RETRORY Atari 2600 Memory Match Game
Retrory is a retro based card memory match game that was released early last year (2015). I picked it up at that time, with the intention of eventually trying it out. Thus far it seems unlikely that I will ever actually play this game against another human being but you never know.
Paraphrasing the description of the game from the original Atariage post:
There are a total of 80 cards in the game which equates to 40 matching pairs. Each card is 2.4″ x 2.4″ squares, double-sided printing with the game’s image on the backside. The game includes a 16-page full-color manual that identifies all of the matching pairs in the game.
” There are no ‘pairs’ like in a traditional memo-game. Instead, a ‘pair’ consists of two different images from the same game.
The goal of the game is to find matching ‘pairs’, but in order to find them, you have to know the games.
– the game can be made more difficult by having to name the game when finding a match.
– all images will come from officially released Atari 2600 games.”
The manual states this game is “A memory-training game for one to 10 players ages 30 and up.” I believe the listed age is 30 and up for two reasons. One; The game contains a couple of 8-bit pornographic illustrations from the Atari 2600 game, “Custers Revenge”, and two; anyone less than around 30 years old probably will not have a clue what games the 8-bit illustrations represent. If you remove the two offending cards, I believe the game can be cleanly played with children or teenagers who are Atari 2600 savvy. As highly unlikely as it might sound, even I have issues identifying which game some of the cards are from. For example, card two from Superman, I would have sworn was from the game “Hero”.
I guess when you take the images out of their true context, it can be rather difficult to tie together which games they are from, especially when the orientation of the cards may not be easy to identify as well. That’s all part of the fun. Some of the cards were fairly easy to match up, Adventure, Pac-man, E.T., Haunted House, for example. At the time I purchased the game, it was sort of in pre-order mode, similar to a kick-starter reward, the early purchasers were able to name their favorite game and have it included in the game. My choice was a game that is currently on my top 5 list of favorite games for the Atari 2600, “Mountain King”. Yes, I am to blame for that one. The two cards for Mountain King are fairly difficult to tie together. Sorry…
Mountain king cards
Game variations
On the last page of the manual, the game boasts a total of 24 different games by mixing up the following variations:
a. The player needs to say the name of the game in order to get a pair of cards
b. The player has to say the name of the game for each card that he turns over. If he cannot name the game, he cannot turn over a second card.
c. It is allowed/not allowed to peek into the instruction manual.
d. Whenever a pair is turned face down again, the card’s positions can be swapped with two other face down cards.
e. Whenever a pair is discovered, the player takes only one of the two cards and puts the other card back face down. The game is over when there are exactly 40 cards left.
I could see that the last one would be really difficult, but this is a nice way to extend the game’s value.
Speaking to the box art and craftsmanship, the game box is 7.5″ x 5.5″ x 1.6″ and contains many of the games card illustrations on its’ face.
The box art differs slightly from the original prototype. The game was offered for sale by Atariage user “Apemaster” also known as “Yoda Zhang”, and he offered to give away one game for free to anyone who came up with original artwork for the game, which I am assuming is what happened here.
At some point since receiving my copy of the game, I accidentally damaged one of the corners of the game box. At first, I thought it might be water damage, but after contacting Yoda Zhang on Atariage, he assured me the box is water proof, which I have confirmed here. My conclusion is that it must have either been a carbonated soda or a lemonade spill.
Unfortunately, this was a grave error. Some of the green ink washed away where ever it was touched, leaving behind bright white underneath. I tried using a green highlight pen to make it less noticeable, and unless it is pointed out, it is sort of hard to notice.
On what is currently the last Retrory post in Atariage dated Jan 1, 2016, Yoda Zhang states there are still a few copies left for purchase. I also learned from that post there is a mini version of the game with a playing card style.
From <http://atariage.com/forums/topic/234504-atari-vcs-2600-retro-memory-game/page-4?hl=%20retrory>
I looked on-line for where else you could purchase the game. It was not on E-bay or Amazon, but you can go to Yoda’s website link to make a purchase.
At:
http://www.yodasvideoarcade.com/retrory.html
He states a couple of times in the thread the standard version of Retrory is $45+shipping and the mini or light version of the game ( the playing card style) is $15+shipping.
I really like this games concept and I love the idea of using Atari 2600 8-bit themed graphics for use in-memory matching style games. I definitely think this is a fun game and it certainly challenges your memory. The suggested gameplay variations are a great idea. So I definitely recommend you check this one out and have fun memory matching!
Youtube Description
This is my review of the RETRORY Atari 2600 memory match game.
Yoda’s website for orders:
http://www.yodasvideoarcade.com/retrory.html
Atariage RETRORY thread:
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/234504-atari-vcs-2600-retro-memory-game/
Youtube Original Post Date: 06/03/2016
