K.C’s Arboretum - A K.C.’s Krazy Chase Variation

To maximize the playability of some of their limited games, Odyssey would often create a game program and put it on a cartridge, but then in the printed manual would offer written instructions for game variations that changed rule sets or just utilized the same software in unique ways.

Monkeyshines is a great example of this, and while the software is called Monkeyshines, cracking open the gorgeous, quality printed manual reveals that it is really just a software package consisting of five games: 

• Monkey Tag!
• Tailspin!
• Shuteye!
• Monkey Chess!
• Bananas!

The keyboard is used to alter the play screen in different ways in each variation. Application cartridges Type & Tell! and Keyboard Creations! had several games written in the manual, but a quick search on YouTube reveals no speedrun of Nincompoop! Amateurs.

And there were more such suggestions in the pages of Odyssey 2 Adventure magazine. I was a player that sent in and got printed one such variation for Invaders from Hyperspace! Which leads me to one such game variation I created back in 1982 for K.C.'s Krazy Chase! which I called K.C.'s Arboretum.

Using the game's programmable mode, the player can add and remove walls thus creating their own maze layout. One day I was playing around with that mode when a thought struck me...will the trees regenerate in closed boxes and be out of the way if I create a maze with that?

A quick test lead to a few prototype mazes scribbled on graph paper and also tested before settling on the final design for K.C.'s Arboretum. The goal was to rescue 6 trees from consumption by the Dratapillar and regrow them on 6 pedestals, untouchable by either the Dratapillar or K.C.

Below is the document I created that day, for decades tucked inside a folder with various other Odyssey 2 advertisements and such:

 

One can see the maze design for the arboretum, and along the right the programming steps used to create the maze. The series of numbers in the middle represents the first successful arboretum achieved, with all 6 of the trees trapped in the six pedestals. 

The trees are eaten by either the Dratapillar or K.C., so the goal of the variation is to get the lowest score possible to get all 6 trees on their pedestals. Each time a tree is eaten, it regenerates somewhere else in the maze. As the Dratapillar circles the perimeter, he clears any trees out there, and the player has to clear them out of the interior area. Here is the maze:

The sequence of numbers from the sheet are 4-15-16-21-26-34 which represents the first tree being trapped at a score of 4, the second tree at 15, and so forth until the sixth tree was trapped at 34 for a final score. Another score on the sheet is 3-15-24-38-45-79 and apparently dated April of 2004. Another set of numbers stops at 49 for the fourth tree and I vaguely remember giving up the last time I tried.

And so the Arboretum was lost to time until this week. I dusted off the keyboard part of the Odyssey 2 and did some very, very old school level editing. Here is the program used to create the maze. Note that ENTER, CLEAR, and YES are keyboard buttons on the Odyssey 2.

• RESET (SELECT GAME should be on the screen)
• P
• ENTER
• 4 A CLEAR
• 7 A CLEAR
• A 2 ENTER
• A 4 ENTER
• A 5 ENTER
• A 6 ENTER
• A 7 ENTER
• A 8 ENTER
• B 2 CLEAR
• B 3 ENTER
• 3 B CLEAR
• 4 B ENTER
• 6 B CLEAR
• B 7 ENTER
• C 1 CLEAR
• 1 C ENTER
• 2 C ENTER
• 3 C ENTER
• 6 C ENTER
• C 6 CLEAR
• 8 C ENTER
• C 7 ENTER
• 1 D ENTER
• D 3 ENTER
• D 4 CLEAR
• 4 D CLEAR
• 5 D CLEAR
• D 8 ENTER
• 2 E ENTER
• 3 E ENTER
• E 5 ENTER
• 6 E ENTER
• 7 E ENTER
• E 7 ENTER
• E 6 CLEAR
• 2 F ENTER
• F 3 ENTER
• F 4 ENTER
• 5 F ENTER
• F 6 ENTER
• F 7 ENTER
• 3 G CLEAR
• 6 G CLEAR 
• YES

So, not only did I enter all that and play a round, I broke the world record:

I actually felt a bit crestfallen after getting that score. Maybe this variation isn't the cat's pajamas I remembered it being, but I bet they would have published it in Odyssey 2 Adventure magazine back in the day. Odyssey 2 was a system where the programmers squeezed the most out of the machine and the players squeezed even more using their imaginations. 

Hardware Review: Retrogameboyz Odyssey 2 Gamepad - Can It Run U.F.O.?

 I had been searching here and there for awhile to find a modern-made Odyssey 2 controller, or someone who could retrofit my six old original controllers with modern tech, to no avail. As the fortieth anniversary of the Odyssey 2 becoming my first console arrived, I decided to search again, and found a custom NES-style gamepad controller being sold on Etsy by Retrogameboyz .

The current link to order one is here . I'll just say here and now, if you own an Odyssey 2 you should get one or two of these as soon as you can. My celebration of forty years of gaming on the console would not have been possible without it. It is also great to review new hardware for the Odyssey 2 again, as the last new hardware I got for it was The Voice module 39 years ago.

It is worth noting here that there are two models of the Odyssey 2, and only one of those has joystick ports. The other version has the joysticks hard-wired to the console and this controller will not work on the system that has no controller ports.

It is solidly built with quality parts and feels as good as an NES controller did in my hands. The plug is solid and sturdy, and the cord is very long, allowing one to play a good distance away from the console. In addition to the awesome Odyssey 2 logo emblazoned in the center of the controller face, other images include K.C. Munchkin, Spyrus the Deathless, and the dreaded Dratapillar. It looks sleek and is finished with such quality that I am not too worried about the images coming off anytime soon.

The play's the thing, though, so I started out with Speedway for a test, and it handled like a dream. The controls were refreshingly responsive as I moved on to Alien Invaders-Plus and got the same results. Next up was a maze chase game, K.C.'s Krazy Chase, to test tight responsiveness and quick turns. I was able to make short work of the Dratapillar and Drats.

Next was Killer Bees, a game comparable to Robotron in frantic gameplay, and using the Retrogameboyz gamepad I lost myself in that one for more than a test session. With a good controller I was reminded why Killer Bees was not just one of the best for the Odyssey, but one of the best of that generation.

The final test was one I was not hopeful for - U.F.O. In the late 2000s there was a PC game called Crysis that according to legend was so demanding of  PCs at the time that the test of any performance for those machines was "Can it Run Crysis?".

And so it shall be for aftermarket Odyssey 2 controllers - Can it Run U.F.O.? Of course, the console itself runs the game, but can the controller be used to play U.F.O. smoothly? Your ship in the game is surrounded by a shield of dots that can take a hit but then needs a few seconds to regenerate. One of those dots in your shield is your cannon, though, and it only rotates clockwise around your ship for aiming.

This forces the player to fly around in clockwise arcs to rotate the gun around to the next target, all the while avoiding asteroids and enemy fire. To say it takes some getting used to is an understatement, but once the player gets the feel for it, they realize that this amazing use of the Odyssey 2's limited controller options really works, and it works well.

The original Odyssey 2 controllers had a joystick and a ball base that made for easy clockwise rotation to pull off U.F.O.'s control scheme. I am happy to report that the Retrogameboyz Odyssey 2 Gamepad pulls this off just as well, if not better than the original stick. Like Killer Bees, U.F.O. is one of those Odyssey 2 games that one can just blast the hours away unknowingly.

I have already ordered my second controller from Retrogameboyz and can only hope that I can send some more business their way with my recommendation here. Having a new controller has really brought life into my old Odyssey 2 again, and I can only marvel at how timeless the gameplay is on some of these now-ancient videogame cartridges.

Forty Years of Home Videogaming

 On Christmas morning in 1981 I was unpleasantly surprised when the Atari VCS I had asked for turned out to be an Odyssey 2. I’ve written about that several times in this blog but needless to say my disappointment that morning was somehow both intense and well-hidden.

It might have been lessened if the pack in game, Speedway/Spin-Out/Crypto-Logic was good, or if the Space Invader clone, Alien Invaders-Plus was playable past a score of 10. But there I was on Christmas morning with no Asteroids or Missile Command, much less Atari’s great licensed Space Invaders.

I began immediate research on what was available for the system soon after, with Dad taking me to our small town Magnavox dealership (shoutout to Ron's Magnavox) to get a third game a few weeks later in January. Not only was this pre-internet, it was pre-Electronic Games magazine, so I was in the dark regarding what the system had.

I was determined to get a better space-themed game, and not knowing any better picked up Cosmic Conflict. It helped Dad that the game was on sale for twenty dollars. While better than Alien Invaders-Plus, it was still pretty limited in replayabilty. There is a strict time limit and it was not too hard to press the score toward that limit by getting good. While the game was another dud for me, it was still an additional box on the shelf, bringing my budding software library to three.

Dad was feeling more generous soon after and I, now better informed thanks to the second issue of Electronic Games magazine, finally scored K.C. Munchkin. My Atari-owning friends took notice, having no home Pac-Man clone and seeing the clear replay value in a game that not only comes with a handful of mazes, but also allowed the player to program in their own levels. 

And so it went with each major Odyssey 2 release up until the Great Videogame Crash of 1983. Odyssey 2 hung on long enough to get Killer Bees and Demon Attack out the door, and I scooped them up at release. I picked up Volleyball for $6 in late 1984 but until I began retro-collecting in the early 1990s I did not actively seek any additional games for the system.

Today I have the entire North American library for the Odyssey 2, and a few amazing "homebrews" that came in the 2000s. Forty years ago I was a kid with no money and a strong desire to develop a great software library for the console I was stuck with. Now I have all those games and struggle to find the time to play and appreciate them. 

Let's wrap up the 40th Anniversary of my acquisition of the Odyssey 2 with images of past Christmasses playing Alien-Invaders-Plus. 

1981:

2007:

2021:

Teaser