Chapter 30: The Right Approach

With Melvin’s help, you make a smooth landing. “Whew – just under 37 seconds!”

The man with the clipboard is back. “Hey, nice job! I guess we owe you a patch!” He hands you a patch welcoming you to the “Sky Stars.”

“Thanks,” you say, “I’ll iron it on later.”

“Yes, right,” he says, “no time now, come with me.” He starts off, walking away from the terminal this time, toward the control tower. “My notes say that you aren’t just a pilot, you also have experience with air traffic control.”

Melvin flies to your ear and whispers. “Air traffic control consoles are a lot like spaceship consoles! Say yes!”

“Uh, yeah, a little,” you say.

“Okay, great – you’ve probably noticed we’re short-handed here.” You’ve reached the tower, and he escorts you into an elevator. As it rises he asks, “Have you ever used an ACR/GCA system?”

“Uh… I don’t think so?”

He checks the resume. “Yeah, you’re probably used to something much more advanced.” The elevator opens to a control tower that seems to have no one working in it.

“Where is everyone?” you ask, somewhat alarmed.

He sighs. “I told you, we’re understaffed.”

You suddenly realize that you’ll be the only one landing planes for the entire airport, and swallow nervously.

He gestures to a console with three buttons and a microphone. You see colored airplanes going in all different directions on the screen, and some kind of weird strobing yellow line connected to a fat black line.

“See, it’s easy,” he says. “Obviously, this is the ACR screen. It’s how you keep planes from colliding, and from exiting legal airspace. Flashing airplanes are having an emergency, land those first. Guide the planes to the runway strobes, and switch to the GCA with this button here,” he points to the middle of three buttons.

“What do the other buttons do?” you ask.

“Uh…” he picks up his radio. “Hey Fred, what do these other buttons on the ACR/GCA do?” A voice on the radio crackles back, “Beats me.”

“Huh,” he says, “probably don’t wanna touch those. Anyway, like I was saying, you simply center the nose on the glide slope and the localizer on the GCA, and you’ll hear two tones to let you know it was a safe landing.”

“What if it isn’t a safe landing?”

He looks at you, seeming to wonder if you actually know what you are doing. “Well, obviously, you’ll also hear two tones, that are subtly different than the safe landing tones. Are you sure you’ve done this before?”

“Heh, yeah, sure… I was just, uh, testing you.”

“Ha, oh okay,” he says, looking back at his clipboard. “Okay, great, well, good luck, I gotta go. By the way, there’s a nasty crosswind out there today, watch for that.”

“Ha, yeah, no problem,” you say, as he steps into the elevator. You wait for it to close, then scream, “MELVIN! What are we going to do?!”

“We’re gonna land a bunch of planes!” says Melvin excitedly.

“ACG, GCR, glide slope localizer, I don’t understand any of this!”

Melvin looks out the window of the control tower. There seem to be planes flying around trying to land in all directions. “Well,” he says, “this seems like a perfect time to figure it out!”

Put the Final Approach cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 3. Set the difficulty switches to b. Play until you have 500 points. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge. 

Chapter 29: Up, Up, and Away

“This job is crazy!” you shout, wiping sweat from your forehead and panting, hands on your knees. Thankfully, you’ve got a few seconds before another plane is going to land and it starts all over again.

“At least you didn’t drop any of those black suitcases!” says Melvin. “The bomb squad is dealing with those.”

Just then a harried looking man with a clipboard runs up. “Hey!” he says, “Are you the new hire?”

“Y..yes…” you say, catching your breath.

“Well, what are you doing here? We need you out on the runway, right now! Come on!”

You shrug at Melvin, and follow the man out of the terminal onto the runway. Maybe now you need to load bags on a plane? He briskly walks over to a small yellow airplane. “You’re the new pilot, right? We need this P41 tested to be sure it’s ready for duty. Fly it out across the Polo Grounds. Stay to the right of red pylons, and left of blue ones. There’s a lot of balloons out there today for some weird reason, so watch yourself.” He looks at his clipboard. “Your resume says you’re pretty hot stuff – our Polo Grounds speed record is 37 seconds – if you beat that, you’ll be our resident Sky Star! Good luck!” he calls, walking away, as briskly as when he arrived.

You start to chase after him, but Melvin stops you. “Don’t you see? This is our big chance! We have to get into space, and to do that, we need piloting experience!”

“But I don’t know how to fly a plane!”

