I won't lie, that "hallway monster is entering" sound effect would have flat-out terrified me as a kid. No little warning alarm, no ominous music, just a constant roar as it comes for you.
I’m going to write a fan fiction. This game is a prequel to Berserk. Winkie is a Young Dr Otto. The toils of running the dungeons of Venture have driven him mad, and he decides to recreate Venture, complete with an entire race of laser wielding automatons he designed himself.
Wow, I forgot about this game. On thing you forgot was that if you shoot a monster corpse more than once, it takes additional time to disappear. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Had the Coleco version, graphically not too different from the Atari port, but sound and music were way better. The sound when the halway monster skull thing would sneak into the room would always scare me or my sister when we were kids.
I played this as a boy over 30 years ago. I enjoyed it quite a bit yet later did get it confused with Adventure. Thanks for setting me straight I've wondered about this one. :)
Venture was a game I eagerly anticipated on the Atari 2600 back in the day, because I was familiar with the arcade version, having briefly spotted it in one or two arcades. The arcade game stood out because it was a _very_ early example of a video game with multi-channel music. There was music everywhere. And what particularly caught my attention was just how _odd_ the hallway music was. It used a chord progression I hadn't heard before, and maybe since. So although I was familiar with the standard pattern of how Atari 2600 ports tended to end up, I still held some hope. And... naturally the only "music" in the entire game is during the hallway, and it's just a two-note affair that repeats every 0.5 seconds. It's like they were specifically mocking me. Footnote: Some time ago, I poked around with the arcade Venture in MAME, looking to tweak the game so it would lock up before beginning the hallway part of the gameplay. Why? Because there's an intro tune that plays during the sequence where Winky collects his bow and arrow, before gameplay commences. But this intro tune gets cut off before it can complete. I wanted to hear the rest of the tune. And I managed to succeed. The original composer for Venture has passed away, so I'm probably the only person on the planet who has heard the entire Venture intro tune from start to finish.
Now it all makes sense!I have not got the pamphlet for this game and have been playing with both switches at setting A.I do love playing this game ,but now, maybe i will love it that little bit more at a lower,less frustrating difficulty setting.i also didn't know about the getting the treasure first thing either.So thanks for the info.
Fantastic as always my friend. I never tire of you excellent coverage of many Atari games. I was too young for the Atari machines of the early 1980's. I started with the Nes in 1985 and the Sega Master System in 1986. I became a hardcore gamer in 1989 with the Sega Genesis. I fell further into the gaming sphere. I always preferred my Genesis but the Snes was not without its charm. At any rate, I never played this game but it looks interesting. I might give it a shot when I'm out buying for our game room. Consequently, my first Atari machine was the Jaguar. I was on a mad search for a good version of Doom on a big TV. The Jaguar was close and what I would do is play the Doom CD in my Sega CD on my 27 inch TV while I played it on my big screen. Yes, I was a bit spoiled but there is an actual legitimate reason for this. I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at birth and I was not able to do normal things like other kids. Compounding this, was my parents divorce but still working together for my benefit. They would try to outdo each other every Christmas. My mother for example bought me a Genesis for Christmas in '89 and my father the Snes in '91. Even though I have a medical disability, I do not allow that to keep me down. I'm the guy that breaks doctors orders to play football in the streets. It was my parents that freaked out. At this point I have had 8 neurosurgical procedures so far...meh. Sorry, live your excellent show and you share such great stories about your life...I thought I should share. ;)
Thank you for sharing your story - glad to hear your condition doesn't keep you down. Every day is a gift. Heh, I was always looking for a good version of Doom to play on the big TV too. I remember being so bummed when I got the SNES version home (that port was a real clunker). I talked my mom into helping me return it and she made up a story like she was just the confused parent who bought the wrong game or something.
I lost all my retro games in a fire and I'm considering starting with collecting Atari again since it's so cheap. Your reviews are very comprehensive and you talk about some really good hidden gems inside of the Atari library.
