Genre: Platform
Publisher: Datasoft
Year: 1985
System: Atari 8-bit
The Goonies is a platform game based on the Steven Spielberg film of the same name. The story follows a group of suburban kids from Astoria, Oregon, who must save their homes from foreclosure by following a treasure map leading to an old pirate ship hidden in a cavern. Along the way, they must avoid an eccentric family of criminals known as the Fratellis, who are also searching for the treasure.
The game consists of eight screens inspired by scenes from the film, each containing puzzles that require players to coordinate the actions of two of the Goonies characters—and in the final screen, the elephant-man-like character Sloth—to progress without being killed by various hazards. These hazards include deadly bats, hostile Fratellis, flying demon skulls, and environmental traps. For example, one screen challenges players to operate a winch to lift a stone, run backward on a floating ball in dangerous water, time passage under moving buckets, and slide across rails to reach keys, all while avoiding enemies.
The game tracks score and high score and provides a limited number of lives that can be replenished at specific points or score milestones. There is no save function, requiring players to complete the game in a single session. The Goonies can be played solo by switching between two characters with the joystick button or cooperatively with two players each controlling a character.
