You know, I’ve never actually made it a point to sit down and watch the original Halloween. The horror of it all just seem a little too raw and real for my delicate and timid soul. Michael Myers wasn’t stuck at the bottom of lake, awaiting in your dreams, or trapped in the body of a My Best Buddy doll. Ol’ Mike lived right next door, like some modern day Boo Radley. He wouldn’t leave trinkets in the knot-hole of the oak tree in front of your house, he would make a knot-hole in your chest and make trinkets out of your intestines.
Halloween (AKA Sexta Fiera 13) for the Atari 2600 won’t leave trinkets in your knot-hole, either, but it could possibly be the most horrify horror you’ve ever experienced. The premise is simple: avoid Michael Myers and escape your house with your sibling and/or friend of indeterminate sex. You play as who I can only assume is Jamie Lee Curtis if she had blond hair and was digesting a football. All the while, the 5×5 pixel representation of Michael Myers hunts you mercilessly, continuously stabbing the air with a knife that can desintegrate a head in one blow. Now it’s well known that the most horrifically horrifying horror contained within the film is its soundtrack, and no game based on the film could possibly exist without it. It’s actually used to great effect here as the soundtrack kicks in whenever Michael comes on-screen, urging him to kill you dead.
The death sequence of Halloween, is absolutely, ludicrously, amazingly, awesomely, boss. Should your knee-high sock clad legs falter and be unable to reach your sibling in time, Michael Myers politely stabs the kid, leaving him a bloody mess on the floor, pixels everywhere. Not until Manhunt 2 arrives on the 31st will video gamers be subjected to such senseless brutality and hilarity. As we all know, once the blood lust strikes, it’s hard to stop at just one kid. Next thing you know, Michael Myers is coming for your head, and if you’re not quick enough, he’ll take the whole thing. Bereft of head, your manic torso makes a mad dash for the exit, squirting bloody pixels all the way. Oh, it is glorious, indeed.
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