Joust
Joust is a 1982 action game developed and published by Williams Electronics for arcades. Players assume the role of knights armed with lances and mounted on large birds (an ostrich for Player 1 and a stork for Player 2). They progress through levels, which consist of a single screen filled with floating platforms, by defeating enemy knights riding buzzards and other opponents.
Using the computer hardware from the company's earlier arcade game, Defender, John Newcomer led the development team: Bill Pfutzenreuter, Janice Woldenberg-Miller (née Hendricks), Python Anghelo, Tim Murphy, and John Kotlarik. Newcomer aimed to create a flying game, with cooperative two-player gameplay, while avoiding the overdone space theme. After deciding to use birds as characters, he forwent the standard eight-direction joystick control scheme and devised collisions as the means of combat.
The game was well-received by players and critics, and the mechanics influenced other games. Praise focused on the unique premise and enjoyable gameplay. While not the first two-player cooperative video game, Joust's success and polished implementation helped popularize the concept. It was followed by a less popular arcade sequel in 1986: Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest. While Joust was ported to numerous home systems and included in several multiplatform retro game anthologies, efforts to adapt it to other media and create updated video game remakes have been fruitless.
From Wikipedia's article Joust (video game), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Keyboard controls
| Lynx | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ |
| B | Z |
| A | X |
| Option 1 | A |
| Option 2 | S |
| Pause | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
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Connecting…
Keyboard controls
| Lynx | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ |
| B | Z |
| A | X |
| Option 1 | A |
| Option 2 | S |
| Pause | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
3.5 Good job
Players 77 · 412 votes
No critic scores found for this game: this is the players' rating.
Review scorecard
- Graphics 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: Players 77 · 412 votes. The same 77/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores. Player rating; no critic scores available.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordsweirdcreativeenjoyableoriginaladdictiveintuitive
What the critics said
The staff concluded that Joust was "Atari's finest since Star Raiders" in 1980.
— Antic, 1984
Retro Gamer writer Mike Bevan called the game's physics "beautifully" realized and described Joust as one of the "most remarkable and well-loved titles" of the Williams library.
— Retro Gamer, 2009 (Mike Bevan)
Antic magazine writers called the Atari 8-bit version a "unique, addictive arcade game" that was "almost identical" to the original.
— Antic· about another version
Reviewing the NES port, Allgame's Skyler Miller noted that the "essential gameplay is intact" but complained about the omission of the arcade version's extra features.
— AllGame (Skyler Miller)· about another version
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Joust (video game) article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.
Scores
- AllGame Arcade: 5/5 ; Atari 7800: 4/5 ; NES: 2.5/5 (other versions)
- Computer and Video Games 1989 Atari 2600: 83% (other versions)
- Tilt 1983 Arcade: 4/6 (other versions)
- Play Meter 1982 Arcade: 4/4 (other versions)
From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.
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