| Bug Off! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Adventure International QuelleSoft [1] |
| Designer(s) | Sparky Starks |
| Platform(s) | Atari 8-bit |
| Release | 1982: Adventure International 1984: QuelleSoft |
| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Bug Off! is a single screen fixed shooter for Atari 8-bit computers written by Sparky Starks [2] and published by Adventure International in 1982. [3] QuelleSoft released the game in Germany as Kampf dem Ungeziefer ("Fight the Bugs") in 1984. [1]
The object of Bug Off! is to control a variety of bugs that swarm out of a Florida sinkhole and endanger the player's garden.
The player controls a chemical sprayer, which can be moved on all four outer edges of the gameplay window. The sprayer will always point towards the center of the screen, where the garden resides. Only the wasps and spiders are dangerous to the player. They eat all the player's DDT supplies and thus end the game. The player tries to hold out until nightfall, when the butterflies appear, which reward the player bonus points for every corner that has remained free and also the army will drop in a new supply of the DDT.
When the player is hit, he will lose his current can of DDT from his sprayer, and a second can will be thrown to the center of the garden, destroying all bugs on the map. When all lives are lost, it's game over.
The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984 concluded: "The sound and graphics are poor in Bug Off!; then again, it isn't the type of game that needed better graphics. Game play is instinctively reflex rather than strategy oriented. It is a lightening fast repetitive game, but that doesn't mean it leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment". Overall Bug Off! received a D+ review. [4]
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Many games, utilities, and educational programs were available for Atari 8-bit computers. Atari, Inc. was primarily the publisher following the launch of the Atari 400/800 in 1979, then increasingly by third parties. Atari also distributed "user written" software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984. After APX folded, many titles were picked up by Antic Software.
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O'Riley's Mine is an action game designed by Mark Riley and published in 1983 by Datasoft for Atari 8-bit computers. The game was ported to the Apple II by Larry Lewis and Commodore 64 by Al Rubin. Both ports were also released in 1983.
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