Arcade Game: Venture (1981 Exidy)

[@stillphil]

graphics be damned I'm here for the Ed Anderson music. One new feature was Venture's soundtrack. Whether true or not, the game was billed as the first to feature a soundtrack written specifically for the game. The idea had come from plant manager Ed Anderson, a child prodigy, who had started playing classical music before he was five. While his video game career had started in the Pong era (building cabinets for the original Pong), Anderson had never really put his musical talents to use before. [Ed Anderson] I’d go into an arcade and there was a space game and they had Sweet Georgia Brown playing in the background. I’d think “What is this?” “. . .So when I went to Exidy I told Pete [Kauffman] “Let me do all the music for video games” We were making player pianos at the time and he asked “Do you play?” We went in the lobby and I started playing the player piano we had in there. From then on me and Arlen Grainger did all the music (Arlen was an engineer) I started programming the music and I won an award for the music track on Venture. Those are all my songs in there.

[@beedwarf]

Fascinating! 😊

[@daveidmarx8296]

Never knew any of this info and have been playing this game since it was new.

[@bleirdo_dude]

Cool!

[@supermaster1325]

Oh man, thats some cool info. Thanks!

[@daevydjae]

This was one of the hardest games during that era. I remember buying a book to get tips on how to play this game and it worked well, but the Hall Monsters basically took the fun out of it as they were invincible.

[@charlesajones77]

I may have had the same book.

[@raoulduke3417]

I had the same book.

[@DollyNipples]

How many seconds does it take for a hall monster to appear?

[@alkohallick2901]

They used to have an arcade at the horse racing track in Hershey, PA. That's where I played this. 👍🏻

[@chuckkells5509]

I used to play this at the arcade, loved the soundtrack

[@johnlewisbrooks]

The coleco version of this is done astonishingly well. As a kid the Hallmonsters scared the hell out of 4yr old me!

[@josephkissel6062]

Even in arcade, it had a threatening vibe to it. The concept of traversing a map and then going into rooms was very unusual if not a first ...

[@johnlewisbrooks]

@josephkissel6062 indeed it did! The coleco version had hallmonsters that made this ominous woo woo woo noise that terrified me as a kid.

[@TomGreco-i3k]

Me too

[@johnlewisbrooks]

@@TomGreco-i3k bwoo bwoo bwoo bwoo lol

[@maxducoudray]

I played it a lot on ColecoVision. I think I occasionally made it to floor 3...

[@mrcydonia]

I remember reading a strategy guide in a magazine and the author didn't want to use the word "room" to describe the rooms...other than the first one. So by the end he was struggling to come up with synonyms...referring to the "Genie Demesne" and such. It got a little silly.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

That no collision detection cheat makes all the difference in the world, eh? But, yeah, this game is HARD. And kind of creepy too for some reason.

[@mrnmrsifl]

The 2600 version was definitely creepy. The limited sound capabilities made it a lot more unsettling.

[@bilwisss]

i am only here for the OST (remember when this game screamed HIGH TECH?) this is making Sinistar look easy...

[@jessiethomas7152]

Looks like the game berserk and playing as evil otto's twin brother

[@georgeshelton6281]

Of what I've just mentioned to you about Brent Mazon earlier on before; this has a strong reference to the 1981 VG (video game) called, 'The Hand.' The VG (video game) has the same title as the R-Rated horror flick does, they're both 1981 releases.

[@Getagirlfriend-y4e]

@@jessiethomas7152 winky

[@jessiethomas7152]

@@Getagirlfriend-y4e lolz cool

[@Getagirlfriend-y4e]

@@jessiethomas7152 i its in the 2600 (or possibly other ports) manul his name is winky

[@originalfred66]

Thank you for reminding me why I hated this game. Your shots are so slow that the monsters can easily dodge them. The only cool thing about the game is the way the rooms expand. When this was in the arcade, it only cost me a couple of bucks before I realized it was too darn hard and other games were a lot more fun.

[@josephkissel6062]

I agree. I liked games that gave you good bang for your quarter ...

[@cartercutway1600]

this game is kinda like bezerk but with different areas

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

4:33: Stage Clear

[@jackjones298]

Thank you for playing in god mode. I never would have seen the end of this game without this.

[@kennypooser]

just painful to watch.

[@ashkirby8896]

This game has nice sound effects and music!

[@JinzoCrash]

I love the invincibility. We'd never get to see the rest of the game otherwise. THANK YOU.

[@JinzoCrash]

Also, another game that "scared" me as a kid, back in the Majors department store arcade in Flemington, NJ.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

Are you _purposefully_ playing bad? I know the arrows are slow and (maybe) the controls aren't very responsive (though you would think that this being a MAME emulator, someone would fix both of those things in the programming), but damn dude... it just seems like you are TRYING to get killed. I do like how the three sets of levels have their own unique treasures. I'm guessing once you complete all of the treasures it just loops on the yellow level?

