Part two! These games were actually harder but still fun. Kept it to five like last so here we go with the next batch!
Commando: I mistook this game for another one that focused on being a soldier taking on a whole army. Actually two games. The point is you’re this soldier, progressing up the screen and you have to take out the enemy in the way. You can do this by shooting in eight different directions and grenades. It moves rather quickly for a game of its age (early Eighties).
Mad Planets: Another rare entry by Gottlieb (they’re only success in video games was Q•Bert). You fly a wedge-like ship around the screen shooting planets which form and grow from middle of the screen. They eventually work their way out to the edges, swooping around, throwing fireballs/moons at you. They’re easier to destroy when they start out in their porto-planet origins. As the game progresses in levels, you can earn additional points rescuing drifting astronauts. I actually enjoyed it and have played it again. The combo controls of the joystick (position on the screen) and dial (facing for the ship) wasn’t as hard as I feared.
Black Widow: This is my personal hypothesis, but I think Black Widow was Atari’s answer to Williams’ Robotron 2084 via gameplay/controls except it uses Atari’s trademark of XYZ displays (Tempest, Battlezone). Here you are the spider defending its web from various insects; one joystick to move, the other to fire. It has an element of Joust too, some enemies turn into eggs you need to push off the web and if you take too long, something invincible will chase you.
Phoenix: This game I remember from my youth very well. One of my classmates had a hint book (pre-Internet days!) covering numerous games, some I’d never seen because Springfield wasn’t exactly a metropolis. The book made it intriguing but when we moved to Houston, I finally saw it in action…a pseudo imitation of Space Invaders and Galaga. There are interesting touches: limited shields, bird enemies which re-grow their wings and a battle station. Plus, what I learned in the book didn’t make me any better at winning.
Sinistar: Still as hard as I remembered. You fly around, shooting opponents that are either armed or unarmed. All the while they’re building the main menace, a giant flying head called Sinistar. I know you get these smart bombs to take out the boss but I continue to fail at killing off the ships responsible for building it.