Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes

Also known as: N/A

Developer: 20th Century Fox

Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes, I guess, was 20th Century Fox's attempt to cash in on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes...maybe? I know sequels to the Killer Tomato film were put out by 20th Century Fox (including Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes) so maybe they just hadn't obtained the license to use the name yet. If they did have the license, then why Beefsteak instead of Killer? Maybe they didn’t think it was wise to have the term “killer” in a video game. Or maybe, just maybe, 20th Century Fox were predicting some sort of bovine gang of murderers that were going to terrorize the country and they didn’t want to be associated with the horrors that may come from that. I dunno. I do know, however, this this is a decent little action game that could be better, but is still passable for what it is.

Review added: 09/27/2019

River Raid

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Activision

In 1982, when Atari was rushing games out to the market and not exactly practicing quality control, Activision was still a pretty safe bet if you were looking for a quality game on your Atari 2600. River Raid was no exception to that rule, bringing a scrolling shooter (a genre becoming very popular in arcades at the time) to the Atari 2600 and doing it very well. The concept of River Raid is that you control a plane and your goal is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemy tankers, helicopters, jets, and bridges before your plane either crashes, or you run out of fuel. Aside from the enemy vehicles and obstacles, there are fuel depots floating in the river. If you shoot them, if fills up your fuel…so, making those depots explode and leak fuel into the river powers up your plane, essentially. I don't think environmental groups would like that logic too much…but without River Raid, Dawn wouldn't be able to wash those baby ducks in their commercials….so I guess we can be thankful. Because of the plan in River Raid polluting the water, we get to see adorable baby ducks. Speaking of adorable baby ducks…well, I have no transition from that. But pretend I do and let's move on. The river that you fly across is constantly changing, so it's not the same old scenery as you advance on. You'll come across islands, narrow channels, and, of course, all of the enemies and obstacles in your way. The further on you get in this game, the more scarce the fuel depots are, so in the beginning of the game, you may find yourself ignoring your fuel to shoot more enemies….but later on, if you miss the one fuel depot that appears on screen, you very well could find your gas tank hitting E. River Raid is one of those simple, yet fun games from the early 80s that still holds up well today. It's easy to pick up and play, and the gameplay is fun enough where it will likely have you coming back for more. The manual calls the river that you fly across "The River of No Return." This game is fun enough where once you start playing, you may not want to return anyway.

Review added: 04/22/2026

Room of Doom

Also known as: N/A

Developer: CommaVid, Inc.

Room of Doom may be one of my favorite 3rd person shooters of the 80s, on any platform. Essentially, this is a game similar to Berzerk or Robotron: 2084 in that, for the most part, you can move freely on the screen and you're shooting around as you go. What got me hooked on Room of Doom is that you're not just shooting at the enemies that try to swarm you, but you're also shooting at the enemies firing at you from behind the walls of each stage. The game starts out slow, but can get pretty frantic pretty quickly. If, for some reason, you're not a fan of how the game plays, no problem. The cartridge actually has 64 variations of the gameplay found here, so if one style isn't your cup of tea, or if you've simply played so much that you've gotten really good at one mode and want a new challenge, Room of Doom can keep you busy for a long, long time. Yes, compared to more modern games, Room of Doom seems pretty basic, but when compared to other home console games at the time, Room of Doom is very enjoyable. I also really like the visual style, as many of the enemies are varied in size, which helps give a game like this, with graphical limits, some personality. Overall, if you like single-screen, third-person shooters that allow you to move freely around the area while you play, Room of Doom is one of the better options from its time. I still find myself losing plenty of time to it today.

Review added: 10/21/2022