Phantom II / Pirate - Atari 2600

I received my copy fairly recently, and was not disappointed. That the F-4 Phantom series was my absolute favorite U.S. warplane meant this one was going to draw my attention at some point. Phantom 2's gameplay is fast, and has more depth than one might expect. Pirate should feel familiar with the grid, and turn based gameplay to anyone familiar with Dungeon, or Dungeon 2: Solstice. It's the smaller simpler game, but still a ton of fun. I beat it in under ten minutes so I'd say it's a quick fun game for those pressed for time. On top of it all two games in one cartridge is an excellent value. Both are more excellent work from Mr. Weavil! My more thorough review maybe found here: https://youtu.be/0Jds_yQ951g

The hidden mini game Wizard is a really nice extra. It looks great, and although the gameplay is fairly simple it's fairly challenging. Another great game as a secret surprise by Mr. Weavil! My more thorough review maybe found here: https://youtu.be/4rE66WdcTn8

I was pleasantly surprised by Phantom II/Pirate. I very seriously bought it solely on the back of my interest in the Pirate bonus game, but was happy to find out that Phantom II also presented a tightly designed vertical shooter that was fun and had more depth than I expected. While it's not likely that Phantom II/Pirate will go for long stretches in my VCS, it is highly likely that it will get popped in regular and each game put through its paces. If you enjoy quick, easy to play games that are fun without being taxing, then this is a good game for you.

Phantom II/Pirate actually consists of three games: Phantom II (a port of the Midway arcade game), Pirate, and a hidden mini-game called Wizard.In Phantom II you\'re a jet fighter pilot, and must race against the clock to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible before you run out of fuel - but they aren\'t just going to sit there and let you hit them. They\'ll dodge and weave, fly under cloud cover, and even lead you into the darkness of night, where they\'re reduced to a quick blip on your radar. Survive long enough, and you get to go up against a bomber, or dock with a tanker for more fuel, and even battle a UFO. Phantom II harkens back to some of the early 2600 titles, and in a good way. Simple, yet addictive gameplay, with enough game options to satisfy almost any skill level. Even though it\'s a timed game, there are a couple of variations that will allow you to play for quite some time, including a two-player version where one player must try to chase the other one down. There are a few differences from the arcade game (there\'s only one enemy at a time, and they don\'t shoot at you), but the extra game options and addition of the bomber, tanker and UFO more than make up for it. One of the features I especially like, is the option to play the game in black and white. If that doesn\'t bring on a sense of nostalgia for games of this era, nothing will. Phantom II is perfect for getting that quick gaming fix.Pirate is an adventure game, where you\'re marooned on an island, in search of lost treasure. You must find a shovel, avoid (or battle) a ghostly pirate and a voodoo priestess, watch out for snakes, and search for the treasure and escape with it... alive. The island isn\'t huge (a 7x7 grid), but the location of every item changes each time the game is played. To play the game, you have a window which shows what your character is currently looking at, and an overhead view, which shows the directions that you can move. You explore the island, pick up and use different objects, and must be careful to watch your health. If your health decreases, you can find a plant that will heal you. If it drops too low - your game is over. Sometimes it\'s too easy to solve the game - where you\'ll find the shovel, then the treasure, with only a few moves. But other times, it can be quite challenging to finish the game. The graphics are simple, but effective, and do a nice job of establishing the location of a desert island. If you do beat the game, it ends with a nice little cut scene - a rarity in 2600 games. Pirate makes for an enjoyable mini-adventure game, and is a nice diversion from Phantom II because it\'s so completely different from it. There\'s a lot of potential here for an expanded sequel, or other adventure games using the same engine. If I had one complaint, is that it can be a little confusing to keep track of exactly where on the island you are. A way to display numerical grid coordinates or a larger overview would have been welcomed.The third game is more of a puzzle game, where you move a Wizard around the screen, and must open a series of locks in the correct order, to retrieve a part of a magic staff locked behind a wall. If you guess the order wrong, you can keep trying, but an enemy sentry enters the room and starts chasing you around. If he catches you - the game is over. If you can retrieve all five pieces of the staff, you win. This game isn\'t mentioned anywhere in the manual, and was included as an Easter Egg (it\'s easy to unlock - just search the AtariAge forums if you need help). It\'s a fairly simple game with decent graphics, and is completely different from either of the other two games. On the downside, the pace is quite slow, and finding the right order in each room is a matter of trial and error, so there\'s not much skill involved. But it\'s a nice bonus, and doesn\'t hurt anything by being included.

Phantom II / Pirate is one of the more expensive homebrew cartridges for the VCS (the most expensive currently being at $30), and at first I was reluctant to buy it. However, it kicks ass. First of all, it contains two completely unrelated games plus a bonus hidden game, which to me says Multicart.Phantom II is an above average shooter. What I like about it is the one on one aspect. No hordes of space aliens and missles and powerups. We have enough of those. This game is a seek and destroy, "I\'m gonna get you S.O.B" chase. A second player can optionally control the enemy craft, dodge your gunfire, and hide in the clouds. Apparently there\'s some huge blimp in a later level, but I can\'t get that far due to the games being based on a time limit. 4/5 joysticks here.Pirate is a barebones RPG-type game, although completely minimal, it\'s one of the most fun homebrews to play. What is so great is that the replay value is just maxed out. Sometimes you\'re so sure you\'ll win and the final snake might take you out, or you lose your bearings, get lost, and stumble upon the shovel and the X instantly. Anything can happen, and that\'s why this bad boy gets 5/5 joysticks.Untitled Game #3 is sweet too. 5/5 joysticks. Discover it and figure it out on your own. :)(hint: LOOK AT the manual)