This is AWESOME! You totally maxed out Raiders. Very impressive, and 100% accurate. One of the most amazing things about making this game was presenting the demo to Steven Spielberg. One of the greatest moments of my life. If anyone wants more info or background on Raiders or any of my other games, check out my book Once Upon ATARI. Great job, Jon!
I don't think he maxed out on points. I read you lose points for using the grenade instead of finding the secret entrance, and lose points for bribing the Lunatic to go to the Black Market, instead of going the long way. Or maybe he did since I count 20 + signs?
I had this one as a kid, but with no manual. I never thought to try the right joystick port. Last summer, I decided to learn how to play the game. It was difficult, but I learned to beat it and get the Easter eggs. Fantastic game.
My Dad and I spent hours figuring this out back when this game first came out. For an Atari 2600 game, it was truly ahead of its time. It took us a long time to figure everything out in order to win the game the first time...but what a thrill when we did. And remember back then you were on your own...no Google, no RUclips..heck no internet period. Great video! Really makes me want to dig out my copy of this game and give it a shot. Thanks!
Raiders was the very first movie my family let me pick out when we rented movies on Friday night. Of course, my older brother kept 'suggesting' that should be my pick, but still it'll always hold a special place for me.
I just can't imagine any 10 or 12 year old kid being able to figure this game out and beat it, but obviously some did. I remember my friend and I buying this at KB Toys and bringing it home. Even with the instructions we had no clue what to do! A few weeks later in one of the early computer magazines they had a detailed step by step on how to beat the game which we immediately put into use!
All it really takes in the manual. Once you get past the nuts and bolts, there are "spoiler" pages which give you more instructions on what things do and the general steps required. That coupled with the infinite free time & energy of a youngster resulted in Little Jonny making short work of it!
@@GenXGrownUp I guess I was just too impatient as a kid and wanted to whip my way through it like an action game, which is really the wrong approach for this type of game. The manual was probably loaded with hints that I missed as a kid.
Group, had the game. Played a lot. Mastered it. This is a walk down memory lane for me. Saw the the original movie in a theater upon release. Never found another player in my area that understood it, at that time. Unfortunately my whole Atari collection was lost forever, due to parents divorce. Had 116 cart collection & all the controllers you needed, all gone. Yep I'm vintage 1970. Still love these games. Really enjoy what you're doin here brother X'er.
Terrific walkthrough! Back in the day I discovered a secret trick in the Sun Room if you accidentally delete your whip inside the “cage” you can find a hidden trap door at the bottom. However, activating this trick triggers a wall that slowly closes off the timepiece room.
This was the first movie I ever saw in the theater (born in 1977) and I remember playing this game in my youth. One of the first games that I can remember that gave hints in the manual!
I remember playing a text adventure game "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" several years after this at my aunt and uncle's home, and I was determined to beat it on my own during the summer I visited them. The second to last page said, "Turn the page if you really need a hint." I finally did and it was an order form for the hint/walkthrough book. Boo. I finally beat it online, where you couldn't save, so had to do everything exactly. Then, when you finally get the door open so you can leave the spaceship, it said something like, "Congratulations, you've stepped onto the planet Magrathea. Please wait for the sequel." (There never was one.)
I had this. I'd be around 6 years old. I always felt it was spooky with the music and GFX. Played it quite a lot. Got to the map room. The lunatic room looks familiar. I knew I had to get in the hole where the tree was but didn't know to open the parachute, or that even was a parachute.
Our family had an Intellivision, but I do remember watching a neighbor kid play it at his house. Seemed agonizing back then. It's a relief seeing it solved now in your walkthrough, though!
I did rent this game over several weekends, and my friends and I tried EVERYTHING we could think of, and we did win it but I am sure that we did it in a much simpler manner then this. I definately do not remember using the ankh at all, just some kind of grappling hook (hourglass?) and definately keeping 2 inventory slots in use at all time for the gun and ammo. We were pretty proud of ourselves figuring out the 'well of souls' segment, but getting to the ark itself was a stone biatch and we were constantly dumped into the valley. Once we managed to figure out the parachute trick and land just right....we didn't have the shovel. FINALLY one day we completed it and got a score about halfway down the scissorlift. That was damn well good enough for us! Had no idea HSW made another easter egg, the Yar's Revenge one we all called 'hisswish' was plenty cryptic enough for us to try and puzzle out what it ment when we hit it ;-) Great video, and I thank you for showing me things I had completely forgotten.
I beat this game as an 8 year old in 1983, and it was one of the first that I can remember that had a beginning and end. Superman had one as well, along with ET (it gets too much crap, it's not bad). Edit - I didnt know you could warp to the black market with the Chai, and I never got the cool extra ending you got so this was a really cool video. Thanks!
I remember playing this as a kid, as was one of my friends older brother. He figured out the key and map room, but hadn't discovered the headpiece yet. I knew how to find the headpiece, but had no clue what to do with it. Learning what the key was for was the thing that finally helped me beat the game.
This was the very 1st game I got stuck on, will never forget it ...still love it :-) We didn't have RUclips or online forums back then, had to figure it out yourself !
Thank you very much. I had this game , I was in the sixth grade and wrote a whole note pad full of notes on how to successfully complete it. Brought back many wonderful memories. Thank you🤠
I had the cart, one of my friends shared the like for the game and we worked out that each of us worked one one of the sticks so one of us could focus entirely on moving Indy around efficiently and the other thought ahead to get the proper items chosen at right times quickly and not waste time.
Now I know what I did wrong as a kid. I was using the shovel on the mesa, I didn't know you DELIBERATELY had to fall off and enter into that cave on the cliffside.
I would get into the correct one, then I think I did have trouble parachuting (like others said) until I learned the trick. But then I didn't know how or where to dig.
The Saturday in the summer we mail ordered this from The Atari Club my family & 2 friends played this the entire day afterwards. At 1 point we even called Atari for the free map & tips. But after 8 p.m., we all managed to figure out & beat the game.
I think this was the first game I completed. Unlike today's games/youth, I think a big part of this game's charm/appeal was that we used our imagination to fill in any of the blanks and try to tie in each screen to a scene in the film.
Back in the day a friend of mine had an older brother who figured this game out. He actually drew a map and wrote up a cheat-sheet with what to do and what order to do it in. If the older brother would have been smart he would have published this but alas he didn't. My friend loaned me the map and the cheat-sheet and with that I was able to finish the game. Then little Andy went and taught all the other littles how to do it, and he even demonstrated at sleep-overs. Pretty soon all of the littles were doing it flawlessly each time. Ahh the memories.
I first played this and E.T. while staying with a friend of Mom's, who had a teenage and college-age sons. But I don't remember the elder ever teaching me what he found out. I mainly went through the hints in the manual, but couldn't beat it because I didn't know how to dig. I learned much later that some people called Atari to get the (free?) walkthrough in the mail.
My buddy, his brother, and I had SO much fun figuring this game out. HSW really captured the spirit of exploration. Very impressive. Great walk through.
I’m high AF. At 11:14 I realized those guys are touts! Those are middle men who try to solicit tourists to come to their shop. They claim it’s their cousin shop, but in reality the tout works for the shop owner. Even back then video games were historically accurate.
That room with the flies still sparks a little anxiety in me ! This is also one of the games I could only get around with my big brother telling me what to do.
Two things. One is there is a secret passage under the dungeons in the light room so you can avoid breaking open the walls to get out. And 2, if you use this method, a wall comes down in front of the light room preventing you from leaving, tho you can still get to the treasure room. This is why you would need to go up from the light room and out through the spider room. You CAN break out the walls to get back into the light room for gold or symbols, but you only have a finite amount of attempts before the whole timepiece room gets walled off, blocking you out completely.
Yep. I know about that, but using that method deducts a whole bunch of points from your final score, so it's a last resort, and if I lose my whip & get trapped, I typically just reset.
Always fun to see how players traverse through the game and the routes they take. Use of the headpiece in the first marketplace is crucial for score. I forgot about giving the chai to merchant to teleport to the black market - which has no effect on the score.
Thank you for doing this. I was a HUGE fan of Harrison Ford between Indiana Jones and Han Solo characters- my best friend had this game and I tried several times but could never get it.
I borrowed this game from a friend for a while, but did not beat it before he had to take it back. I eventually got my own copy and managed to beat it, with help from the same friend.
As a kid back then I didn't have the manual, so I had no idea what to do. Never knew the clock was a clock and that I had to check it to make things happen. I did figure the second controller, that the basket looking icons were money and managed to reach the map room, but that was as far as I got.
I wanted to cry when I first played the 2600 game. Indiana Jones was my favorite thing ever as a kid. THE WHIP IS A DOT??!@#% In hindsight it's a really good game.
I first played this (and E.T.) at a friend of my Mom's house while staying there when I was 11 or 12. I thought I was good at adventure games, but everything I did I learned from the manual and its hints. I didn't understand how to find the Yar, and I didn't figure out how to dig once in the correct mesa. I think it's worse than E.T., which I could win, my written record being 7x in a row. I think this (and E.T.) should have been action games. I remember playing Wild Western arcade game at the ice rink or somewhere. You are on horseback following a train, while train robbers (also on horseback) try to get on the train and shoot you. They could have made it like this game, but where you chase the truck on horseback. Also, E.T. could have been a bicycle chase game, perhaps something resembling Paperboy. Later, I got 3 Scott Adams text adventure games for my computer, which I won.
I remember playing and beating it as a kid. Along with beating Mike Tyson’s Punch out, it was one of my ultimate game achievements. That was like 42 years ago, watching this video makes me realize I doubt I could have figured this out anytime soon today. lol.
I remember this game so well, I also remember being disappointed that after all you had to go through that last screen was the end. Felt it should have been something better, like a close up view of the Ark…
Especially since you see that screen at the start and when you lose! Could be worse: Pitfall! just stops when you get the 32nd treasure. No flashes and bangs like Adventure, or 3 tones like Superman, or a tune like Haunted House.
I admit, first time I played this I had no idea what to do with it. I wrote it off like I did with Atari Football. Just unplayable. But I realize Ive owed this game a 2nd look for quite some time now. It is really cool.
I remember spending countless hours on this game as a kid. I never did get the very end. I knew all of the steps up to getting the info from the map room, but I thought I had to dig with the shovel on the mesa that appeared in the map room, but never got past that. Love these. Thank you for the awesome reviews
Things that look like spaceships? Tree branches hanging off the side of a cliff? So THAT'S how Lucas got the awful idea for Crystal Skull. Is there a refrigerator in this game too?
Dude, if Howard was still around Atari when the 7800 took off, this game would have been so much better! Dialog and details were 2 things 2600 couldn’t do, but the 7800 could. There could have been cracks in the wall for the grenade, an extra button for the inventory, and characters giving you hints.
So much potential. There's an unofficial Intellivision port that great, but it allows for way more in the inventory which kind of breaks the six-item restriction that contributes to the planning & challenge.
My friend two doors down had this and I loved playing it on days his mom let us play inside (rain and snow days). I think he had Yars too. I never did - can’t remember how I came to play it. But I did have ET so at least I had one HSW game. Perhaps not the one to have .. but oh well. I had Pac-Man but he didn’t get it and when Ms Pac-Man came out he had that better game. River Raid too but to be honest I was never into RR sorry. But yeah RotLA was awesome. It’s like it took you places. You could imagine being in the movie. I like it like I like Adventure. You know what to do. You know the basic game. But each time it can be a little different. Repeat playability. And it’s got some action but not all action all shoot-em-up. Got some strategy. Fun times.
Man, that theme song is highly unsatisfying - it goes low at the point in which the original goes high; maybe they didn't want to pay John Williams any royalties 😂
I need next Friday's Play to be Haunted House or I will burn this place to the ground!! Unrelated, but I picked up an Atari game switcher at Unlimited Games in Tampa. Pretty cool because I've never seen one before, now to see if it works on the 2600 plus. Have you ever been to Unlimited Games?
I'm 55 years old and back in the day I was an expert at Adventure. I even found the dot I just didn't know what to do with it. I could beat Superman in less than a minute. But I completely sucked at Indiana Jones! It was so hard for me, I hated that game!
OK, let me get this: a game that only required reading a small manual, practice in the easiest level and then master it in a couple of minutes and try to get the highest score is consider to be the worst ever made while one with which you need to study and keep the manual handy and pen and paper as well at the same time you fiddle with two joysticks trying to make sense out of those low pixel representations of real life things only to get to the same screen you saw when you booted it, is not considered either bad or good and is never mentioned as one of the causes of the crash. Dammit!
That's right. E.T., also, wasn't the "cause" of the North American crash. It was a byproduct and symptom of the market confusion that affected consumer confidence in games. genxgrownup.com/bt-160/
Usually I get all excited about a game you review, pull it out, and give it a play. I have two copies of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I've tried so hard to like it, and so far, I just don't. Makes me sad.
this game is sooo difficult. doesn't make any logical sense. you need the instruction manual and a network of people who have played this game and found secrets.
Portions of this game were absolute genius (the timepiece, colored scissor lift scoring screen, grappling hook and the suspense of digging the dirt at the end). This was one of those social games where you talked with friends and helped each other to figure it out. 🥰
I've always loved this game. The silence, the cryptic-ness. So great. A genius game for the 2600. HSW made some of the best games then. Yes, E.T. included.
This was easily one of my favorites. You were LOST with this one if you didn't read the manual, which may have kept some people away. I used to be all proud that I could speed-run the game at will. lol
Me either. I don't think I used the timepiece at all, just waited for the sun to come up in the well of souls room, LOL. I think I just didn't take it or dropped it right away.
I still can't believe that I somehow figured out how to beat the game in the pre-internet days. I wish I had known the spider room was "optional". Raiders definitely qualifies as a RTFM game.
It always amazes me, going back through retro games I remember beating as a kid, how dang patient we all were back then. Like, I remember beating Ultima 3 for the NES and it must have taken me, like a year to just stumble randomly across all the steps you need to do to win that.
@@danielgehring7437 Ohhh maaan! Ultima III! I had that for the PC (and in fact, I STILL have it, including the disks and that cloth map). I remember staying up until the wee hours of the morning during summer vacation and playing it. Did eventually beat it. I also remember exploring the disk with a hex editor and figuring out how to edit the dungeon maps, so filled one up with treasures.