Thanks for checking out the show! - Yeah, very similar to Berzerk though the controls are a little less wonky in Berzerk. They're both really neat though for the system.
LOL! Winky, The Barbarian! Somehow that just....doesn't roll off the tongue so well. (Mayhap, Winky the....Wanderer? I think he did hit before Groo the Wanderer did. 😀 ) Let's try Akiro's opening monologue for Conan the Destroyer, adapted to Winky. "Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and and men drank mead, there was an age undreamed of, when pixelated kingdoms laid spread across the world. Hither came Winky, the smiling Cimerrian, bow in hand. It is I, his chronicler, who knows well his saga...depending on how many quarters one spent. Now, let me tell you of the days of high Venture..."
Had the cartridge for the Atari for years prior to playing it in the Arcade. I wonder if the Sorcerer version was faithful to the Arcade, since the Exidy Sorcerer was basically their arcade PCB with some extensions...anyway for me at the time (11 or 12) this game was frustration incarnate. N.b. - the room monster corpses stay if you keep shooting them, and at least in the arcade version, some monsters will slowly revive (undead like mummies), so you occasionally have to whip around and shoot them again to put 'em down.
This video brings back memories of my childhood, when I first played this game at my cousin's. This game was somewhat rare down here in Brazil, so, whenever I said its name, some dork would say I was wrong, the name of the game was "Adventure", and that there was no "Venture" whatsoever! Duh!
Ah, that brought back memories! Great review! Looking forward to the review of "Adventure". Just a thought, you might want to include a few tidbit's about the many really good "mods"(hacks) that have been made. Many of them are really very good.
Had it as a part of my collection and I loved it! I personally feel we have it over the younger generation of gamers.. Everything is brought to them which leaves little to the imagination. When we were young all we had was imagination to make these games seem awesome. Thanks for the video Aaron. Loving the stroll down memory lane.
Having been gaming since dad brought home a Coleco Pong clone in the late '70s, I can definitely say for my own tastes games are tons better now. These old Atari carts are good for a quick blast of nostalgia, but a lot haven't aged well. I can still sit and play Yar's Revenge and Pitfall and enjoy them like I was nine again. I'm a sucker and usually buy the Atari retro comps that get put out for the new systems. What I will never understand is why they still insist on putting all three SwordQuest games in them. Those were terrible to begin with, and beyond pointless without the original comic books and the fact that the main idea behind them was to try to win a contest.
In the arcade version the corpses dissolve very very slowly and you can die from touching even the last pixel. Looks like the 2600 version might be easier.
Yeah, when I played this back in the day I was always nervous when that Hall Monster was about to appear, especially since you can't out maneuver it like you can in other versions.
Another great port on the Atari - I NEED to find a complete copy of this!! - Sadly though, it's substantially inferior to not only the Colecovision version (obviously), but also to the intellivision port (which features larger sprites and animation, as well as all three hall levels!!). That said, the graphics get the job done - and I love winky's flattened face in this version, it makes me smile lol - Gameplay is VERY enjoyable though and neither this, or the intellivision incarnation, suffer from the 'sticky' controls of the Colecovision version. Anyway, thanks for another enjoyable video - I still hold great affection for this generation of consoles.
01:46 Wouldn't matter anyway. The Hall Monsters (The Space Invader Green things he named) are Invincible. Thus the reason why you need to get the Hell out of the rooms as fast as you can.
Oh yeah, I remember buying this game on clearance. I spent hours playing this game, but it got pretty difficult on the third reset. I could never get past the third time through.
