Atari 2600 Game
Produced by: Panda Software
Model Number: 105
Rarity: 6
Rare+
Year of Release: 1983
Programmer: uncredited
Stunt Man is a gloriously horrible game for the Atari 2600 video game console. It seems that the developer really just tossed any sort of actual concept right out the window, and just coded the first thing that came to mind.
In Stunt Man you play a hero who was to climb up poles to get to a waiting helicopter, while avoiding the strange flying monsters that are all around you. As soon as you plug this game into your Atari you can tell that the developers put some serious thought into it. You are immediately assaulted by a horrible rendition of Brahms' Lullabye. Now you may already ask yourself what this song has to do with a "Stunt Man"? The answer is simple, it is completely unrelated, they just used it because the code for the song was already floating around back in that early 80s Atari development world that spawned this nightmare. Although the song does kind of fit in a strange way, as composer Johannes Brahms would sit in his house's attic and shoot arrows at stray cats from the roof. Which probably what you may end up doing if you play this game for too long.
There is a lot of confusion as to what this game is actually even called. I hope to set the record straight here. It is called "Stunt Man", not "Stuntman". The box says "Stuntman" but I have the cartridge itself, which is clearly labeled "Stunt Man". Sancho Software later rereleased this game as "Nightmare". That version was available only in Europe and is almost identical save for the copyright displayed at the bottom of the game screen. This is the only version that you can currently play on emulators, as "Stunt Man" has not been dumped as far as I can tell. My copy of this game says "Panda Software" on the screen, while all the ROMs floating around labeled "Stunt Man" say Sancho, and are really just "Nightmare" with the file name changed.
You can download the Sancho version of the Stunt Man Rom from www.atariage.com to play on your Atari emulator. (Stella is a good Atari emulator). The original Panda Software version of Stunt Man has never been "dumped", (copied for emulation), so you will have to hunt down a copy if you want to play that one.
The box to this title has a bit of horrible art on it showing a Private Eye type hero hanging out of a helicoptor, while fending off a red beholder with a sword, as snakes try to bite him from below.