Retro Reviews
 

Chicken Shift
Chicken Shift

1984 Bally Sente

This is a curious little game that was probably years ahead of its time.  It uses only two buttons, one red and one blue.  Your objective is to guide a series of eggs and chicks to their destination by changing the positions of tubes, ramps and flippers using the red and blue buttons.  The red button changes the orientation of red things, and likewise with blue.

(hit "Read More" for the full review)

There are three distinctly different game types, with the first and third probably being the best.  In the first round, you guide eggs down ramps to a box at the bottom.  The ramps are set up so that some eggs will roll in different directions to other ones, and the player-controllable tubes are set up so that they'll need shifting at least once per egg.  Pressing any button usually changes the directions of two tubes - as the eggs travel down their slopes, you'll probably need to change the direction again as they get to the second tube.
The game tempts you to divert your eggs into places with more complex switches by offering bonuses in the form of flashing sections of ramp that eggs roll over to obtain an extra couple of hundred points.  As the egg rate increases, the game can get nicely frantic.
The second round is pretty inferior - the buttons control lifts and barriers that guide half-broken eggshells with bouncy chicken feet.  It's fun enough, but after the first round it seems quite clunky.
The third round is pretty nice though - your buttons control flippers that launch little chicks up to higher platforms, with the objective of getting one in each nest at the top.
The entire experience is quite satisfyingly modern and addictive, and would suit a remake as a browser-based Flash game.  The only thing letting it down right now is the cheesy egg-themed presentation and God-awful music.  Worth a play, and probably worth buying the original if you can get it cheap.
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Chicken Shift
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