My aunt's boyfriend stayed up for about 3 days straight figuring this game out, drugs might have been involved. I just remember at the time being a young kid and totally in awe of this guy going on a marathon and mastering it. What a great game, still have my copy and have been playing it on my 2600+ Thank you HSW for such an amazing creation
Absolutely loved this game (and *gasp* E.T. as well) as a kid! The next-door neighbor kid’s dad was into Atari (whereas my parents weren’t), so he always tended to get new titles as soon as they showed up in the store. I remember for both Raiders and E.T., this kid let me borrow his game carts for a few days so I could figure out how to beat them both, as I was the nerdy kid who ALWAYS read and hung on to the instruction manuals 😁. The treasure hunt/adventure mechanic of both games absolutely hooked my 10-year old self from the start, and to this day I credit these two games as the reason for my preference for the modern epic, sprawling adventures like Uncharted and Horizon on modern consoles😄
Raiders the movie definitely makes my top 5 all time favorite list. I didn't know about that easter egg that is really cool. I remember my friend Steven showed me how to beat this game like 40+ years ago. Damn, that's hard to believe! Cool video Jon:)
Great review! Cool thing about complex Atari games like Indiana Jones is getting your friends together and trying to figure it out as a team. Any breakthrough is cause for a little celebration among your friends. As least that how my childhood friends were. 😊
I knew there was a Yar and easter egg, but never got it...and never figured out the scoring. It drove me nuts that I couldn't reach the ark on the pedestal and wonder if there was a way to do it?
It's impossible in the released game. There's a fascinating article describing the scoring, and the elements which were removed for space constraints and would have allowed you to earn the additional diamonds.
Playing it as a kid, I wanted to like it but it confused the heck out of me (and one of my older sisters). It wasn’t until 1999 (age 25), still owning my 2600, living in a mobile home with my girlfriend and a roommate….that I printed out a walk-thru. I couldn’t believe I needed a walk-thru for a 2600 game! lol And I, unlike a lot of kids, always read everything in the game manuals! Heh. Finally completing it after SO long felt so good and surreal. Just thinking about how certain aspects of this old cartridge of mine had never been accessed until that moment almost wowed me. 🙂
Game was great! The parachuting into the cave was near impossible on the Atari joysticks though. Practically took off the rubber trying to get indy to veer as far to the left as possible. I got the game for xmas and i was super excited ESPECIALLY holding the box it came in. Man that box was all silvery, shiny and just really drummed up my imagination so much!!! just like ET did until i played it.
I seem to remember from my experience with this game that the instruction manual said if you can school high enough for Indy to touch the Ark, Harrison Ford’s autograph will appear. Does anyone else remember this? Has anyone accomplished it? I never could.
This game you needed the manual for, most people who hate it never read the manual. This was a fun (if very weird) game. When I finally figured out how to get the map room to work I freaked out as as a kid. Took awhile longer to figure out how to get inside the right mesa but that was a damn good feeling. This one was much harder than Adventure. Good times.
that was awesome, thanks for explaining it all! i played this a bunch when i was too young to really understand how it worked, but enjoyed exploring the game anyway :)
The game pissed me and my father off. Neither of us could figure it out or complete it. You're a jerk for completing that game in a few minutes that my family took 5 years to figure out only half of that game!
![[Limbus Company - Teaser] Season5 - Oblivion](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8anKuEeZLeI/mqdefault.jpg)
This is AWESOME! You totally maxed out Raiders. Very impressive, and 100% accurate. One of the most amazing things about making this game was presenting the demo to Steven Spielberg. One of the greatest moments of my life. If anyone wants more info or background on Raiders or any of my other games, check out my book Once Upon ATARI. Great job, Jon!
Thanks, HSW! I can attest - the book is fantastic, plus I've been now enjoying reading/hearing it again since I picked up the audiobook version! 😁
I don't think he maxed out on points. I read you lose points for using the grenade instead of finding the secret entrance, and lose points for bribing the Lunatic to go to the Black Market, instead of going the long way.
Or maybe he did since I count 20 + signs?
I had this one as a kid, but with no manual. I never thought to try the right joystick port. Last summer, I decided to learn how to play the game. It was difficult, but I learned to beat it and get the Easter eggs. Fantastic game.
Yeah! That's the GenX spirit! 😁
My Dad and I spent hours figuring this out back when this game first came out. For an Atari 2600 game, it was truly ahead of its time. It took us a long time to figure everything out in order to win the game the first time...but what a thrill when we did. And remember back then you were on your own...no Google, no RUclips..heck no internet period. Great video! Really makes me want to dig out my copy of this game and give it a shot. Thanks!
Raiders was the very first movie my family let me pick out when we rented movies on Friday night. Of course, my older brother kept 'suggesting' that should be my pick, but still it'll always hold a special place for me.
I just can't imagine any 10 or 12 year old kid being able to figure this game out and beat it, but obviously some did. I remember my friend and I buying this at KB Toys and bringing it home. Even with the instructions we had no clue what to do! A few weeks later in one of the early computer magazines they had a detailed step by step on how to beat the game which we immediately put into use!
All it really takes in the manual. Once you get past the nuts and bolts, there are "spoiler" pages which give you more instructions on what things do and the general steps required. That coupled with the infinite free time & energy of a youngster resulted in Little Jonny making short work of it!
I did!!!
