| Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Coleco |
| Publisher(s) | Coleco |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600, ColecoVision |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle is a 1982 video game published and developed by Coleco for the ColecoVision and Atari 2600. The game is based on the television series The Smurfs . In the game, the player must brave a series of obstacles to rescue Smurfette from Gargamel's castle.
Gargamel has kidnapped Smurfette. As a Smurf, the player has to walk from the Smurf village through a forest and a cave on the way to Gargamel's castle, where Smurfette awaits rescue. The player has an energy bar that slowly depletes over time.
Each side-scrolling screen presents various obstacles that the player must precisely jump over (e.g. fences, stalagmites) or land upon (e.g. ledges). Failure to execute any jump results in instant death. Higher difficulty levels introduce crows, flying bats and spiders that the player must also avoid.
The ColecoVision version of Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle contains Easter eggs - initials may appear onscreen when moving between screens, and the player will receive hundreds of thousands of points, when moving between two forest screens. [3]
Two of the background music tracks are "Simple Gifts" and the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 6th Symphony, the "Pastoral".
Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games said in 1983 that Smurf for ColecoVision was "truly good fun", approving of its graphics. The magazine stated that the game was suitable for very young children and older ones, reporting that neighborhood kids "loved it. I almost had to evict them from my house at night so I could get a game in before going to sleep". [4] The ColecoVision version was reviewed in Video magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was praised as utilizing "the best audiovisuals in the entire [ColecoVision] line". The visuals were described as "what amounts to the video-game equivalent of a Saturday-morning cartoon show", and the audio was described as "sophisticated" with nuanced sounds such as ominous organ music and the "muted echo" accompaniment to standard leaps. The reviewers also cautioned players to "prepare for frustration" until they learned how to accurately judge leaps. [5]
The game was given the award for "Best Video Game Audiovisual Effects" at the 4th annual Arkie Awards. [6]
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari VCS. It was programmed by Larry Kaplan, and David Crane coded the overlaid sprites. The game was well received and sold over one million cartridges by 1983.
Tennis is a sports video game for the Atari VCS which was written by Activision co-founder Alan Miller and published by Activision in 1981.
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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.
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River Raid is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Activision later ported the title to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, and Intellivision consoles, as well as to the Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, MSX, ZX Spectrum, and Atari 8-bit family. Shaw did the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 ports herself.
Wizard of Wor is an arcade video game released in 1980 by Midway. Up to two players fight together in a series of monster-infested mazes, clearing each maze by shooting the creatures. The game was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Atari 2600, and Atari 5200 and renamed to The Incredible Wizard for the Bally Astrocade. The original cartridge came with a cash prize offer to the first person to complete the game.
Astro Chase is a multidirectional shooter written by Fernando Herrera for the Atari 8-bit family. It was published by First Star Software in 1982 as the company's first game. Parker Brothers licensed it, releasing cartridge versions for the Atari 8-bit family and Atari 5200 console in 1983 and a Commodore 64 version in 1984. Exidy licensed it for arcade use with its Max-A-Flex cabinet.
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Dragonfire is a 1982 video game written by Bob Smith and published by Imagic. The player grabs treasure guarded by a dragon while avoiding fireballs. It was originally released for the Atari 2600 then ported to the Intellivision, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, ColecoVision, and TRS-80 Color Computer.
The Activision Decathlon is a sports game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, and MSX. Up to four players compete in the ten different events of a real-life decathlon, either in sequence or individually.
Tutankham is a 1982 arcade video game developed and released by Konami and released by Stern in North America. Named after the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, the game combines a maze shoot 'em up with light puzzle-solving elements. It debuted at the European ATE and IMA amusement shows in January 1982, before releasing worldwide in Summer 1982. The game was a critical and commercial success and was ported to home systems by Parker Brothers.
Fast Food is an action game for the Atari 2600 written by Don Ruffcorn and published by Telesys in 1982.
Cosmic Avenger is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Universal Entertainment Corporation and released in arcades by Universal in July 1981. It is one of the first shooters with forced horizontal scrolling along with Konami's Scramble released earlier in the year. The final installment in Universal's Cosmic series, players take control of the Avenger space fighter and use bullets and bombs against enemy forces.
Phaser Patrol, written by Dennis Caswell, is the first numbered release by Arcadia for the Atari 2600 and the pack-in game for the Atari 2600 Supercharger accessory in 1982. The company changed its name to Starpath after launch, and the hardware was rebranded the Starpath Supercharger.
Space Cavern is a 1982 fixed shooter video game for the Atari 2600 developed and released by Games by Apollo. Players control a spaceship commander who has landed on a planet and must defend the ship against its hostile creatures. Games by Apollo founder Pat Roper was impressed by the game Demon Attack and tasked Apollo member Dan Oliver with making a game very similar to it.
Triple Action is an action video game produced by Mattel Electronics for its Intellivision video game system in 1981. The game actually includes three separate games—racing, tank combat and flying—where two players compete against each other for the best score.
Lady Bug is a maze chase video game produced by Universal and released for arcades in 1981. Its gameplay is similar to Pac-Man, with the primary addition to the formula being gates that change the layout of the maze when used, adding an element of strategy to the genre. The arcade original was relatively obscure, but the game found wider recognition and success as a launch title for the ColecoVision console.