Aquaventure

Prototype ROM
Unreleased
Owner and dumper unknown.

I don't know about everyone else, but I've enjoyed this game from the first time that I played the ROM. Nearly everybody that has reviewed this particular game has called it "repetitive." Now I submit to you this: what Atari 2600 game wasn't repetitive? In this day of the Dreamcast, Playstation, etc... with their huge, encompassing role-playing games, simple games like this just get forgotten in the mix. Hell, look at some of the "classics" people say are better than this - Pac Man was nothing more than grabbing dots and power pellets in the same maze over and over. Sinistar was shooting asteroids and killing a flying, insulting head over and over. Frankly, in the era of the 2600, repetitive games were the NORM, not the exception.
This is a very simple game that, in my opinion, is a whole lot of fun. The goal of the game is to swim to the bottom of the cavern, grab the treasure, and swim back up to the top and touch the mermaid who will take you to safety, all before your air runs out. There is a bit of strategy involved with this game, especially if you're aiming for the highest possible score. Every screen contains fish that will kill you in a single touch. You are equipped with a spear gun that will kill these fish, however, a faster, indestructable fish will replace any killed fish on the board. You have to keep a balance between killing the fish that will hit you and leaving enough of a path for yourself to get out of the cavern once you have the treasure. The turtle at the top of the screen will measure your remaining air - you must get to the mermaid before he reaches the "air" sign, or you will die.
I think this game is one of the best protos that has surfaced for the 2600 - despite other people's complaints of its repetitiveness. There are very few 2600 games out there that aren't a simple repeat of a level - usually harder each time, but still a repeat of the same level. Despite what you may have read about this game at other websites, give it a download and a try - I think you'll be pleasently surprised.

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