I borrowed this game (paired with Spike's Peak) from a friend back in the day and mastered it, seeing how high I could score. You can get extra points by pressing against the moving wall while it's moving away from you. It only kills you when it's moving towards you.
Wow. This would have blown my mind growing up. Using strategy to gain inventory vs saving time, multiple bosses... horror themed, and you get an ending! The intro theme when you first start the game or restart is from "Halloween is coming".
Oh, the memories. My siblings and I used to play this at my grandparents house every school vacation. It was one of the first cartridges I bought for the 2600+. Great video Jon!
Mine was Chuck Norris and Artillery Duel. Though Artillery Duel was very basic, when you play against a best buddy for like 25 cents a round and you have tunes playing and maybe some hash in a pipe and you're near about 14,15 years old circa '85... It's the greatest thing ever! We spent countless hours playing that Duel!😄
Cool! I actually still have that same combo cart! Yeah, arty duel really needs 2 players, it is like the grand daddy of games like Worms or Scorched Earth. Chuck Norris Super Kicks is hard to beat...I got to the end boss fight and ran out of time. the different moves (punch, kick, jump kick) is so advanced for such an old game, but navigating the map and losing time in dead ends was most frustrating.
I had this game, loved it and had totally forgot about it. Thanks for this video it triggered some long lost childhood memories. I am now wondering how many other games I loved and forgot about.
EXCELLENT Friday Play! I have to be honest, I have never heard of this game or XONOX for that matter! I own more than my share of albums from K-Tel but never Atari games! I feel like I missed out! Thanks for the awesome walk-through! You're the best Jon!
Yup, “Ghost Manor” sits in my top 10. I got it at a KB Toys in a clearance bin in the mid 80s for $5. Many options for difficulty. The other end, “Spikes Peak”, is a little too hard but I love this double ender cart. “Ghost Manor” is a great speed run game, perfect for Halloween.
A K-Tel album was the first album I bought when I was younger. The name was "Powerplay" and had some great tunes for the time. I still have it decades later.
Xonox made one of the best combo carts of all times: Artillery Duel which I would play with my father head to head for HOURS on, its a really good game using physics to knock out the other, and Chuck Norris Superkicks, still one of my fave 2600 games where you get more advanced martial arts abilities the further you go, and the final battle in the ninja temple reminds of nothing so much as Double Dragon in the arcades. They were a top notch Atari dev, glad you've discovered them!
Neat little game, I never knew Xonox was part of K-Tel. They made some 8-bit computer games under their own label, K-Tel Double Siders. One of the first games I bought for the ZX Spectrum was Tomb of Dracula/It's Only Rock and Roll, the latter of which Xonox brought out for the Colecovision. It was a really fun game actually, give it a try on either format.
I had two of the Xonox double cartridges. I recall this game annoying be because despite having all those screens, 99% of the game is actually chasing that ghost or skeleton and failing to tag them. The hit box is ridiculously inconsistent and they move around so damn fast in their pattern. You can breeze through the other screens combined in the same amount of time it takes you to beat that first "ghost tag" screen. The other stinker that Xonox made was that Chuck Norris and I think they called it Superkicks or something like that. That game had problems with inconsistent hit boxes and having to split second time the animations. And the gameplay was horribly repetitive. Actually beating that game was near impossible. I know I played it for HOURS and never got anywhere with it. I could fight the attackers, but the shuriken throwing ones would always eventually get you out of nowhere while you were in the middle of an animation. Spikes Peak was better, but you spent a LOT of time on that first screen just like you did with Ghost Manor. You would get to that second screen, and sometimes that avalanche would spawn right on top of you and take you out unfairly. Their Artillery Duel game was actually a lot of fun though. My friends and I enjoyed that one.
This one completely got by be back in the day. I will definitely pick this one up, thanks for the vid! Ever consider doing a handheld Tiger Electronics vid? I loved those in the 80's/90's (Double Dragon 1 thru 3 were great fun)
Quick tip, you can push the walls as long as they're going away from you to rack up crazy points, just make sure you disengage before the wall comes back toward you or you get smashed. Edit: Also, there's only one cross per floor.
