Outlaw

The Good
That goofy "BeoooOOO!" sound that happens when a cowboy's hit has been permanently imprinted on my brain. That's how many hours my brother and I spent as kids, bouncing bullets around stagecoaches and cacti at each other.

I can't tell you all the immature joys we got out of its eccentric abstractions - okay, I'll tell you one. Working very carefully together, we could shoot out parts of the stagecoach until what was left looked kind of like a toilet, then we'd maneuver a cowboy over, shoot him, and he looked like he was SITTING ON THE TOILET!

HAW HAW HAW! Seriously, who needs Mario Kart when you've got that?

Since there was really no room for sophistication outside of the minor quirks of each different game mode, OUTLAW was one of those games anyone could understand the moment they picked it up. No one was going to drop $20+ extra on any "Official Strategy Guide", that's for sure. This sort of intuitive instant-pleasure gaming has become a relic, a trifle when compared to the high-def epics with their obtuse control mechanics and badly-acted twenty-minute cutscenes. But there's a feeling people are missing out on if they don't ever give it a try.

The Bad
These may well have been bleeding edge graphics circa 1977, but the two-color display won't be winning any beauty contests. The one player mode doesn't have a lot of staying power, this game is meant to be enjoyed with two. And to top it off, your cowboy is on the pokey side, and that's putting it mildly. Maybe he needs to make a pit stop - HAW HAW HAW!

The Bottom Line
If you crave a truly level battlefield: no maps with hidden passages, no cheat codes, just the old-fashioned symmetry of my-gun-versus-your'n, OUTLAW's your game.

The Good
This game introduced the genre of fighting games. Just like the hundreds or thousands of fighting games to follow, if you've got a friend this game is almost infinitely playable. A few different settings, too, lend some variety.

The Bad
While much of the charm of the arcade forefather Gunfight is retained, the Atari version feels more limited. You have a fairly small box in which to move, you can shoot at only 3 angles, the barriers don't vary. The graphics and sound are not great.

The Bottom Line
You are a cowboy and you've got a gun. If you've got a friend, you and that friend shoot across the screen at each other until somebody's been killed 10 times. If you haven't a friend, you shoot across the screen at a moving bullseye until you hit it 10 times. Different settings provide for destructible or indestructible barriers (cacti, Conestoga wagons, walls) between you and your opponent.

The Good
The games offers the possibility to move the gunslinger and to aim in three different directions before you shoot, which gives a little more challenge against another player. In some of the games, the moving objects between both cowboys offer some protection and provides some tactical advantages, particularly in the "Getaway" games, where you can move your gunslinger immediately after shooting. I particularly liked the game combining the "Getaway" and the "Blowaway", where you get to shoot a wall down before you get to hit the other player. It gets even better if the wall is moving. It allows a lot more action and turns the game into a hide & seek (& shoot) madness.

The Bad
The cartridge presents 16 different shooting games, 12 of which for two players. Unfortunately, the games for a single player don't offer much. You get to shoot a moving target with a cactus or a stagecoach blocking you way. The target steadily goes up and down. Even if you choose the game where the stagecoach is moving, the steadiness of the object makes shooting a little repetitive and you may get bored quite fast. The sound effects consist mainly of footsteps and gun-shooting. As far as I'm concerned, it's effective, but no real effort has been made.

The Bottom Line
Just like in Combat, another early Atari game, you will have much more fun if you play with a partner. The game may appear excessively simple, but you should keep in mind that the game was published in 1977 and was offering features never seen before.