Arcade / Adventure / Arcade - 2-D · 1982

Shamus

Published by Synapse Software · Developed by [n/a]

atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-shamus-4613

Information

Genre: Adventure / Arcade - 2-D
Language: Machine Language
Controls: Joystick
Players: 1
Programmer(s): Mataga, William
Graphic Artist(s): [n/a]
Sound: [n/a]
Cover Artist(s): Boxell, Tim
Year: 1982
Publisher: Synapse Software
Developer: [n/a]
Country: USA
License: Commercial
Medium: Tape, Disk, Cartridge
Rarity: 7 (Tape), 7 (Disk), 7 (Cartridge)
Serial: -

Votes / Statistics

Rating: 7.6/10 · Votes: 135 · Downloads: 7,072 · Hits: 54,330

Additional Comments

Load with OS-B.

Missing original tape image!

Screenshots (5)

Cover Art (4)

Instructions (8)

Ads (2)

Book / Magazine Reviews (1)

Electronic Fun · March, 1983 · Rating: 3 / 5

Shamus is a lovable little guy of a kind that you just don't expect to see in computer game characters. He's tiny, wears a broad-brimmed hat and has a purposeful, plodding walk - kind of a computerized Columbo without the cigar. He chases a variety of evil baddies through a series of mazes and secret rooms in his attempt to seek and destroy the shadow.

Shamus starts his journey in a tunnel which leads to one of 32 different rooms in each of four different levels (a total of 144 rooms). The baddies are whirling drones, robo-droids and snapjumpers, and if one of them touches or shoots Shamus, he loses a life. Fortunately, Shamus starts with five lives and can earn extras by touching a genie's bottle, which appears fairly often. You also lose lives when Shamus plods into a wall.

You can earn extra points by having Shamus touch a question mark when you find one and you can collect four different colored keys. Each key fits a like-colored keyhole, unlocking a door into the next level.

Shamus is armed with ion-shivs which you throw by using the trigger button on the joystick: the unthinking baddies obligingly keep grouping and getting in the way of your shivs, so with a little practice, you can get through all of them to get to your genie bottles, questions marks, keys and keyholes.

The object of the game is to reach the evil Shadow's lair and destroy him... Easier said than done. To remind you that he's around, the Shadow appears every so often, but Shamus can't kill him - he can just stun him long enough to run to the next room.

The game's graphics are superb and there are so many variations and twists and turns in the plot and storyline that it doesn't look as if it could ever get boring. But don't expect to master it the first time you load it into your machine. Practice is the catchword. Lots of practice.

Watch for playing weaknesses of your various opponents. They're not all that hard to beat. Also, keep track of the different rooms in each level. It's easy to get lost and end up going in big circles.

Comments (9)

Dan — 26 Dec 2020
Shamus is one of the best! I can contribute an image of the red cartridge. How/Where do I send it? Also, I can only get the cartridge to run on my 800. It will only show the title screen on my 800XL and 130XE. So I assume this is one of those games/cartridges that only works on the original 800 OS.
Monk — 22 Feb 2015
John, don't you mean "Atari emulator"? I don't think there are working PC-emulators for the Atari 8-bit computers. Also, aren't you aware that you can get USB digital joysticks for PCs? Besides, a keyboard is as good and sometimes better than a joystick, except when it comes to quick back-and-forth with diagonals. To the actual review: What a great, little gem! I am finding these wonderful Atari classics lately, and they are absolutely charming. I think I want to get myself a real Atari 8-bit computer - never owned one before, but now that I know so many exciting (in an esoteric, atmospheric, energy-shining-way that is so hard to explain, and that doesn't exist in modern games) classics exist for the Atari, and can really experience some of the charm, I really want to upgrade the experience to "authentic mode" and see what I was missing. Besides, the emulators are not that good (for reasons I am not going to go into right now), unless you are content using a TFT monitor and a Windowed mode, and even still. I had two long-ish sessions with this game, and found it fascinatingly charming. The sequel is just too hectic and non-unique for me (too 'platformy'). But this one reminds me of Berzerk (A2600), Berks III (C16) and Zodiac (C64), all of which have brought me great joy, so this one is great. The Atari certainly has a charm that I can't get enough of, and my appreciation for it has grown a lot over the years. A wonderful game, with such an immersive, thick atmosphere that I seriously recommend it for everyone.
cohones — 17 Mar 2013
Looks like the "Nadral" doesn't it?
Greg B. — 11 Apr 2009
To Tim Boxell: It may be 25 years too late, but thanks for all the great artwork! Rest assured that your artwork was appreciated and admired by just about everyone who purchased a piece of Synapse software. I even had the box for Necromancer hanging on my wall for years back then! Best of luck and great to hear from you...
AB Pos — 30 Mar 2009
"Why did so many programmers from that era (including William Mataga) undergo sex change operations???" Maybe because us transgendered folk are geniuses with computers. (Or we're all obsessed with programming sub 32-bit systems. I'm working on a Sega Genesis game atm :P )
ArnaudL — 27 Mar 2009
I bought it because it was a cheep game. I got to the end of the game,I remember it was the red labyrinth and moves were very fast.
TIM BOXELL — 22 Mar 2009
GLAD THE RESPONSE TO THE ART WAS SO POSITIVE. YOU NEVER GET ANY FEEDBACK FOR ALL THOSE BRUSHSTROKES AND HUNDREDS OF HOURS. I LIKED SHAMUS...
Scott Wozniak — 15 Sept 2008
I remember buying Shamus on cartridge from J&R Computer World in NYC around 1982 for my Atari 400. (I was 13 at the time.) I bought it because I was fascinated with Tim Boxell's artwork and the Shamus character. I would see Synapse Software's ads all the time in magazines like Electronic Games. To this day it is probably my favorite game for the Atari 8-bit computers. The depth of the exploration amazed me. I played for hours and finished it (on Novice) the first day. I was obsessed. A trick I quickly learned is to hold down the fire button and tap the joystick very quickly to clear out enemies in groups. I think this game is a masterpiece. To think William Mataga crammed all of that gameplay into just 16k of memory! 10 out of 10 score from me. Why did so many programmers from that era (including William Mataga) undergo sex change operations???
JohnM — 6 Aug 2007
An excellent addictive arcade game. Fast, lots of hidden extras, plenty of enemies with differing attack styles, lots of rooms/ levels, beautiful graphics throughout, super smooth motion and animations. Quite incredible to think this was written in 1982. ............ Much harder to play on a PC emulator though as this really does need the digital joystick