Mancopter

Last updated
MancopterTitleScreen1984Datasoft.png
Developer(s) Nichibutsu USA
Publisher(s) Datasoft
Programmer(s) Scott Spanburg [1]
Artist(s) Kelly Day [2]
Platform(s) Commodore 64
Release1984
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Single-player

Mancopter is a video game developed by Nichibutsu USA [3] [2] and published by Datasoft for the Commodore 64 in 1984. It was programmed by Scott Spanburg, and the music was composed by John A. Fitzpatrick. [1] The player controls a person piloting a helicopter-like flying device over an ocean competing with computer-controlled pilots.

Contents

Gameplay

The player flies the copter by rapidly pressing the fire button on the joystick. If the player stops pressing the button, or runs into some sort of obstacle, then the copter falls into the sea. For a few of these falls, the player is saved by a whale who surfaces with the copter on its head and allows the player to continue the game. If the player runs out of "Fish," (which can be stolen or recaptured from flying pelicans,) then a Jaws -inspired shark eats the player instead and the game is over.

Reception

Compute!'s Gazette called Mancopter "challenging enough for adults and picturesque enough for children ... The game is challenging and graphically entertaining". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Realm of Impossibility</i> 1983 video game

Realm of Impossibility is an action game created by Mike Edwards for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. It was originally released in 1983 as Zombies by BRAM, a company formed by Edwards and a friend. BRAM previously developed and published Attack at EP-CYG-4.

<i>SimCopter</i> 1996 video game

SimCopter is a 1996 flight simulator video game developed by Maxis. It puts the player into a 3D city. Like Streets of SimCity, SimCopter lets the player import SimCity 2000 maps into the game. It is also the first game to use the Sim language Simlish.

<i>Double Dare</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Double Dare is a video game published by GameTek and based on the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare. The game was originally released by for IBM PC compatibles and the Commodore 64 in 1988. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) by Rare and re-released for the system in 1990.

<i>HardBall!</i> 1985 video game

HardBall! is a baseball video game published by Accolade. Initially released for the Commodore 64 in 1985, it was ported to other computers over the next several years. A Sega Genesis cartridge was published in 1991. HardBall! was followed by sequels HardBall II, HardBall III, HardBall IV, HardBall 5, and HardBall 6.

<i>Skyfox</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Skyfox is a combat flight simulation game developed by Ray Tobey for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. Ariolasoft published the game in Europe. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and Macintosh in 1985, to the Amiga and Atari ST in 1986, and to the PC-88 in 1988.

<i>Ace of Aces</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Ace of Aces is a combat flight simulation game developed by Artech Digital Entertainment and published in 1986 by Accolade in North America and U.S. Gold in Europe. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, MS-DOS, Master System, and ZX Spectrum. Set in World War II, the player flies a RAF Mosquito long range fighter-bomber equipped with rockets, bombs and a cannon. Missions include destroying German fighter planes, bombers, V-1 flying bombs, U-boats, and trains. In 1988, Atari Corporation released a version on cartridge for Atari 8-bit computers styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.

<i>Airborne Ranger</i> 1987 video game

Airborne Ranger is an action game developed and published by MicroProse for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1987 and the Amstrad CPC and IBM PC compatibles in 1988. Ports to the Amiga and Atari ST by Imagitec Design were released in 1989. A sole U.S. Army Ranger is sent to infiltrate the enemy territory to complete various objectives. The game was followed by Special Forces in 1991.

<i>Blasteroids</i> 1987 video game

Blasteroids is the third official sequel to the 1979 multidirectional shooter video game, Asteroids. It was developed by Atari Games and released in arcades in 1987. Unlike the previous games, Blasteroids uses raster graphics instead of vector graphics, and has power-ups and a boss.

<i>Drol</i> 1983 video game

Drol is a video game published by Broderbund in 1983. It was written for the Apple II by Benny Aik Beng Ngo, then ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers. Versions were released for the SG-1000 in 1985 and Amiga in 1991.

<i>Oils Well</i> 1983 video game

Oil's Well is a video game published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. The game was written for the Atari 8-bit computers by Thomas J. Mitchell. Oil's Well is similar to the 1982 arcade game Anteater, re-themed to be about drilling for oil instead of a hungry insectivore. Ports were released in 1983 for the Apple II and Commodore 64, in 1984 for ColecoVision and the IBM PC, then in 1985 for MSX and the Sharp X1. A version with improved visuals and without Mitchell's involvement was released for MS-DOS in 1990.

<i>Blue Max</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Blue Max is a scrolling shooter written by Bob Polin for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. It was released for the Commodore 64 the same year. U.S. Gold published the Commodore 64 version in the UK in 1984 and ported the game to the ZX Spectrum. In 1987, Atari Corporation published Blue Max as a cartridge styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.

<i>Time Pilot 84</i> Multidirectional shooter arcade game sequel to Time Pilot

Time Pilot '84: Further Into Unknown World is a scrolling multidirectional shooter released in arcades in 1984 by Konami. The different time periods of 1982's Time Pilot are replaced by a top-down view of a science fiction landscape that varies in color and type of enemies. It adds the ability for the player to launch guided missiles. Time Pilot '84 was primarily sold as a conversion kit for older games.

<i>Anteater</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Anteater is an arcade video game designed by Chris Oberth and released in 1982 by Tago Electronics. The player steers the tongue of the eponymous creature through a maze, retracting it when dangers approach. Though the arcade game was not a hit, it spawned a number of direct clones for home computers; Sierra's Oils Well became better known than the original. Oberth wrote an Apple II version of his own game for Datamost using a different title.

<i>Solo Flight</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Solo Flight is a third-person flight simulator written by Sid Meier for Atari 8-bit computers and published by MicroProse in 1983. It includes a game mode called Mail Pilot. This was the fourth flight simulator Meier wrote for MicroProse—following Hellcat Ace, Spitfire Ace, and Wingman—and the first which did not involve aerial combat.

<i>10th Frame</i> 1986 video game

10th Frame is a ten-pin bowling simulation game published by Access Software in 1986. Up to eight players can take part in open bowling or a tournament. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Hoppin Mad</i> 1988 video game

Hoppin' Mad is an action game released in 1988 by Elite Systems for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum

<i>Jet</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Jet is a combat flight simulator video game originally published in 1985 by Sublogic. The game was released in 1985 for MS-DOS and the Commodore 64, 1986 for the Apple II, 1988 for the Atari ST and Amiga, and 1989 for the Macintosh and NEC PC-9801.

<i>Shamus: Case II</i> 1983 video game

Shamus: Case II is a 1983 video game for Atari 8-bit computers written by Cathryn Mataga and published by Synapse Software. Mataga also wrote the original Shamus and the scrolling shooter Zeppelin. A port to the Commodore 64 by Joe Vierra was released in 1984. Although ostensibly a sequel to Shamus, the gameplay is very different, combining aspects of platform games, maze games, and even Breakout. Case II was as well received as the original.

<i>Floyd of the Jungle</i> 1982 video game

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.

<i>Kid Grid</i> 1982 video game

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.

References

  1. 1 2 Mancopter at Lemon 64
  2. 1 2 "Mancopter manual". archive.org. 1984.
  3. "Software Preview". Electronic Games. 2 (12): 27. May 1984.
  4. "Reviews: Mancopter". Compute!'s Gazette. January 1985. p. 113. Retrieved 6 July 2014.