Atari 2600 Game
Produced by:
Atari
Model Number: CX26111
Rarity: 5 Rare
Year of Release:
1983?
Programmer:
Nick Turner
Not to be confused with
the Royal Guardsmen single
Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron, this cartridge is perhaps one of the better licensed tie-in games on the Atari 2600. Those familiar with
Charles Schulz's
Peanuts comic strip will recall
Snoopy's recurrent hallucinatory fantasy of dogfighting the
Red Baron during
World War 1. Perched atop his doghouse, replete in flying goggles and scarf, Snoopy would enact great battles with his German nemesis. This game simulates Snoopy's dog/fighter
hallucination.
The joy of this game lies in its
naivety. There is some childish pleasure in controlling a flying doghouse, with Snoopy's scarf fluttering in the wind. The gameplay itself is simplistic - a matter of chasing the
Baron's plane and dodging gunfire. It takes eight hits to down both the Baron and Snoopy, and four kills for Snoopy to advance levels.
In true
psychedelic style, it occasionally rains glasses of
root beer,
popsicles, and
hamburgers for Snoopy to collect. During the intermission between levels, an inventory of collected foodstuff is displayed, with Snoopy awarded an extra life when three of each type of food is collected.
The scoring system runs as follows:
Points During Flight:
Red Baron Hit - 10
Each Treat collected - 40
Bonus Points (at the end of each round):
Each Treat Recovered - 50
Red Baron Shot Down - 100
All treats recovered - Bonus Life
A Gold Baron is earned after fifty Red Barons are shot down. An exclamation point is awarded at million point intervals. By some estimates, it would take 40+ hours of continuous gameplay to achieve the million point mark. Any
pedants out there who need a break from noding and a new yet pointless challenge, I believe this
Sisyphean task is for you.