@@Mrshoujo there are three crosses total, yes. But only two inside the mansion, one on each of the moving wall floors. You get a freebie cross just for getting to Dracula's room
There was a kid with a bunch of xonox games down the street but he’d never let us plays them so they kind of became this mythic Atari game company as I could never find them as a kid. Years later I tracked a bunch down and discovered they’re a bit like Commavid or CBS: a bit janky, but mostly fun. This one is good. So are Lancelot, Artillery Duel, Chuck Norris and to a lesser extent, Spikes Peak and Tomarc. Good review. This one doesn’t get much coverage.
You make me feel guilty for not appreciating this for when I had it as a kid. But I thought the double cartridge was cool. Happy Silver Shamrock Halloween everyone. 🎃
I loved this double ender growing up. I had the Spike's Peak/Ghost Manor version. Spike's Peak was good too but I remember something about getting near the top of the mountain being a pain in the ass. Can't remember if it was like a bird or a bear or both on the trail yiu use to reach the top.
I had the "double ender" of this back in the day with Spike's Peak. You should try Spike's Peak, it's actually a much harder game than Ghost Manor. I also had Chuck Norris Super Kicks back in the day on the Coleco Vision. That's actually a good game too.
played atari from all the way back when it was newish, never knew or seen one of these dual sided carts till last week at the retro game store, when they had one in the hyperkin, now a video all of a sudden lol, life is full of weirdness
I have this double ender and had no clue how to play it. 🤣 I was thinking I'll eventually RTFM. I also have the Sir Lancelot/Robin Hood double ender in the post to me right now, I was already aware that Xonox made some interesting and unique titles. But they can also be fun! Thank you for bringing this back to my attention and saving me some time too with your in depth explanation. 😊 Great video, as always. 🤟🏻
I never got in the Xonox Games. They are all difficult and hard to control imho. But the ideas behind are quiet good: Vampire killing, Mountain climbing, Artillery fights, Dragon Slaying, being Robin Hood and of course being Chuck Norris! Chewing bees instead of eating honey! Imagine that!
More spears for the 2nd screen in harder difficulties "secret cheat": For the 2nd & 3rd difficulties collect 24 spears, then hit the appropriate switch. You'll instantly be in the 2nd screen with 24 spears. For the 4th difficulty collect 19 spears, hit the switch to the 2nd difficulty (you should still be in the graveyard), then hit the other switch. If done right, you'll be on the hardest difficulty with 19 spears in the 2nd screen.
I have the double-ender with Spike's Peak which is also decent. You have to also have to talk about Frankenstein's Monster, another good one for Halloween. The Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are not as good but yet more expensive.
This game shows what's possible when the programmers have 8K to work with instead of 4K or less. (Even 8K required some trickery because the VCS only supports 4K cartridges natively.)
The Spear Tokens represent ten spears each. I am not really sure why, though, since the game shows you the exact amount of spears you have. I wonder if originally the exact number was not there, and after they added it, nobody bothered to remove the Spear Tokens. Good review of an underrated game.
Nice follow up to Haunted House, got to say this one looks more fun need to give it a try. Thinking of Friday Plays follow ups would be cool to see KC Krazy Chase on the Videopac/Odyssey 2 that was the follow up to KC Munchkin after Atari sued and forced a change and for me it resulted in a better game
Wow, this game does look really cool, and is like a more complicated version of Haunted House. Decent music too, I can't remember what the name of that spooky tune is or what it was from originally. I was curious how many XONOX games there were, I have the Artillary Duel/Chuck Norris double ender...both games are pretty decent, although Artillary Duel needs 2 players and is like a primitive version or Worms or Scorched Earth. Thanks for the review! I'll have to keep my eyes open for this game, either the single or a double version.
I loved the game Ghost manor! I had a double end xonox of it with Spikes peak. I got it at a good price at kay-b-toys back then. I think i got it discounted maybe? I had a lot of fun with those!
As a kid (long before internet/youtube) this would have been one of those $.50 games I'd buy at a rummage sale.... Get it home and be like WTF what am I supposed to do?? And then never play it again.
I have a question that may not be related to this but I'll give it a go anyway. I watch a lot of game reviewers such as yourself, a lot of them that focus on Atari but while a lot of attention is paid to the 2600 and 7800, very few if any do much on the 5200. I have done a search and there are a lot of atari fan game reviewers but just cannot find much about the 5200. Is that system just that hard to use that even Atari superfans such as yourself can't even or don't want to use it?
