Custer's last day 'til shame.
The first porn-themed game under the Swedish Erotica banner, Custer's Revenge is an unlicensed adult-aimed action video game developed and published by Mystique for the Atari 2600, released in September 1982. In Europe, a video game publisher, PlayAround JHM, re-released this game with some alterations. On this version, the sexual intercourse was consensual. Similar to other Mystique games, it got a gender-reversed version called General Retreat where you could play as the Native American woman.
So, in this, you control General George Armstrong Custer and must dodge arrows to get to a Native American woman who's tied to a cactus and rape her. By raping her, you score points.
First of all, look at the box art.
It's pretty bad especially since that the woman on the cover isn’t a character you meet so she looks almost bald in-game.
The game was also absolutely overpriced. When the game came out, it costed $45.95. For a game that offers absolutely nothing than raping woman and dodging arrows, this is just insulting.
The graphics look quite poor, even for the second generation console standards. The characters look like they were drawn in Paint by a young child (except I don't think that had even been invented yet). The amount of colors used is pitifully small, even E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial uses more colors and looks better overall. Despite the poor graphics, the only cool thing is that the developers at least put some effort into the details, including the day and night cycle and the smoke from the fire.
The gameplay is painfully repetitive. Basically all you do with your joystick is you rape a Native American woman who is trapped on a cactus (the manual states that she enjoys it), and dodge the arrows. That's all there is to it, no variety whatsoever. There have been a few games on the same platform that weren't limited to the same all the time, contrary to this. Anyway, such a shabby gameplay is also experienced in other Mystique games. The music is an unbearable cacophony, especially after launching the game (by inserting a cartridge into the console).
What makes the game frustrating is that the arrows are very difficult to dodge as they become invisible when they reach the lower half of the screen. However, here the collision in this game is the apogee of ineptitude. In majority, even when the arrow theoretically hooks you, nothing happens to you. Only when the arrow can fully cause any feeling of a shot at the main character, is it only when you rape the woman. In addition, the arrows disappear a few centimeters above the Custer's cap all the time.
It was also very controversial for its disturbing and disgusting content, offending Native Americans, women's rights activists, and parents if their kids managed to get hold of the game. It is worth noting that at that time there were no assessments yet to indicate who the games are aimed at. This was way before the abomination known as the ESRB even existed. You can see that a notice on the front reads ADULT VIDEO GAME CARTRIDGE, which kinda makes sense at least.
After playing this game only once, I destroyed it with a sledgehammer and then I burnt all the pieces in my fireplace. Then I stuck to playing Pole Position instead.
My advice overall: STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS GAME, especially if you have an Atari. Seriously, I'm urging you, DO NOT waste your short and precious life playing this puke, save your money and download this game to your laptop and play it when you are having a turd.