@@GenXGrownUp I guess I was just too impatient as a kid and wanted to whip my way through it like an action game, which is really the wrong approach for this type of game. The manual was probably loaded with hints that I missed as a kid.
As a 10 year old I got to the secret cave only once, but managed to do all the other cryptic stuff though...except the Yars revenge symbol
I beat it as a little kid. Didn't find the Easter Eggs though.
Group, had the game. Played a lot. Mastered it. This is a walk down memory lane for me. Saw the the original movie in a theater upon release. Never found another player in my area that understood it, at that time. Unfortunately my whole Atari collection was lost forever, due to parents divorce. Had 116 cart collection & all the controllers you needed, all gone. Yep I'm vintage 1970. Still love these games. Really enjoy what you're doin here brother X'er.
Terrific walkthrough! Back in the day I discovered a secret trick in the Sun Room if you accidentally delete your whip inside the “cage” you can find a hidden trap door at the bottom. However, activating this trick triggers a wall that slowly closes off the timepiece room.
This was the first movie I ever saw in the theater (born in 1977) and I remember playing this game in my youth. One of the first games that I can remember that gave hints in the manual!
Making me want to go and bust out the DVD and go watch it again. I also remember seeing that in the theater back in the day as well.
I remember playing a text adventure game "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" several years after this at my aunt and uncle's home, and I was determined to beat it on my own during the summer I visited them. The second to last page said, "Turn the page if you really need a hint." I finally did and it was an order form for the hint/walkthrough book. Boo.
I finally beat it online, where you couldn't save, so had to do everything exactly. Then, when you finally get the door open so you can leave the spaceship, it said something like, "Congratulations, you've stepped onto the planet Magrathea. Please wait for the sequel." (There never was one.)
Nice to see this. I had that game back in the day and was never able to completely figure out how to win the thing.
Only on the Atari 2600
I had this. I'd be around 6 years old. I always felt it was spooky with the music and GFX. Played it quite a lot. Got to the map room. The lunatic room looks familiar. I knew I had to get in the hole where the tree was but didn't know to open the parachute, or that even was a parachute.
Our family had an Intellivision, but I do remember watching a neighbor kid play it at his house. Seemed agonizing back then. It's a relief seeing it solved now in your walkthrough, though!
I did rent this game over several weekends, and my friends and I tried EVERYTHING we could think of, and we did win it but I am sure that we did it in a much simpler manner then this. I definately do not remember using the ankh at all, just some kind of grappling hook (hourglass?) and definately keeping 2 inventory slots in use at all time for the gun and ammo. We were pretty proud of ourselves figuring out the 'well of souls' segment, but getting to the ark itself was a stone biatch and we were constantly dumped into the valley. Once we managed to figure out the parachute trick and land just right....we didn't have the shovel. FINALLY one day we completed it and got a score about halfway down the scissorlift. That was damn well good enough for us! Had no idea HSW made another easter egg, the Yar's Revenge one we all called 'hisswish' was plenty cryptic enough for us to try and puzzle out what it ment when we hit it ;-) Great video, and I thank you for showing me things I had completely forgotten.
I beat this game as an 8 year old in 1983, and it was one of the first that I can remember that had a beginning and end. Superman had one as well, along with ET (it gets too much crap, it's not bad).
Edit - I didnt know you could warp to the black market with the Chai, and I never got the cool extra ending you got so this was a really cool video. Thanks!
I think I could have found the real Ark before ever figuring out how to play the game when I was younger before the Internet. Well done.
Haha!
Had such a blast with this game as a kid.. Was really great seeing you play it through again, so many fond memories! Appreciate you!
I remember playing this as a kid, as was one of my friends older brother. He figured out the key and map room, but hadn't discovered the headpiece yet. I knew how to find the headpiece, but had no clue what to do with it. Learning what the key was for was the thing that finally helped me beat the game.
This was the very 1st game I got stuck on, will never forget it ...still love it :-) We didn't have RUclips or online forums back then, had to figure it out yourself !
I needed this today. Thanks Jon.
Thank you very much. I had this game , I was in the sixth grade and wrote a whole note pad full of notes on how to successfully complete it. Brought back many wonderful memories. Thank you🤠
I had the cart, one of my friends shared the like for the game and we worked out that each of us worked one one of the sticks so one of us could focus entirely on moving Indy around efficiently and the other thought ahead to get the proper items chosen at right times quickly and not waste time.
Now I know what I did wrong as a kid. I was using the shovel on the mesa, I didn't know you DELIBERATELY had to fall off and enter into that cave on the cliffside.
I would get into the correct one, then I think I did have trouble parachuting (like others said) until I learned the trick. But then I didn't know how or where to dig.
My goodness, how many lost hours did I go through with this game trying to figure out just what was going on! :) One of the greats!
Thanks for this because I could never finish this game as a kid
The 1st movie I remember seeing is Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Great memories. Thanks For The Great Content Jon!👍🏻🇺🇲
Dusted off the 2600, dropped in Raiders and did the HSW2 easter egg last night. This video helped me through it.
