Mario Bros. – By Atari

Yes Mario Bros. did appear on the Atari! Not the later, and now more well known “Super” version from the NES, but the original arcade game. As well as being the first game to introduce us to the character as Mario, he was actually called Jump Man in the Donkey Kong games and later renamed, this game was also the first to introduce us to his brother Luigi. In this game 1 or 2 players run and jump around a single screen trying to knock turtles on their backs by bumping the platform underneath them and collect the coins. You can also use the “POW” bar once each level as sort of smart bomb to knock them all on their backs. It’s pretty simple but incredibly good fun and was the first game to introduce us to many of the things we now associate with Mario like pipes, koopas, coins and fireballs. It looks almost identical to the NES version and plays just as well but you may want to turn down the volume on this game, as the sound is atrocious.

8/10

 Mat Mania Challenge - Atari

I have always been a massive fan of wrestling games, especially the sublime WWF Wrestlefest arcade game by Technos, and so I was really looking forward to getting this game when I heard about it. Its actually a conversion of one of Technos' earlier wrestling games before they acquired the rights to use the WWF license and produced the Superstars and Wrestlefest games. The original coin-op was by all accounts very good with a great set of moves and interesting wrestlers, from looking at it online it seems be very similar to the WWF Superstars game just without the real grapplers. However this 7800 version is as poor as arcade translations get. Gone are the great selection of characters, instead you get 2 generic wrestlers one in red trunks and one in blue. Nearly all the detail is missing that made up the ring and arena, instead you get a static crowd and a boring plain squared circle. The moves are hard to pull off, there are no finishers and its almost impossible to pin the CPU while its equally as impossible to kick out of their pins. So as well as the bland graphics you also get some pretty dire sound too. One of the crappest games on the 7800 I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in any game in my life. It does become slightly better in 2-player mode but I would steer well clear if I were you!

4/10

 Mean 18 Ultimate Golf – By Accolade

I have always been a massive fan of Golf games, there is something really relaxing and therapeutic about them. Unless of course I am playing against my brother that is, then it becomes a bit of swear fest! Mean 18 is a conversion of the home computer title of the same name and is very similar to the classic Leaderboard games. What we have here is 18 holes of golf action with a behind the player view, the screen redraws every time you take a shot and scrolls left to right so you can adjust your position. When you get to the green the screen changes to an overhead view for putting. Little arrows show you the roll of the green and you move a line to direct your putt. You have a full selection of different clubs and the control system and power bar is really easy to get to grips with. The graphics in Mean 18 are very nice indeed with a great choice of colours and quick updating too. The sound is almost non-existent but lets face it golf games have never been renowned for their sound. Overall Mean 18 is probably my favourite sports game on the system and pretty much an essential purchase for every 7800 owner.

9/10

 Meltdown – By Atari

First impressions of this light gun game may not be up to much, it looks pretty awful and seems simplistic. However once you warm up your XE gun and gets to grips with the gameplay you will find a very rewarding game here. It plays a bit like the old arcade / 2600 game Reactor, if you have played that. You are trying to protect a nuclear reactor in the middle of the screen from attack. You use the gun to shoot the particles that are bouncing around and trying to break down the core. As the levels increase the enemies multiply and it gets more and more frantic. Thankfully there are also various power-ups you can grab too, the rapid fire one is an absolute godsend! Another thing I really like about this game is that it also has passwords for each level so you can go back to where you left off if your eyes need a break, and they will! If you own a gun for your 7800 then I would say that Meltdown is a must have title.

8/10

 Midnight Mutants – By Atari

Starring Grandpa Munster from erm The Munsters, Midnight Mutants, is a very unique game for the 7800. It’s a wonderful isometric adventure game that harks back to the days of the ZX Spectrum and Ultimate Play The Game. You are on a mission to rescue Grandpa himself who has been captured and trapped in a haunted mansion. You must make your way around the house and its grounds solving the puzzles, collecting objects and avoiding all the terrifying monsters! The graphics throughout Midnight Mutants are fantastic and the cut scenes where Grandpa actually talks to you and gives you tips are particularly nice. The game is massive and the gameplay is very deep too, you will be wishing at times that it had a save option! Adventure game fans will quickly be ranking this among their favourites and the rest of us can certainly a gain a lot of pleasure out of the experience too.

9/10

 Moon Cresta – By Bob DeCrescenzo

This game is home brew conversion of the classic 1980 arcade game by Nichibutsu that was one of the very first vertically scrolling shoot ‘em ups. Bob DeCrescenzo spent many hours trying to replicate the complex attack patterns of the original arcade game on the 7800 and he succeeded with great aplomb. One of Atari’s own commercial releases for the 7800 was the very mediocre Planet Smashers that was no doubt inspired by this game so it’s so nice to now be able to play this game instead. In gameplay style it is also fairly similar to Galaga as groups of enemies appear on the screen and fly around trying to attack you. At the very start of the game you see your spaceship split into 3 parts and you begin by controlling the first part of this ship with a single laser. After 4 stages you have to dock with the second part of your ship, which adds another 2 lasers. Then after a further 2 waves you get to dock with the last part of your ship, upping your lasers to 5 in total. This feature adds something original to the game and acts much like a modern day power-up. Moon Cresta has both nice graphics and sound combined with frantic gameplay making this yet another winner from the man known as PacManPlus.

8/10

 Ms. Pacman – By Atari

9/10

Ninja Golf – By Atari

10/10