"Locked in a ship with 3 moody space monsters..."

Malagai is one of those rare gems that I find once in while that truly sets the atari to a new level. When atari comes to mind, most think of shooters, pacman, pitfall, or those naughty pornographic games people oh so ''love,'' but every now and then one might find something very original. Malagai is the case here.

The basics of Malagai are simple to understand, but the game itself is quite a challenge. You are some sort of man from space, and you are locked in a space ship with three goofy aliens called the Malagai. The only way out is by unlocking three doors, and the keys to each door is possessed by the Malagai. You must steal the keys from them one-by-one, and try to outsmart them the best you can. On the top of the screen is the order in which you must take the keys. In other words, you steal one key per Malagai. However, the Malagai are not defenseless. They move around in a pacman-like maze along with you, so if they feel as if you are a threat, they will hunt you down in a standard pacman style ambush. The good thing is that they only do this when you steal a key, run into one, or when you run out of time. When they begin to hunt you down, they change appearance, and make noises, so it's easy to understand when to be cautious. To get them to resume their little helpless wandering around, you must make your way to the bottom of the screen to the safe zone, and then they will no longer chase you. Once you get a key, you must make your way to the top and unlock the 1/3 of the door. They will then resume their helpless wandering once again, so you shouldn't worry about them too much as long as you get the keys when you have a short, clear path to the door. Once you unlock all three doors, you go to the next level. There are a total of three levels, so the game is not too big, but still quite fun.

As far as graphics go, they were wonderful! The main character was rather comical, and actually has an animation to him, whereas a lot of other atari 2600 characters were very plain. The true joy of this game is the representation of the Malagai. Each of the three are different looking, and distinguishable from each other. They each have a different color as well. When they're angered, they change appearance, and start freaking out with color and animation. You can easily tell when they want to kill you from when they don't mind your company. The levels are different colors as well, the first being orange.

It's very rare for an atari game to have pleasing sound and music. Most of the time, it's either barely tolerable, or unbearable. As for Malagai; it's in neither of these categories. I find that Malagai had above-average sounds, and even some music that fit in very well. The music ranges from when you walk around chasing a Malagai, to when the Malagai chase you, and it's done in a nice, and very accurate beat. The portals and safe zone also have cool sounds when it comes to a point in which you must dash to them. They flicker and ''beep'' while a sinister fast-paced background track influences you to speed up, and this gets your blood pumpin' big-time, especially when the three Malagai try their famous ambush maneuvers.

Overall, Malagai is my favorite Atari 2600 game by far, and it will most likely remain at that, at least for some time. I just wish it were a little bit longer, but obviously, it must be pretty good if I come back for more constantly. I recommend you find this game at least to try out, as it is very addicting, and one of those games in which you actually find yourself screaming threats to the enemies as if they were computer viruses. The sad thing is that Malagai is very rare, and from the last time I saw, a copy was anywhere between 100-125 bucks on ebay. The good thing is that there is a rom available, you just gotta search for it. If you can't find it, I would be generous enough to send you a copy (refer to my info page for contact details.)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/02, Updated 11/08/02