Ultima I: The Original

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Sigma Micro Systems

If you plan to see the first Ultima to the end, you've got to have a proper mindset. If you start the game and immediately head to a dungeon, you probably won't last too long. However, since Ultima is an older RPG, you've got to approach it like one. What I mean by that is, you'll want to spend a decent amount of time, especially in the beginning of the game, grinding. You'll want to gain experience, obtain funds, and make yourself nice and powerful before advancing on. However, back in 1981, when Ultima was first released, and even in 1983, when it was re-released on the Atari 8-bit computers, you were rewarded for all of your grinding for an absolutely amazing game for its time. It's almost hard to believe that this game originally came out in 1981. Sure, there were some games, like Odyssey, that pushed some boundaries of the time, but Ultima didn't just push boundaries, it toppled them over. Ultima starts out simple enough, where you can enter the nearby castle and town, observing your surroundings from a top-down perspective, to purchase and sell items. From there, you may enter a dungeon or two, where the viewpoint changes to first-person as you make your way through the 3D hallways within. As you continue on with the game, you'll find yourself traversing waters, launching into space to shoot down alien spaceships, and even traveling through time to battle one of the most annoying boss fights that I've ever experienced. The downside of Ultima, if you were to play this game today, is that while it feels ahead of its time for when it was released, it also feels very outdated today. Unlike most RPGs of the 90s and later, where opening chests, equipping items, etc. can mostly be done with a single press of a button, there are different keys that are used for different actions. A is for attacking, for example. While most keys aren't too difficult to remember, it definitely doesn't hurt to have a little "cheat sheet" handy to remind you of which keys to press on your journey. Anyway, for its time, Ultima was absolutely amazing…it was an adventure that truly feels like a huge, epic quest. While it lacks many modern conveniences, for its time, Ultima was, quite possibly, the ultimate RPG.

*NOTE* I usually dock the score of games a tad if it's a port of something that had been released a year or more earlier, unless they are able to provide something new. In the case of the original Ultima, though, it still felt ahead of its time compared to games in 1983, like it did in 1981, so I decided to keep my rating for it the same for the Atari 8-bit port as it was for the Apple II original. 

Review added: 08/01/2026

Up 'n Down

Also known as: N/A

Developer: McT

If you've never played the original, arcade version of Up 'n Down, here's the gist of it. You control a dune buggy and your is to move along winding, branching roads, both forwards and backwards, while you collect flags and avoid other cars by either jumping out of the way or jumping and landing on top of the cars to destroy them. The goal is to collect ten flags in each round…and if you happen to pass a flag without collecting it, no worries. That flag will appear again as you continue to drive. The road that you drive on are pretty interesting too, and not just because of how the roads weave and fork. There are plenty of inclines and descents, which affect the speed of your buggy, and there are also bridges that you've got to jump. The player can also jump from one road to another road to reposition themselves so they can collect a flag, or even just to get away from an incoming rival car. The jumping, however, takes a bit of practice to really get down. Jumping is simple enough, just press a button. However, jumping is also likely going to be the number one reason that you see the game come to an end quicker than you'd probably like. Timing your jumps to properly land on other vehicles or calculating when you are and aren't able to jump on over to another road - those both take a bit of practice. It's pretty easy to hit the jump button and find yourself launched off the road and into the grass because you forgot to slow down a bit before attempting the jump. This can be overcome with practice, but I have a feeling it can also deter some folks from wanting to play it beyond a game or two. The Atari 8-bit version of the game isn't as bright or colorful as the arcade version, and the levels seem a bit more simplified. While that doesn't make the game unplayable, it does make it a little less enjoyable than if you were to play it at the arcade. Still, if you want to play a variation of Up 'n Down at home, then this isn't a horrible port.

Review added: 07/31/2026