Mars Cars

Last updated
Mars Cars
Mars Cars cover.jpg
Developer(s) Datamost
Publisher(s) Datamost
Designer(s) David Husch [1]
Platform(s) Apple II
Release 1982
Genre(s) Maze
Mode(s) Single-player

Mars Cars is an Apple II maze game written by David Husch and published by Datamost in 1982. [1] The game was released to the United States and the sole credit of the development of the game is David Husch. [2]

Contents

Gameplay

In-game screenshot Marscars2.jpg
In-game screenshot

The player maneuvers a car to collect four treasures one in each corner of the screenwhile avoiding computer-controlled Mars Cars [3] (which look more like aliens than vehicles). Getting touched by a Mars Car results in loss of a life. The player's car is allowed to drive through and remove the barriers making up the maze, but Mars Cars cannot. When all treasures are collected, the player can start the next level by driving into the warp area on the right side of the screen. There are sixteen levels [3] and four different type of Martians as enemy types: Clutz, Fire Bug, Hatcher, and Kamikaze.

The inside cover of the game also served as a two page manual for the game. The manual included a short explanation of the game's themes, ideas, and how it is played, written by David Husch. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord</i> 1981 video game

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was developed by Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead. In 1980, Norman Sirotek formed Sir-Tech Software, Inc. and launched a beta version of the product at the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. The final version of the game was released in 1981.

<i>Dodge Em</i> 1980 video game

Dodge 'Em is a driving-themed maze game programmed by Carla Meninsky and published in 1980 by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS. Similar to Sega's 1979 Head On arcade game, Dodge 'Em is played on a single screen of four concentric roadways. Sears released the game for the "Sears Video Arcade" as Dodger Cars.

<i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin</i> 1983 video game

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin is a video game for the Intellivision video game console and the Mattel Aquarius computer system. This game was a licensed Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. It is a successor game to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain (1982).

<i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain</i> 1982 video game

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is an Intellivision game and was one of the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games to be licensed by TSR, Inc. It was later retitled to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain to distinguish it from the sequel, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin. It is the first Intellivision cartridge to use more than 4K of ROM.

<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>Cavern Creatures</i> 1983 video game

Cavern Creatures is a vertically scrolling shooter for the Apple II written by Paul Lowrance and published by Datamost in 1983. The title screen artwork is by Art Huff. The game is similar to the 1981 game Caverns of Mars for the Atari 8-bit family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Datamost</span> American video game publisher

Datamost was a computer book publisher and computer game company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family, with some for the IBM PC. It also published educational and reference materials related to computers and computer programming.

<i>Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory</i> 1983 video game

Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory is a platform game created for the Atari 8-bit family by Ron Rosen and published in 1983 by Datamost. The music was composed by Gary Gilbertson using Philip Price's Advanced Music Processor, while the title screen was drawn by Art Huff. It was ported to the Apple II by Robert McNally and to the Commodore 64.

<i>The Missing Ring</i> 1982 video game

The Missing Ring is a role-playing video game written by Terry Romine for the Apple II and published in 1982 by Datamost.

<i>Money Munchers</i> 1982 video game

Money Munchers is an Apple II maze game published by Datamost in 1982. It was written by Bob Bishop after he retired from Apple Computer in 1981.

<i>Snack Attack</i> 1982 video games

Snack Attack is a maze action video game developed by Dan Illowsky for the Apple II family of computers. It was published by Datamost in 1981. The game is a Pac-Man clone.

<i>Gemstone Warrior</i> 1984 video game

Gemstone Warrior is a video game written by Canadian developer Paradigm Creators for the Apple II and published by Strategic Simulations in 1984. It is a 2D action-adventure game where the player controls an armored figure searching for treasure and the pieces of the stolen Gemstone. Gemstone Warrior was SSI's first game to sell over 50,000 copies in North America.

<i>Super Bunny</i> 1983 video game

Super Bunny is a platform game written by Vic Leone for the Apple II family of home computers and published by Datamost in 1983. Ports to the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 followed in 1984.

<i>Dandy</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Dandy is a dungeon crawl maze game for the Atari 8-bit family published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983. It is one of the first video games with four-player, simultaneous cooperative play. Players equipped with bows and unlimited arrows fight through a maze containing monsters, monster spawners, keys, locked doors, food, and bombs in search of the exit leading to the next level. If a player dies, they can be revived by finding and shooting a heart. The game includes an editor for making new dungeons.

<i>Spectre</i> (1982 video game) Apple II video game

Spectre is a video game for the Apple II written by Bob Flanagan and Scott Miller and published by Datamost in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overworld</span> Multilevel area in video game design

An overworld or a hub world is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres, such as some platformers and strategy games.

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

Bolo is a video game written by Jim Lane for the Apple II and published by Synergistic Software in 1982. It was inspired by Keith Laumer's 1976 science fiction novel Bolo: Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade, which featured self-aware tanks.

<i>Monster Smash</i> 1983 video game

Monster Smash is an action game written by Dave Eisler and published by Datamost in 1983 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family. A Commodore 64 port followed in 1984. The Atari version features music written by Gary Gilbertson that was praised by reviewers. An earlier version of the game was published by The Software Farm in 1982 as Monster Mash.

References

  1. 1 2 Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. "Mars Cars". mobygames.com. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "An Avalanche of Apple Games". Creative Computing. 9 (1): 68. January 1983.
  4. Husch, David. "MARS CARS". www.mobygames.com/. Datamost, Inc. Retrieved 27 March 2023.