Classic Game Room HD - REACTOR for Atari 2600 review

[ReverendSyn]

I read in an old video game magazine back in the day that for the original arcade game t-shirts had been made with "Reactor Rocks" on them

[peety1969]

im looking for the track from the arcade version!!!

[danludemann]

This game is particularly good with a WICO atari trackball controller.

[Akira1422]

02:24 07:25 This is one of the reasons I loved this game growing up. The music! I got this game from some friends of my parents growing up, they didn't want their 2600 anymore, so they gave us numerous games. I saw this game, though it might have been crap, figured I'd keep playing Space Invaders or Kaboom! But I threw this in, fell in love. To this day (just turned 30) it's still one of my favorite games. I still have it too, sitting in a closet next to my 7800 (that still works!)

[flamesonDVD]

It's especially true that reviewers sometimes have to play games they don't want...

Although, for the games NOBODY wants to review, we have the AVGN. XD

[SuperNESFreak]

I wonder if it's too early to make a Fukushama joke. Yeah, probably.

[nickelindimer]

I remember a big article in Electronic Games magazine that (IIRC) featured an interview with the creator of "Reactor". Apparently, this game was a big-deal [in the day]... but, like the man said, it got relegated to "also existed" status despite the television, magazine & comic-book ads. (See "Cool Runnings"? See the comic-book Sanka is reading in bed? Eye it's back-cover & see what I mean)

It seems the thing that really killed this game wasn't lack of character, but complex non-intuitiveness.

[xxxIronLeexxx]

Classic Game Room should fucking sue youtube and get some cash for the xbox360 ad that played before this vid started.

[rubinboy9]

nothing better on a saturday morning than a cup of coffee (or thea your choice) and a bunch of CGR vids to enjoy!!!

[SNESosT]

I'll be honest

I DON'T GET IT :/

[larocque3]

you got any fairchild reviews??

[doppleganger4827]

I'd play it just to hear that beat. Would make a freaky ringtone.

[mariokiller55]

I just got this game

[Amaranthus616]

@ohstanmoore its just a game, dont get so heated over that stuff. people can review whatever game they like, theres no harm in it....he likes the game, understands it and can play it well....i dont see a problem there at all

you think it sucks, but he doesnt. no game "sucks" and no game is "good" its just people liking them or not. just cus you dont like a game, it does not mean that people shouldnt review it....your not that special

[Skimaskkass]

Its funny because I didn't appreciate Sword Quest (Fireworld) the first time I played it but when I learned what it was I appreciate the game a lot more now. Too bad I destroyed the game in blind rage. ( It stopped working any ways =) )

[Deihlanos]

I found this game recently at a Play & Trade, in it's original box with manual and everything, for just a couple dollars, and I gotta say, it's worth more than that to me, yes sir.

I totally agree with this review. Not an easy game to learn at all. But it's so freaking GOOD when you start to know what you're doing.

The arcade original is good too, but it uses a trakball, so it can be even harder to learn that one.

[tremoloman]

Awesome review!

Please send me a "Reacty The Reactor" plush doll once they are made available. That whole story about the kids running around with Reactor lunchboxes kills me :)

[jupreindeer]

I actually bought this game at, from all places, a .99 cent store. Fully boxed, shrink wrapped and everything. A truly unique game.

And, yea...at the time, I didn't understand it. So, it only got a few minutes of play from me.

Now...it's in storage in some unremembered spot. Oh, well...

[MightySquirrel]

If you want to hit 6 digits in the game, you need to keep the particles in the bonus area as long as possible, and do NOT use the decoys. They're worth a LOT of bonus.

[stormmoss]

I remember this one. One of the true classics of the Atari 2600. Even the primitive sound cards of these systems were put to awesome use in this game!

[quentil]

I loved this game as a kid. I'm still a bit upset that my mother sold my arati 2600 (with like 150 games) when I went away to colelge. It's been like 15yrs, and i'm still a bit pissed at her.

[17R3W]

head down to your local pawn broker or Value Village.

[justinbailey1234]

wanderfull review ..WOW for the game really complex didnt knew it ....

[kurisux]

You know, its a little messed up that DESTROYING the control rods stabelizes the core. In reality, that would be the actual cause of the meltdown.

I can't justify it in the game, but I don't care honestly: it's freaking great.

[avenueq14]

my best for a rubik's cube is 14.78

[genegene002]

I loved this game in the 80s! I spent many hours in front of this game! I STILL HAVE IT!

[Tryzon]

Q*Bert with radiation sickness!

O_O

XD

Oh, that made my day, it did.

[bleachcraze101]

i see it

[teenvideogamenerd]

Ok Your Vids Are FUCKIN AWESOME !