I always heard the name of the company pronounced as "zahn-ix", for some reason it sounds weird as "zone-nox' I remember hearing about them during Starcade so I guess that is where I first heard the way I pronounce it. Starcade had too much influence on me haha.
Something is weird about the video. The ghost in the graveyard is on an angle. The 2600 isn't capable of that level of resolution. What is causing this?
@@GenXGrownUp then it's probably a coincidence that the two games have the same name. I couldn't find any link when I got curious and looked it up this afternoon either.
While this is a fun video to watch, the game sounds are grating on the ears. I do wish you had turned it down so that your voice would be heard better and thos poorly chosen effects wouldnt induce headaches.
Haunted House was one of tbe stupidest ganes made for the 2600. This game is more of what I'd wanted Haunted House to be. Different, unique parts of a scary house with unexpected frights.
I borrowed this game (paired with Spike's Peak) from a friend back in the day and mastered it, seeing how high I could score. You can get extra points by pressing against the moving wall while it's moving away from you. It only kills you when it's moving towards you.
Even more ways to maximize score. Love it! 👻
Wow. This would have blown my mind growing up. Using strategy to gain inventory vs saving time, multiple bosses... horror themed, and you get an ending!
The intro theme when you first start the game or restart is from "Halloween is coming".
Oh, the memories. My siblings and I used to play this at my grandparents house every school vacation. It was one of the first cartridges I bought for the 2600+. Great video Jon!
Oh man! How did I miss this? I loved spooky games as a kid. Thanks for showing it off!
Mine was Chuck Norris and Artillery Duel.
Though Artillery Duel was very basic, when you play against a best buddy for like 25 cents a round and you have tunes playing and maybe some hash in a pipe and you're near about 14,15 years old circa '85...
It's the greatest thing ever!
We spent countless hours playing that Duel!😄
Cool! I actually still have that same combo cart! Yeah, arty duel really needs 2 players, it is like the grand daddy of games like Worms or Scorched Earth. Chuck Norris Super Kicks is hard to beat...I got to the end boss fight and ran out of time. the different moves (punch, kick, jump kick) is so advanced for such an old game, but navigating the map and losing time in dead ends was most frustrating.
@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 yep, just a hair off the path and that time clock drained!😄
I had this game, loved it and had totally forgot about it. Thanks for this video it triggered some long lost childhood memories. I am now wondering how many other games I loved and forgot about.
Imagine playing this game while your parents were reading their magazines...
Never heard of this one but I ignored these back then. Looks fun!
same here
I played this game a lot in the past. It's been a while. It's an excellent game.
EXCELLENT Friday Play! I have to be honest, I have never heard of this game or XONOX for that matter! I own more than my share of albums from K-Tel but never Atari games! I feel like I missed out! Thanks for the awesome walk-through! You're the best Jon!
I better not ever hear anybody besmirch the good name of K-Tel! They put out some awesome record compilations back in the 70s!
Yup, “Ghost Manor” sits in my top 10. I got it at a KB Toys in a clearance bin in the mid 80s for $5. Many options for difficulty. The other end, “Spikes Peak”, is a little too hard but I love this double ender cart. “Ghost Manor” is a great speed run game, perfect for Halloween.
My brother & I always got a chuckle out of calling this "Ghost Manure" - simpler times
Xonox was so cool, Chuck Norris was great too
I vaguely remember a friend having this game. I think I was playing it at his house without the manual. The sounds gave me the deja vu.
I love when that happens.
Loved Ghost Manor, didnt knew about the difficulty settings, I was just a kid. Mine had Artillery Duel, also a great game.
A K-Tel album was the first album I bought when I was younger. The name was "Powerplay" and had some great tunes for the time. I still have it decades later.
I did not know this game existed! Awesome video as always!
Glad you liked it!
The last screen Reminds me of Dracula on the Intellivision…great work Jon
Xonox made one of the best combo carts of all times: Artillery Duel which I would play with my father head to head for HOURS on, its a really good game using physics to knock out the other, and Chuck Norris Superkicks, still one of my fave 2600 games where you get more advanced martial arts abilities the further you go, and the final battle in the ninja temple reminds of nothing so much as Double Dragon in the arcades. They were a top notch Atari dev, glad you've discovered them!