The Saturday in the summer we mail ordered this from The Atari Club my family & 2 friends played this the entire day afterwards. At 1 point we even called Atari for the free map & tips. But after 8 p.m., we all managed to figure out & beat the game.
I think this was the first game I completed. Unlike today's games/youth, I think a big part of this game's charm/appeal was that we used our imagination to fill in any of the blanks and try to tie in each screen to a scene in the film.
Back in the day a friend of mine had an older brother who figured this game out. He actually drew a map and wrote up a cheat-sheet with what to do and what order to do it in. If the older brother would have been smart he would have published this but alas he didn't. My friend loaned me the map and the cheat-sheet and with that I was able to finish the game. Then little Andy went and taught all the other littles how to do it, and he even demonstrated at sleep-overs. Pretty soon all of the littles were doing it flawlessly each time. Ahh the memories.
I first played this and E.T. while staying with a friend of Mom's, who had a teenage and college-age sons. But I don't remember the elder ever teaching me what he found out. I mainly went through the hints in the manual, but couldn't beat it because I didn't know how to dig.
I learned much later that some people called Atari to get the (free?) walkthrough in the mail.
Was a favorite of mine! Loved it!
My buddy, his brother, and I had SO much fun figuring this game out. HSW really captured the spirit of exploration. Very impressive. Great walk through.
I’m high AF. At 11:14 I realized those guys are touts! Those are middle men who try to solicit tourists to come to their shop. They claim it’s their cousin shop, but in reality the tout works for the shop owner. Even back then video games were historically accurate.
That room with the flies still sparks a little anxiety in me ! This is also one of the games I could only get around with my big brother telling me what to do.
Two things. One is there is a secret passage under the dungeons in the light room so you can avoid breaking open the walls to get out. And 2, if you use this method, a wall comes down in front of the light room preventing you from leaving, tho you can still get to the treasure room. This is why you would need to go up from the light room and out through the spider room. You CAN break out the walls to get back into the light room for gold or symbols, but you only have a finite amount of attempts before the whole timepiece room gets walled off, blocking you out completely.
Yep. I know about that, but using that method deducts a whole bunch of points from your final score, so it's a last resort, and if I lose my whip & get trapped, I typically just reset.
That was intense! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!
🫵
Always fun to see how players traverse through the game and the routes they take. Use of the headpiece in the first marketplace is crucial for score. I forgot about giving the chai to merchant to teleport to the black market - which has no effect on the score.
I must've put 1,000 hours into this game and until today I never knew you could step off the edge in the Map Room if you're holding the key!
I was like 5 years old back in the day and I didn't know what was going on. But now I can play it until the end 😂
Thank you for doing this. I was a HUGE fan of Harrison Ford between Indiana Jones and Han Solo characters- my best friend had this game and I tried several times but could never get it.
Thanks Jon great gameplay footage 👍
My friend got this in like 1988 from a thrift store, had no idea you had to use both joysticks.
Thanks for the Video !! Mr. Warshaw doesn’t get enough credit for this game.
I borrowed this game from a friend for a while, but did not beat it before he had to take it back. I eventually got my own copy and managed to beat it, with help from the same friend.
As a kid back then I didn't have the manual, so I had no idea what to do. Never knew the clock was a clock and that I had to check it to make things happen. I did figure the second controller, that the basket looking icons were money and managed to reach the map room, but that was as far as I got.
I loved this game as a kid. I was able to beat it, but not sure how the heck I figured it out. I was 8 when it came out.
I haven't played this since the 80s. Thanks for inspiring me to try it again.
Great playthrough as always. Thanks for sharing Jon :-)
I wanted to cry when I first played the 2600 game. Indiana Jones was my favorite thing ever as a kid. THE WHIP IS A DOT??!@#% In hindsight it's a really good game.
I first played this (and E.T.) at a friend of my Mom's house while staying there when I was 11 or 12. I thought I was good at adventure games, but everything I did I learned from the manual and its hints. I didn't understand how to find the Yar, and I didn't figure out how to dig once in the correct mesa. I think it's worse than E.T., which I could win, my written record being 7x in a row.
I think this (and E.T.) should have been action games. I remember playing Wild Western arcade game at the ice rink or somewhere. You are on horseback following a train, while train robbers (also on horseback) try to get on the train and shoot you. They could have made it like this game, but where you chase the truck on horseback.
Also, E.T. could have been a bicycle chase game, perhaps something resembling Paperboy.
Later, I got 3 Scott Adams text adventure games for my computer, which I won.
That took me so long as a kid to beat! I gotta say, I've never attempted the easter egg. Gotta try that one!
I remember playing and beating it as a kid. Along with beating Mike Tyson’s Punch out, it was one of my ultimate game achievements. That was like 42 years ago, watching this video makes me realize I doubt I could have figured this out anytime soon today. lol.
I remember this game so well, I also remember being disappointed that after all you had to go through that last screen was the end. Felt it should have been something better, like a close up view of the Ark…
Especially since you see that screen at the start and when you lose!