[jupreindeer]

Darn near every time I turn on the PS3 for YouTube'ing, it's set to yet another CDR-HD!

[jupreindeer]

CGR-HD, I mean.

CD-R...oh, how often have I used those disc's... :P

[Tryzon]

This game could almost be called educational. Then again, I wasn't aware that particles were sentient.

[Snotnarok]

I wasn't aware they had space ships that few in reactors to move the particles around. huh :U

[Tryzon]

Where have you been living, then?

[Snotnarok]

On ERATH, see we don't use reactor rods, we have reactor rakes and sometimes shovels.

[Tryzon]

Nuclear gardening?

[Snotnarok]

You'd like to pretend you know what I'm talking about, but you have no idea what I'm talking about. How do I know? ...because I'm not even sure...what I'm talking about. Sup dood haha.

[Tryzon]

I would have to agree. We are both very confused now.

[mrteemumilto]

@Snotnarok Does it burn much?

[Tryzon]

Wow. Talking about a 2600 game for 12 minutes? Dedication. If it was Berserk, I could understand, but Reactor doesn't look like half the game Berserk is.

[jupreindeer]

Sadly, Berserk for the 2600 never saw the full potential on what it could have been. There are plenty of titles, even in the 2600 library, that proved just how much game world space could occur, despite the limitations of the system.

Heh...come to think of it, all the messages to this review, ALONE, would probably fill the basis ROM of a 2600 cartridge. How sad/amazing is that? To think that programmers from then, and now, could pack ANY game into xK! (2/4/16)

[progrocker69]

I played the arcade version of this game almost every day for weeks at the arcade in the El Rancho hotel/casino on the Las Vegas Strip when the place first opened up in 1982. They had an awesome arcade in the beginning.

I never found this game in any other arcade, but I DEFINITELY had a copy for the 2600 when it came out. They did a remarkable job on the conversion to the 2600 gameplay-wise, even if the graphics were more primitive.

This was an EXCELLENT game for its time!!

[nephildevil]

Whut thu fuck

never heard from this

looks intrigueing

[pfiberoptik]

I dumped gobs of quarters into the arcade version as a kid...the guitar riff was the shit and attracted a lot of attention...and as others have already mentioned - the volume was cranked up on it so that it would almost scare you if you were walking by when it "went off"

[fueledbymusic3]

My cousin had this game in 1986. I remember I LOVED this game in 1986. Whats funny is that I LOVED the little melody sounds of the game.I currently HAVE this game right now in my Atari 2600 collection!

[KAISERKRAUT]

this game kicked ass inthe arcade, the fucking sound was ultrastereo and was always pumped louder than any other machine...gottlieb i think was the company.

great arcade machine...shit home versions.

[Evilmonkey66699]

Oh yeah because it's perfectly feesable to create arcade perfect ports on primitive 8-bit consoles.

Get real and shut up asshat,

[KAISERKRAUT]

what your poinbt buddy? the home versions of this were SHIT,how does that offend you? your father design the game?? also this aint no 8 bit machine,moron.the 2600 was 2k( 2 bit) sega master system was 8 bit..and yes even with 2 bit it is possible to create decent arcade ports look at BEZERK it was near Arcade perfect...so I am real and once again..REACTOR...great arcade machine...shit home version..you fucking muppet.

[Link4587452]

Atari 2600 was 8-bit.

[nephildevil]

Atari 2600 was 4-bit.

[harleykman]

Watching you guys is like watching D-average students discussing Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Jeez.

The Atari 2600 was an 8-bit CPU internally, but it could only address 8 kilobytes of memory instead of the usual 64 k. Anybody who claims it was only 2 or 4 bit CPU is an idiot.

[nephildevil]

Atari 2600 had a 6507 4-bit processor as CPU.

[marlinlee]

The 6507 CPU in the 2600 was a slightly modified version of the MOS 6502 CPU used in the APPLE II, Commodore Vic-20, Commodore C-64(Well actually the C-64 used the 6510 another slightly modified version), Atari 400/800, OSI Challenger series, and any number of other early computers and was absolutely 8-bit.

[harleykman]

The 6502 (or variants thereof) was used in almost-everything from the 1977 Atari game console to 80s-era computers to the NES.

Even the 1990s Super Nintendo used a 16-bit version of the 6502. It was an extremely versatile CPU.

[Tryzon]

I wish I was clever like you folk. I love my ol' reliable PS2, but I don't know all this technical whatsit. I respect your dedication, even if I do feel somewhat inadequate now.

[jupreindeer]

Check out Jr. Pac-Man for arcade ports that made the 2600 shine.

Sadly, the game is so hard that most flee from it's presence...

[rofthorax]

REACTOR is an arcade game, this one looks like shit.

Go get the mame emulator and get the real one.

[rofthorax]

Get Reactor for mame its better and it has a stereo soundtrack..

[Snotnarok]

I had to turn it to high quality to see the control rods, now I get it a lot more.

[micale66]

i own one of these it fuckin sucks

[DarkMetalSpider]

Thanks for reviewing this game!!! I always assumed it sucked - but, you make it look like a lot of fun!!! I want 1 now!!!

[JustyHakubi]

Yup, this was a great one. Had it as a kid. *cries* I want my damn Atari back with my damn 157 cartridges... *sobs*

[jupreindeer]

And, that is why, upon taking my working 2600 to a party, recently, I learned that the 2600 went from outdated to highly priced retro. (And, turned down bids to sell it, as well.)

Could barely find 3 games for the 2600, much less anything else at a flea market, the following day.

[plurp7]

was the Arcade version of Reactor controlled via Trackball?

[ramon88us]

Yes

[dommiesan]

Holy crap, I laughed so hard at the end I nearly plotzed! Funny stuff.

[yellowdart137]

i remember this game as a kid. had no idea how to play it as we had no manual for it. now i know.

[notyoursavior78]

hmmm, I never heard of this game. Somewhat interesting...

[jasperjasper77]

I used to play this all the time. There is a trick in the game where you can score points even after the game is over by touching just the right spot near the top wall of the reactor. There is usually some kind of invisible thing that'll give you points if you touch it.

[RandomExcess]

Nice one! Its great to see this awesome game finally get some recognition ;)

Used to play the hell out of this way back in the day...

[freespeech4u2]

haha the reator looks like a bear!

[AlanSessler]

I wish I could find a video of the actual arcade game by Gottlieb. I remember the first time I heard the game machine's theme song I wanted to bang my head. Tim Skelly made the most rocking and shortest soundtrack ever!

[KAISERKRAUT]

ya no doubt..the game was in ULTRASTEREO and was always cranked louder than the machines around it...

Good comment.

[bcostin]

That is a good comment. The sound effects were very distinctive and usually very loud. You could always tell when there was a Reactor cabinet in the room. The gameplay on the 2600 version is actually pretty faithful. And unlike some arcade ports detailed graphics aren't all that important.

[ukraineintherain]

that game look ssweet. its like an original idea, nice review Mark FTW

[AcousticDave94]

the video is a tad sketchy. it might be just the tv but its blury and thats a wierd patern embeded on screen

[morgangamer22]

cool

[cloudstrife90110]

when i first saw it it strangly reminded me of an atari version of the reactor core from half life 2

[GannonSlayer1437]

yeah, now that i look at it it kinda does, weird.

[justlikedavid138]

God I was confused when first playing reactor. the only problem is, I still didnt like it much even after reading the manual. anyway great vid! u da best!

[DirtyDen13]

Reacotor is a geek

[rocktheshithawk]

great review mark

[trmblingblustar]

A had this game as a kid, and loved it! It was hard, but still a good game.

[ronova]

I would have never heard of this game hadn't it been for the Classic Game Room.

[plurp7]

was the arcade version controlled via trackball?

[thewhile]

i think it looks more like a pig.

[MN12BIRD]

Neat. It looks like you're the Nucleus and the Electrons are flying around you. I wanted to see that "Core" grow out of hand and MELTDOWN! I hope Q-Bert gets better. But that radiation sickness is deadly. Iodizing Radiation just doesn't agree with 8-bit sprites.

[ukraineintherain]

game over yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

[DrMalpractice]

Last time I played this game was 12 years ago and my copy was broken.

[sinistermoon]

This game was advertised a lot in comic books. The arcade version is much better. I think this is some what of a failed port. But it still has the game play down.

[Wirld]

Don't remeber this one from the past. Thanks for bringing it up :D

[MattTheSpratt]

Whoa, creepy. I was thinking about Reactor when I clicked the video link (I couldn't see the title, it was in my Subs) and, BOOM, Reactor!

[LeeMan00]

the screen looks like a dogs face

[Rep2369]

Reacty the Reactor FTW! :D

[stafax]

I remember seeing the cart/box art, I just don't ever remember playing the game. I think maybe my neighbor had the game, and just never let me borrow it because he said it was just that bad.

[boomstick545]

there's one I actually remeber

[JTX5]

This was on the Vectrex!!!!

[JTX5]

Some what... there was a game that looked like this but had many screens and more to it but the thing in the center looked just like it

[YoshiZilla]

I love reviews of these Atari games, because they are (mostly) simple. I'd like to see Save Mary. I always liked that.

[mexicoman101]

A yo, u rule, atari 2600 FTW

[danytoon]

Ive never make note of this, but Im a great follower of your Atari 2600 reviews. Thank you :D

[Link4587452]

You win the prize, a free -1.