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Dark Chambers (c) Atari 1988 for the Atari 8 bit line of computers

I loved this game as a kid, as it was quite the upgrade from Dandy, which I also loved, and played a lot prior to obtaining this one. It came on a XEGS cartridge only, but one guy in our local Atari club managed to transfer the contents of the cartridge onto a diskette, and conveniently, shared it with us.

Unlike Gauntlet, which IMHO on Atari 8-bit line of computers just looks ugly, plays sluggishly and is only so-so playable a/o fun with two players, this gem of a game has more of those solitary vibes, perfect for playing in an evening, in front of a colour TV, with all lights out. The atmosphere is superb and the immersion kicks-in farily soon.

The difficuty settings are fine, and get reflected appropriately in the gameplay, namely, in the amount of enemies spawned and their spawn points. As a kid, I managed to beat BEGINNER and ADVANCED difficulties solo, but conquered the game on ADVANCED settings with a friend only. The weapon & armour upgrades are simple yet efficient and the health items as well as enemy traps are clearly distinguishable. The enemies cycling down is definitely an interesting concept, and works really well here.

All in all, I recommend this game (and this particular version, for the matter) to anyone, who wants to spend an hour or two exploring dangerous, abominations-filled dark chambers in search for various treaures.

LbnL I'm well aware that the 7800 version is more famous, and probably more popular, as it has better graphics and smoother scrolling, but in terms of gameplay itself, both versions seem equal to me.

The only ripe I could have here would be the title music, as I think, that the 7800 tune seems more fitting, being grittier and darker in tone - just for comparison, I added it at the end of the video.

Using the Atari800Win PLus emulator (http://www.a800win.atari-area.prv.pl/) with standard Atari 800XL settings (XL/XE / 64kB RAM / PAL mode).

00:00 Title screen and theme
03:02 Gameplay (score of 386 540)
01:35:29 The 7800's title screen and music