Could be worse: Pitfall! just stops when you get the 32nd treasure. No flashes and bangs like Adventure, or 3 tones like Superman, or a tune like Haunted House.
One time my friend and I cut school to play this game. Good times
Did you get the ark?!
Great video! I love the movie but I have never played this game, but it looks like fun!
Great review 😊
My first movie was The gods must be crazy. I almost beat you but you had the raiders.
I admit, first time I played this I had no idea what to do with it. I wrote it off like I did with Atari Football. Just unplayable. But I realize Ive owed this game a 2nd look for quite some time now. It is really cool.
Were you a fan of Wil Weaton's youtube show tabletop? Your intro sounds inspired by his. Though he did board games. Even your emphasis and inflection.
I'm a fan of Wil, but never saw his boad game show.
I was today years old when I found out there were easter eggs in RotLA
Happy to be of service!
No way the kid or probably even adult me would had been able to complete this game!
I remember spending countless hours on this game as a kid. I never did get the very end. I knew all of the steps up to getting the info from the map room, but I thought I had to dig with the shovel on the mesa that appeared in the map room, but never got past that. Love these. Thank you for the awesome reviews
This game brings back such great early 80's memories. I remember my Dad and brother making fun of me for mispronouncing "teste" flies......
Things that look like spaceships? Tree branches hanging off the side of a cliff? So THAT'S how Lucas got the awful idea for Crystal Skull. Is there a refrigerator in this game too?
@@FUGP72 Haha!
Dude, if Howard was still around Atari when the 7800 took off, this game would have been so much better! Dialog and details were 2 things 2600 couldn’t do, but the 7800 could. There could have been cracks in the wall for the grenade, an extra button for the inventory, and characters giving you hints.
So much potential. There's an unofficial Intellivision port that great, but it allows for way more in the inventory which kind of breaks the six-item restriction that contributes to the planning & challenge.
My friend two doors down had this and I loved playing it on days his mom let us play inside (rain and snow days). I think he had Yars too. I never did - can’t remember how I came to play it. But I did have ET so at least I had one HSW game. Perhaps not the one to have .. but oh well. I had Pac-Man but he didn’t get it and when Ms Pac-Man came out he had that better game. River Raid too but to be honest I was never into RR sorry.
But yeah RotLA was awesome. It’s like it took you places. You could imagine being in the movie. I like it like I like Adventure. You know what to do. You know the basic game. But each time it can be a little different. Repeat playability. And it’s got some action but not all action all shoot-em-up. Got some strategy. Fun times.
I loved this game.
Man, that theme song is highly unsatisfying - it goes low at the point in which the original goes high; maybe they didn't want to pay John Williams any royalties 😂
OK, I have got to know, where does the song for your intro come from? Where did you get that?
My favorite game for the 2600. The only Atari game I have ever beaten. (Apart from the easy mode of Adventure 🤣)
I need next Friday's Play to be Haunted House or I will burn this place to the ground!!
Unrelated, but I picked up an Atari game switcher at Unlimited Games in Tampa. Pretty cool because I've never seen one before, now to see if it works on the 2600 plus. Have you ever been to Unlimited Games?
Thanks Jon, I was a huge fan of this game and it felt so satisfying to beat the game.
I'm 55 years old and back in the day I was an expert at Adventure. I even found the dot I just didn't know what to do with it. I could beat Superman in less than a minute. But I completely sucked at Indiana Jones! It was so hard for me, I hated that game!
I never could get the full score.
Me and my sister couldn't figure it out
OK, let me get this: a game that only required reading a small manual, practice in the easiest level and then master it in a couple of minutes and try to get the highest score is consider to be the worst ever made while one with which you need to study and keep the manual handy and pen and paper as well at the same time you fiddle with two joysticks trying to make sense out of those low pixel representations of real life things only to get to the same screen you saw when you booted it, is not considered either bad or good and is never mentioned as one of the causes of the crash.
Dammit!
That's right. E.T., also, wasn't the "cause" of the North American crash. It was a byproduct and symptom of the market confusion that affected consumer confidence in games.
genxgrownup.com/bt-160/
Usually I get all excited about a game you review, pull it out, and give it a play. I have two copies of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I've tried so hard to like it, and so far, I just don't. Makes me sad.
Small critique. Lower the game volume. It kinda drowns you out with that intro music
this game is sooo difficult. doesn't make any logical sense. you need the instruction manual and a network of people who have played this game and found secrets.
The manual for certain, but as a youngster with infinite time after school and on the weekends, I was able to work it out!
Portions of this game were absolute genius (the timepiece, colored scissor lift scoring screen, grappling hook and the suspense of digging the dirt at the end). This was one of those social games where you talked with friends and helped each other to figure it out. 🥰
I remember when the solution appeared in a gaming magazine the news spread like wildfire!
💯
Oh this is fantastic! I had this game but totally forgot how it played. Such great nostalgia! Thank you, Jon!
This was one of my favorite 2600 games. Really pushed the limits of what could be done on the system.
