me too, plus I was so frightened after this, that I wasn't capable of playing Fractalus for another few days. This is the grandmother of all jump-scare games!!!
I remember the scare so vividly. So hard to imagine that I could play hours and hours with these graphics. We are so spoiled now but I do miss these days. Loading a game with a casette player and hoping you didn't get an error so you had to do it all over again.
Like the rest of you . . the first time what I thought was a man was actually an Alien . . I almost had a heart attack . . scared the living crap outta me !
TechZonk, I played this game extensively on my Atari 800XL back in the 1980s, and aside from everything you said, I noticed two things: 1. If you land and turn your systems off, then the laser turrets on the mountaintops will no longer attack you. It's like your energy signature has disappeared. 2. If you let a Jaggi inside your ship (airlock open when it approaches) then it will run amok inside your vessel, bashing things and impeding your control of your ship until you are destroyed.
The first time I had the jump scare, the game was called "Behind Jaggi Lines." Yes, it was a bootleg from my Dad's buddy. I swatted all the keys and turned off the monitor. I turned the monitor back on, and I had lost. My heart must have been beating at 200!
I also played the pirated copy, though I was so young I didn't even know about that. Loved the game and played it A LOT like 30 years ago. Sadly, I never knew exactly the goal of the game until much later. I didn't know how to open the airlock and use the boosters to go back to the mothership. Ahhh brings back memories.
HAHA! I've only known those games as "Behind Jaggi Lines" and "Ball Blaster". I didn't even know that wasn't the real titles. My childhood was a lie!!!!
I remember Jaggi Lines and Ball Blazer. I wonder how the pirated copies got so widespread though as there was no internet so to speak of back then. I just remember my uncle knew a guy who knew a guy, which is how I got a copy. It was kind of challenging to figure out the keyboard controls through trial and error without an actual manual for this game. Engine speed was 1-9 IIRC. Airlock was A, Engines off or on was S or E.
Even if you don't see the pilot walking to your ship, keep the airlock closed. If he's human he will knock on the air lock. Otherwise if it's an alien, it will just jump scare you. Which also scared the crap out of me back in the day. :D
Jepp, what Thraksis says, if you turn off the systems, just wait for a knocking sound on your Airlock. The good guys always knock on the door, the bad guys not!
Dunno if anyone has mentioned this before, but you can let an alien on to your ship - I won't spoil it for anyone who might go and try it, but it's a good idea to get into space as quickly as possible 😉
I also played Behind Jaggi Lines and Ballblazer :D And I also jumped on my chair when I saw an alien. I was using black and white monitor so until very last moment you would not know if it is a pilot that is knocking or if it was an alien :D
Enjoyed 5200, version without intro mothership graphic, otherwise the same game. Enjyoed maybe not, I was very much alert, attended and engaged whilstt the Micro-movents of the game unfolded, especially in later stages.. Thiis game can really grab the player into the game, so the player could achive a high score but saving the planet, and the univrse should become the priority, assuming the pilot is couràgeous enough to complete the mission!
holy fuck man I was 5 or so when I played this, and even tho to this day I play scarier games ...... I still had the fear from when I saw the alien as as a child, back then I ran out the room crying ...... now im sat here shaking my head at how silly I was just now holding the phone waaaaay away from my fave with the sound on low hahaha
I had played this only in the Apple // - it looked like a complete crap by comparison. I don't know why LF Games even bothered. I'm glad I only had a pirate copy and didn't pay for it.
TechZonk Well, yea.. but remember the Apple didn't have dedicated graphics chips until the //GS and never had hardware sprites ever. Trivia: The //GS was enough of a leap forward that Nintendo borrowed heavily on that chipset and design when they made the SNES. In fact the SNES dev system were all repurposed //GS system that were bought from Apple for pennies on the dollar.
![Fractalus 1.0.0, Intro plus one level gameplay [60 fps]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dC3WrVts24w/mqdefault.jpg)
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember that jump scare. It worked every time. The game was ahead of its time. Miss my Atari 800XL.
Fun fact: The first time I encountered an alien in this game, I LITERALLY fell backwards in my chair. The gaming world's first jump-scare
crazy .. i also !!!!
me too, plus I was so frightened after this, that I wasn't capable of playing Fractalus for another few days. This is the grandmother of all jump-scare games!!!
I 12 years old When played that
I lured a friend of mine to play the game and when the alien jumped up I enhanced the moment.
You said it perfectly. First jump-scare I experienced in video games. I was 15 and it happened around 1AM. Almost turned the game off after that.
I remember the scare so vividly. So hard to imagine that I could play hours and hours with these graphics. We are so spoiled now but I do miss these days. Loading a game with a casette player and hoping you didn't get an error so you had to do it all over again.
The purple helmet pilots where 'ACES'.
Heavier 'guarded', harder to find -but more points in the end.
This is so technically impressive, like the Quake engine of its day.
Check out *The* *Eidolon* - Lucasfilm used this engine upside-down to make one of the first first-person shooters ... in *1985*
Like the rest of you . . the first time what I thought was a man was actually an Alien . . I almost had a heart attack . . scared the living crap outta me !
I had this game! I was so young I barely remember, but I do remember it creeping me out! Thanks for the nostalgia.
Such an amazing game. I played the heck out of this game back in the day.
TechZonk, don't worry about the jump scare, it got me too! My school friends wondered why I was so scared by them!
TechZonk, I played this game extensively on my Atari 800XL back in the 1980s, and aside from everything you said, I noticed two things:
1. If you land and turn your systems off, then the laser turrets on the mountaintops will no longer attack you. It's like your energy signature has disappeared.
