Airlock for the Atari 2600 is, simply put, a piece of garbage. For starters, it's incredibly short. Unlike most games from this era, Airlock doesn't continue indefinitely (or as long as you stay alive). Once you have retrieved all of the hatch keys and made it to the top of one or two screens (depending on which difficulty level you are playing), the game is over. There is no high score to concern yourself with and no extended playing time.

Another problem with this wretched game is how easy it is. You can easily beat the game the very first time you play it; it takes about a minute on the easiest difficulty level. However, even when cranking the game up to the hardest level, you will likely only take a few tries. After that, pull the game out of your Atari 2600 and never play it again.

Aside from the fact that the game is short, easy, and pointless, the action itself is dull. The obstacles are lame and redundant, the jumping action is boring, and the two levels are unimaginative. There is nothing wrong with the concept of having to make it to the top of the screen in a certain period of time, as that is certainly a tried and true video game staple, but this game is sluggish and very basic.

The graphics in Airlock are about as bad as the game itself. The introductory screen featuring the submarine and the fish is tolerable, but the actual game play screens are hideous. The platforms are plain and simple. The little man you control is a squarish stick figure that doesn't move a single part of his body; he merely glides along sideways. Even worse, the torpedoes that you must dodge and jump over look almost exactly like your character!

Shame on you, Data Age, for releasing such a vapid, ridiculously inane cartridge with almost zero replay value. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

This game, which came out six years into the life of the Atari 2600, doesn't look any better than the first few games that came out for that system. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

The sound effects are cheap and shoddy, just like the game. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

What enjoyment? This is a boring and very shallow game. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

You may get twenty minutes worth of gaming value out of Airlock, and that's if you have absolutely nothing better to do. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide