The Classic PC Gaming Era (1977-1989) - Hard Hat Mack
One of Electronic Arts's earliest games was this fun and quick Donkey Kong-style action platformer set on a construction site.
RELEASE DATE: 1983
DEVELOPER / PUBLISHER: Michael Abbot and Matthew Alexander / Electronic Arts
PLAYABILITY TODAY: Fairly playable
BEST VERSIONS: Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64
There is no doubt that Donkey Kong was one of the biggest and most important games of the early 1980s, establishing the foundations of the platform game genre and spawning wave after wave of imitators in the arcades, on home consoles and on PCs. Most of the games we’d today call Donkey Kong clones were barely playable when they were brand new and are even less so today. Some of the most popular PC clones, like Bill Hogue’s Miner 2049er and Epyx’s Jumpman, were well-received upon release but seem a bit dated today. Electronic Art’s Hard Hat Mack, one of the publisher’s first five titles released in 1983, is the rare Donkey Kong clone that still stands apart not just as a solid take on the genre but also as a game that’s still quite fun to play.
One reason Hard Hat Mack works is because there’s no damsel in distress. Each of the game’s three stages involve navigating a worksite and completing jobs while dodging enemies and hazards. The first is a partially-completed building where Mack has to fill in gaps between girders and then use a jackhammer to lock them in. The second is a construction site where Mack has to collect some lunchboxes and then catch a ride on an electromagnet before he falls into a furnace. The third is a factory where Mack needs to collect boxes and drop them into a machine. Once the player completes the third stage, the game starts over with more challenging conditions.
Hard Hat Mack’s animation is fluid and the gameplay moves at a much faster clip than Donkey Kong. The stage design also offers players a variety of ways to navigate hazards. For example, the first stage allows Mack to move up or down between the four vertical levels on chains, but also offers both an elevator and a springboard on either side of the screen to provide additional options if an enemy blocks off an avenue of escape.
Another fun aspect of the game is its theme. The enemies are an unforgiving OSHA inspector and a rampaging vandal. The hazards involve merciless work equipment that takes Mack down with a ruthless efficiency if he happens to step in the wrong place at the wrong time. Learning to master the toughest jumps and the timing patterns gives the game a rote feel which perfectly fits the blue collar aesthetic. Mack’s tasks aren’t the stuff of a fantastic video game hero; they’re just all in a day’s work.
While the various versions of the game are all pretty much the same in terms of gameplay and graphics, the Apple II version is the original and the Atari 8-bit version was considered the best-looking version by critics back in the day. The only version that’s not recommended is the MS-DOS port, which is playable, but inferior to the others in just about every way possible.
As Our Series Continues…
In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about arcade action games, 3D games, flight simulators, sports games, gameroom games, puzzle games and so much more.
And while you’ll definitely see some titles from prominent North American publishers like Sierra On-Line, Infocom, Activision, Electronic Arts, Brøderbund, SSI, MicroProse, Lucasfilm Games, Epyx and Sir-Tech in the mix, you’ll also see references to games from the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Spain and Japan.
If you’ve missed the earlier entries in the series, which cover ASCII games, adventure games, wargames, strategy games and role-playing games, you can find the entire archive at https://greatestgames.substack.com.
Anything I don’t share here will be in my upcoming book, tentatively titled The Greatest Games You (Probably) Never Played Vol. 1. Subscribe to this newsletter so you won’t miss it!