THE VID HID Software designers score again with detective game As Sherlock Holmes said to his assistant, "Elementary, my dear Watson." That's how I'm beginning to feel about the software company Activision. How can it consistently come out with such great games? It's like the steady flow of the Mississippi River. Just about the time I'm thinking, "This one Activision can't top," the people there do! One such game for the Atari 2600 by Activision was Frostbite. Day in add day out, I played it. I advised all my friends not to be left out in the cold and to get the game. Then, Activision did it again with another terrific game. Activision now has come out with two more great ones for the Atari 2600 Private Eye and H.E.R.O. I can't make up my mind which I like better, but because Private Eye is to be released this month, I'll review it now. But a word of warning: H.E.R.O. deserves equal time! Bob "Chopper Command" Whitehead, co-founder of Activision, designed Private Eye. In this cute, whimsical adventure-type game, the player plays the role of French investigator Pierre Touche, who has followed the international criminal Henri La Fiend into New York City. If is his Job to locate all the stolen goods that are scattered across the town and bring them back to their owners. He performs his duty in a Model A buggy that bounces him around. The good are scattered in urban and park scenes that are dotted with dangers such as knife-throwing thugs, falling bricks and flowerpots, potholes, sewer rats'and aggressive pigeons. After finding all the stolen goods, Defective Touche must capture Henry La Fiend, who is hiding sojnewhere in the city, and bring him to police headquarters to bp booked. feways, one-way streets sharp memory and fast I capture Henri La nena ft changes from game to cases, ranging in length the player must recover The city is filled with secret passi and dead ends. It takes someone wit reflexes to find all the stolen goods ai in the time limit given. The time lit same. In all. there are five seoarat from three to 20 minutes. In Case No. a gun and a bag of money. In other games, the player must bring back precious stamps and diamond necklaces. The game play in Private Eye is much like Pitfall. The player moves left or right in multiscreens. However, the variety of cases is a feature that is much different than Pitfall. Report card for Private Ejie by Activision Game play Originality A Graphics A Sounds A Type Whimsical Adventure Interest level Ages 6 and up Difficulty level Medium to hard Overall rating A minus Good news for ColecoVision owners; Activision is shipping versions of Pitfall and River Raid. Pitfall, the game designed by Dsvid Crane, sold more than 3 million game cartridges in the Atari 2600 and Intellivision formats. River Raid, designed by Carol Shaw, sold over 1 million units fen the Atari 24)00. i i JjlV If you have a question about video games tor the Vid Kid, write to him in care of The El Paso Times, P.O. Box 30, El Paso, Texas 79999.