I did not know about double cartridges! Wild! 😊
No? If you hunt for games in the wild long enough, they'll turn up! 😁
Neat little game, I never knew Xonox was part of K-Tel. They made some 8-bit computer games under their own label, K-Tel Double Siders. One of the first games I bought for the ZX Spectrum was Tomb of Dracula/It's Only Rock and Roll, the latter of which Xonox brought out for the Colecovision. It was a really fun game actually, give it a try on either format.
Cool game and K-Tel released Double Sider tape games for the VIC20 and ZX Spectrum back in the day here in Blighty :-) Keep up the awesome work Jon!
I have that double cart with Spikes Peak, but I could never quite figure out Ghost Manor. Thank you for covering it.
I loved all of the double ender games when I was a kid.
I get it. I'm just discovering them and they're more than I expected.
I had two of the Xonox double cartridges. I recall this game annoying be because despite having all those screens, 99% of the game is actually chasing that ghost or skeleton and failing to tag them. The hit box is ridiculously inconsistent and they move around so damn fast in their pattern. You can breeze through the other screens combined in the same amount of time it takes you to beat that first "ghost tag" screen. The other stinker that Xonox made was that Chuck Norris and I think they called it Superkicks or something like that. That game had problems with inconsistent hit boxes and having to split second time the animations. And the gameplay was horribly repetitive. Actually beating that game was near impossible. I know I played it for HOURS and never got anywhere with it. I could fight the attackers, but the shuriken throwing ones would always eventually get you out of nowhere while you were in the middle of an animation. Spikes Peak was better, but you spent a LOT of time on that first screen just like you did with Ghost Manor. You would get to that second screen, and sometimes that avalanche would spawn right on top of you and take you out unfairly. Their Artillery Duel game was actually a lot of fun though. My friends and I enjoyed that one.
This one completely got by be back in the day. I will definitely pick this one up, thanks for the vid! Ever consider doing a handheld Tiger Electronics vid? I loved those in the 80's/90's (Double Dragon 1 thru 3 were great fun)
cool game jon.....i have to say i played xonox artilerey duel...it was alot of fun playing head to head!
I had Chuck Norris Super Kicks on the other end. Love that game!
Quick tip, you can push the walls as long as they're going away from you to rack up crazy points, just make sure you disengage before the wall comes back toward you or you get smashed.
Edit: Also, there's only one cross per floor.
Thanks for the tip! It's amazing how much nuance some of these old games have!
There's 3 crosses to collect.
@@Mrshoujo there are three crosses total, yes. But only two inside the mansion, one on each of the moving wall floors. You get a freebie cross just for getting to Dracula's room
Great video
Thanks! 👻
There was a kid with a bunch of xonox games down the street but he’d never let us plays them so they kind of became this mythic Atari game company as I could never find them as a kid.
Years later I tracked a bunch down and discovered they’re a bit like Commavid or CBS: a bit janky, but mostly fun.
This one is good. So are Lancelot, Artillery Duel, Chuck Norris and to a lesser extent, Spikes Peak and Tomarc.
Good review. This one doesn’t get much coverage.
You make me feel guilty for not appreciating this for when I had it as a kid. But I thought the double cartridge was cool.
Happy Silver Shamrock Halloween everyone.
🎃
Really love that double ender and play it every now and then.
I loved this double ender growing up. I had the Spike's Peak/Ghost Manor version. Spike's Peak was good too but I remember something about getting near the top of the mountain being a pain in the ass. Can't remember if it was like a bird or a bear or both on the trail yiu use to reach the top.
I had Chuck Norris Superkicks paired with Artillery Duel.
I just bought one of these off eBay. Can't wait to try it out.
I always liked the Chuck Norris game. Wasn't expecting much but I ended up going to it often. I Thought it was a lot of fun.
I had the "double ender" of this back in the day with Spike's Peak. You should try Spike's Peak, it's actually a much harder game than Ghost Manor. I also had Chuck Norris Super Kicks back in the day on the Coleco Vision. That's actually a good game too.
Xonox double ender games were awesome.
