Atari 2600 Game
Produced by: Wizard Video
Model Number: 008
Rarity: 7 Very Rare
Year of Release: 1983
Programmer: Ed Salvo
Grab your joystick and become "Leatherface," the homicidal, chainsaw wielding maniac of your nightmares! A group of hapless tourists have trespassed on your property. One by one, they've been hunted down and eliminated. Now, only a handful remain! So, oil up your chainsaw and find as many victims as you can before your fuel runs out!
This game is a very important game because it is one of the first video games to be seen as promoting violence. Protests were held against the producer, Wizard Video, and most retailers refused to carry the game altogether. This was a precursor to all of the blame that people would lay upon video games years later for all sorts of social ills.
This game (unlike most other games based on horror films), puts you in the position of the murderer. You run around and try and kill as many people as possible with your chainsaw. You begin the game with three tanks of fuel for your chainsaw, and extra fuel is awarded for every 5000 points scored. Your chainsaw idles at all times, but that only uses small amounts of fuel. Pressing the red button causes your chainsaw blade to begin spinning rapidly, so you can mow down your victims. Don't press the button until you are right on top of someone, as pressing the button uses fuel rapidly.
The game pretty much consists of chopping up the same yellow woman over and over again, while avoiding the obstacles that litter the playing field. The woman that you are hunting has the annoying ability to teleport from directly in front of you to directly behind you. This means that you often have to turn around a few times so you can actually catch her. This is kind of strange, as it is usually the killer that has the ability to magically appear directly behind the victim, at least it seems to be that way in most horror films.
This title suffers from poor collision detection when it comes to the obstacles. Most of them seem to be several pixels larger than what is shown on screen. This is a big deal because Atari 2600 pixels are huge. Try to avoid all the obstacles by as much space as possible, to keep from being slowed down.
This game isn't particularly fun. But it is extremely valuable due to its notoriety. Expect to pay over $200 for a copy of this, without the box or manual.