2. If you let a Jaggi inside your ship (airlock open when it approaches) then it will run amok inside your vessel, bashing things and impeding your control of your ship until you are destroyed.
Maybe not so jumpscare but equally frantic situation is if you allow an alien on board by opening the airlock early.
Oh so loved this and the 800xl machine. This was the start of today's gaming..... You have to take your hat off to the programmers ❤️
That was scared me too in them Aliens. And glad that’s colored. Makes it easy to tell who’s who
I remember getting an XE for Christmas one year, and remember having this game !!! We had no idea how to play it, but thought it was cool looking.
Yes, engine sound was incredible
This game was soooooo good. Hours and hours of my childhood spent playing this in the UK. Atari forever.
The first time I had the jump scare, the game was called "Behind Jaggi Lines." Yes, it was a bootleg from my Dad's buddy. I swatted all the keys and turned off the monitor. I turned the monitor back on, and I had lost. My heart must have been beating at 200!
I also played the pirated copy, though I was so young I didn't even know about that. Loved the game and played it A LOT like 30 years ago. Sadly, I never knew exactly the goal of the game until much later. I didn't know how to open the airlock and use the boosters to go back to the mothership.
Ahhh brings back memories.
Think purple helmet pilots are aces
You are right, they are aces! There was a message...you rescued an ace!
HAHA! I've only known those games as "Behind Jaggi Lines" and "Ball Blaster". I didn't even know that wasn't the real titles.
My childhood was a lie!!!!
This game still looks impressive...back in the day, this and Eidolon was jaw dropping regarding visuals...very cool.
Video gamings first jumpscare.
I fried so many pilots back when I couldn't see the pilot! Lol
I remember Jaggi Lines and Ball Blazer. I wonder how the pirated copies got so widespread though as there was no internet so to speak of back then. I just remember my uncle knew a guy who knew a guy, which is how I got a copy. It was kind of challenging to figure out the keyboard controls through trial and error without an actual manual for this game. Engine speed was 1-9 IIRC. Airlock was A, Engines off or on was S or E.
We downloaded them @300 baud off pirate bbs’ and it only took two hours to download 64k! 😂
@@sideburn Good old days. BTW sorry for the late response, but it took a year to read this webpage and upload the comment :-)
Wow, I as a wide eyed teenager when this was released. Hours of fun!
Even if you don't see the pilot walking to your ship, keep the airlock closed. If he's human he will knock on the air lock. Otherwise if it's an alien, it will just jump scare you. Which also scared the crap out of me back in the day. :D
Word is the Alien popping up was an order by George Lucas when the game was in development.
My fav game too back when I had an 800xl. I'm not at all techy so it might be a silly question but how did you play this game in the modern day?
Jepp, what Thraksis says, if you turn off the systems, just wait for a knocking sound on your Airlock. The good guys always knock on the door, the bad guys not!
Dunno if anyone has mentioned this before, but you can let an alien on to your ship - I won't spoil it for anyone who might go and try it, but it's a good idea to get into space as quickly as possible 😉
Was this game ever converted to work on a Windows system?
I also played Behind Jaggi Lines and Ballblazer :D And I also jumped on my chair when I saw an alien. I was using black and white monitor so until very last moment you would not know if it is a pilot that is knocking or if it was an alien :D
This game gave me nightmares when I was a kid. Also, thanks for telling me my dad was an old school pirate!
Don't turn your dad in to the feds! He had the best of intentions! ;)
Too late, man. Dad's in prison now. Should have done this a loooong time ago! I think he downloaded a car, too.
Please tell me that's just a meme.
That 👽 got me too...after that....no sleep for a whole summer..1985
I had this game on my 130XE as a kid. I was terrible at it. I found it incredibly difficult :)
2:55 _A female cop buddy of mine leaped back & fell over her chair at that scene. _*_I damn near shot the monitor!_* LOL
ROM and Emulator?
Enjoyed 5200, version without intro mothership graphic, otherwise the same game. Enjyoed maybe not, I was very much alert, attended and engaged whilstt the Micro-movents of the game unfolded, especially in later stages.. Thiis game can really grab the player into the game, so the player could achive a high score but saving the planet, and the univrse should become the priority, assuming the pilot is couràgeous enough to complete the mission!
i as like 7 yo and i literaly scare the crap out of me, star crying and never play that shit in almost 5 years
I loved this game. Im playing it right now... But IVE NEVER encountered an alien. Not in the actual Atari, nor in the emulator :(
holy fuck man I was 5 or so when I played this, and even tho to this day I play scarier games ...... I still had the fear from when I saw the alien as as a child, back then I ran out the room crying ...... now im sat here shaking my head at how silly I was just now holding the phone waaaaay away from my fave with the sound on low hahaha
I had played this only in the Apple // - it looked like a complete crap by comparison. I don't know why LF Games even bothered. I'm glad I only had a pirate copy and didn't pay for it.
Honestly, I didn't much care for quite a few of the Apple II ports of various games. Atari and Commodore stomped all over Apple IMO.
TechZonk Well, yea.. but remember the Apple didn't have dedicated graphics chips until the //GS and never had hardware sprites ever. Trivia: The //GS was enough of a leap forward that Nintendo borrowed heavily on that chipset and design when they made the SNES. In fact the SNES dev system were all repurposed //GS system that were bought from Apple for pennies on the dollar.
You’re pronouncing it incorrectly. How do you pronounce “fractal”? Just say the word and add “us” at the end. No need to emphasize the “tal”. Thanks.
Yeah also we said Jag Eye not Jag Eee.
OH NOZ OMG!! It was pirated! ((yawn))