Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Pengo

I wish I could be writing about how I came back from an awesome Medi-terranean cruise this week, but instead events conspired against me. Instead I shall write about my childhood adventures....

When I went on my first cruise way back in 1983, I was amazed to find an arcade on board. But it was my second cruise in 1985 that really wowed me. You see, the arcade in this ship wasn't big or anything; it actually only had 3 or 4 games. BUT THEY WERE FREE! Do you know what this means to a 10 year old who has to survive on quarters meted out by his parents in small doses? It doesn't matter how lame the games are (well, luckily it didn't have Moon Patrol; I hate that game - I'll rant about that another time, pink moon buggy), I got to play them over and over and get good at them.

I only remember Time Pilot '84 and Pengo. Only I never really got very good at Pengo. I don't think I grasped the awesome ability to squash the Sno-Bees with ice blocks really well. I could stumble around and avoid them half the time, but the game is kind of clunky and it's hard to get away from them and smash while on the run. Nevertheless, I like the cheesy electronic attempts at classical music, and Pengo just looks cool. He also trips a lot and has some weird friends that never help him out, but they sure like to dance and wiggle their rear ends.

I don't think I'm ever going to get to a Time Pilot '84 ship, there's too much grey going on. And I did so much better on that game. Maybe because missiles are way easier to destroy your enemies with than ice....

2 comments:

Ralph- said...

this is the first time i have heard of this game. It appears, from screen shots, that Pengo is incredibly happy. You need to get a Pengo cabinet for your place. The picture on the side of the machine is priceless.

I cant wait until you do a Billy Mitchell. Maybe the version from the DVD menu?

pursuit agent said...

The one on the cruise ship was a cocktail machine, so I don't think I've ever seen that art before. Now that I've looked it up, I don't think I want to see it in my place.

Thank you for commenting. I knew if I posted something obscure, no one would care, but I was hoping someone would say something. Now I don't have to make that Time Pilot '84 ship out of Legos. It would have been ugly... .