Gorf is an arcade video game released in 1981 by Midway Manufacturing, whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force". It is a fixed shooter with five distinct levels, the first of which is based on Space Invaders and another on Galaxian. The game makes heavy use of synthesized speech for the Gorfian robot which taunts the player, powered by the Votrax speech chip. Gorf allows the player to buy two additional lives per quarter before starting the game, for a maximum of seven lives.
Choplifter is a military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family the same year and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.
The Sirius Joyport is a game controller adapter for the Apple II computer designed by Keithen Hayenga and Steve Woita and then licensed for manufacture and distribution in 1981 by Sirius Software.
Kangaroo is a four-screen platform game released as an arcade video game 1982 by Sun Electronics and distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. Kangaroo is one of the first arcade games similar in style to Donkey Kong without being a direct clone. The player takes the role of a boxing glove-wearing mother kangaroo who is trying to rescue her joey from fruit-throwing monkeys. Despite featuring jumping, there is no jump button. Instead, the player pushes up on the joystick—or up and diagonally—to leap. Atari published ports for the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. The 5200 port was released for the Atari 8-bit family through the Atari Program Exchange.
Sirius Software was a California-based publisher of video games for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20. Most games were written for the Apple II, then ported to other systems. The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley and released over 160 games before folding in 1984. Sirius also developed games for the Atari 2600 which were published in 1982 and 1983 by 20th Century Fox Video Games. Fox's failure to pay Sirius resulted in company's downfall. Nasir Gebelli wrote some of the early hits from Sirius, establishing his reputation as an Apple II game programmer.
Gorgon is a clone of the arcade game Defender, a horizontally-scrolling shooter, for the Apple II. It was programmed by Nasir Gebelli and published by Sirius Software in June 1981.
Transylvania is an adventure video game published by Penguin Software. It was released for the Apple II in 1982 followed by ports to the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. A Macintosh conversion was published in 1984, then versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1985.
Capture the Flag is a 3D first-person perspective, two player, video game, released for the Atari 8-bit family and VIC-20 by Sirius Software in 1983. It was written by Paul Allen Edelstein as the follow-up to his 1982 game, Wayout, which has similar maze-based gameplay for one player. Along with its predecessor, Capture the Flag was among the first 3D maze games to offer the player full 360 degree movement, and one of the earliest multiplayer games from a first-person perspective within a 3D rendered environment.
Slime is a video game for Atari 8-bit computers written by Steve Hales and published by Synapse Software in 1982. The player attempts to protect their ship from a rain of enormous drops of slime by deflecting them into canisters, while fending off attacks by an alien flying saucer. A TI-99/4A port was developed as Super Storm, but not released.
Spider Fighter is a fixed shooter designed by Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1982. The object of Spider Fighter is to protect an orchard containing fruit—grapes, strawberries, oranges, and bananas—from four kinds of bugs. Digital Press described it as "much like the coin-op game Stratovox but w/o the voice."
Wavy Navy is a video game designed by Rodney McAuley for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software in 1983. Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 versions were released the same year. Wavy Navy is a nautically themed fixed shooter with left and right controls to move the player's PT boat, but there is an additional vertical element as the boat moves up and down with the large ocean waves that scroll beneath it. The direction and speed of the waves vary per level. Some reviewers found that the movement of the waves added an interesting twist, while others called it too similar to other fixed shooters like Galaxian.
The Atari CX40 joystick was the first widely used cross-platform game controller. The original CX10 was released with the Atari Video Computer System in 1977 and became the primary input device for most games on the platform. The CX10 was replaced after a year by the simpler and less expensive CX40. The addition of the Atari joystick port to other platforms cemented its popularity. It was the standard for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and was compatible with the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, MSX, and later the Atari ST and Amiga. Third-party adapters allowed it to be used on other systems, such as the Apple II, Commodore 16, TI-99/4A, and the ZX Spectrum.
Floyd of the Jungle is a 1982 platform game for Atari 8-bit computers and part of the initial batch of games from MicroProse. Designed and programmed by company co-founder Sid Meier, it is one of the few 2D action games he created and the only platform game. It allows up to four players at once.
Boulders and Bombs is a video game for Atari 8-bit computers published on cartridge by CBS Software in 1983. It was written by Keith Dreyer and Torre Meeder who previously developed the Berzerk-clone K-Razy Shoot-Out. In Boulders and Bombs, the player must dig tunnels so three people can cross from one side of the screen to the other. Bird-like creatures, flying in the upper portion of the screen, launch projectiles into the dirt to thwart the player. While there isn't a separate multiplayer mode, joysticks plugged into each of the remaining 1-3 ports can each control one of the birds. The game generally received poor reviews.
Epoch is a space combat simulator for the Apple II written by Larry Miller and published by Sirius Software in 1981.
Star Maze is a space-themed shooter taking place in a multidirectional scrolling maze published by Sir-Tech in 1982. It was written by Canadian programmer Gordon Eastman for the Apple II, based on a design by Robert Woodhead. Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 versions followed in 1983.
Seafox is a shoot 'em up written by Ed Hobbs and published by Broderbund in 1982 for the Apple II and as a cartridge for the Atari 8-bit family. A VIC-20 port, also on cartridge, was released in 1983.
Kid Grid is a grid capture game which borrows heavily from the 1981 arcade video game Amidar. Written by Arti Haroutunian for Atari 8-bit computers, it was published by Tronix in 1982. A Commodore 64 port from the same programmer was released in 1983. In Kid Grid, the player moves along the horizontal and vertical lines of the playfield, turning the lines from dotted gray to solid blue. If all the lines around a square are completed, it is filled-in. Deadly creatures chase the player.
Mr. Cool is an action game designed by Peter Oliphant and published in 1983 by Sierra On-Line for the Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 home computers. The ports for the IBM PC and Apple II were written by John Redekopp and released the same year. The game is heavily inspired by the 1982 arcade video game Q*bert.
Threshold is a space-themed fixed shooter written by Warren Schwader and Ken Williams for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Inspired by Sega's Astro Blaster arcade video game, Threshold introduces many enemy ship types and wave formations as the game progresses. Reviewers found the variety distinguished the game from the many similar shoot 'em ups.
