Swedish Erotica: Custer's Revenge

The Good
The controversy was more interesting than the gameplay. As a 21 year old owner of an Atari 2600 I was intrigued at the concept of an "Adult" game. All games at the time were for kids. It seemed like the video game industry was going to mature. So even when the game turned out to be a stinker it had redeeming qualities in it's effect. And when you finally get to play it is really funny for the first few minutes.

The Bad
When it came out it was only available in video rental stores. The price was outrageous at $50 and they even rented it for $5 a night versus the $2 a night for all other games. There was a waiting list so it took a few weeks to finally get to play it. And the gameplay is repetitive and boring, which was a good thing because it kept people from keeping it for more than a day.

The Bottom Line
Without getting in to the adult descriptions the game is basically two characters on opposite sides of the screen. You must advance your character to the other side and complete a task. There are objects falling you must avoid along the way. And you must retreat to start the whole process all over again. Over and over again.

The Good
It's a game of timing, when it comes down to it, and on this point it does very well. If you've got a good sense of timing, you'll probably do pretty well, as the controls are responsive enough. All in all, it's simplistic, with only it's shock value to prop it up.

Surprisingly, the graphics are fairly colorful and well-done for an Atari 2600 title. However, I highly doubt that Custer sported a 14" phallus.

The Bad
I'm not a P.C. person, but I do have certain sensitivities. Walking through a storm of arrows to hook up with a Native American chick may sound like a frontier romance novel, but when the game's called Custer's Revenge, it's pretty safe to assume that it's the system limitations that kept the rape sequence looking almost consensual. I'm sure that if it the state of technology had been different, your "reward" wouldn't be standing naked next to a cactus and disrobing her would have been another minigame.

The fact that you get points for banging away on someone who is probably moments away from being a murder victim is sick. Unfortunately, the comical look of the graphics may detract from any shock one may feel. I don't find rape funny in the least, yet I managed to rack up the points. Once the "I can't believe they made this" reaction wore off, I shut it down and never touched it again.

The Bottom Line
Custer's Revenge may call to mind a rematch at Little Bighorn, but that isn't what you get here. As General George Custer, wearing nothing but boots, hat, and scarf, you work your way across the playfield as arrows rain down. Once you make it to the naked Native American maiden, you smack the fire button over and over to "score".

If curiosity happens to grab you hard enough to make you play this game, you'll either quit in disgust or out of boredom.