EDIT: The story behind this game's "rediscovery" in 2007 is awesome. Read the original Atariage forum post to see the journey unfold!

Look: 9/10 So I go in with expectations from this absurrrrd ad:

And wow, I started this as a playtest, but I couldn't help but keep playing it! I mean, an independently developed and published Christian Atari action game distributed by Christian Today magazine in 83? Heh... And yet.. I love the look of the "level progress" at the top of the screen, a feature I've really been liking that more and more action and platform games are having!

It was an action game, so grabbing screenshots was kinda tough to do. I like that the bow and arrow shooters actually have little sprites of them shooting the arrows lol. Funny clam sprites too. But also it's just those classic Atari colors that get me everytime. Especially, like with that recent Atari platformer I liked more than I expected to, when the Atari colors are used in funny and unique ways. I like the graphic when you die and the fact you can leave it on so long with flashing colors (oh actually it's not when dead, it's when you're losing points till you recover, basically dying heh)

Some of the color schemes, especially the orange and red backgrounds ones... well and the blue bordered ones, were borderline breathtaking! Love when Atari graphics hit right. The 2 screenshots I managed to get above don't really do the varied color schemes justice (it seems they're always changing, as you progress through the level progress), so definitely play it for yourself--or at least watch a video of it!

Sound: 9/10 Speaking of that dying sequence thingy, not only is the sprite cute and flashing animation interesting--the repeating jingle is excellllent. Plus, I love love love the sound that plays whenever you jump. Normally I would be annoyed by a sound effect like that, but it's just right. Also, the jingles etc are good too! Somehow, even as the gameplay got a bit old near the end, the sounds didn't get old or annoying--very unique for this era.

Play: 9/10 I feel like the stories about this being independently published and only 2 copies known to exist and one selling for over 10k are just tales... but... now that I play the game. Shoot, it deserves to be played! Not that it's particularly unique, but it's surprisingly well-executed and makes the concept far more interesting than one would expect. The collision masks are forgiving, and the jump mechanic is good once you get used to it (and I like that you have some control in mid-air, a quite advance feature for an Atari platformer). In a few screens, it had that platformer element that you see more and more later, especially in 90s DOS ones, where you have to accept that you will take some damage in order to move along. At least, I waited and whatnot, and saw no way around some! Like what looked like a locust swarm or something right on the other end of a clam--it didn't move! Technically an annoying feature but thanks to the forgiving nature of the game (most obstacles just deplete your score). Oh, I managed to get an image of that screen (and by that point I had learned that when the fish go to their lowest position you can walk over them, thus solving this room, for maximum points!)

Well, dang that got really hard about halfway through what seems to be the level progress at the top. God I suck at gaming heh... And I correct myself from earlier: it's not so much that the collision masks are forgiving, it's that they are very exact which is nice indeed. Like exactly where your last pixel ends, is where your collision mask is heh. Tho the mechanics and collision masks are surprisingly well-done, and the controls aren't bad, definitely some clunkiness. Like I wish jumping right after landing was a bit smoother, like the arcade platformers of this time are heh.

Feel: 9/10 Welp, how to sum all that up... Definitely a surprise hit. And what a story behind it! Plus, who would've thought I'd like it... a Christian game, independently made, and seemingly just another Atari action game. And yet... the setting comes alive, the colors work well, the sprites fit their role, the sound is what first grabbed me, and then the gameplay was tight and addictive enough to keep me hooked! No matter my biases, I can't deny a good game! Oh, and to qualify my earlier hypotheses about the mechanics, it seems to be that the monsters themselves actually kill-kill you in one hit (brutal heh), while the floor obstacles just take your points? sometimes... sometimes not. I guess I never fully worked it out heh. Avoid the obstacles, k?! :-p Even the death mechanic seems quite forgiving anyway. Making it fun to keep trying and trying until you get through, almost like the concept of "very hard but infinite lives with frequent checkpoints" used in Oddworld Abe's Odyssey and Exodus. Oh, and kinda crazy in a side scrolling screen-by-screen platformer like this you can go backwards :-p Cool. Adds to the "feel" for sure. And gotta love the feeling of those really close-calls when you make a face justtttt barely making it through the screen before a hit.

Attachment: 8/10 Tho the game technically got repetitive, since the screens did repeat, the level progress bar pushed me through. If only the other games from this era that "re-cycle" screens as I call it would always include a level progress concept, that always seems to make me like it more (not that this was the first game to do it or anything). It helps make a set goal, instead of feeling like having played each unique screen once is enough. And to be honest, I simply continued having fun and it really only started feeling a bit old and repetitive by the last quarter of the game--and by then, why not push through to the end huh. Another Atari game to add to the list of pick-up-and-playables (plus with a great backstory and long playtime possible) for family get-togethers! Awesome! Ope! And after all that, I finally get to the end of the level progress, and then I notice even the fish at top and bottom sped up--why? Welp, sure enough this is a re-cycle levels game. And even tho I loved it, not enough to replay it right away, it was getting a bit dull and repetitive by then. But still, a game I know I will replay with the brothers etc. And perhaps it'll go up in time.

Completion: All screens -- 54,505 Score Playtime: ~1 hour