“It’s easy, I can talk you through it. Come on, get in!” urges Melvin.

“We could go to jail!”

“No, we won’t… the security at this airport is terrible.”

You can’t argue with that… and, well, this little yellow plane doesn’t look that hard to fly…

Put the Sky Jinks cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 1. Set difficulty switches to b. Play until your score is less than 37 seconds. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.

Chapter 28: Not My Bag

Backgammon is not an easy game, but fortunately, the dice were on your side. You win the game, and the holographic board disappears back into the eyes of Queen Stella, who blinks and yawns, as after a restful sleep.

“Thank you, Player. Your skill has helped me re-integrate the memories from the ring.” You notice the ring in the alcove is no longer aggressively pulsing with energy, but now has a steady, pleasing glow, just like the golden crown. “It sounds like Mister Rose has put you through quite a trial.”

Pete kneels at the foot of the Queen. “Your majesty, I betrayed you and our entire kingdom in my greed. I am prepared for any punishment you name.”

“Stand up and face me, Mister Rose,” commands the Queen. “Reunited with the ring, I know all that you did. You betrayed us all in your weakness.” She pauses. “But I was weak, too. I never should have agreed to let our precious treasures be given away. I thought it might be an easy way to keep the kingdom together, but I see now that was wrong. Do you agree it was a mistake?”

“Yes, my Queen. The treasures are the heart of all our memory. Without memory, we have nothing,” he says solemnly.

“I quite agree,” says the Queen. “Will you help us to restore the kingdom?”

“I would be honored. But what can I do?”

“I’ll explain shortly.” She turns to you and Melvin. “With two treasures now recovered, I am getting a better idea what has happened. I think Mister Rose has explained some of it to you already. I now recall some of my terrible mistakes, but I recall other things as well. I know, for instance, that the baseball ring was just one of five rings related to athletic prowess. The other four were also given away as prizes for challenges, though I cannot yet remember to whom, or why. Mister Rose will stay here with me, and help me to find out where those rings have gone. If you two are willing, I need you to find a more...” she pauses, “distant treasure.”

Melvin speaks up, “Hah, we’ve already been to the top of Spike’s Peak… how much farther can we go?”

She smiles. “Oh, little missile, the Atariverse is very large. I wish I could send you on a quest for a nearer treasure, but I must work with the shards of memory that I have. The Starstone was entrusted to us by the people of the planet Solaris ages ago.” Her eyes cast out an image of a beautiful marbled orb, bathed in iridescent flame. “It has great power on its own, but when it is on its native planet Solaris, its power is nearly unlimited. The Sage of Solaris realized there is such a thing as too much power, and so he entrusted it to us to guard, and welcomed us to make use of its power, which was beneficial, but limited, so far from Solaris. And for many years, we did. But an evil race, called the Zylons, who desire nothing more than to conquer the entire Atariverse, learned of the power of the Starstone, and attacked our Kingdom, stealing it in the confusion.” She pauses, and looks down sadly. “This was the beginning of the end. It is a memory so painful, that I almost wish it hadn’t returned.”

“So…” says Melvin, “you want us to go TO SPACE?”

“You must do more than that, little missile. You must somehow gain access to a Solar Starcruiser, find your way to Solaris, and recover the sphere. Not only does it contain crucial memories, but as long as the Zylons have it on Solaris, they will create strife and war everywhere they can reach.” Her eyes project a star map with a small blinking planet emanating energy, and evil spaceships destroying world after world.

“But how will we get there?” asks Melvin. “We don’t have a spaceship!”

“I do not know, little missile. But I do know this: you are resourceful. If there is a way to recover the Starstone, you two will find it.”

Pete speaks up now. “I’ll second that. I watched these two play baseball, and,” he coughs awkwardly, “other games, better than anyone I’ve ever seen. If you can win the Atari Baseball Challenge, I’m sure you can get to space… somehow.”

Melvin pulls himself together. “Space has always scared me, but if my Queen wants me to go to space, I’ll go to space! Come on, player, to the planet Solaris!” and he zips out the blasted hole in the castle wall into the gray mist.

The Queen and Pete both laugh a little bit at Melvin’s overconfidence. You start to follow Melvin, and the Queen calls out to you: “Player.” You turn to look back. The Queen and Pete are both looking at you earnestly. “Thank you for your help.”

You give a small bow. “I am honored to help,” you say, and to your surprise, you mean it.

