Cannonball Blitz

The Good
As a kid, I thought this game was pretty fun, watching the little guy jump up from level to level. However, these days, it doesn't even hold its nostalgic charm.

The Bad
The game was too short. There were only THREE levels and once you were done with them, the levels started over with different timing intervals. Thus, once you finished the three levels, the game was boring and no longer held my interest. Further, the game was too difficult. The first board and second boards were ok once you got your timing intervals down. However, the third board is just impossible. I only defeated it a few times before I just got too frustrated.

The Bottom Line
A good idea for a game in theory, but CannonBall Blitz fell much too far short of the mark.

The Good
Familiar gameplay The innovation of the balloon, which you can "catch" and ride up to higher platforms.

The Bad
There's a lot of waiting around. There are no ladders you can use to ascend. Instead, you have to position your character at one end of a see-saw, then wait for a cannonball to drop onto it, which launches you to the next higher platform.

What music is present is of limited quality (single voice).

Your character is an all-white sprite with very slight animation.

The Bottom Line
Cannonball Blitz is a game that apes Donkey Kong (pardon the pun). You direct your character across the screen, using sea-saws and cannonballs to reach higher platforms. You can jump over cannonballs, but if they hit you, you lose a life. Your goal is to capture the flag at the top of the screen.

The Good
I still remember the day I played Cannonball Blitz - I just got back from an Apple User's Group meeting with my friend and we had some new games to play (those meetings sometimes turned into a pirate-fest). The two best games were Marauder and Cannonball Blitz. I was already familiar with Olaf Lubeck's work having played Jawbreaker already and as soon as I saw the Donkey Kong layout I was hooked.

The game reproduced the three screens in Donkey Kong (who could ask for more? It was a clone!) and did it very well although with a Revolutionary War theme to it. The sounds were charming and the animation was decent. I played this game quite a bit.

The Bad
The only problems with the game were its keyboard control, but that was typical of the Apple II. If you were used to controlling games with the keyboard on the Apple, this game wasn't any worse than the rest.

The Bottom Line
This is the closest Donkey Kong clone (other than Atarisoft's) you'll ever see on the Apple II. It won't ever happen again.......uh, because no one makes Apple II games anymore. :)