Its not often talked about as much. But this is one of my favorite 2600 games. Especially 2 player. Also some what of a lesser note, was known among my friends as the game that made the fart noise.
We had this, and I used to LOVE playing against our next-door neighbors kids on it. It didn't happen often; I think I was the only one of us who actually enjoyed the game. But the memories I do have of it are seared into my mind. Such a simple little thing, but it made a unique impression on me.
Terrific video Kevin, I did not know that Rick Maurer effectively disappeared, that's really too bad. I always group Maze Craze with Warlords, because I bought them both for 10 bucks each at (I think) the Atari outpost in Somerset NJ. Sadly I can't remember much about that trip.
Yeah, I’d asked John Hardie and Curt Vendel about him over the past couple years, and no one had heard from him since around 2008. The email they had for him stopped working, too. Wish we knew what had happened to him!
Now that was thorough! I remember seeing Maze Craze in the shops are thinking how amazing to have 256 different games all in one. Seemed a huge step up from my Pocketeers.
Great and informative as always. Mauer seems to be an interesting and highly regarded programmer, nice comments about him in the 2600 documentary I saw. I loved Space Duel's graphics and unique two-player mode. A bit of a tangent I know, but when I think mazes and old video games I think Zork and the Text Adventures. I'll always have a soft spot for that genre, even though the mazes were way over my head. Also Gotcha's controllers - I want some of what they were smoking.
Great work! :) As always! :) I think I've raved enough about 'Maze Craze' in the past but let me add this: when there are 2 really, really, really skilled players competing against each other, the game looks like just 1 player on-screen; if both players can navigate the maze skillfully, they travel as one & can even tie on the exit. Fascinating that Rick Maurer was the programmer for 'Space Duel'; an arcade game I haven't seen since it was in the arcades. Looking forward to your coverage to Activision's 'Skiing'! Loved that game when it first released. Thanks, Mr. Bunch! :)
Great channel you have going on here. I love the VCS although I was born 12 years after its initial release. Are you doing these reviews in chronological release date order? If that’s the case, I guess it will take some time before you do Haunted House - one of my favorites :]
Great video, as always. It's past the classic era, but I think the last home version of this genre was the Snail Maze game that was built into the Sega Master System BIOS and could be played if you didn't have any cartridges or cards plugged in. Details at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail_Maze
Atari Logbook challenge: play game 6 with difficulty on B. Pro (Gumshoe): Win level 1, Master (Super Cop): Win level 2, Wizard (ATARI's Finest): Win level 3. I got this as an adult. I made Master in 2017, and Wizard in 2020. I think level meant speed, so I did 1-6-1, 2-6-1, 3-6-1 and 4-6-1.
