1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die–Game #4–Boot Hill

Boot Hill

Platform: Arcade

Impressive, no?

This game, honestly, I had never heard of.  The name Boot Hill reminded me of perhaps a landmark in Britain or a shoe distributor or something.  But, in reality (other than a name for a movie and a RPG of the same name), it is a kind of Pong off shoot geared more with a Western feel.

Wagon = Western

The main difference here is that instead of trying to hit the "projectile" back at the other player, you are trying to shoot the other player, thus avoiding the bullet would be in one's best interest.

Yep, I'm terrible at this game.

As you can (kind of) see from this screen shot, I was terrible at this game.  Slightly better at Pong, but in this game I got killed.  A LOT.  And the sad thing is, there is a 60 second time limit, so I died quickly.  No shut out here though!  Huzzah!

Now I used an emulator to play this gem from the 70s, so not only was it lacking color but also sound as well.  However, here's a little sample of gameplay via the YouTubes:

Spoiler alert: The background is actually handdrawn!

I don't hate the game, I'm just A) Horrible and B) The CPU is pretty darn good.  However, it is still an important step as it was trying something new back in the day.  Kudos for that!

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die–Game #3–Breakout

Breakout
Platform: Atari

Yep, look at those Atari graphics!
Chances are, you've played some form of a game like this.  A clear cousin of Pong, this game is best in short bursts in my opinion.  
To play this particular game, I obtained an Atari Emulator (http://stella.sourceforge.net/) and, after taking forever to figure out how to get the controls to work (what do you mean only ONE button?), we were off.  Basic concept, you bounce a ball off a wall, breaking away bricks with each hit.  Your objective is to bounce the ball back off of your paddle and back against the wall over and over again.  And...let's just say, I lost.  Quickly.  The Atari version is very unforgiving.  Or I'm terrible.  Probably that.

3 Points!!!! YES!
The "paddle" seems to move uber fast and is uber sensitive.  Apparently I don't have the skill necessary to keep it moving at a slow pace, because I am sure I did not get past the first level.
I do enjoy these games on occasion, however.  Games like Arkanoid, Alleyway, Kirby's Block Ball, and many many many other flash derivations were similar but owe a nod to Pong and Breakout.

Breakout, with SWEET powerups!
I was a fan of Arkanoid back in the day.  Not only because it came with a sweet controller, but the game adds in power ups that make life a little easier (lasers, multi-balls, etc).  

Nice Controller, Brah!
At the end of the day though, I can only play this so long before I feel it has worn out its welcome.  Don't get me wrong, great game.  Just in small doses.