pranabanana

I used to have this game on our old Apple IIe that used to entertain me endlessly. It was a frighteningly dull game by today’s standards — no graphics whatsoever — just a cursor flashing on the text entry line:

Choose number of buses (0-99)? 99 (duh!)

Choose ramp angle (0-180 degrees) ummmm how about 45

Choose speed (0-100mph): okay, 100?

You were then invited to press the spacebar, which would compel our intrepid hero, Evel Kneivel, to race at whatever breakneck speed towards a ramp positioned just so, with a hope that he and his motorcycle would clear the 99 buses that you set up in his way.

Regardless of what combination of buses, speed, and ramp angle I chose, I would invariably crash and burn. So what exactly made this game so much fun? Why, the MEDICAL REPORT, of course! After every failed attempt, the program would calculate the extent of your injuries:

You have broken both arms, both legs, fractured your skull, cracked 5 ribs, and crushed your pelvis.

Would you like to try again?
For all of you out there who always answered a resounding YES!!, have I got some great news for you. Evel Knievel did not go the way of the Apple IIe. He still exists in collectible form, and is waiting to perform whatever cunning stunts you can contrive for him, in full 3 dimensional plastic glory.

Check it out:   Evel Knievel