Sony Has Spoken. This sucks. I’m not happy

The End of Physical Media

No Escape! on the Atari 2600 - The MASHUP You Didn't Know You Needed

Atari 2600 (It's Better Than You Think)

Bachelor Party

Azurian Attack

The Plutonia Experiment (100%) Walkthrough (Map32: Go 2 It)

@john2001plus

3 months ago
WTF. I played Plutonia Map 32 on "I'm Too Young to Die," and it was a nightmare. The arch-viles kept resurrecting enemies, and I had to kill multiple cyberdemons. I left maybe five of them alive when I hit the exit and still got 98% kills.

I had to keep saving my progress incrementally just to get through it. The map left me with a stress level that honestly feels detrimental to my health. I can't imagine playing it on a tougher difficulty.

@john2001plus

0 seconds ago
I managed to barely get through this map on the second level of difficulty.  Just like my "I'm Too Young to Die" experience, I had to exit before I got 100% of the kills.

I tried to get the monsters to infight in the big area, and this really saved my bacon.  Eventually, I had to do some almost suicide-runs against the Cyber Demons.

There are too many "peek-a-boo" attacks in this map.  You have to do it constantly.  This becomes tedious.

Due to the extreme difficulty of this Wad, I'll probably stick to the second level of difficulty on my next playthrough.

Azurian Attack (Arcade)

This is Amazing! Zaxxon Arcade on Atari 2600

This is what happens when you put a CPU on a 2600 cart.

Astro Pinball

@john2001plus5 minutes ago (edited)

10:43 The attract mode looked really fun, but the actual gameplay seems to have problems. That lower bumper blocks most of the angles that you could shoot. 

Having worked in the videogame industry, I know that companies are more concerned with making release dates than they are with quality.

Galaxian Atari 2600 Livestream Casual

Swoop (BBC Micro)

Zoo Keeper (Arcade)

Air Raid (Atari 2600)

Astro Navigator (BBC Micro)

My Reaction to Completing Final Doom

I just finished TNT Evilution on the "I'm too young to die" difficulty. I enjoyed this perhaps more than The Plutonia Experiment, which starts with some dull maps and the secret maps were ridiculously difficult even on the easy difficulty. My stress levels playing those maps were at an extreme unhealthy level.

I asked ChatGPT what it thought of this, and it came up with...

'That’s a pretty reasonable take—and honestly, you’re not alone.

TNT: Evilution vs. The Plutonia Experiment comes down to very different design philosophies:

• TNT: Evilution leans more toward atmosphere, exploration, and gradual escalation. Even when it’s challenging, it usually gives you space to breathe.
• Plutonia is basically a gauntlet. It was designed by the Casali brothers to punish mistakes—tight encounters, lots of traps, and enemies like Arch-Viles and Chaingunners placed to maximize frustration.

What you felt with Plutonia—high stress even on easy—is kind of the point of that megawad. But that doesn’t automatically make it more fun. There’s a difference between:

• engaging challenge (TNT often hits this), and
• constant pressure with little recovery time (Plutonia at its worst)

Your comment about the secret maps is especially telling. Plutonia’s MAP31 and MAP32 are infamous for being brutal regardless of difficulty. On “I’m Too Young to Die,” you get more ammo and take less damage, but the encounter design itself doesn’t fundamentally change—so the stress is still there.

Also worth noting: early Plutonia maps do feel oddly flat compared to what comes later. It ramps up hard, but not always smoothly.

If your stress was at “unhealthy levels,” that’s a good signal—not a weakness. Doom is at its best when you’re in that flow state: alert, but not overwhelmed. Once it tips into constant tension, it stops being fun and starts feeling like work.

If you’re continuing with classic Doom content, you might enjoy:

• Final Doom TNT on higher difficulties (it scales more gently)
• Community WADs that emphasize exploration over ambush spam
• Or even revisiting Plutonia later with foreknowledge—it becomes more of a puzzle than a panic simulator.

Stargunner (Atari 2600)

Monster Inn (Tomy Tutor)

@john2001plus6 days ago (edited)
Monster Inn gives me Popeye vibes, but it looks like much less fun. The movement looks jerky.

This "100,000 Games" Console is a TOTAL SCAM...

ICBM Attack (Bally Astrocade)