You and Melvin trudge silently out of the gray mist towards town. After a while, you say, “Melvin.”

“What?”

“How are we going to get to space?”

“I was just thinking about that,” says Melvin. “We could go and see Hickle… but, we owe him money, and besides, I know what he charges for spaceships, and it’s an amount of money that even Charlie wouldn’t believe.”

“Pete.”

“Whatever. And even if we did get a spaceship from Hickle, we wouldn’t know where to go, or how to fight Zylons.”

“So… what do we do?”

“Well, if you can’t afford to buy a spaceship, I figure the only solution is to get someone to pay you to fly one.”

“How’s that going to happen?”

“I’ve heard the Air and Space Authority hires pilots to fly planes, and even spaceships.”

“But… we don’t have any training.”

“Yeah… I know… but it’s the only idea I got. Unless you got a spaceship there in one of your pockets.”

This place is so weird, you check your pockets. “Nope, just a reset button.”

“Okay, then,” says Melvin, “follow me.”

He leads you down streets until you get to the far edge of town, to a futuristic building at the edge of what seems to be an airport. A sign reads “AASA: Atari Air & Space Authority.” You walk into a large lobby lined with counters facing the center. Behind each high counter sits a different administrator. Each desk has a little sign. One reads “Requisitions,” another “Sales,” another “Travel Disbursements,” and finally one that says “Hiring.” 

“Ah, this one’s for us,” says Melvin. A young woman with sandy brown hair, wearing a business suit sits behind the desk, talking on the phone. She has a nametag that says “Christa.” She hangs up, and Melvin approaches. “We’re here to join the Solaris Starcruisers.”

She stares for a solid five seconds, and then bursts out laughing. “Say that again,” she says.

“I said we’re here to join the Starcruisers!” says Melvin, a little irritated.

She laughs again, and then one more time, wiping a tear from her eye from laughing so hard. She catches her breath. “That’s… cute. Why are you really here?”

You step in. “We… are on a mission from our Queen.”

“Your QUEEN?” she says, “Okay, fun’s fun, but you sound nuts, and I’m getting ready to throw you out of here.”

You suddenly remember that most people don’t seem to remember they even have a Queen. Could it be this place is starting to affect your memory, too? “No, sorry, just kidding. We’re looking for jobs, and we’re really interested in space. We were asking about the Starcruisers because, uh, they seem the coolest.”

She laughs again. “Ha, yeah, they’re ‘cool’ alright. But Earth isn’t qualified to do any kind of galactic defense. No earthling can join the Starcruisers, the Star Masters, the Star Raiders, the Phaser Patrol, not even the Stellar Trackers. Only planets with an orbiting defense station qualify, and we don’t have one.”

“Don’t you have any spaceships?”

“Oh sure,” she says. “Two shuttles, Discovery and Challenger. But those are just used for science trips and satellite maintenance. So, do you have any piloting experience?”

“Well, no, not really,” you admit.

“Do you have any kind of aeronautical experience?” she asks, with a raised eyebrow.

“Um… no.” You and Melvin exchange despondent glances.

“I see.” She flips through binder on her desk. “Well, I’m sorry to inform you…” her phone rings. “Just a sec.” She picks it up, and after a few uh-huhs she cups her hand over the mouthpiece. “Looks like there might be a job for you after all. Interested?”

You both nod enthusiastically.

“Okay, Steve,” she says, “I’ll send someone right over.” She hangs up. “Well, that’s good timing,” she says brightly. She stamps some papers, and hands you a laminated badge. “Go look for Steve, in Terminal B, he’ll tell you what to do.”

“What kind of job is it?” Asks Melvin. “Pilot? Navigator? Shuttle Captain?”

She laughs. “You two are hilarious!” Her phone rings again, and she waves you away.

You make your way to the bright yellow Terminal B, and near the entrance, you see a husky, nervous man with glasses and a thick mustache. His nametag reveals that he is Steve. “Are you the new hire?” he asks. “Just in time. We need your help, the airport is unusually busy. Also, there have been warnings of terrorist activity.”

Melvin whispers to you. “I think you are going to be an air marshal! It isn’t space, but it’s exciting!” Steve walks you farther through the terminal. “We’re having a lot of mechanical difficulty, so we’re glad to get your help.”

Melvin furrows his brow, not that he has a brow. “Maybe you’re going to be an airplane mechanic?” he whispers uncertainly.