I've always loved this game. The silence, the cryptic-ness. So great. A genius game for the 2600. HSW made some of the best games then. Yes, E.T. included.
This was easily one of my favorites. You were LOST with this one if you didn't read the manual, which may have kept some people away. I used to be all proud that I could speed-run the game at will. lol
It's the first game I bought with my own money.... I currently have a boxed copy. :)
I didn't know about the teleport trick or that the timepiece changed what items appear in the treasure room. 😮
Me either. I don't think I used the timepiece at all, just waited for the sun to come up in the well of souls room, LOL. I think I just didn't take it or dropped it right away.
my brothers and I spent hours and hours playing this game back in 83/84. It could be so frustrating, but it was fun!
I still can't believe that I somehow figured out how to beat the game in the pre-internet days. I wish I had known the spider room was "optional".
Raiders definitely qualifies as a RTFM game.
It always amazes me, going back through retro games I remember beating as a kid, how dang patient we all were back then. Like, I remember beating Ultima 3 for the NES and it must have taken me, like a year to just stumble randomly across all the steps you need to do to win that.
@@danielgehring7437 Ohhh maaan! Ultima III! I had that for the PC (and in fact, I STILL have it, including the disks and that cloth map). I remember staying up until the wee hours of the morning during summer vacation and playing it. Did eventually beat it. I also remember exploring the disk with a hex editor and figuring out how to edit the dungeon maps, so filled one up with treasures.
My aunt's boyfriend stayed up for about 3 days straight figuring this game out, drugs might have been involved. I just remember at the time being a young kid and totally in awe of this guy going on a marathon and mastering it. What a great game, still have my copy and have been playing it on my 2600+
Thank you HSW for such an amazing creation
Absolutely loved this game (and *gasp* E.T. as well) as a kid! The next-door neighbor kid’s dad was into Atari (whereas my parents weren’t), so he always tended to get new titles as soon as they showed up in the store. I remember for both Raiders and E.T., this kid let me borrow his game carts for a few days so I could figure out how to beat them both, as I was the nerdy kid who ALWAYS read and hung on to the instruction manuals 😁. The treasure hunt/adventure mechanic of both games absolutely hooked my 10-year old self from the start, and to this day I credit these two games as the reason for my preference for the modern epic, sprawling adventures like Uncharted and Horizon on modern consoles😄
Raiders the movie definitely makes my top 5 all time favorite list. I didn't know about that easter egg that is really cool. I remember my friend Steven showed me how to beat this game like 40+ years ago. Damn, that's hard to believe! Cool video Jon:)
Steven Seagal?
@@josepha3805 No! Don't be ridiculous. Spielberg😜
I remember beating this back in the day!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Et is so much less complex, but yet everyone complains about it. Great playthrough!
I could win that one.
Lol, I remember this game, it was so annoying.
Great review! Cool thing about complex Atari games like Indiana Jones is getting your friends together and trying to figure it out as a team. Any breakthrough is cause for a little celebration among your friends. As least that how my childhood friends were. 😊
Nailed it.
I knew there was a Yar and easter egg, but never got it...and never figured out the scoring. It drove me nuts that I couldn't reach the ark on the pedestal and wonder if there was a way to do it?
It's impossible in the released game. There's a fascinating article describing the scoring, and the elements which were removed for space constraints and would have allowed you to earn the additional diamonds.
Playing it as a kid, I wanted to like it but it confused the heck out of me (and one of my older sisters).
It wasn’t until 1999 (age 25), still owning my 2600, living in a mobile home with my girlfriend and a roommate….that I printed out a walk-thru. I couldn’t believe I needed a walk-thru for a 2600 game! lol
And I, unlike a lot of kids, always read everything in the game manuals! Heh.
Finally completing it after SO long felt so good and surreal.
Just thinking about how certain aspects of this old cartridge of mine had never been accessed until that moment almost wowed me. 🙂
Game was great! The parachuting into the cave was near impossible on the Atari joysticks though. Practically took off the rubber trying to get indy to veer as far to the left as possible. I got the game for xmas and i was super excited ESPECIALLY holding the box it came in. Man that box was all silvery, shiny and just really drummed up my imagination so much!!! just like ET did until i played it.
I seem to remember from my experience with this game that the instruction manual said if you can school high enough for Indy to touch the Ark, Harrison Ford’s autograph will appear. Does anyone else remember this? Has anyone accomplished it? I never could.
This game you needed the manual for, most people who hate it never read the manual. This was a fun (if very weird) game. When I finally figured out how to get the map room to work I freaked out as as a kid. Took awhile longer to figure out how to get inside the right mesa but that was a damn good feeling. This one was much harder than Adventure. Good times.
that was awesome, thanks for explaining it all! i played this a bunch when i was too young to really understand how it worked, but enjoyed exploring the game anyway :)
The game pissed me and my father off. Neither of us could figure it out or complete it. You're a jerk for completing that game in a few minutes that my family took 5 years to figure out only half of that game!