Atari 2600 James Bond 007 Review | Playing and Failing 

Calvin the angry bond game nerd.

Calvin, you’re absolutely smashing it this year (2020-2021)! I love the movie and game reviews, but the varied topics have been fantastic, informative, and the comic skits have been legitimately laugh out loud funny. Lost count of how many times I’ve gone back to watch child Calvin say, “Nice to know I waste my future...” Thank you for the awesome content :-)

The biggest twist in this video was learning that Calvin is actually four years older than me despite looking ten years younger.

Never has the expression ‘Kids today don’t know they are born’ been more appropriate lol That’ was state of the art when we were kids! Great work as always

I think you should also give the A View To A Kill game a go. Let's just say it opens with a strange gunbarrel sequence and a terrifying sound that is supposed to be 'The name's Bond, James Bond.'

Goldeneye 007 - The Wii version is hands down one of my favorite Multiplayer experiences. Online back in 2011-2012 it was poppin. Great memories.

A jumping car sounds more like Speed Racer than Bond. And, of all the colours, bright pink? Perhaps, adapting Diamonds are Forever, they thought Bond needed a car to match his tie. It looks more like Homer Simpson’s car than anything Bond ever drove.

AVGN should do a james bond episode. in fact im surprised he hasn't talked about james bond at all

Apparently, Parker Brothers was planning for a sequel of sorts with an Octopussy game that ended up being canceled.

0:53 Fun fact. The Spy Who Loved Me was also released for the Commodore 64. As such for the longest time if you googled "The Spy Who Loved Me 64" you would get picture of that game. Now when you google it, you will see screen shots of a Fan project to bring The Spy Who Loved Me to the Nintendo 64.

"The world's most _famous_ _secret_ agent."

Welcome to the 80s when we had to use our imagination in conjunction with video games.

Mr.Dyson. I love your videos. Have a happy and healthy 2021❗

Calvin hast become the Angry Video Game Nerd.

"This can be anything with the license slapped on it". You are correct. That's what happened. They started making a bespoke Octopussy game (with the train scene well represented) but that was taking too long so they took an in-development side scrolling shooter and re-skinned it. A similar situation happened with the first Activision Ghostbuster game. When this didn't sell well (and the big North America videogame crash hit), they sadly scrapped the Octopussy game and no one has found a ROM. www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/jamesbond/jamesbond.htm

Ah, the old days of video games being just clusters of colored pixels. And of also being excruciatingly difficult because of graphics limitations. (Seriously, go play the original Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, or Battletoads if you think THIS was hard) Been thinking about getting myself an Atari 2600 to add to my retro gaming collection and may have to find myself a copy of this too. Also, I'm guessing you're gonna be hearing that 8-bit James Bond theme in your nightmares for a few weeks, huh? XD

Protect this man at all costs

LOL, never thought the 007 theme would be such torture for Calvin. 😆

Ahhh, computer game nostalgia. Never played this but the gameplay looks pretty much the same as it was for all games from that era. Move, jump, and shoot. Hours of fun! 👍

Hey Calvin, are you going to continue with the mission impossible reviews? Really enjoyed them so far.

This was as good as games got pretty much in the early to mid 80s. I was born in 1978 and my childhood was full of the ZX Spectrum and games such as Dizzy and Lotus Esprit Turbo. Basic by todays standards but had a certain charm and personality largely missing form todays big budget games.

Those were advanced graphics for the day Calvin. Hilarious seeing someone who started out with Goldeneye going back to something more basic which to us in it's day was considered advanced. Well more advanced than Pong. The first James Bond game I played was 'Live and Let Die' which even for it's day was complete crap. Live and Let Die is the worst game that I've ever played...or given up on. Where is Sheriff Pepper when you need him? LOL

If you want to play the best unofficial Bond game from the 80's, look for Spy Hunter arcade version. It has all the elements from the car/boat chase from The Spy Who Loved Me.

First off, I am a gamer. While only 4 years older then you, I got into games much younger (1991 or 1992 at age 6 or 7) then you. But I rarely go back to the NES generation, let alone the Atari 2600 generation. I feel that some game's lock picking mechanics or Easter Egg arcade games offer better gameplay then most games of this era. So bravo for being willing to sit down any play it. I didn't know of this game until I watched WhatCulture Gaming's Every James Bond Video Game Ranked Worse To Best video. Ever see that? Might be good for a reaction, or letting you know of games for future videos.

Trust me: this is from my era of video games and this is one of the most frustrating games ever made. Graphics are good for the 2600 though.

