Activision's glory daysActivision, before they sold out and started making the same game over and over again, was excellent at making Atari 2600 games. They had made such games as Kaboom and Pitfall, and this game is also a classic that belongs in the same group as those games. Enduro is a racing game where the goal is to pass a certain number of cars before you run out of time. Let's see how the game does, shall we?
For one thing, the graphics are genuinely amazing. The track is detailed enough, and constantly twists and turns, and everything looks like it should. Also, there doesn't seem to be much recognizable flicker, despite the detailed graphics, and everything comes at a fast pace that fully utilizes the A2600's processor, weak as it may be.
The sound is somewhat less impressive, but still great for an Atari 2600 game. There's an engine sound, which could get annoying, and then there's the other sound effects, which have no problems. There's a warning sound when you're almost out of time, which is the only indication that you're running out of time - it really puts a lot of stress on the player, and gets you rushing and such, which is the big reason the game is actually fun. Obviously, there's no background music, but then again, the graphics and fast pace probably forgo any chance of a background tune, even if a superior sound chip was used.
The gameplay is just as great as the graphics. You drive a vehicle, which, due to the A2600's limitations, looks more like a tractor, and avoid other racers on the road. The biggest unique part about the game are the different weather conditions. Yes, this is a racing game on the Atari 2600 that utilizes weather conditions. They proceed in a cycle - daylight, nighttime, snow, and fog. Daylight is basically normal conditions, where your vehicle handles as normal and such, of course, at nighttime you can only see the other cars via their lights, in the snow your vehicle moves slowly, making it difficult to avoid the opposing racers, and then there's the fog, which is the worst weather condition. When it happens, your sight distance is only about half of what it normally is - so, it's almost impossible to dodge the other racers because you can't see them until you have less than a second to react at full speed. No, there isn't a brake, and yes, they do expect you to go at full speed at all times.
The controls are simple - use the joystick to move left and right on the road, and use the fire button to accelerate. No braking here, obviously. They're simple enough, but the snow condition halves the vehicle's movement speed, making it a lot harder than usual to avoid other racers.
The game is very addictive, and despite not having any difficulty settings, the game is definitely hard enough - I wasn't able to get past the second race, even though I tried multiple times.
Overall, this game was a great purchase at that time, and it's still worth a play if you're into these kinds of games. It's pretty much a foothill in racing games on consoles - while it seems primitive now, it was complex and deep at that time for the genre.
Overall Rating - A+ (This game's definitely good enough to warrant your time)
Graphics
10 Sound
7 Addictive
7 Depth
6 Difficulty
8
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