Posted on May 21, 2023
Atari 8-Bit History: Preppie – Not Just Another Frogger
Preppie was published by American computer game publisher Adventure International, which was best known at the time for the Scott Adams adventure game series, which included such popular games as Adventureland, Pirate Adventure, Savage Island, and various others.
Preppie was developed by Russ Wetmore for the Atari 8-bit lineup of computers, and unlike most other games developed for game consoles and home computers at the time, was not ported over to other platforms.
While the game borrows heavily from the gameplay of Frogger, instead of controlling a frog, the player controls prep schooler, Wadsworth Overcash, as he navigates the hazards of a country club to retrieve golf balls. Wadsworth has been assigned to retrieve golf balls at the country club where he works and must avoid golf carts, lawnmowers, and other golf-related vehicles, then jump onto a canoe, log, or alligator to make it to the other side of the river, where he grabs a golf ball.
There are ten levels. A bonus preppie is given for reaching 8,000 points.
For more information about Preppie, visit the Preppie Wikipedia page.
To play Preppie, visit Atarimania, where you can download the game and its manual.
For the developer-minded among us, you can download the Preppie! Source Code at the Internet Archive.
Posted on May 21, 2023
Chicken by Synapse for Atari 400/800/XL/XE
Chicken is one of my favorite Atari 8-bit games from the Eighties. It has a lot of the same gameplay elements as Activision’s Kaboom while adding a few twists of its own.
The game shares features of Atari’s Avalanche, Activision’s Kaboom, and several other paddle-based games. However, the game brings several quirks of its own to the screen.
Chicken is deceptively simple. The fox is in the henhouse, and he’s stealing eggs, dropping them through a series of moving blocks (which all chicken coops have, right?). The eggs fall through gaps between the blocks, randomly dropping in different locations on the screen.
If an egg hits the ground, it cracks open and hatches into a chick. While the chicken’s motherly instincts cause it to naturally want to sit on the new baby chick to keep it warm, that’s not a good thing in this game. Luckily, the chicken can jump over them by pressing the fire button on your controller (joystick or paddle, believe me, the paddle is better suited for this game). If the chicken squats on a chick, an angry farmer runs out and kicks the chicken off the screen. The action speeds up as you play until it becomes extremely fast-paced.
Up to 4 players can play the game, taking turns, and sharing a single controller.
This game quickly became a favorite of mine back in the early 80s when I had my first Atari (a 600XL, I believe), and it is still a favorite of mine today. If you enjoy fast-paced games and enjoy a challenge, Chicken is for you. You might even get a chuckle or two out of it.
The game is available to play online at The Internet Archive. It is also available for download from the same site. The manual is also available at the same site. I hope you enjoy the game. Be sure to let me know if you liked it, by leaving a comment below.