I loved this game in the arcade and on my Coleco Vision back in the day. The 2600 version is pretty good, though, and I still play it since I no longer have a CV. :-(
No kidding! This game motivated me to try to get my Colecovision working... for channel purposes and just for my own amusement. I was able to fire up Venture but dang if those controllers don't suck! I may have to buy this thing... www.edladdin.com/Super-CV-ec-1-005.htm
Great game I had it for 2600 I had a colecovision but never had venture on it. I enjoyed the game great fun. Love your 2600 reviews brings back great memories of my youth and teens
I got to play the arcade cab originally. I remember it being quite difficult. It also had an unusually oversized controller which was kind of awkward to utilize. I was impressed with the game enough though to make it one of the first Colecovision carts I bought. I didn't acquire the Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports until around 10 - 15 years ago. Both the CV and INTV got the third level. Too bad the 2600 one did not. Like you said though still a very good game on the Atari.
didn't play it but it is pretty innovative for Atari. please do one on chopper command from Activision. I lost my Atari console but still have all my cartridges I wish I could play it now
Wait- so Coleco *didn't* go out of their way to make a terrible Atari port to lift up their own system? That said, my family did have a Colecovision (along with an Atari) and that was the console I played Venture on. I can't remember if I actually played the arcade version too, but considering that I was always occupying an arcade I'm sure I did.
Actually, Venture and Berzerk came out at exactly the same time(give or take a month or two). Honestly, by 1983, all the games sounded the same. Kinda like eating at McDonald’s too much - everything tastes the same. With mostly 4K ROM’s and limited RAM, what do you expect?!
One of my favorite games I grew up playing on my colecovision. Definitely superior to the Atari version but They did a great job with this port for the Atari.
"You better just run for your life or you'll lose your winky" that's way too savage.
You gotta be careful with your Winky in the pink rooms.
Lol!
I won't lie, that "hallway monster is entering" sound effect would have flat-out terrified me as a kid. No little warning alarm, no ominous music, just a constant roar as it comes for you.
I’m going to write a fan fiction. This game is a prequel to Berserk. Winkie is a Young Dr Otto. The toils of running the dungeons of Venture have driven him mad, and he decides to recreate Venture, complete with an entire race of laser wielding automatons he designed himself.
Wow, I forgot about this game. On thing you forgot was that if you shoot a monster corpse more than once, it takes additional time to disappear. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Had the Coleco version, graphically not too different from the Atari port, but sound and music were way better. The sound when the halway monster skull thing would sneak into the room would always scare me or my sister when we were kids.
I played this as a boy over 30 years ago. I enjoyed it quite a bit yet later did get it confused with Adventure. Thanks for setting me straight I've wondered about this one. :)
Venture was a game I eagerly anticipated on the Atari 2600 back in the day, because I was familiar with the arcade version, having briefly spotted it in one or two arcades. The arcade game stood out because it was a _very_ early example of a video game with multi-channel music. There was music everywhere. And what particularly caught my attention was just how _odd_ the hallway music was. It used a chord progression I hadn't heard before, and maybe since. So although I was familiar with the standard pattern of how Atari 2600 ports tended to end up, I still held some hope. And... naturally the only "music" in the entire game is during the hallway, and it's just a two-note affair that repeats every 0.5 seconds. It's like they were specifically mocking me.
Footnote: Some time ago, I poked around with the arcade Venture in MAME, looking to tweak the game so it would lock up before beginning the hallway part of the gameplay. Why? Because there's an intro tune that plays during the sequence where Winky collects his bow and arrow, before gameplay commences. But this intro tune gets cut off before it can complete. I wanted to hear the rest of the tune. And I managed to succeed. The original composer for Venture has passed away, so I'm probably the only person on the planet who has heard the entire Venture intro tune from start to finish.
Got to play both arcade and at home. It was my Mother and Aunt's favorite game and when it came to the Coleco we bought it right away.
Oh the memories. I played Venture a lot when I got frustrated with others.
Absolutely love your channel... especially your Atari 2600 vids which is what I grew up with! Keep up the great vids!
Now it all makes sense!I have not got the pamphlet for this game and have been playing with both switches at setting A.I do love playing this game ,but now, maybe i will love it that little bit more at a lower,less frustrating difficulty setting.i also didn't know about the getting the treasure first thing either.So thanks for the info.
His parents had 9 months to come up with a name and they named him Winky.
I loved this game and had completely forgot about it. Thanks for jogging my memory!
Fantastic as always my friend. I never tire of you excellent coverage of many Atari games. I was too young for the Atari machines of the early 1980's. I started with the Nes in 1985 and the Sega Master System in 1986. I became a hardcore gamer in 1989 with the Sega Genesis. I fell further into the gaming sphere. I always preferred my Genesis but the Snes was not without its charm.
At any rate, I never played this game but it looks interesting. I might give it a shot when I'm out buying for our game room. Consequently, my first Atari machine was the Jaguar. I was on a mad search for a good version of Doom on a big TV. The Jaguar was close and what I would do is play the Doom CD in my Sega CD on my 27 inch TV while I played it on my big screen.
Yes, I was a bit spoiled but there is an actual legitimate reason for this. I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at birth and I was not able to do normal things like other kids. Compounding this, was my parents divorce but still working together for my benefit. They would try to outdo each other every Christmas. My mother for example bought me a Genesis for Christmas in '89 and my father the Snes in '91. Even though I have a medical disability, I do not allow that to keep me down. I'm the guy that breaks doctors orders to play football in the streets. It was my parents that freaked out. At this point I have had 8 neurosurgical procedures so far...meh.
Sorry, live your excellent show and you share such great stories about your life...I thought I should share. ;)
Thank you for sharing your story - glad to hear your condition doesn't keep you down. Every day is a gift.
Heh, I was always looking for a good version of Doom to play on the big TV too. I remember being so bummed when I got the SNES version home (that port was a real clunker). I talked my mom into helping me return it and she made up a story like she was just the confused parent who bought the wrong game or something.
I lost all my retro games in a fire and I'm considering starting with collecting Atari again since it's so cheap. Your reviews are very comprehensive and you talk about some really good hidden gems inside of the Atari library.
I bought venture a few years ago and haven't had a chance to play it yet. It does look pretty good.
Absolutely love all the atari videos. This game looks fun reminds me of bezerk which is my all time favorite.
Thanks for checking out the show! - Yeah, very similar to Berzerk though the controls are a little less wonky in Berzerk. They're both really neat though for the system.
LOL! Winky, The Barbarian! Somehow that just....doesn't roll off the tongue so well. (Mayhap, Winky the....Wanderer? I think he did hit before Groo the Wanderer did. 😀 )
Let's try Akiro's opening monologue for Conan the Destroyer, adapted to Winky.
"Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and and men drank mead, there was an age undreamed of, when pixelated kingdoms laid spread across the world. Hither came Winky, the smiling Cimerrian, bow in hand. It is I, his chronicler, who knows well his saga...depending on how many quarters one spent. Now, let me tell you of the days of high Venture..."
Brilliant!
@@FridayNightArcade Thankee sai! :)
This really was one of the best 2600 games.
This and hero.. was the best!
Had the cartridge for the Atari for years prior to playing it in the Arcade. I wonder if the Sorcerer version was faithful to the Arcade, since the Exidy Sorcerer was basically their arcade PCB with some extensions...anyway for me at the time (11 or 12) this game was frustration incarnate. N.b. - the room monster corpses stay if you keep shooting them, and at least in the arcade version, some monsters will slowly revive (undead like mummies), so you occasionally have to whip around and shoot them again to put 'em down.
They saw the potential of Winky enough to _trademark_ him. Who still holds ownership of Winky?
More importantly, who is going to go to the trouble of Winky copyright infringement lol...
This video brings back memories of my childhood, when I first played this game at my cousin's. This game was somewhat rare down here in Brazil, so, whenever I said its name, some dork would say I was wrong, the name of the game was "Adventure", and that there was no "Venture" whatsoever! Duh!