[@datacipher]

It’s always like that with this guy and some others. They clearly have never played before and dont know how to play.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

6:33: Bonus Activated

[@synthonaplinth5980]

I never noticed that the hall monsters looked like skulls with legs....

[@adinocc2042]

Give `em hell, Winky!

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

20:05: Name Entry

[@smaybius]

Forgot that the moving walls in the wall room are penetrable

[@gamerzero7735]

"The Cheat... is grounded!"-Strong Bad

[@georgeshelton6281]

To GIT Geronimo; if you had a 1981 B-40 Junior High School yearbook with you, of course you'll know him.

[@georgeshelton6281]

I still do remember the funny joke when Brent Mazon; of what he said while he was in B-40 Junior High, "OOO get it away from me."

[@georgeshelton6281]

I was in B-40 Junior High School; back then in 1981.

[@gitgeronimo9375]

George Shelton did you know Brent Mazon?

[@georgeshelton6281]

@@gitgeronimo9375 Yes, I went to school with him.

[@georgeshelton6281]

@@gitgeronimo9375 What's going on is that; you don't have a 1981 B-40 Junior High School yearbook with you.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

1:00: Game Start

[@loneshewolf74]

7:13 Hey, wheres the bat room? Someone had to say it.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

0:30: Title Screen

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

4:37: No Bonus

[@Yapostadodat]

18:05 , the pictures of the "treasures" look EXACTLY like the pictures on hits of blotter acid.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

6:36: Extra Life

[@yurikendal4868]

I emjoyed ther 2600 version better.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

20:03: Stage Failed

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

20:09: Game Over

[@Elricwulf]

@20:24 "Into the Depths with WINKY(tm)" 😅

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

3:26: Cheating Incoming

[@lordevyl8317]

The Hall Monster = Cthulhu

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

1:40: ????

[@canary11141]

I saw the Epirus bow at Isengard!

[@canary11141]

Epirus bow slays Two-headers!

[@canary11141]

Diamond wall violence!

[@adamwebb8114]

Thumbs up for the game, loved it on Atari.. But big thumbs down for wasting so much time trying to shoot enemies when u don't need to, ok Mr invincible

[@canary11141]

Goblin violence!

[@canary11141]

Epirus bow slays goblins.

[@JinzoCrash]

Wizard, Warrior, Sorcerer, Fighter... "Winky"? Is that like a twink?

[@MagmaDashE]

"Winky" was the name of the player's character (the red smiley with the bow and arrow)

[@Maskedmutant]

I loved this game back in the day. it WAS disappointing, however, that the game simply just started over after 3 boards. Uh, next time you post this, maybe you could get someone who actually KNOWS what they're doing aforehand, so one may actually learn how to beat the game, thus making the 'cheats' unnecessary?

[@OggyBleacher]

this is simulation software and it's close to authentic, but a true Venture addict can tell it's not the actual coin-op game.

[@Colonel-Llama]

It is actually the original arcade rom running on mame.

[@ActionGamerAaron]

Care to give details, Oggy?

[@scottbreon9448]

Colonel Llama That's not the point, you can still tell the difference when a game is ran on MAME and when it's ran on ACTUAL AUTHENTIC HARDWARE

[@Sinn0100]

Thst sound is unpleasant...wow.

[@zazelby]

I always felt that the Atari 2600 version handled the best, despite the drastic downgrade in visuals and sound.

[@ThatTalkingDogGuy]

Colecovision all the way

[@daveidmarx8296]

Um.. nah bruh. Atari 2600 version sucked.

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

6:43: Life Lost

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

1:29

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

1:57

[@robbiezampini-is3en]

2:50

[@a2pha]

Running with cheats.

[@benb3316]

Ugh. I'm no N-zi for 'speedruns' or 1 million points no death - but you had to use some invulnerability flag at the wall room? Why not just play it a few times? It took a lot to get past 2nd but easy enough for Level 1 - yes you are slow, yes the reset after death, one pixel deadly is a pain - but this is one of the grand-pappys of "Dark Souls"

[@georgeshelton6281]

I was acting like a homosexual to Brent Mazon; back then in 1981, I'm someone who's not acting and reasoning his age.

[@Microbex]

Let us be honest, it was a bad game. Steering and gameplay vice but we loved it anyway.

[@ericross441]

Berzerk rip-off

[@kickrockser]

What the hell are you talking about. 2 different games.

[@lordevyl8317]

Jack Schitt The Drunken Trollololo Plus you don't have rooms with moving walls of death in Berzerk

[@scottbreon9448]

Wow, it's a maze shooter, so it's automatically a "Berzerk" ripoff. SMH. If your IQ shot up 50 points, you would still be far too stupid to even qualify to ride a down syndrome bus