Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 25th Genre Rank: (Puzzle) 2nd Awards: 4th Best Originality, 7th Best Gameplay I Wonder if I Can Get that Shade of Fuchsia For my Family Room? Pros: Fun Little Puzzle Game/ Easy to Understand Cons: Goofy Looking Protagonist/ Low Replay Value You Crazy Kid!!! Get Off the Roof!

Overview: Woo-hooooo. Who needs the realistic Tony Hawk line of skateboarding games when you can get an Atari 7800 and Absolute's Super Skateboardin' off ebay for under 50 bucks and start going to town with the guy in the green shirt and the jams??? PS: I'm full of crap! Yes, it is amazing...Super Skateboardin' has about as much to do with skateboarding as a South Park marathon has to do with Biblical Studies. Although not a terrible game, Super Skateboardin' is not what you might think it is. Instead of a game filled with inverts, McTwists, and 720 airs, we have a game filled with buzz saws, computers, and typewriters. SS is a puzzle game that places the protagonist in an office building that basically is a maze. He must turn off all electric devices in the building before the electricity bill skyrockets into a small fortune. His enemies are the Power Company and the clock.

Graphics: This game takes place at a factory/office building. The interior decorator of the building was either a wee bit color blind or lost both eyes in Nam. The color of the walls range from pink to blue to green to gray, with no rhyme or reason. Furniture, machines, and appliances are littered sparsely throughout the building, and most rooms have nothing inside at all. Though this is a little odd, it at least isn't distracting from the task at hand. Graphically, everything is easily identifiable, except maybe the coffee maker....well, wait...........is that a coffee maker??? The only problem with the visuals in this game may be the hero. He looks like he fell out of Epyx Summer Games for the 2600. Block head, green shirt, black and white jams, and no face. Even though the main character model is weak, the graphics are adequate and done fairly well.

Sound: After about 20 of these reviews, I'm starting to realize that the best sound for the 7800 is no sound. That's practically all we have here, except for a few bleeps, blurbs, spits, and whistles from certain machines in the rooms. These are done fairly well, and no audio here makes you want to kill anyone.

Gameplay: This game is super simple to pick up and play. Pressing either button makes the character jump up off his skateboard, fly through the air, and then land back on it. Most skateboarding games would have the skateboarder bring the board up with him in his jump and possibly perform a trick...but hey, not this game buddy! Turning off machines and lights are as simple as riding past them. Pushing down makes you kneel on your board. The only reason you would need to do this is to ride the strange tunnels in the game that send you from one floor to another. Now that I think about it, everyone who works in this office must ride skateboards around, because it is impossible to go from floor to floor without one. What a cool place to work! Well, again...this game is silly. The game ends when you turn off all of the lights and return outside, run out of time, or fall off the roof. Sick individuals will like watching the last ending several times in a row.

Originality: I have never played a game like this before or since. From the get go this game is just plain weird...you will never be the same!!!

Value: Sadly, this game is not very difficult, and it is short. Once you beat the game, there won't be a lot of reasons to come back and play Super Skateboardin', except for maybe improving your time. But after awhile, that just gets boring.

Overall: If there seems like there is not much substance to this review, it's because there's not much substance to the game. The main gist of this game is just trying to find your way through the maze. It is that simple. Since this game is so different from any other game I have ever played, I think it is worth a purchase. And trying to solve the puzzle is fun. Just be warned...besides the guy riding one, there is absolutely nothing to do with skateboards in this game. No tricks, no ramps, no babes in pink halter tops and knee pads....nothing. This game would have been better named, "Super Minimum Wage Factory Worker!" or "Hey! Why don't Your Employees Turn Everything Off When They Are Through With It?" or "Flip that Switch!" Hey, that last one is actually pretty good...



Other Reviews:
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 3.5 out of 5.0 (Good)
Atari Gaming Headquarters: 6 out of 10
The Atari Times: 6 out of 10



Additional Info: I would like to take this time to thank Mitch Orman, owner of The Atari 7800 Page for allowing the use of his screenshots for this review.

Free polls from Pollhost.com

What Sticks Out the Most About Super Skateboardin'?

The fact that there is nothing to do with Skateboarding in this game The tacky wall paint Fun gameplay

Email Vinnie