Ah, that brought back memories! Great review! Looking forward to the review of "Adventure". Just a thought, you might want to include a few tidbit's about the many really good "mods"(hacks) that have been made. Many of them are really very good.
Using perhaps a 4k or maximum 8k cartridge it is amazing what early developers could do.
Had it as a part of my collection and I loved it! I personally feel we have it over the younger generation of gamers.. Everything is brought to them which leaves little to the imagination. When we were young all we had was imagination to make these games seem awesome. Thanks for the video Aaron. Loving the stroll down memory lane.
Having been gaming since dad brought home a Coleco Pong clone in the late '70s, I can definitely say for my own tastes games are tons better now. These old Atari carts are good for a quick blast of nostalgia, but a lot haven't aged well. I can still sit and play Yar's Revenge and Pitfall and enjoy them like I was nine again. I'm a sucker and usually buy the Atari retro comps that get put out for the new systems. What I will never understand is why they still insist on putting all three SwordQuest games in them. Those were terrible to begin with, and beyond pointless without the original comic books and the fact that the main idea behind them was to try to win a contest.
There's a hack of this 2600 game that adds the third set of rooms with some enhancements to the game.
I wish that hack didn't flicker as much as it does.
Surprisingly complex for the time.
I never noticed you had to get the treasure first to get points for your kills. Now I’ll have to go and try this out.
I don’t have to use my imagination. I was a kid in the early 80’s.
I like how skeletons can turn into dead whales holding keys.
Friday Night Arcade: the best thing about Tuesday...
The hall monsters scared the hell out of me as a kid! That creepy woo woo woo noise was awful!
3:53 Hey! It's the super computer on Robert Ginty's Jet Cycle in WARRIORS OF THE LOST WORLD!
"Like... what wall.... man?"
One gamer gave a thumbs down because they think Venture is a Zelda clone.
Or a lefty who thinks even bows and arrows should be banned.
I had atari and Coleco. I love both.
In the arcade version the corpses dissolve very very slowly and you can die from touching even the last pixel. Looks like the 2600 version might be easier.
Works that way on the CV and INTV ports as well.
@GoodRiddanceGooglePlus LOL I totally forgot about that! What a pain in the ass that was playing it in the arcade.
One of my all time fav marquis. But a bit misleading lol
there was also a really cool homebrew version called wolfenstein vcs: the next mission that was a hack of this check it out if you liked venture
Would this be the FIRST arcade game with an overworld map?
Possibly...
I saw it in the store, but never saw it demo'd, and I never had an Atari.
pretty good conversion for the 2600.
That one powerful monster that chaises Winky is legitimately scary!
Yeah, when I played this back in the day I was always nervous when that Hall Monster was about to appear, especially since you can't out maneuver it like you can in other versions.
Another great port on the Atari - I NEED to find a complete copy of this!! - Sadly though, it's substantially inferior to not only the Colecovision version (obviously), but also to the intellivision port (which features larger sprites and animation, as well as all three hall levels!!). That said, the graphics get the job done - and I love winky's flattened face in this version, it makes me smile lol - Gameplay is VERY enjoyable though and neither this, or the intellivision incarnation, suffer from the 'sticky' controls of the Colecovision version. Anyway, thanks for another enjoyable video - I still hold great affection for this generation of consoles.
Looks like a fun game. I have never heard of this one. If I find it used for 5$ or less I would definitely get it.
01:46 Wouldn't matter anyway. The Hall Monsters (The Space Invader Green things he named) are Invincible. Thus the reason why you need to get the Hell out of the rooms as fast as you can.
I’ve really been enjoying your content!
Hey thanks for checking out the show, Jeff!
Oh yeah, I remember buying this game on clearance. I spent hours playing this game, but it got pretty difficult on the third reset. I could never get past the third time through.
I had Venture AND Adventure on the 2600.
Simon in your avatar always makes me smile.
