L is for Lost Tomb

Lost Tomb was a mystifying game to me as a kid, largely because the attract screens didn't show anything about what the actual gameplay was like!  In attract mode, all you got to see was a picture of a pyramid, the words Lost Tomb, and an invitation to insert a coin.  This made it hard for me to play the game in the first place.

However, as you'd expect, eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I did play a few games of Lost Tomb.  I quickly found out it was more than a handful for a kid just getting into game playing (at the time).  As you'd expect, the game is set in a pyramid.  You're an explorer, trying to go through the pyramid's rooms and hallways, collecting treasures and trying not to get killed by various monsters and enemies including spiders and vampire bats.  You also have to avoid causing earthquakes via too much shooting/whip usage.

You have weapons, namely a gun and whip (though limited uses of the latter) and your character is controlled by TWO joysticks and a button (the button for the whip).  The two joystick control model also gets used in games like Robotron, but at the time I found Lost Tomb I had not played such a game nor I was able to easily get used to the controls.  So, I ended up only playing a few games of Lost Tomb.  However, I did enjoy watching the older teenagers play the game and going through room after room racking up treasures.

What games do you remember not being very good at yourself but you enjoyed watching others play who were good?