Retro Video Gamer

Here is a new original game for the Atari 2600 from AA user bjbest60:  Space Cactus Canyon.  The game is still in beta but looks quite nice.


The Story

The year is 2583, and you are the last cactus on Earth.

You live in the scorching deserts of the Rocky Mountains in what used to be Alberta, Canada.  The rest of your fellow cacti have moved to a more temperate climate on Mars.  They have sent a final spaceship to take you home.

Reaching it won’t be easy.  Water has become Earth’s most precious resource, and although you are a cactus, you need every drop.  Collect the water as you move through the canyons.  Every so often, you’ll even find a bucket of it, and you’ll be able rest for the night.

But watch out for the humansâ€"the few that are left after World War XII.  They think they need the water even more than you, and they’ll do anything to protect it.

The shredders carry hidden machetes, and if they get close to you, they’ll cut you to pieces.  The shooters don’t move, but take careful aim with their fully automatic plasma rifles.  And the shredder-shooters are the most dangerous of all.  Armed with their ion revolvers, they’ll track you and shoot you where you stand.

As a cactus, you have only your needles for your defense.  But life has been brutal, and you have few that remain.  Aim carefully and only shoot when you must.

Every so often, you’ll enter a dead-end canyon that has no clear path between you and the water.  If that happens, you’ll automatically back up and find a new canyon with a better trail.  You reckon there are about thirty canyons between you and your spaceship.

Good luck.  It will be a hard fight, but we know you’ll be home soon, Space Cactus!

And if you find the first journey is too easy, why not move the left difficulty switch to Expert, pardner.