The Atari era of gaming was something special. It was a time period where things were kind of wild and companies were throwing pretty much anything out there to see what would take. Atari itself, as a company, was doing wonderfully and the VCS, later renamed the 2600, was dominating the gaming scene.
This success would be most exemplified by an extravagant contest that Atari would run called Swordquest, where simply playing these 4 games and solving puzzles in them would give clever players the chance to win amazing prizes — literal treasures right out of fantasy!
This is the subject of this Angry Video Game Nerd episode. James opens by explaining the basics of the games, while set to some rather epic music. The mood here is unique for the AVGN series, very grand and almost respectful of the history of these games and this time period. He explains in detail how one would have to purchase the games, what they came with, and the principle of finding clues, solving the puzzles, and then the actual contest events. He also discusses the prizes (as I said above, literal treasures like a chalice, a crown, and so on, with the winner of a final contest winning a jeweled sword.
Needless to say, it’s incredible to think about the contest as it was, especially for its time. As James comedically depicts in a scene it was quite the promotion — one that’s, sadly, history.
This is where he begins taking a look at the games themselves. They are abstract to say the least. The manuals are pretty much required to understand the game mechanics. Between item rooms and strange skill puzzles and challenges, eventually the right set of actions will award the player with a hint as to where to find a clue to the puzzle.James starts with the first game, Swordquest: Earthworld, and once the Nerd finds his first hint, he checks the coming book and sure enough in the page and panel indicated he sees a hidden word.
He has the concept figured out, and continues to play the game like it’s 1982, solving the puzzle — or at least, getting a solution he wants to submit. Yep, the contest even had false answers, and a clue in the front of the comic suggest a process to eliminate false answers leaving him with the winning phrase.
He moves on to Swordquest: Fireworld, which is an even more eccentric game in play style and challenges. He tells us that apparently so many people got the correct answer for this game that a tie-breaker was done in quite an absurd way — having people write what they liked most about the game.
Next up is Swordquest: Waterworld, and this is where things begin to go downhill. This release came right as the Video Game Crash of 83 was happening, with the game having a limited release. Even with the game out, however, the contest for it never happened, as the crash had taken its toll on Atari and the majority of the Video Game industry in the United States.
The final game, Airworld, was never released. It’s one of those many mythical games in the Atari scene that many of us wish could have been a reality, but simply wasn’t to be.
James gives some perspective on this whole situation; how amazing the contest really was and how tragically it all came to an end unfinished. This leads to speculation of what happened with the 3 unclaimed treasures of the 5 in the Swordquest contest. James shares that rumors say Jack Tramiel, of Commodore fame who would later buy Atari, had the sword hanging in his house, leading James to believe if he has the sword he has the crown and the philosophers stone. He then decrees that the items belong in the hands of gamers, as everyone who played those games back in the early 80’s had a chance to win, and says that the real Swordquest is now the quest to find the actual sword and the other treasures.
Of course, the reality of the unclaimed treasures isn’t as interesting — they likely no longer exist, which is a shame, but that’s another story for another time…
Final Rating: 5/5
This is, quite simply one of the best Nerd episodes ever, not because of how funny or crazy it is, but because of how much love and appreciation it shows for gaming history. James really made a emotional piece here, for what it is — it’s still just a video about some games, sure, but the purpose of the games was that contest, and what an incredible one it was, and could have been. It perfectly embodies just how well Atari was doing at the time, and how quickly it all came down.
The episode is also unique in that it probably contains the least profanity or objectionable content of any Nerd episode — Effectively zero, barring the opening song. I actually use this episode as the first one I may show people who haven’t seen him yet, as it provides a very soft introduction to the character without anything that may push someone away — it shows a serious side to the character, and to James himself, and also does an amazing job at sharing a point in gaming history that many don’t really appreciate for what it was.