitely harder than Kaboom! since you're not just grabbing bombs, but discerning which color you need to acquire next and ASAP, since you lose points and your latency buffer decreases each time the bit passes by without being read. If the buffer runs out, game over. Being able to quickly and accurately discern the next color bit is imperative, and I think skill at rhythm games like DDR and Guitar Hero help. You'll need to stare at the entire board at once, never really concentrating on a single part of the screen.

That's really what makes the game so much fun and challenging. Most games allow you to concentrate on a small portion of the screen at any given time, but not here. You're best served by staring through the screen, never really focusing in, taking the playfield as a whole. With practice, you'll be able to get that Zen like stare where you're doing exactly what you need to do onscreen without really realizing it. There's something about the paddle controller that really lends itself well to these types of games.

My only complaint is the scoring system. It's sometimes hard to tell how well you're doing because you score is calculated in hex. Which basically means instead of rolling over after it gets to 9, it continues to F. So you end up with a score that's 2d0192 something. The first two numbers are the round you're in, followed by the score. It's interesting, and math geeks will probably love it, but for the rest of us it's just confusing.

Like the other homebrew games I bought at the Expo, this one comes with a full color label and manual. The game and the manual also come in a hard drive anti-static bag, which just makes the geek in me smile.

It's an excellent take on Kaboom! and will challenge even expert players, and it's a nice addition to any Atari collection.

8 out of 10 - near classic.

Want to buy a copy for yourself? Head over to AtariAge.com and pick one up!

Comments (2) Add Comment

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written by B, November 06, 2006

It amazes me how hardcore you are about old school gaming. We are complete opposites on the gaming spectrum. I hate old games cause they're too simple. But they do give more of a challenge than a lot of the newer games. They more work I have to do with the controller, and the more complex button presses, the more I enjoy it. I had Intellivision and Atari 5200 and I enjoyed them but only for a limited amount of time. It wasn't engrosing enough for me. Even now, if a game doesn't grab my attention immediately, I buy something else. I don't know, ADD wins again I guess.

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written by danzuke (NetPhantom), November 06, 2006

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the new games man... I'm always there day 1 to buy the latest and greatest... But sometimes you just can't beat the simplicity of the old school.

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