Loved Chuck Norris and could play Artillery duel for hours.
I've got to check those out. I've literally never fired one up until this Friday Plays! 👻
@@GenXGrownUp You'll need a second player for Artillery duel...
Hence the name duel...
so many screens was unexpected , really cool
played atari from all the way back when it was newish, never knew or seen one of these dual sided carts till last week at the retro game store, when they had one in the hyperkin, now a video all of a sudden lol, life is full of weirdness
I have this double ender and had no clue how to play it. 🤣 I was thinking I'll eventually RTFM.
I also have the Sir Lancelot/Robin Hood double ender in the post to me right now, I was already aware that Xonox made some interesting and unique titles. But they can also be fun!
Thank you for bringing this back to my attention and saving me some time too with your in depth explanation. 😊
Great video, as always. 🤟🏻
RTFM?
@@BeastCake1349 RTFM = Read The (erm... Flimsy) Manual
Loved this. If you get the time, you may want to revisit Hugo's House of Horror on DOS as well.
These double cartridges were great!!!
Wow this was my favorite cart back then wit Fireworld. Please do the mountain game next.
I never got in the Xonox Games. They are all difficult and hard to control imho. But the ideas behind are quiet good: Vampire killing, Mountain climbing, Artillery fights, Dragon Slaying, being Robin Hood and of course being Chuck Norris! Chewing bees instead of eating honey! Imagine that!
I really enjoyed this and chuck norris. Loads of fun!
I just discovered hash. I’m super lit right now. Like I’m liquid! I remember the Chuck Norris game from Xonox. It was the first beat’em up I played! ❤
totally played this as a kid.. thought the music was amazing.
Played a couple of these Xonox games on Stella after seeing your video. Pretty good! I thought Sir Lancelot was good also. Who knew?
More spears for the 2nd screen in harder difficulties "secret cheat": For the 2nd & 3rd difficulties collect 24 spears, then hit the appropriate switch. You'll instantly be in the 2nd screen with 24 spears. For the 4th difficulty collect 19 spears, hit the switch to the 2nd difficulty (you should still be in the graveyard), then hit the other switch. If done right, you'll be on the hardest difficulty with 19 spears in the 2nd screen.
You're right Jon, it's absolutely a good spooky game
Never seen this game or Xonox carts will have to look into this for my collection
I have the double-ender with Spike's Peak which is also decent.
You have to also have to talk about Frankenstein's Monster, another good one for Halloween.
The Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are not as good but yet more expensive.
Just so you know, you can run into the moving wall when it's moving AWAY from you for extra points. Becomes deadly when it changes direction!
This game shows what's possible when the programmers have 8K to work with instead of 4K or less. (Even 8K required some trickery because the VCS only supports 4K cartridges natively.)
Nice play. 5:50 I think those spear tokens just show you roughly how many you have left (1 token per 10 spears).
You're right. You also get a score bonus at the end based on how many you are able to keep.
The Spear Tokens represent ten spears each. I am not really sure why, though, since the game shows you the exact amount of spears you have. I wonder if originally the exact number was not there, and after they added it, nobody bothered to remove the Spear Tokens.
Good review of an underrated game.
I believe you get an end-score bonus for each remaining spear token. This may require a THIRD read-through of the manual to fully comprehend! 😁
@GenXGrownUp Okay. So nine spears gives no bonus, but ten gives a bonus. Makes sense.
I had this game growing up. I got to the point where I could breeze through this title with no problems.
Looks a good one👌
One of the best games I played back then.
I had the Xonox Robin Hood Double Ender (Paired with Sir Lancelot). :)
I think this is the first game that actually scared me, but mostly because of that piercing sound when you die.
I've been playing the homebrew Tobers Nightmare which is also a Halloween game.
Don’t forget to look at the other 2 games by Xonox ,Robin Hood and Sir Lancelot. They are great as well.
That’s the scary Atari game I was talking about. 2 scary monsters: the axe man and the kidnapper.
Nice follow up to Haunted House, got to say this one looks more fun need to give it a try. Thinking of Friday Plays follow ups would be cool to see KC Krazy Chase on the Videopac/Odyssey 2 that was the follow up to KC Munchkin after Atari sued and forced a change and for me it resulted in a better game
I remember the music vaguely.
