Venture

"Adventure gets all the glory solely because it contains an "Ad" in it's title, while Venture sits in it's shadow..."

For some strange reason, I find myself addicted to treasure hunting games. At first, I find myself playing A Boy and His Blob for NES, loving it, yet at the same time the majority of those lucky individuals that have played it, hated it. I thought it was just a slight personal preference for that particular game, but then I start playing some atari classics, and finally get introduced to Pitfall. About a week later, I find myself running around my backyard jumping over things and gathering treasure (bricks actually...) I was a little frightened of this personal lust for treasure hunting games, and so, I sadly packed my Atari and Nintendo away... Hey, I could have hurt myself trying to jump over a ''pit of crocodiles,'' that was in fact, only my roof. One of these memorable treasure hunting games that I hold dear, that was introduced to me not too long ago, actually, was Venture, a game in which I am currently reviewing...

10/10 Gameplay: This game's treasure hunting simplicity is what I adore out of it. You play as a red being known as Winky, and you are armed with a bow and arrow, represented as a dot, but oh well, it is atari after all, and you must explore some treasure troves and gather all the treasure. The really cool thing about this game is the overhead rpg-style map laid out before you, with various rooms you can choose to go into in any order you like, and gather treasure from each of these rooms. The rooms are pretty small, but usually contain at least 3 enemies. You might find yourself running through a room, gathering the treasure, and quickly trying to get out as fast as you can before the enemies swarm you, or, before an invincible being referred to as the ''Hall Monster'' appears to make sure you you do not leave with the treasure. The hall monster is fast, and when he appears, the best choice is to run, and stop your pursuit for that particular treasure, for now, and get it later.

As for your defense, you can kill off enemies with a simple shot. It is not as easy as it may seem, because aiming is a challenge in itself. The enemies move randomly as well, so to shoot one, you must be a little close. The hall monster, however, is invincible. The only thing I really did not like out of Venture is the fact that after an enemy dies, it's body sits there for a few seconds, and Winky will die upon contact with it. This is escpecilly annoying when the hall monster is behind you, and a carcass sits in front of the exit.

There are a total of 3 different levels with 4 rooms in each to explore. The game is not too long, but it is fun to pick up to play at times, and it is one of the earliest treasure hunting games, (not including Sierra's achievements.)

10/10 Sound/Music: Yes, this game has music, and probably some of the best atari music at that! While walking around the caves, you hear a low sort of rythm, barely audible, and not often heard out of an atari game. It is very neat. And upon entering a room, it plays a little tune, (a few notes), which is very memorable and welcoming.

As far as sounds go, they weren't bad. The shooting of the arrows were clear, and when you gather treasure, you hear something, I don't recall what it sounded like, but it wasn't bad either. The sound of the hall monster appearing was the only annoyance, but maybe that is because you don't want the hall monster to appear, and he is the annoyance, really. I thought the humming sound of the barrier surrounding a particular treasure (a diamond), was a neat. So sounds were not too bad, and certainly were not annoying like many atari games I have played in which I had to actually turn them off for the sake of my hearing.

10/10 Graphics: Nice, clear graphics. The enemies looked good, and distinguishable, and Winky looked okay, except for his weapon, but that's not too much of a problem... The rooms looked good, and the patrolling monsters on the map looked like monsters. I don't know what the hall monster looks like, because it was only natural for me to always run once I hear the sound of him in the room. I think he is green, but I am unsure exactly what he looked like. The treasures were nicely done as well. The only complaint I have is how the dead bodies of the monsters were shown. They all looked the same when they died, and they all looked terrible. I guess after getting shot by the all-mighty weapon of Winky, you might look somewhat like that... :)

10/10 Overall: This game is outstanding! I, being a major treasure hunting fan, find this to be a great game in my collection, and for anybody else that enjoy this somewhat small genre of games, should immediately pick this game up. Heck, If I still suffered these strange lusts for wanting to be in a fantasy land gathering treasure, you might have heard reports on the news of me being found dead in a sewer system with a slingshot in my hand, and you could have thanked Venture, one of the coolest, and oldest treasure hunting games ever...

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/02, Updated 11/08/02