In all honesty, a lot of games from this era of consoles (pre-Nintendo) are more like interesting tech demos and curiosities than anything we think of as a "game" these days. And honestly this is kinda bad even by Atari 2600 standards. But they're super cool to explore from a historical perspective nonetheless! I'm glad you're going through these. I'm actually really looking forward to your take on the James Bond 007 Game Boy game--THAT one I have fond memories of and it's actually a pretty decent game!

I went back and tried the empire strikes back on the Atari and I found that game quite fun for what it was.

A Review to A Kill

God you make me feel old. Not knowing about the computers. First time I felt disconnected with you!

Enjoyed the humor. That’s it. That’s the comment.

I never played this particular game, but licensed Atari 2600 games were a mixed bag. To look at two other Parker Bros games for that system: maybe because it was based on an arcade game, the Popeye game's characters actually looked a bit like their characters IIRC. Spider-Man was a stick figure and shot webs from his head instead of hands, but if you squinted a bit you could imagine it being a distance shot of him scaling a building with crooks and bombs.

That was fun a video lmao. Though i'm curious, does that mean this mean that these smaller Bond game reviews will also be apart of the channel now? Cause i am honestly curious to see what your review on James Bond 'The Dual' would be like. Anyways, great video Calvin!

I’m just really excited for the new game, I’m still young so I haven’t played much of the games at all so hopefully it will be a great introduction!

7:13 "They blew up the cargo robot... and the cargo was PEOPLE!!!"

Well I feel old. I remember playing consoles that the kids can't even pronounce now

Dude, did you hear that designers have made an N64 version of Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me and Tomorrow Never Dies? Check it out on RU-vid if you don't believe me.

Grew up with the NES myself, but I love the Atari. I don’t know if this will work on your side of the pond, but a coaxial adapter can be used for some second generation consoles.

Wait does this mean you are doing all the Atari games? Also I have been playing James Bond The Duel and I feel that is the beginning of the modern bond game, it has stealth elements mission objectives etc of course when you get to that game be careful on mission 3 otherwise you will turn into strawberry jam...

"been wondering when he'd get to a From Russia with Love game playthrough next" *battles frogmen instead* "...this will do then I guess"

Good video Calvin! I actually had this game when I was a kid for the Commodore 64. I found it so frustrating that I think it put me off video games, all video games for the rest of my life I never play video games after this!

Lol I HAD this game and at the time I thought just the very IDEA of having a Bond video game was just the coolest thing ever! Btw - I’ve NEVER used an emulator- how do you even do that?

Please get Twitch and stream James Bond games forever!!

I was born 20 years before you, so I remember the A2600 very well, having received one as an Xmas gift in 1983, the same year I became a Bond fan and began working through the early VHS releases. I don't remember this game though; it may have not been a wide release.

You should check out james bond game on gameboy

0:29 Just to clear things up, for the MSX and ZX consoles you just pronounce the letters as if there were a slace in between them. Like you would for the term AI (meaning Artificial Intelligence). Can't speak for the other consoles though, since my area of expertise is limited to just the MSX and ZX Spectrum consoles.

That Atari 2600 was released in 1977 has 128 BYTES of RAM (no giga, mega, or even kilo modifier). A single, old school 144 character tweet would not fit in the RAM of the Atari 2600. It's amazing when any game for that system can do anything more sophisticated than PONG. These multi-platform releases from the early 80s are best played either on the Atari 8-bit (or 5200) or the C64. Those would be the equivalent of playing on an Xbox One versus the Xbox 360 version. You'd be playing on 1980 versus 1975 tech, they had 48-128X the amount of RAM, much better graphics and sound hardware, etc.

Love your videos !

I know you’d want to stick with Bond games but would you consider trying out other “espionage” games like the Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell games?

Hah, very entertaining :) On the subject of games, Calvin, have you tried the Legendary 007 Card Game from Upper Deck? It's quite fun, and is by far my favorite Bond game that plays on the tabletop. It's equally good alone or with friends.

I can’t imagine how I could’ve ever become a lover of videogames if all I had at the start was Atari games instead of the Sega Genesis and PS1.

