Bill Williams was an American video game designer, programmer, composer, and author born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder. According to a medical encyclopedia Williams consulted when he was 12, people with cystic fibrosis weren't expected to live past the age of 13.
Caverns of Mars is a vertically scrolling shooter for Atari 8-bit computers. It was written by Greg Christensen, with some features later added by Richard Watts, and published by the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. Caverns of Mars became the best selling APX software of all-time and was moved into Atari, Inc.'s official product line, first on diskette, then on cartridge.
Synapse Software Corporation was an American software developer and publisher founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. Synapse published application software and developer tools and was primarily known for video games. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit computers, then later developed for the Commodore 64 and other systems. Synapse was purchased by Broderbund in late 1984 and the Synapse label retired in 1985.
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.
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.
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.
Dandy is a dungeon crawl maze video game for Atari 8-bit computers 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.
The Chessmaster 2000 is a computer chess game by The Software Toolworks. It was the first in the Chessmaster series and published in 1986. It was released for Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Macintosh, and IBM PC compatibles.
The Pharaoh's Curse is a platform adventure game written by Steve Coleman and published by Synapse Software in 1983 for Atari 8-bit computers. It was ported to the Commodore 64 and VIC-20, with the VIC version published by Human Engineered Software. Coleman also wrote Rainbow Walker for Synapse, published the same year.
Blue Max 2001 is a diagonally-scrolling shooter written by Bob Polin for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1984. A Commodore 64 version was released the same year. Blue Max 2001 is the sequel to 1983's Blue Max, also by Polin, with the player piloting a futuristic hovercraft instead of a World War I biplane. Critics found the game disappointing compared with the original, citing the indistinct graphics and confusing documentation.
Rainbow Walker is an action game designed by Steve Coleman for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. A Commodore 64 port followed. The player hops along a rainbow, changing monochromatic squares to color, while avoiding dangerous creatures and gaps in the surface. Coloring the entire rainbow ends the level. There are bonus rounds between levels.
Attack at EP-CYG-4 is a shoot 'em up video game created by Mike Edwards for Atari 8-bit computers and published by his company BRAM, Inc. in 1982. It allows two players to cooperatively control the action against a computer enemy, in a fashion similar to Synapse Software's Survivor, also released in 1982. EP-CYG-4 was the first of Edwards' game efforts, and its success led to the creation of Zombies, which was published by Electronic Arts as Realm of Impossibility.
Lode Runner's Rescue is a 1985 action game developed by Joshua Scholar for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers as a follow-up to Doug Smiths's Lode Runner. Lode Runner was published by Broderbund, but the sequel was published under the Synapse Software name, a company acquired by Broderbund in 1984. Lode Runner's Rescue uses isometric projection to give a 3D feel.
Slime is an action 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.
Dimension X is a first-person vehicular combat game for Atari 8-bit computers released in 1984 by Synapse Software. It was designed by Steve Hales, who previously wrote Slime and Fort Apocalypse for Synapse. Dimension X has gameplay similar to Atari's Battlezone and Novagen's Encounter. The player controls an attack craft hovering over a checkerboard-patterned landscape while to destroy enemy ships.
Drelbs is a maze video game written by Kelly Jones for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. An Apple II port by Jonathan Tifft was released the same year. A Commodore 64 version followed in 1984 implemented by Miriam Nathan and William Mandel. The objective is to move the walls of the maze to make boxes. Some reviewers found the overall collection of elements to be eccentric and unique.
Pitstop is a 1983 racing video game developed and published by Epyx for the Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, Coleco Adam, and Commodore 64. A sequel, Pitstop II, was released in 1984.
Claim Jumper is a video game written by Gray Chang for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1982. It is primarily designed as a two-player competitive game, but includes a separate shoot 'em up mode for either one or two players.
Zeppelin is a multidirectional scrolling shooter designed by Cathryn Mataga and published in 1983 by Synapse Software for Atari 8-bit computers. A Commodore 64 port programmed by David Barbour was released in 1984.