Glad you arent sleeping on Xonox anymore. Artilery Duel is a great, no, FANTASTIC 2 play
Wow, this game does look really cool, and is like a more complicated version of Haunted House. Decent music too, I can't remember what the name of that spooky tune is or what it was from originally. I was curious how many XONOX games there were, I have the Artillary Duel/Chuck Norris double ender...both games are pretty decent, although Artillary Duel needs 2 players and is like a primitive version or Worms or Scorched Earth. Thanks for the review! I'll have to keep my eyes open for this game, either the single or a double version.
Glad you enjoyed the review! Let me know what you think once you try it out.
Jon I played Ghost Manor so much!!!
I rented this actual 2 in1 back in '83, for $4 CAD for the night. I thought it was pretty cool back in the day.
Wow what an unexpected treat!! 👊🏻😎🕹️
I loved the game Ghost manor! I had a double end xonox of it with Spikes peak. I got it at a good price at kay-b-toys back then. I think i got it discounted maybe? I had a lot of fun with those!
As a kid (long before internet/youtube) this would have been one of those $.50 games I'd buy at a rummage sale.... Get it home and be like WTF what am I supposed to do?? And then never play it again.
Really cool vid. Never heard of this dev. But the shitty sound effects are right on point and I love it
Actually the Chop Chop of the axe wielding mummy is pretty amazing for the TIA.
All those XONOX games are great!
i like k-tel in the 80'si miss evrything about 80's but am find whit 2024 cheap price yes live today,die a other day,life go sooo fast-great video
Indeed, the '80s were a simpler time. K-tel is definitely a blast from the past!
Wow. I had forgot all about this game. I remember it Fondly , This and pikes peak On the flip flop side if I remember correctly.
Bought this double ender back in the day for $9.99.
this game had same themetune as ghosthunters on spectrum mastertronic in the mid 80s
Did you try Chuck Norris Superkicks? It's one of the games this one was bundled with.
Not yet.
I have a question that may not be related to this but I'll give it a go anyway. I watch a lot of game reviewers such as yourself, a lot of them that focus on Atari but while a lot of attention is paid to the 2600 and 7800, very few if any do much on the 5200. I have done a search and there are a lot of atari fan game reviewers but just cannot find much about the 5200. Is that system just that hard to use that even Atari superfans such as yourself can't even or don't want to use it?
I always heard the name of the company pronounced as "zahn-ix", for some reason it sounds weird as "zone-nox' I remember hearing about them during Starcade so I guess that is where I first heard the way I pronounce it. Starcade had too much influence on me haha.
Something is weird about the video. The ghost in the graveyard is on an angle. The 2600 isn't capable of that level of resolution. What is causing this?
Xonox games are 8K bankswitched.
Does the time reset if you leave a room then just go back in the same room you just left?
I played it and no the time doesn’t reset. What time you have is the time you have.
Is it compatible with the 2600+ at this time?
Cool game, right? Glad to see this get some love.
I agree! It's a classic that got overlooked, I think.
I wonder if ghost manor on tg16 was related to this. Or if they just had the same name.
According to what I read, the only port of it was for the VIC-20. Unless maybe someone did an unofficial port.
@@GenXGrownUp then it's probably a coincidence that the two games have the same name. I couldn't find any link when I got curious and looked it up this afternoon either.
I had a few of those double packs as a kid, none of them worked. I mean brand new they wouldnt work in the 2600 or my cousin's 2600.
sweet
Haunted House was spookier.
👌
Never saw this one
👌
👻 💜
I want a K Tel T Shirt
Zo nox? No it's pronounced zaw nix. I remember the tv commercials
Never saw a commercial or heard it spoken before. Only what my friends and I called it in the neighborhood.
While this is a fun video to watch, the game sounds are grating on the ears. I do wish you had turned it down so that your voice would be heard better and thos poorly chosen effects wouldnt induce headaches.
I'll take that under advisement.
Haunted House was one of tbe stupidest ganes made for the 2600. This game is more of what I'd wanted Haunted House to be. Different, unique parts of a scary house with unexpected frights.
I had that game but NEVER played it cuz I did not understand it. my all time favorite Xmas was 1974 pong