The early Bond games are a real mixed bag. There's a Live and Let Die game I had on the Amiga (note to Calvin - Amiga is the female equivalent of Amigo. So, it's A-meega, rather than Ami-ga) which is basically some speedboat-based shooter, that Domark just slapped the Bond licence on. The opening level has you racing along a jungle river, so I guess they thought that was close enough to the Florida Everglades, but subsequent levels differ significantly from the source film. I certainly don't remember a sequence where 007 races his missile-firing speedboat along the Nile in Egypt. and then through the the Arctic Sea. Unless those are deleted scenes? Then there's the point and click adventure title, James Bond 007: The Stealth Affair (also for the Amiga and MS DOS). Developed by French company Delphine, the game began life as Operation Stealth, as was published as such in Europe, and has the player as a tuxedo-wearing CIA agent attempting to stop the theft of a new Stealth Fighter. But for the US release, it was reworked as a 007 game - retitled and with the character renamed to suit. Unfortunately, that didn't go so far as remembering to change CIA to Mi6 in the dialogue or graphics, so you have the confusing scenario of James Bond working for the Central Intelligence Agency. Unless of course, this is actually a 2nd outing for Barry Nelson's "Card Sense" Jimmy Bond? Probably not though. One of my favourite computers of the era was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2A, and Amstrad (who owned Sinclair by then) saw fit to release a 007 themed Spectrum Action Pack. This is notable, because it included a bundle of exclusive James Bond games, and a cassette tape recording of Desmond Llewellyn as Q, briefing Bond for his mission. The games included were older commercial releases, reworked to make use of the included light gun, and to include the Bond licence, as well as a slightly reworked version of Licence to Kill, with all the games now forming an linked story arc. This sees Bond doing some target practice, before infiltrating a countryside manor of the bad guy, where he takes part in some clay pigeon shoot. Eventually, the action shift to the main attraction - the reworked version of the recently available Licence to Kill. Interestingly, the overall villain in the story someone who is clearly supposed to be Blofeld, as the printed manual names him as such, while the audio tape and games refer to him as a similar sounding name that Kevin McClory couldn't sue over.

You really need to play it in true Atari 2600 fashion by using the joystick. Keyboard control on the emulators is daffy at times.

I actually remember renting the A View To A Kill PC game from a computer shop near my house that rented out computer software for 2 days for $2. My dad ended up bootlegging a bunch of games I rented from that shop for my collection when I was little. That was 35 years ago, today they'd get shut down and the owners would be prosecuted for it.

So the Diamonds Are Forever level has you travelling across the Nevada desert that's filled with deadly satellites, craters and robot people that fire radiation? Are you sure you're not playing a prequel to Fallout: New Vegas?

The C64 version might be a bit easier than this, but at least with the Atari you can choose the levels from the start. Considering the Atari VCS used 4K and 8K cartridges (yes, a Spectrum 48K had x12 times more ram), and about as powerful as a paper clip, I think what they managed to acheive is nothing short of a miracle. A very, very crap miracle.

people playing atari had tons of imagination back then to fill in the holes for games, enjoy it for what it is, play TSWLM N64 emulator next! I think youll like it

Rumour has it Calvin still has nightmares about that death music...

Love your channel! Thank you for everything!!!👍🏻😁

I suggest taking a look at Quantum of Solace for the ps2. It's a third person shooter by Eurocom and I think it's better than the Ps3 version. Do change the control preset to "Royale" and set the zoom aim to "hold". The standard controls make no sense whatsoever.

If youre going retro with Bond games, 007 The Duel for sega genesis is a must play, really good one.

As someone who worked in retail & sold some of those early games, this is a huge flashback for me. Starting with the music. Back then that was as good as it got, & was loved for the fact it was even there. & those graphics were as good as it got. Some games were for what we now call platforms, back then computers or video game players. & at times there were differences because of what each player/computer could do. Also, not so easy as it would seem, was it?

From what I recall, reviews of this game back then had the same criticism as you. This game does not feel like a Bond game when you are playing it. I personally never had the chance to play it myself. I didn't buy it due to the poor review of it.

I seem to remember that the ATARI 130XL version of this game had FOUR levels - DAF, TSWLM, MR and FYEO

Ahoy Calvin, do you plan on reviewing TWINE for N64 sometime?

Please review James Bond 007 for the Game Boy. Highly underrated

You should more Let's Plays

I grew up in this era and I had no idea this bond game existed. The implimentation was limited. For that you used your imagination to fill in the gaps. It is rather hard for those who came later to understand as games could get more expressive. This is good and bad.

Also LOVE YOUR VIDEO GAME REVIEWS

Aah, old games were so much harder and unforgiving on the players!

Are you going to review The World is Not Enough for the N64? Also you should check out Goldfinger 64. It’s a fan made game that takes the Goldeneye engine and makes a whole new game out of it. You can download it online or get a physical cartridge though sites like Etsy and play it on your N64. Highly recommended and I think you would like it, it’s kind of like a DLC for Goldeneye.

