"Born in Arizona, moved
to Babylona, King Tut". Remember those less than immortal words
from funny man, Steve Martin (back when he was funny)? Well,
this game has nothing to do with that. But I thought it would be
fun to start with that anyway. I guess the point I am trying to
make is much like the old, stand up Steve Martin, Tutankham the
game is pretty much forgotten. A piece of the past, mostly
forgotten. But where Steve Martin went from singing about King
Tut to becoming a huge movie star and starring in a bunch of
dreck films, Tutankham's only claim to fame is that it is a very
rare game for the Intellivision and highly sought after.
Why this fun little game is forgotten is
beyond me. I was the champ at this game at my local arcade
(considering no one played it, made it that much easier). I
always found the game quite enjoyable, but I was in the
minority.
But enough about my memories, let us look at the game.
Tutankham is the story of an archeologist
who goes into the Egyptian tombs in search of treasure. While
there is treasure to find, there is also a ton of guardians who
want to have you join them in the eternal slumber. There are
crows, snakes, dragons and these strange creatures that look
alot like flying peanuts. While this may sound funny, these
little buggers are quick and very tough! They will waste you
faster than you can say "peanut butter". Your goal is to make
your way through the maze and grab treasure and the keys you
need to move onto the next tomb.
There is one minor problem that keeps you
from easily defeating this game. You can only shoot to the left
and right. So if a creature come from the top or bottom, it is
too bad. So you need a little strategy to make sure you are not
sitting out in the open. But you do get one bomb per guy that
works like a smart bomb in Defender and clears all the creatures
off the screen. Nice way to make a clear path to the exit!
The game has a fair share of bad guys and
lots of different treasures, including special ones at the end
of each level. The music is very effective and the action is
continuous. I cannot see why this game was so ignored as it is a
very enjoyable little game. Give it a whirl and see if you
agree. Who knows, it may make you break out one of Steve
Martin's old albums and listen to him sing "King Tut". Then
again, it may not.
This is just a review of the arcade machine.
If you are looking for the actual arcade machine, you may want
to check out ebay. Click below to see if you can find this
game.