“Ah, here we are,” says Steve. “This baggage carousel has been kind of out of control. If you see any suitcases fly off of it, catch them, and put them over there.” Melvin smacks his forehead, not that he has a forehead, or anything to smack it with. “A baggage handler! We come in here for a job with the Solaris Starcruisers, and end up as baggage handlers!”

Steve says, “Don’t let any suitcases hit the ground, because if one opens up, they all will.”

“What?” you say, “That doesn’t make any sense!”

Steve continues. “Oh, and be especially wary if you see any black suitcases… they could explode.”

“Explode? Don’t you have any security here?” you say, somewhat alarmed.

Steve shrugs. “I told you, we’re understaffed.” A plane lands, and the baggage carousel starts up, moving way too fast. “Incoming!” Steve shouts, and runs off.

Put the Lost Luggage cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 4, and set the difficulty switches to a. Play until you get 1200 points. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.

Chapter 27: Back Gamin’ Again

The stands erupt with cheering, and fireworks launch over the stadium. The white robots pick you and Melvin up and carry you triumphantly around the bases. When you get to home plate, there stands Charlie, with a tear in his eye. He speaks into a microphone, and his words echo throughout the stadium. “I declare… this Player… to be the official winner… of the Atari Baseball Challenge!” The stands again erupt into cheering, and Pete presents the ring to you on a velvet pillow. You take it and hold it up, and its gold seems to glow as you hold it in your hand.

“YAHOO!” shouts Melvin, zipping in a spiral all around you, Pete, home plate, and the ring. “Let’s take it to the Queen!”

You start to walk out of the stadium, but then stop and look back at Charlie, or rather Pete, and Melvin says, “Well, aren’t you coming?” He scrambles out of his umpire gear, and runs over to you. “Yes,” he says, “I… need to make things right. Come on, we can take my golf cart!” You climb into the golf cart, wave goodbye to all the fans, as Pete Rose drives you out of the majestic stadium.

Melvin looks at the stadium, and asks Pete, “Will it turn back to a cornfield now that the game is over?”

“I hope not,” says Pete, glancing back at it. “I hope it can stay there a long, long time.”

You ride through town, and everyone waves excitedly to see you. It seems word has spread about the game. You pass out of the edge of town to the gray, rocky area where the ruined castle lies. The cart bumps and tips over the rubble strewn field. Pete grimaces. “I haven’t been here in ages. I… had no idea it would be this bad.”

You get out of the cart, and show Pete the hole in the wall that you and Melvin created on that first day, and you all climb inside. As before, the Queen sits on her throne amidst the gray gloom in a computing trance.

Knowing that words alone are unlikely to wake her, you slip the ring onto her finger. Immediately there is a pulse of color, and you get another glimpse of a beautifully appointed rainbow colored throne room, which immediately snaps back to gray. The Queen’s eyes snap open, and glowing numbers appear in the air reading “2/26.” You see electric energy start to pulse around the ring on her ebony finger, which then floats off her hand, and up into its alcove. She looks at you, blinking, and with great effort, says, “You… have found it… the second… treasure. So… many… memories…” you see all kinds of images flashing by her eyes. Again, with effort, she says, “I need… your help… to reconnect… let us play… a very… old… game…”

Suddenly, her eyes cast out a blue and green holographic gameboard into the space before the throne. You immediately recognize it as backgammon, though the checkers are square instead of round. Pete stands to the side, head bowed reverently. Melvin whispers, “I hope you know how to play backgammon.” You look at the glowing ring up in the alcove, then at the floating backgammon table, and make your first move.

Put the Backgammon cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 3, and set the difficulty switches to a. Play until you are able to win. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.

Chapter 26: A Rose by any Other Name

The jumps were terrifying, but Absent Mind hung in there, and you win the race by almost a single pixel! You are surrounded by cheering well-wishers, who put a big horseshoe of flowers around the neck of Absent Mind, who marches around goofily, but proudly. But where is Melvin? Where is Charlie? You search the crowd, but don’t see either of them anywhere. But suddenly Melvin zips in. “Nice jumping, Player!”

“Yeah, thanks – but where’s Charlie?”

“When you won, the crowd went kind of crazy, and I lost him. I checked at the betting window, and he collected his money, but I can’t find him or his golf cart anywhere.”

“Well, that’s it then,” you say sadly. “I guess he got his money and we won’t see him again.”

Melvin is devastated. “I can’t believe I lost him! How will we get the ring now?”

“Melvin, I don’t think he ever had it, it was all a con. I think we have to go back to the Queen empty-handed.”

You return to the stables, and change out of your jockey clothes, and say goodbye to Absent Mind, who neighs appreciatively. As you turn to go, a little robot wheels up, and hands you a note.

“What’s it say?” asks Melvin.

You read the hastily scrawled note: “Don’t forget – cornfield tomorrow. –CH”

“Oh, come on,” says Melvin. “What’s the point? There’s nothing out there. Say… wait a minute… what if now that Charlie has his money, he wants to get rid of us?”

“I don’t know. He seems greedy, but… murderous? I guess it’s hard to tell with those dark glasses he always wears.”

Melvin suddenly becomes courageous. “We survived the Skull Spirit, we can certainly survive a con man. We are on a quest for a ring for our Queen, and we must face danger, whatever form it takes.”

You chuckle. “Okay, Melvin, sounds like we have a plan. First thing tomorrow, we head to the cornfield.”

You spend another night at the luxurious casino, and at dawn, Melvin shows you the way out of town to the cornfield. It is dismal and desolated, seemingly untended for years. Dry, yellow cornstalks are in broken rows for as far as the eye can see. You stand around for about a half hour. Finally Melvin says, “He’s not coming, is he?”

“No.”

“What are we going to tell the Queen?”

“We’ll just tell her we failed, I guess.”

Just then, you hear a sound, a distant whine. Far down a dirt road you see Charlie in his electric golf cart headed your way. You both watch as he drives up, parks at a distance, and starts walking toward you. You suddenly realize that no one is around for miles. Charlie’s dark glasses glint in the sun, and he smiles a broad grin. He reaches inside his red sport coat, and Melvin shouts “Player, get down!” You put your hands up defensively, and Charlie pulls out… a ring.

The ring is set with four diamonds that sparkle like rainbows in the sun. “Good morning, Player,” he says. “Nice day for baseball, don’t you think?”

Melvin is losing his mind. “The ring!” he shouts excitedly. “You have the ring!”

“Yes,” Charlie says, sounding ashamed. “Yes, at last I have the ring again. I’m afraid I owe you an explanation. It will help if you know who I am. You see, Charlie Hustle is… just a nickname.” He takes off his dark glasses, and you see his face for the first time, and it takes you a moment to process who you are looking at.

“Pete Rose?” you say, astonished and confused.

“Not exactly,” he says. “More like the memory of Pete Rose.”

Melvin looks at both of you. “I’m not getting this,” he says.

Charlie, or rather, Pete, or rather, the memory of Pete explains. “See, a long time ago I got in a lot of trouble for mixing baseball and gambling. I made some really stupid choices. Once I got banned from baseball, I didn’t know what to do. But at some point, I found my way here, into the Atariverse. In some ways, it’s always 1984 here, which was before I made my mistakes, so I could be a baseball star again, and I loved it. But then the Atariverse started to crumble. Players stopped coming, treasures got stolen. I can’t remember everything about it, but I remember my part in it – at least, I remember now, now that I have the ring back.” He gazes down at the ring, turning it over in his hand. “The treasures really do hold the memories of this world. Now that I hold this, I remember more what happened. You see, not all the treasures were stolen.”

“NOT stolen?” asks Melvin. “Then where did they go?”

“Players helped keep the world safe,” he explains. “They solved problems, defeated invaders, kept evil at bay.” He smiles, “Not to mention keeping sports interesting. You can only watch robots play sports for so long, because they always play the same way. Anyway, we started to talk about ways to lure Players here. Big challenges, with treasures for prizes. We didn’t realize the treasures held our memories.” He keeps gazing at the ring. “That’s the thing about memory. When it starts to slip away… you don’t always notice, because… you don’t remember.” He’s quiet for a long moment. “So, everyone was proposing challenges to the Queen, and in her desire to save the kingdom, she was granting them. My proposal was the Atari Baseball Challenge. The idea was that we would challenge Players to win the most difficult baseball games in the kingdom, and then they would enter a final game that I created, which was to have been the most elaborate and challenging baseball game in the history of Atari.”

“So what happened?” asks Melvin.

“The Queen granted my request, and I was put in charge of the challenge. She gave me the ring, which was to be a prize for the greatest baseball Player in the kingdom.”

“So who won?” asks Melvin.

