This port looks pretty good, and control is decent enough. Unfortunately, Apple II Joust is marred by the behavior of the enemy vultures, who change direction every time they hit a platform, even if the platform is hit from below. This requires new strategies and a lot of patience, which can be a pain for impatient players used to the arcade game.
Apple II Joust is for one player only, so the signature team play and competitive play of Joust are missing. Also missing are all the special levels except for the Egg Wave. Interestingly, the game claims to have the Survival Wave, but no bonus points are ever awareded.