Gallery: Weekend Thrifting: Sky Skipper, 'Adult' Atari Games and Other Oddities
01Sky Skipper
Usually in Weekend Thrifting, we showcase old videogames purchased in thrift stores. Only trouble is, I haven't found much in San Francisco's bargain bins lately. So here's something a bit less random but possibly more interesting: A selection of weird, obscure or otherwise notable games I've sought out over the past few months. These are the kind of finds we discussed during a [Penny Arcade Expo panel on classic game appraisals](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2011/03/videogame-antiques-roadshow/) last month in Boston. [Weekend Thrifting](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/tag/weekend-thrifting/) has gained a bit of notoriety lately: The column was mentioned in an Electronic Gaming Monthly feature on game collecting, and I just spoke with a writer from [gamesTM](http://www.gamestm.co.uk/) for an upcoming story in the British magazine. Now, on to the classic games. __Above:__ Sky Skipper ----------- I noticed a copy of this Atari 2600 game for sale for about $5 on eBay. I'd never heard of Sky Skipper, but the artwork intrigued me. I looked up the game, and lo and behold, it's based on a 1981 arcade game made by Nintendo. The [Sky Skipper arcade game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hG6Z-kHw9I) was never released in the United States, and no home versions were ever created except for this one by Parker Brothers (which was *only* released in the United States). It is no Donkey Kong, I will tell you that. In both versions, you fly an airplane around dropping bombs on gorillas. This causes tiny animals to jump out of their cages; you can then rescue them by flying overhead. The Atari version, as you might imagine, is [significantly scaled back](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faraSHdMUh4&feature=related) from the arcade presentation. As a Nintendo game that most people don't know exists, it's interesting. The only way you'd know of its provenance is to look at the very small text on the back of the instruction manual, which credits the "graphics" (meaning the artwork on the box) to Nintendo and the "rules" to Parker Brothers. Bonus: In the arcade game at least, the pilot's name is "Mr. You."
02Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master
Double Dragon and Kung-Fu Master -------------------------------- The arcade version of [Double Dragon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_dragon) was released in 1987, long after the Atari crash and the ascendance of Nintendo. But the resurgence in popularity of videogames in general meant that some companies still produced Atari 2600 games even then, and in 1988 Activision released this port of the beat'em-up for a videogame system that was, to put it charitably, ill-equipped to handle it. Popping Double Dragon into the 2600 for the first time, I was surprised by the high quality of the classic theme song, which was programmed in its entirety into the game's opening screen. It all went rapidly downhill from there. While it may have been possible to create a good version of this beloved classic on the 2600, this is not it; it is practically impossible to play.  Surprisingly, [Kung-Fu Master](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-Fu_Master) is significantly better. If you've played the arcade game or the NES version (called simply Kung-Fu), you'll feel quite at home — the Atari version looks and feels probably as close to the real thing as it was ever going to get. This may be because the original was kind of basic in the first place, but hey. The bottom has fallen out of the Atari collector's market as of late; there was a time when fairly rare games in excellent condition would have fetched quite a bit, but I got these for $30 total after the eBay seller listed and relisted them several times with no takers. Nintendo's appeal is on the rise but Atari's bubble has burst, much like in 1988.
03California Raisins: The Grape Escape
California Raisins: The Grape Escape ------------------------------------ This is not real! That is to say, this is a reproduction version of what [Capcom's California Raisins game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_California_Raisins:_The_Grape_Escape) for the Nintendo Entertainment System might have looked like if it were actually released. Many of these sorts of repros exist. I bought this one because it came with a nicely designed box and manual, because the game itself was finished but never shipped and because I collected California Raisins stuff back in the day and so probably would have bought this game if it had come out. If you want to know the whole story, check out [Frank Cifaldi's interview with the designer](http://www.lostlevels.org/200308/200308-raisins.shtml) on Lost Levels.
04'Adult' Atari Games
Mystique 'Adult' Atari 2600 Games --------------------------------- For some unknown reason — probably to differentiate itself from the many other Atari games on the market in the early '80s — a publisher called Mystique decided it would be a good idea to develop and publish "adult" videogames for the 2600 that were as close to pornographic as the machine would allow, which was [not very close at all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTx4yYKfruY).  Of the three games, [Custer's Revenge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer%27s_Revenge) (top) was and is the most notorious. It's hard to muster much outrage about the game today because it looks so positively ridiculous. Same for [Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%27Em_%26_Eat_%27Em), a high concept if ever there was one.  So why did I track these down? Well, they are pretty good party games if you've been drinking, and each one is better than the Atari version of Double Dragon. That's reason enough.
05Jeu De Super Mario Bros.
Jeu De Super Mario Bros. ------------------------ Toy company Mattel, after exiting the videogame market with its Intellivision system in the early '80s, got back into the swing of things with its international divisions, distributing NES games in Europe and Canada for a few years. I bought this Canadian copy of Super Mario Bros. simply because I enjoyed the idea of owning a little bit of this history. There's no difference in the game, but the manual and box are bilingual, meaning the familiar Mario book, with its tantalizing descriptions of enemies and secrets, is also in French. Quebecois kids likely pored over the back half of the book as we did, dreaming of rescuing *La Princesse Champignon*.
06Swordquest: Waterworld
Swordquest: Waterworld ---------------------- In 1983, when Atari was pulling out of the videogame business, the company released a few of its last games in limited quantities through a mail-order service. These games, as you might imagine, became rather difficult to find. One of them was Swordquest: Waterworld, the third and final installment of what was supposed to be a [four-part series of adventure games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordquest). I put this here as an example of the fact that there are still bargains out there if you are vigilant: Although a sealed copy of Waterworld like this is worth hundreds of dollars, I found this as a Buy It Now eBay listing for much less. Sadly, heartbreakingly, it wasn't as big a score as it should have been: The U.S. Postal Service crushed the package when the game was sent to me, smashing half the game's box and obliterating a lot of the collectible's value. I'm over it by now, but at the time it was infuriating! Incidentally, in some of these pictures you'll see [custom-size plastic box protectors](http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=48541) I've bought to preserve these games.
07Aladdin Deck Enhancer
Aladdin Deck Enhancer --------------------- This goes firmly on the "things I wanted back in the day, but had the good sense not to buy, but now I don't" list. The [Aladdin Deck Enhancer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Deck_Enhancer) was a third-party Nintendo accessory, the thought process behind which went like this: Nintendo games all have a certain set of shared parts, so why not put those shared parts into one cartridge, then just put the ROM chips onto a cheaper, smaller cartridge that goes inside it? Because nobody cared, that's why, and the Aladdin died a pretty quick death after being roundly ignored. There's still a lot of unopened stock of the thing and its six extra games ([Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Spacehead), Quattro Adventure, etc.), all of which are also available as standalone NES releases from Camerica.
08Artkaris Donkey Kong
Artkaris Donkey Kong -------------------- This Atari cartridge is in worse condition than anything else in this whole piece (or anything else in the Kohler archives), but I still really like it. It's a bootleg copy of the Atari version of Donkey Kong produced by a company called Artkaris that I think was Argentinian. There's very little information about Artkaris online in English, but I love this cartridge's design, with its inexpert line art and pastel colors. If anyone can point me to more examples of Artkaris labels, I'd like to see them. The site CompuClasico has some [other examples of South American bootleg Atari games](http://www.compuclasico.com/familia.php?familia=atari2600_4), including Artkaris' take on Pac-Man.
09Kid Dracula
Kid Dracula ----------- A cutesy action-platformer in which you play as an adorable child vampire, [Kid Dracula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Dracula) was clearly identified in Japan as being a spinoff of the Castlevania series when it was released for the Famicom and Game Boy. Only the portable version made it to the United States; it was released in such limited quantities that it's difficult to track it down complete in the box like this. I bought this at [Video Games New York](http://www.videogamesnewyork.com/), the retrogames store in Manhattan's East Village. The prices there can be on the high side, but occasionally there's a decent bargain. (Tourism tip: Once you're done shopping, go across the street to [McSorley's Old Ale House](http://www.mcsorleysnewyork.com/) and drink a pint of dark as you go through your purchases.)
10Color Bar Generator
Color Bar Generator ------------------- This was another eBay snag at a low price. You might remember this as the only Atari 2600 cartridge programmed by [Jerry Lawson, who passed away earlier this month](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/jerry-lawson-dies/). It's not a game but a technician's tool — as the name suggests, it puts various patterns and color bars on your television screen so you can troubleshoot and adjust the display. Why? Because in the mid-'80s, a color bar generator was an expensive piece of equipment for a television repairman. Instead of buying one, he could just use an Atari 2600 and this cheap cartridge to accomplish the same thing. Color Bar Generator, besides being an interesting historical footnote, is one of the toughest Atari 2600 releases to track down — especially with its single-sheet instruction manual and unassuming plain cardboard box still intact.
