Bank Heist Atari 2600 (Overall) Bank Heist was released in 1983 and developed by 20th Century Fox. Now before we really get started I would like you to play this game, just for a minute. Did you play it? Can you guess what game I am thinking of? That's right, another Pac-Man clone! I like to call this clone Pac-Man Pac'in heat.
In Bank Heist you are a bank robber and you have to try and rob as many banks as possible before the law catches you. You ain't gonna catch me ya dirty stinkin coppers! There are three banks per screen, every time you hit a bank a cop car will appear in its place seconds later. The cop cars seem to follow a similar pattern of the ghosts in the game it mimics.
Are the cops right on your tail? Need to get ride of 'em? Drop a stick of dynamite, that should get them off your back! That is one of the things I really like about this game, I wish Pac-Man had dynamite, think about how cool it would be to blow up those dang ghosts! You win this round Bank Heist.
You also have a gas meter. If you run out of fuel you lose a life, which is represented by get away cars. You lose gas by dropping dynamite and over time, you get some back by getting to the next screen. At first I really didn't like the idea of a gas meter but it has really grown on me, it gives the game and extra little bit of difficulty.
The mazes in Bank Heist are some what like the mazes in Pac-Man. Really at one look you can tell what game it looks like but its not so similar that it feels like you are playing the same game. I give the Overall a 6.5, we will go into that a little more at the end. On that note lets get moving on to graphics before the cops catch up to us!
(Graphics) The mazes may be like the ones in Pac-Man but that's where the similarities end when it comes to graphics. You are a car and your enemies are cars. The graphics of the cars look pretty dang nice, I have nothing to complain about on that.
You can tell what your gas meter is and what your extra lives look like, being about to tell what things are in an Atari 2600 game is a big deal! You can't say that you know what you are looking at ever often. The only thing that looks bad is the banks. At first I had no clue what the heck they were. I thought they might be like a hat, or a pigs nose, or something, I would have never guessed they were banks.
The color and shape of the maze changes as you go from screen to screen. I really like the graphics of Bank Heist, They look much better then that crummy Pac-Man port to the system! I give the graphics a 7. Pretty good but could use a little work.
(Sound) Oh the sound, don't get me started on the sound! Ok go turn the alarm on your car on then scratch a chalkboard a little and that is what you will hear in Bank Heist! As soon as you touch a bank the police sirens go off!
The sound of this game almost makes me want to not rob the banks. Really that is not a joke, I hate that sound so bad its not even funny. There is no music but most Atari 2600 games didn't have music. You get two sounds in Bank Heist, the sound of your car and the sound of the police cars. Not the most ear pleasing thing in the world!
Turn the music off, all the way off, and but on some good tunes to play this. I mean it, don't even listen to it just to see, or to be funny! Turn it OFF! I give the sound a 2 and you know why.
(Addictiveness) It feels good just to stop talking about the sound.......Ok lets talk about addictiveness. This is really where Bank Heist shines. It grabs ahold of you, when you start it is so hard to stop! I actually find myself wanting to play this game longer then Pac-Man.
With all the cool little things like dynamite and gas meters it makes the game a bit more complex then Pac-Man. The variety of maze shapes and colors keep it fresh and trying not to run out of gas gives you something to do.
Like most games of the time the point of this one is to get the high score. So you can never really beat the game, but you must beat your high score or your friends high score! I tend to give games like this a little higher rating when it comes to addictiveness but this one really earned it. Bank Heist gets a 9.
(Story) Sorry, no story. You are a bank robber and are trying to get away from the police. That is pretty much it. Pac-Man has no story ether so don't be to hard on Bank Heist.
(Depth) Bank Heist probably has around the same amount of depth as Pac-Man. The mazes change as you progress, the locations of the banks change too.
With a game from this time you really can't ask for to much. You get a few different colors to look at and a few different layouts to try to zig zag around in. It gets an 8, better then most but still could use a bit of work.
(Difficulty) Bank Heist starts out very easy and gets harder and harder as you progress, as any good game should. If you have ever played Pac-Man (and i'm sure you have) then you kind of know what you are getting into.
The police cars start out very slow, it's not really a challenge getting away from them. After you go through around six screens they are pretty fast! The cops should be arrested for speeding, for get me robbing that bank the cops are going like 150 mph!
The mazes also get more complex as you progress. I give the difficulty an 8, not to hard, not to easy.
(End) Bank Heist is a really good clone and I wish I could have gave it a higher overall. If I put just the factor of fun into it and forgot about the sound being really bad I would give it more like 7-8. It is what it is though. Don't let the low score scare you away! Bank Heist is a fun little game, with neat little twists on the classic game Pac-Man.
Give it a try! What are you waiting on?
Graphics
7 Sound
2 Addictive
9 Depth
8 Difficulty
8
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