Game:

Bobby is Going Home (1983)

Duration: 19:53

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A classic Atari 2600 game from Bit Corp., which is a multi-screen platformer of sorts. In this game, you traverse through a bunch of scenery, avoiding giant teapots, fountains, birds, butterflies & those springboards from the Donkey Kong arcade game. One notable thing about the game is that it is one of, if not THE first platformer where you can control your mid-air movement & it is not just there for ease pal, it is actually INTEGRAL to this game. There were many moments where I leaped forward, then stopped the mid-air movement so that I wouldn't fall into some mudpit, a fountain, a teapot or whatever was in the way.

I have been able to master the first 4 levels, but after that it becomes quite difficult. This game has a bit of similarity to the Smurfs game in terms of some of the scenery & both having ingame music, but playing one is a different experience from the other. For one, unlike Bobby, your Smurf isn't able to control its mid-air movement(similar to Donkey Kong). Two, Bobby's jumping height doesn't increase. Three, in the Smurfs, you can go on higher platforms whereas in Bobby you're in the same lane.

They're also quite different in presentation & atmosphere: Both games have impressive graphics, but the Smurfs goes for the usual lakes, mountains & forests, alongside cool looking caves. Also Gargamel's castle at the end of each screen to save Smurfette. In Bobby meanwhile, you go through what seems to be some valleys, some mountains, a train station, long rivers, entire mud areas, areas with quicksand, etc. The scenery in Bobby, at least to me, is so much more interesting than the scenery in the other game because of how familiar, yet... BIZARRE it is. It makes you wonder just what the heck is going on in the world Bobby lives in. Why are there a bunch of springboards walking on the floor instead of bouncing? Why are some mountains green & purple? Why are there entire mud pits & quicksand all around where he lives? And what the heck is with the trains that, according to the perspective, are possibly TALLER THAN THE EIFFEL TOWER? It's really strange, yet oddly cozy despite its dangerous looks. It makes me WANT to visit this wonderous world & just go around, finding everything I can.

And also unlike the Smurfs, Bobby isn't here to save anybody. He just wants to go home after what was a long day, which makes me wonder what his usual days are like, or heck how about his UNUSUAL days!?

All of what I have said about it so far brings me to the atmosphere: This game's atmosphere is UNORDINARY. It feels like an odd alternate dimension compared to our own, like a reality where the laws of physics are regularly broken(Bobby's jumping abilities are truly something the scientists wouldn't be able to crack so easily). Heck, Bobby himself seemingly only wears a mohawk-esque hat, a shirt & a skirt(he's probably wearing underwear too?), which considering some of the places he goes to, makes me feel like he can feel burning, while other times he may be almost freezing, or maybe the temperatures are messed up like almost everything else that is encountered in this game! And it seems to be rather futuristic clothing too considering he never gets it dirty even if he falls into the water or a mud pit. Like what material are those clothes made of & what powers do they possess!? I know that's a usual thing in platformer games, but considering how crazy this world is & the fact that it's not really much covering the body(the skirt seems to be a miniskirt like the sailor scouts & Swag Chan), I am BOUND to be asking such questions.

Anyways, hope you enjoy this video & thanks for watching... & reading me trying to describe the world Bobby lives in. Cheers!

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