I loved this game in the arcade and on my Coleco Vision back in the day. The 2600 version is pretty good, though, and I still play it since I no longer have a CV. :-(
The Robot in question, Robby, did appear in Lost in Space, but has his roots in the movie Forbidden Planet.
Best game and hero!
Played one whole summer when I was a kid.. great memories!
Oooh...now this is a classic. A game I could never beat my best friend at on the Coleco vision. Those damn controllers!! ;)
No kidding! This game motivated me to try to get my Colecovision working... for channel purposes and just for my own amusement. I was able to fire up Venture but dang if those controllers don't suck! I may have to buy this thing... www.edladdin.com/Super-CV-ec-1-005.htm
I guess the grinch is in this game since the hallway monster chasing you in the room looks like the grinch's face.
Robby the Robot was also in two episodes of Lost in Space, War of the Robots and Condemned of Space
so you're not actually wrong
Great game I had it for 2600 I had a colecovision but never had venture on it. I enjoyed the game great fun. Love your 2600 reviews brings back great memories of my youth and teens
Well, of course Winky can't defeat the monsters in the hallway with his bow. They're huge!
I got to play the arcade cab originally. I remember it being quite difficult. It also had an unusually oversized controller which was kind of awkward to utilize. I was impressed with the game enough though to make it one of the first Colecovision carts I bought. I didn't acquire the Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports until around 10 - 15 years ago. Both the CV and INTV got the third level. Too bad the 2600 one did not. Like you said though still a very good game on the Atari.
in the coleco when room is finished it fills in, atari it easy to forget which you did
Bought mine at Revco way back when. The Coleco published version, too. Dunno when Atari reissued it.
FNA on a Tuesday? Christmas came early this year.
This was a great game, one of the first I bought with my own money on an overnight school field trip.
this is a great game for the 2600 I love it :-)
Had this game
didn't play it but it is pretty innovative for Atari. please do one on chopper command from Activision. I lost my Atari console but still have all my cartridges I wish I could play it now
It's called "eBay".
Wait- so Coleco *didn't* go out of their way to make a terrible Atari port to lift up their own system? That said, my family did have a Colecovision (along with an Atari) and that was the console I played Venture on. I can't remember if I actually played the arcade version too, but considering that I was always occupying an arcade I'm sure I did.
Never seen or heard of this game before, like most 2600 games recycled sound effects, sounded like Bezerk.
Actually, Venture and Berzerk came out at exactly the same time(give or take a month or two). Honestly, by 1983, all the games sounded the same. Kinda like eating at McDonald’s too much - everything tastes the same.
With mostly 4K ROM’s and limited RAM, what do you expect?!
Adventure is the one I remember. Played it for hours.
Still play it on Colecovision. Hey FNA guy, how about doing an episode between 2600 and Colecovision? It'd be fun to see the comparison.
"FNA Guy..." I like that lol. And your suggestion is noted; great idea 👍
One of my favorite games I grew up playing on my colecovision. Definitely superior to the Atari version but They did a great job with this port for the Atari.
I only ever saw this once in an actual arcade.
Gotta try this game now. :)
Nice video FNA
Great stuff, keep it up!
1 issue i wish room would fill in to mark its done
Another Atari game I had no experience with.
I really like the Intellivision port!
Winky? Trademark that shit!
Never played this game but I saw it at my local pawn shop for the 2600
As long as they didn't have it overmarked, grab it!
@@FridayNightArcade Ill go back and see at some point, the guy was selling it for like 5 bucks
I still prefer my 'Venture' with "A-D" in front.
Bro today is Tuesday??
😆
In here it's always Friday.
Winkie's such a silly name for a archer.
Winky(™)
I remember playing this in the arcade. The collecovision version was better than the atari crap.
My God, that sound is unpleasant.
Poor Winky. At least this Winky: ruclips.net/video/k-ss24rMuO0/видео.html
Well played sir....
Atali VCS Game Is good
I have the Coleco Vision version. WAY BETTER
From a technical standpoint it's superb but those controls take some getting used to.