Oric or Auric ;-) ? Good old synthy-sound and pixelitis.

Game developers Delphine, famous for Flashback and Another World (aka Out of This World) in the 90's also made a few adventure games in their day, one of which was a 'James Bond' game. I put in ' ' as it only had the Bond name and license in the USA, and nowhere else, strangely enough. In the rest of the world it was known as Operation Stealth, whilst in the US it was James Bond 007: the Stealth Affair. Whilst it stars a very Bond-esq agent, complete with tuxedo, it's a bit of a weird game, with far too many annoying arcade segments, as well as details such as Bond working for the CIA rather than MI6. I'd recommend watching a Let's Play rather than playing it yourself.

Try playing 007 for the Colecovision... I won it (all FOUR levels that is) as a 7-8 year old and remember it being not too difficult

If you think the Atari 2600 music is bad, wait until you play A View To A Kill on Commodore 64 - Bond sounds like Dr. Claw in the intro.

When comparing video games of the early 80’s to today’s games, of course they are going to be judged inferior. But if like me, you were born in the late 60’s or early 70’s. The Atari, spectrum and Commodore 64 was our Xbox and play station of our day, so there is a great deal of nostalgia involved with these games. Millennials would not and could never understand. We played these games when there was nothing to compare them to.

Back in the day they had to get as many hours of play as possible out of a limited amount of storage, the expectation was that kids would only be getting games at Christmas and their birthday so the games had to provide 40+ hours of game. Because of this games were made quite challenging so you could spend hours playing and not run out of game.

I am old enough for these systems Calvin and think you will enjoy the View to a Kill game a lot more ( I had the Commodore 64 version).

I am old school Calvin and I am this day old, to even be aware that there were other levels besides the Diamonds Are Forever level.. I don't think many people got past that! More importantly, where can I get that awesome JW Pepper print!!!!!

I love the Atari 2600, one of the all time great consoles. I had no idea this game existed, though. It sorta reminds me of Moon Patrol, except not as good. Hopefully young Calvin won’t come away with the idea that all 2600 games are like this.

Played it on my Commodore 64 back in the day and it was just as bad🤔 are you going to try out more old Bond games?

I’m the right age to have played this game when it was new, and there were some genuinely fun games on the old Atari. But looking at this one, it seems (and I don’t use this word often), dreadful. Looks like playing it is actually a form of punishment.

You should have cut in the clip of Sean Bean from Goldeneye saying "still press here do I?" ;-) At the time this was out I had a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A and there were much better games than this, so I'm thankful this was never released for the TI :-)

That playthrough at the end is fantastic content! Sorry Calvin, but it's just fun seeing you get frustrated.

There was a huge jump in graphics from the Atari era to the Nintendo 64 era. It's quite jarring, if you didn't live through it.

“The latest James Bond movie's release date has been postponed once again and is now set to hit cinema screens in November 2021.”

This was CRAP even at the time. My neighbour loaned it me while he had my copy of Berzerk... I swopped back a day later. Its basically a cheap knock off of Moon Patrol.

Are you going to do the View To A Kill game on commodore ?

I needed the smelling salts after hearing you pronounce "Amiga" as "amigur".

Love the background music track...very nostalgic! I wanna say TWINE on PS1?

Brilliant Cal, awfit games weren't they to be honest. Please try (if you haven't already) an arcade game called "Sly Spy" by a Japanese company called 'DATA EAST' "Bond" is a CIA agent but it's basically all the Bond movies put into a late 80s arcade run and gun game

Some of these pronunciations of consoles made me shudder more than Moore in A View To A Kill

Hey calvin! Did you see someone is making a spy who loved me n64 game?

Big question is: what would you rather listen to, the high pitched Bond theme from this game or the intro to Goldfinger, Calvin? 😂

7:54 Did that car just crash a satellite out of the sky? That's quite a feat, especially considering that the instruction booklet claimed the satellites were indestructible.

possible next: James Bond 007 - The Duel (Sega Master System vs Genesis/Mega Drive )

I can recommend James Bond 007 on Game Boy, if you want an old Bond game that is still playable.

I played the Commodore 64 version of this game recently and its terrible .. in fact most of the 8 Bit Bond games are. The exception to this rule is the Licence To Kill game from 1989.. I suggest you give the commodore 64 version of that a go as I think this one rocks!

Will you be trying out the worlds not enough on n64?

I didn't think this was good back in the day. You got further than me (played it a a friend) but it was just difficult (like many Atari games), but not fun difficult. My favorite 2600 game: H.E.R.O.

Good video. Please do World is Not Enough N64 Version?