You are Potsy, a flowerpot-chucking tenant in a building being overrun by spiders. As they come up the walls, hurl potted plants at 'em to squish them before they can climb into the windows; if too many spiders make it through, they eat away at the building from the ground up until game is over. Black spiders follow a straightforward, no-nonsense path to the windows, while blue spiders zig-zag a bit. Red and green spiders follow more unpredictable paths, forcing you to try to nail them as they crawl the walls diagonally. Super powers will not be granted to you if you get bitten. (Activision, 1983)

Sort of like a slide-and-shoot game in reverse, Crackpots is a fun little number with some cute graphics and game play speed that gradually (but inevtiably) goes off the scale. Still, it's incredibly simple and loads of fun too - and not surprisingly, it's been revived for more modern consoles as part of Activision's classic game compilations.

Rating:  Four quarters - a couple of minor irritants, but mostly a compelling and addictive game.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster