Jungle antics in a pith helmet? Yes! Jungle Hunt succeeds, where Congo Bongo and Coconuts are so forgettable that I'd have to read the former reviews to recall the mediocrity.
As a child, I had been exposed to NES platformers by the time I played Jungle Hunt. As a result, Jungle Hunt was doubly intriguing.
Like an NES game, Jungle Hunt contains multiple levels, different enemies, varied mechanics, and an actual ending. Combine this with good graphics and scrolling effects, and the game remains fun and fascinating today.
The first level requires swinging on vines (or "ropes," as they say, to avoid a silly Tarzan lawsuit). I'm sure you can do this with your eyes closed, at first. The vines swing faster on harder skill, demanding precise timing. The scrolling effect here looks great.
The second level pits you against crocodiles. The crocs are easy to dodge at first, and you can stab them with your arm (okay, it's a knife, but sure looks like only an arm. Atari!). Stabbing the crocs is tedious, so I use it only if necessary. You've got to watch your air meter, too, and again, the scrolling here looks great.
The third level rolls out boulders large and small. You can jump the small rocks, and maybe even the large boulders if you care about points. I find it easier to duck under the big ones. It's not hard once you get the timing worked out. Don't get squished, as in the above picture. Good thing he's wearing that hard pith helmet.
The final level features dancing "cannibals" for bosses. Yup, cannibals. In the arcade game, these people suspend your lady friend from a rope over a bubbling cauldren. Yup.
Please note the year "1983" on the Jungle Hunt title screen. Tribal communities were still cast as "savage cannibals" for entertainment. Hell, even the Ewok tribe wanted to eat Luke in 1983.
Cannibal thing aside, you've got to time your jump very carefully here. The best strategy I found is to jump left over the spearsman just as he jumps left. I'm proud I figured this out on my own when I was young; it took me a few rounds now to recall the trick. We also get some music for this scene, which is no doubt "tribal drums."
After you jump over the dancing spearsmen, you rescue your lady friend. In other words, you get an ending to an Atari game!
Okay, it's not much of an ending, but I'll take whatever I can get when it comes to Atari 2600 games. I imagine the lady says, "Thank you for rescuing me. Now try a harder quest." And so you begin again with increased difficulty.
Forgoing the cringy cannibal thing, Jungle Hunt is a varied and fun romp with good graphics, novel effects, and quality sound, including an intro theme. It's good!
Final Jungle Hunt review:
I recommend Jungle Hunt for Atari Newcomers, Curious, Nerds, and Collectors.