Game Description

Raiders of the Lost Ark is an adventure game based on Steven Spielberg's 1981 hit movie. You control none other than Indiana Jones himself, a world famous archaeologist and adventurer.

The object of the game, as in the movie, is to find the Ark of the Covenant. Gameplay consists of traversing various screens and collecting objects which may or may not be useful in your quest. You'll find a trusty whip, a key, a grenade and some mysterious relics whose purpose is initially unknown. And shouldn't there be a shovel around here somewhere?

Only by discovering the usefulness of these objects will you unlock the secrets of the game and reveal the true location of the Ark.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is unique in that it uses both joysticks, even though it is only for one player. The right controller is used to control Indiana Jones, and the other is used to select items in your inventory. Up to six items can be carried at once. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

The exploration and collection themes of Raiders of the Lost Ark were introduced in Adventure. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

A refreshing change of pace from most games of this time period. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Production Credits

Designer: Howard Scott Warshaw ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Movie to video game adaptations have always been hit-or-miss, especially for the Atari 2600. Some were successful (Parker Brothers' Star Wars series), some were Pac-Man clones (Alien) and others were unplayable messes (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial).

A good movie adaptation is a balancing act -- it should capture the essence of the film while not allowing itself to be shackled by the narrative restrictions placed on it by the source material. So even though the Atari 2600 version of Raiders of the Lost Ark is missing Nazis and hundreds of writhing snakes, it still finds a way to retain the main goal of the movie and create an original style of gameplay. It doesn't have the breakneck pace of the film, but it does capture some of the mystery.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is billed as an adventure game, but it is really more like a puzzle game or a very early version of a Zelda-style role-playing game. In order to achieve your goal of finding the Ark, you must complete a specific series of steps. Once you know what those steps are, finishing the game is fairly simple.

You'll spend most of your time moving from room to room, collecting objects and trying to figure out what they do. Some objects are necessary to complete the game, some are helpful, and some are useless. To make matters more complicated, some objects only work if used in a specific area.

For example, a grenade will blow things up, but it's only useful if you find out where to use it. Find the right location, and the grenade will open up a passage to a cavern containing a timepiece. What good is a timepiece? For telling time, of course. But what good is that? The questions keep piling up ...

The instruction manual offers some helpful hints on what to do, but it's basically up to you to experiment and find out where and when each object can be used.

The game's graphics are adequate and about average for the Atari 2600. Indiana Jones is recognizable due to his trademark fedora, but the game's animation is weak; when Indiana cracks his whip, just a single dot shoots out.

A brief passage of the Indiana Jones theme song plays at the beginning of the game, but other than that, music and sound effects are almost nonexistent.

Raiders of the Lost Ark works as a movie adaptation that stresses thinking over mindless button tapping. If you can look past the less-than-stellar graphics and sound, you'll find a surprisingly complex game that will definitely give your problem-solving skills a workout. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Average visuals that could have been better. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The lack of music and sound effects really hurt this game. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Once you find the Ark, there isn't much left to do. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Excellent instruction manual with optional hints if you want them. ~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide