Tutankham

Title screen with points

Fun note:  It's called Tutankham because the full name, Tutankhamun, was too long for the marquee.  So they renamed the game instead.

Tutankham was released in arcades in 1982 with an Atari 2600 port following in 1983.  I never actually played the arcade version but I played the Atari version extensively.  The Atari version is much simpler but gets the main idea right.  The arcade version has much better graphics and sound and a bit more complicated gameplay.  It's a maze-shooter game where you have try to find the treasure at the end of each level, hopefully finding the keys along the way to unlock the gates blocking the exit.  Both versions have 4 different levels and then repeat them at a harder difficulty.  I decided that "beating the game" this time would be finishing each level up to the point where they start repeating (level 5).  Also, I wouldn't be able to skip any of the treasures along the way.  At first I was only going to do the Atari version, but that turned out to be a bit too easy so I decided to give the arcade version a try as well.

Day One:

I started the up the Atari version and was immediately taken back to 1983.  It took a while to get back up to speed which meant repeating the early levels quite a few times.  After a couple of hours, I managed to complete my goals and got to level 6, which is the same as level 2, but harder.  Since I beat it so easily, I decided to try out the arcade version next.

The four levels of the Atari 2600 version

Day Two:

I started the arcade version of the game.  My emulator warns of incomplete graphics emulation so let's hope it isn't game-breaking.  Wow!  This version is far harder than the Atari version.  Where the console version seems limited to one or two enemies on the screen this one throws as many enemies as possible at you.  You'll hear them spawning wave after wave then they all head toward you.  I managed level one pretty quickly but level 2 was a challenge.  Unlike the console port which is fairly linear, the arcade version sometimes requires you to grab a key, unlock a door, then backtrack to find another key to unlock the next door.  You cannot carry more than one at a time, so you'll be going back and forth a bit.  It definitely increases the challenge as the areas between the keys and the locked doors are very difficult and you'll have to traverse them multiple times.

Dead again!

Day Three:

Finally completed level 2 and started level 3.  Wow again!  So many enemies...  I've become overwhelmed a few times and had to use my "flash bomb" to wipe out all the enemies on-screen.  This nuke is handy, but you don't get many and, so far, I've found that I could use a few more.  I'd use the nuke to get through an area, but then I have to come back to get the next key where I'd get swamped again.  I tried a lot of times, but I'm hitting a wall.  I'll give it another try tomorrow, maybe we'll get lucky.  I'm getting better at the first couple levels now and can make it to level 3 without dying about 50% of the time, even gaining an extra man at 30,000 points along the way.  Level 3 is brutal though and I end up dying there a lot.

Treasure!

Day Four:

Still hard as nails!  I've been able to beat level 3 a few times but end up dying on level 4.  Level 4 seems a bit easier than level 3, but I get there with so few lives, etc. that I just can't make it.  I'll probably just have to get lucky and get here with more lives.

So many enemies!

Day Five:

I did it!!!  I finally managed to get to level 4 with 2 lives left.  I then used my flash bomb early and made it to the first lock.  Then I died on my way back to the second key.  Fortunately, it spawned me back in a little further back than I had managed to get so I got the key and worked my way back to the last lock.  It was pretty intense getting back through the most difficult parts, but I managed some lucky runs and opened the last gate.  Level 5 was just like level 1, except it had two gates and two keys.  I lost my final life on this level and called it quits.

Mission Complete!

Conclusion:

I'm really glad I played the arcade version of this game.  I had only played the Atari port before and it was very much simplified from the original.  The addition of multiple keys and locks to pass levels and the hugely greater number of enemies on-screen made this game much, much harder.  The graphics, etc are not too bad, it looks to me like 8-bit graphics, but I'm not completely sure.  Most of what the game does could probably be done on an NES but it might be a stretch.  Either way, if you like frantic action and potentially very frustrating gameplay, this game is for you.  It's difficult enough to make completion very satisfying, but not so hard that it seems impossible.  I think this might have climbed to become one of my favorite old arcade games, along with Jungle Hunt and Elevator Action.

Deathsplosion!

As another side-note: there are several elements of this game that seem directly lifted from Defender.  The "laser" that you use as your primary weapon is exactly like the one shot from the ship in Defender.  The death animation is also the same, where you explode radially outward, pushing the other pixels with you.  Finally, it seems that the radar might also be the same, though it's considerably less useful than in Defender.  I couldn't find out much about it, but I'd be interested in how that came about.