Pete clenches the ring tightly in his fist. “That’s just it. NO ONE won, because I wouldn’t let them. I had started gambling again, and I set expensive entry fees to feed my gambling habit. It was a perfect life for me – I could play baseball during the day, and had plenty of money to gamble at night. I realized, though, that if someone won the challenge, it might all be over. So, I set a fee so high that no one could afford to enter the final game.”

“So, no one won?”

“No one really got a chance to try. Then, the number of Players got smaller and smaller, and eventually, none were coming at all, which meant no baseball, and no casino money for me.” He unclenches his hand, and looks sadly down at the ring in his cupped hand. “So, I sold it.”

“You SOLD the ring?” asks Melvin incredulously.

“Yes,” says Pete, disgusted with himself. “I sold it to a rich jewelry collector I met at the casino. He didn’t know what it was. But it gave me enough money to keep up my gambling for years.” He looks at you now. “When you showed up, I was down to my last twenty-five bucks, hustling pool, and didn’t know what I was going to do. My memory was mostly gone, too. I had forgotten so much. But I had a feeling, when I met you, that you could turn it all around. At first, I admit,” he looks down at the dirt, “I had no plan other than to use your luck to score a few bucks.” He looks at Melvin. “But when you talked about the Queen, memories started to come back. Every time you mentioned her, I felt so guilty, and I didn’t know why.” He clenches the ring again. “But now I remember. And I realized that I had to get the ring back, and make things right. So I needed you to win all those games to get enough cash to buy back the ring.” He opens his hand and holds it up between two fingers. You see that it has a miniature baseball diamond carved into it, with an actual diamond set at each of the bases and home plate.

“Well, that’s great!” says Melvin. “We’ve got the ring, we can bring it back to the Queen!”

“No,” says Pete adamantly.

“What do you mean, no?” shouts Melvin.

He looks at you both. “I want to keep my word. I told the Queen that I would run this challenge, that I would create the most fabulous baseball game that the Atariverse had ever seen, and that I would give the ring to whoever was able to win it.” He slides the ring onto his finger.

“But you haven’t done that!” shouts Melvin. “You never created anything. There is no final game!”

“But there can be,” he says, “if we unlock the power of the ring.” He pulls out a little brush, like umpires carry, and walks over to a little flat spot in the cornfield. He bends down, and brushes it off, and to your surprise, reveals a white pentagon, which you recognize as a home plate. “I set this here, years ago, back when I was serious about the challenge. I had forgotten all about it, until I met you. Are you ready for some baseball?”

“Here in this cornfield?” says Melvin. “How is that even possible?”

Wordlessly, Pete bends down again, and touches the ring to home plate. At first, nothing happens. But then, to your amazement, everything around you starts to change. Green grass starts to sprout out of the ground, and the red clay of a baseball diamond. White bases pop right out of the clay. Blue walls and the seats of a tremendous stadium telescope up out of nowhere, and a giant scoreboard proclaims “PETE ROSE BASEBALL.” Huge white robots in spotless baseball uniforms come running out of the dugouts. Unlike the weird, pixelated baseball robots you are used to, these are more detailed, and move like humans, not like robots.

You even find yourself suddenly attired in a professional ballplayer’s uniform. The organ plays the national anthem, and as the last echoes of “and the home of the brave” die away, Pete stands nearby, now dressed as an umpire. He looks at you, and says with pride, “I play baseball one way… all out!” You think you see him wipe a tear from his eye. “Are you ready?” he asks. You and Melvin are speechless, and you take in the view from the pitcher’s mound of the most beautiful baseball stadium you could ever imagine. You look back at Pete, who has taken his place as umpire behind home plate, and nod solemnly.

“Then… PLAY BALL!” he calls, and the game begins.

Put the Pete Rose Baseball cartridge into your Atari 2600. Choose the single player game. Play until you win. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.

Chapter 25: Horsin' Around

Incredibly, you win again.

“Wow!” shouts Melvin. “I can’t believe it! You won a game in the Super league! There’s no baseball challenge any greater than that in the entire Atariverse!” You look around, and see stands full of cheering fans, and your yellow robots are taking elegant bows. But you don’t see Charlie anywhere.

“I knew it,” you say to Melvin. “Charlie has disappeared.”

But as you head back to the dugout, suddenly he comes running up, winded. “I knew you could do it!” he shouts, pounding you on the back. “You’ve really made it, kid!”

You’re angry now. “Made it, huh? Made what? Made YOU a bunch of money. Melvin tells me there aren’t any more baseball leagues. I’m starting to think that the ‘Atari Baseball Challenge’ is all a scam.”

Charlie looks petrified. “No… no… listen, it’s not anything like that,” he says, in a calming voice. “You’ve… made it to the last level. No one’s done that before. If you can win one more game, I promise you, you’ll get the ring.”

You and Melvin look at each other. “Well, when is this game? And where is it?” you ask, suspiciously.

“It’s… tomorrow,” says Charlie. “In the cornfield.”

“The cornfield?” laughs Melvin. “What is this, Field of Dreams?” You start wondering how Melvin knows so much about movies.

Charlie looks down, and blushes. “Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but, yes, the cornfield. The final game will be there. It will. But there’s one thing…”

“NOT THE CASINO!” you and Melvin both shout.

“No, no, I told you, we’re done with the casino,” says Charlie.

“Then what?” you ask.

“Well, this final game… it has a REALLY high entrance fee.”

“How much?”

Charlie blushes again. “A hundred thousand dollars.”

Melvin pretends to faint. Then he shouts “Where are we going to get that kind of money? DON’T YOU DARE SAY AT THE CASINO!”

“I’ve entered you in a race,” says Charlie.

You and Melvin look at each other. “What kind of a race?” you ask.

“A horse race. You are going to ride Absent Mind in the third race today. Since you’re a new jockey, the odds are forty to one. So, if we put down $2,500, we’ll win a hundred grand!”

“But I don’t know anything about riding horses!” you say.

“I know,” says Charlie, pleadingly. “But you don’t know anything about slot machines, or blackjack, or poker, or even baseball, and look how far you’ve come. And I know why, Player.” He looks at you meaningfully. “It’s because you’re lucky. If there’s one thing I know, it’s luck. And from the first moment I laid eyes on you, I could tell that you were lucky.”

Melvin loses it. “This is nuts! You can’t fool us! I know a long con when I see it. You’ve been stringing us along, and if we win this horse race, you’re going to take the money and disappear, and we’ll be stuck here with no ring, watching the kingdom turn gray and crumble to pixels! Why should we trust you?”

Charlie turns solemn. “Look, I know it’s hard to understand. I’ve done some terrible things, things I really regret. But if you can win the race, and win the last game, I promise you, you’ll get the ring. Because you’re right, the Queen needs the ring. I didn’t understand it before, but I understand now.” He looks at his watch. “But there’s no time! We need to get you to the racetrack! They’re on the second race right now. Come on!” He hops on a little golf cart, and you ride with him toward the exit. Fans are waving, some seem to want autographs. Reluctantly, you wave back as the cart zips out to the street.

Before you know it, the cart arrives at the racetrack. Charlie pulls up at a low building with a sign that reads “Video Arcade™ Stables.” Charlie hops off, and dashes inside. You and Melvin follow him in, and see four horses, munching away at pixelated hay. Four signs read “Little Dictator”, “Just Missed”, “Lucky Devil”, and then, the horse Charlie runs up to: “Absent Mind.”

“Here’s your horse,” Charlie says proudly. You look the horse over and have to admit that the vacant expression on its face doesn’t give you a lot of confidence. It looks like a better bet than Just Missed, but doesn’t have the fire and energy of either Little Dictator or Lucky Devil. But you don’t really seem to have any choice in the matter.

“So… I just ride the horse around the track, right? And, uh, try to stay in front?” You take a look out at the track, and are alarmed to see an array of fences and other obstacles on the track.

“No,” says Charlie, “This is a Steeplechase. You will need to signal the horse to jump, with light taps of your heel. A light tap and he’ll do a short jump, a heavier tap, and he’ll do a longer jump.”

“So… longer jumps are safer?”

“Yes, right, but they are slower.” He strokes Absent Mind who has a goofy, cross-eyed expression, which isn’t easy for a horse. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. At least I hope you will. The race starts in two minutes!”

You scramble into your jockey gear, and mount the horse. “Melvin, what will you do?”

“You’re on your own with this one, Player… there’s not much I can do. We’ll root for you from the stands!” The horses are led to the starting gate, and as you look over the purple, blue, and yellow horses, and of course, your own red horse, you think, “I’ve been in this place too long. It’s starting to seem normal.” The starter pistol sounds, and Absent Mind rockets out of the gate!

Put the Steeplechase cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 2. Choose the paddle that controls the red horse, which is the third from the top. Play until you are able to win the race. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.