About.com Rating

It's time to return to the days of swords and dragons, drawbridges and killer bats, of...portable bridges and...uh...giant magnets? The 1979 Atari 2600 classic Adventure is back, and the world's first action-adventure game for home consoles is making its handheld debut on the iPhone to lower the drawbridge for a whole new generation of gamers.

The Basics

• Publisher/Developer: Peter Hirschberg - based on the classic Atari 2600 game by Warren Robinett

• Release Date: 11/2008 - Original: 1979
• Platform: iPhone - Original: Atari 2600 Console

The Good:

• Incredibly accurate recreation of the original in both look and feel.
• Sensitive motion sensitive controls add a new dimension to the game.
• Engaging gameplay and design that's aged really well.
• The Dragons - Especially the red one; he's fast and scary.

The Bad:

• The game is so accurate to the original that it also contains all of the same bugs.
• Motion controls are so sensitive your player character icon is constantly shaky.
• Have to hold the iPhone horizontally level with the floor, so you have to look down on the screen instead of sitting back and angling the phone to play.

Features:

• Motion sensitive controls and taping the screen replace the joystick and action button.
• All of the original game is here, including the hidden ester egg.
• Three Game Modes - The game changes based on difficulty mode selected.

The Game

Inspired by the text-based computer game Colossal Cave Adventure, Atari programmer Warren Robinett, sought to create a graphics version of the text-adventure, but he hit many obstacles on the way from his bosses at Atari who, thinking it wasn't possible, didn't offer support, or even allow credit when the game was completed.

The game Adventure ended up the first action-adventure console game as was an instant hit. It's rich and extensive design and gameplay were unlike like anything seen before in a home system. Warren even embedded into Adventure the world's first video gameEaster Egg with a secret room that reveals the words "Created by Warren Robinett".

Fast forward about 30 years later when Peter Hirschberg, a developer, animator, designer of the Chasing Ghosts movie poser and classic video game enthusiast got was fed up with the poorly ported and incomplete versions of Adventure that were getting shoveled out in Atari re-release packages, none of which held a candle to the original.

Peter decided to make what he refers to as a "simulation of the game (not emulated)" to play on the PC. The simulation of Adventure was such a success that he decided to base an iPhone game off of it. Switching out the controls to work with the iPhone's motion sensitive capabilities and touch screen to replace the joystick, and best yet, offering it up for free via the iTunes Apps Store.

Peter certainly did what he set out to do, making a surprisingly accurate version of Adventure that has all the same design, look and feel of the original, right down to being able to see yourself in the stomach of the dragon when he eats you.

The game has you in the role of a brave knight, represented by a square dot, seeking out a lost Enchanted Chalice that has been stolen by an evil magician. You must find the Chalice and return it to its proper place, inside the Golden Castle. To do this you must journey throughout the kingdom, find and connect three colored keys with their matching castles. While doing this you must avoid or do battle with three man-eating dragons the magician has sent out to stop you. The cowardly yellow dragon, Yorgle, who is afraid of the yellow key when you hold it, the green dragon Grundle, who guards a powerful magnet that can help snag objects stuck between walls, and the red dragon, Rhindle, the fastest of the trio. In addition to the dragon there is a pesky giant flying bat that can pick up and move any object, including the dragons, your sword and the colored keys.

At first when you pick up the game, the motion controls are a bit awkward, but as you get use to this new style of playing you soon forget about the learning curve as your drawn into the game and the intensity when trying to outrun a dragon. The level design is as good as ever with the elaborate mazes and dark catacombs.

The accuracy of this recreation can also be a bit of a pain, as all of the bugs from the original are still there. These include getting stuck inside walls and enemies entering from the opposite side they should be coming from, but if you’re a purest, I guess having these quirks in the game is necessary.

The biggest drawback of the game stems mainly from the position you must hold the iPhone it in order to play. Because of the way the motion controls were designed, if you angle the screen towards you, the character will continually move downwards. To move properly you have to hold your iPhone flat, with the back parallel to the ground. This can be rough on your patients and necks as you have to continually look straight down at the screen to play.

Final Thoughts

With its forgivable drawbacks aside, Adventure for the iPhone is an incredible achievement and a great experience. Not only does it take you back to the days of the 2600, when playing video games at home was a brand new experience, but it reminds you how engaging and exciting a game can be using just simple blocks and graphics.