"An all-time classic"

One of the all-time great arcade and console games period contains armored knights sitting atop flapping ostriches, buzzards, pterodactyls, and trolls dwelling in lava pits. This game could only be Joust. A true video game original, it was manufactured by Williams Entertainment, a popular arcade company, as an upright-based game in 1982. It was designed by John Newcomer and programmed by Bill Pfutzenreuter.

The player operated a lance-wielding, armored knight who rode a blue-plumed ostrich that would flap its wings and fly through a platform level consisting of several floating rocks and a ground area that covered two lava pits on the far ends of the screen. Upon reaching further levels in the game, the ground above the lava pits would burn away and provide a further obstacle for the player to avoid. Another level further would add a “troll,” whose fiery hand would pull the player into the lava if he/she got too close.

The player’s enemies were other knights who rode giant buzzards, also outfitted with lances and body armor. The object of the game was to fly just above the buzzard riders to connect. A zapping sound effect would follow, leaving the buzzard to fly off in the hopes of finding a new rider. Should the player be below the opposing knight, it resulted in the loss of a life. If the two combatants’ lances met evenly, they would simply bounce off one another. Meanwhile, the defeated buzzard rider would revert to a glowing, green egg, which the player would then try to capture, thus eliminating his foe permanently. If the player didn’t respond quickly enough, the egg would hatch a new rider who would wait for a passing buzzard to reclaim and become a stronger, deadlier enemy. In the event that the player took WAY too much time eliminating the other riders, a screaming pterodactyl would appear, flying across the screen, in an attempt to further expedite the player’s demise. The pterodactyl was seemingly invincible but a skilled shot in the monster’s beak (not as easy a task as one would think) usually destroyed it.

The game play and controls for the upright console were amazingly simple. The controls consisted of a joystick that moved left and right to control either the flight or the running of the ostrich. A toggle of the joystick in the opposite direction would halt running, bringing the bird to a screeching stop—complete with a terrific, screeching sound effect. A single button would control the flapping of the ostrich’s wings and determine the overall flight pattern of the player. To drop down another level, you simply left the “flap” button alone.

Joust proved to be such a successful and original creation, that it inevitably spawned several imitators and even a sequel. In 1983, Atari and Colecovision decided to reproduce their own console versions of the game and released Sir Lancelot for their respective systems. Like Joust, the player would have to push a button on the joystick to flap its beast’s wings and hover just over it’s opponent to make a killing strike; all in an Arthurian setting, of course. The following year saw DragonHawk for Commodore 64. This was a dragon-slaying game in which, again, required the player to be just above his/her opponent to strike a winning blow. After four successful years of munching quarters, the creators of Joust finally released a sequel entitled, Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest in 1986. The game had a much more robust environment and even the option of riding a Pegasus-styled beast, but proved to be much more difficult and less satisfying to play. Not many uprights of Joust 2 were released and it never matched the thrill or originality that the previous game provided.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/04