Random Game O' the Day: Haunted House

[digitalpress]

The DP Spooky Random Thingy (tm) has unearthed Haunted House, an Atari 2600 exclusive.

Wow, you know you're old when you can remember the day this game came out. It was a terrific release, at that time I thought it would have the same enduring qualities that Adventure has, but sadly I've grown kinda tired of Haunted House although I still think it's a great game, especially when you consider that it's crammed into 4k of code. The sound effects are particularly memorable to me, as are those moments when you're running out of matches.

What do you think of the game? Share your recollections, highlights, and insights here.

DP Guide sez:

Haunted House (Atari 2600, by Atari) $4/R2
Designed by James Andreasen. Apparently Atari had some trouble coming up with a name for this one. A prototype labeled "Nightmare Manor" exists, and more than one reference to a game called "Graves Manor" can be found in videogame lore (one such example is in Electronic Games magazine, June '82, page 25). c1981 Atari. #CX2654.

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/atari2600/hauntedhouse.gif

[Stark]

I agree that the sound effects for Haunted House were great (at the time) but for some reason I never liked the gameplay. Running around with what was supposed to be a flashlight was not my kind of fun. It makes me laugh though thinking about how this game looked. The dark "mood", sound effects and the memorable eyeballs. I think I'll fire it up now just for the comedy factor. LOL

[bargora]

I absolutely loved this game when I was a kid. And when you got to the point where the spiders, bat, and ghost would actually follow you room to room (level 6?), man, that was scary as hell. And when you hit somthing coming off the staircase? Friggin' heart attack. The day I beat level 9 I felt like a god among, er, kids.

I've got a copy on my shelf, but I haven't actually played since, oh, 1985. Part of me IS afraid that to play it now would ruin my memories somehow. I just might have to do it anyway... I wonder if I would still remember the layout of the locked doors from levels 3-8?

Let's see. Level 1, visible walls, no doors. Level 2, lights out, unlocked doors. Level 3, locked doors, key in first room. Level 4, locked doors, key location random. Level 5, add second and third tarantulas. Level 6, monsters follow you. Level 7, bat steals your stuff. Level 8, ???. Level 9, new layout of locked doors.

[Aswald]

Oh, how I remember that sunny day when I first played this game- even the instruction booklet was great!

This was just one of those "perfect" little games. The 9 different difficulty levels, the levels in which the Ghost was no longer affected by the Scepter...and of course the thunder and rolling eyes when you were hit!

[bargora]

Oh, how I remember that sunny day when I first played this game- even the instruction booklet was great!

This was just one of those "perfect" little games. The 9 different difficulty levels, the levels in which the Ghost was no longer affected by the Scepter...and of course the thunder and rolling eyes when you were hit!
THAT'S what level 8 was--the sceptre-proof ghost!

My stomach just knotted up right now just thinking about the thunder and rolling eyes!

[Kim Possible]

I LOVE this game, its even more fun now than when I was a kid. The "mood" is perfect. The game is "new" everytime and its definitely a different style of game (totally defensive). And I'm pretty damn good at it to. I have beat level 9 using only 5 matches and I had 7 "lives" left over. Luckily for me, all 3 peices were on the first floor!

Great great game!

[Nature Boy]

I remember this game mostly because I couldn't get it.

By the time it was released my dad had sold our VCS and we had moved into the wonderful world of Atari computing. It *killed* me - and I didn't know anybody who had the game at the time so I never really got a chance to play it.

Now that I have it, of course, I haven't had time to play it. But when I do next sit down with my VCS it'll be near the top of the pile.

[o2william]

HH is one of my all-time favs for any system. It's all about Level 9!

This is one of the few games that still has the capacity to make me jump. Armed with the Scepter, your mind on exploration, you cautiously step through a door, and.... WHAM! The Ghost nails you on the other side! It's heart-attack inducing with the sound turned up. What a great game!

I have memories of playing the game as a kid, without a clue as to what your overall goal was, and with no manual to guide me. Once I actually managed to escape the house without understanding what I'd done. At the end I wasn't sure if I'd won or had died in some exotic way. :)

[NE146]

I dunno.. even "back in the day" when I got Haunted House fresh and new.. it wasn't all that to me. I mean it was OK.. but it just didn't grab me as a great game. Sure I played it a lot and at all skill levels (these were the days when Mom bought us a new game only every couple of months) so I learned it inside and out.. still though, it was filed away with the rest of the "regular" 2600 games eventually.

...Maybe it was because I was an arcade freak and mainly wanted arcade games/ports :D