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| Sorcerer's Apprentice | |
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| Developer(s) | Atari, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Atari, Inc. |
| Designer(s) | Peter Niday |
| Programmer(s) | Peter Niday |
| Composer(s) | Robert Vieira |
| Series | Fantasia |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Tower defense |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sorcerer's Apprentice is a video game for the Atari 2600, based on a sequence from the film Fantasia .
The player plays as Mickey Mouse in two different screens of play. One screen has various objects falling from the sky and he has the ability to shoot something up at them and catch certain things. The second screen involves him rushing up and down stairs trying to intercept an army of walking brooms to stop them from getting to the bottom and causing the room to flood more.
Randi Hacker for Electronic Fun with Computers & Games said: "Our only hypothesis is that it instills a healthy fear of brooms and cleaning paraphernalia which means that, when the kids who play this game grow up more people will need to be employed as maids". [1]
Atari Age said that Sorcerer's Apprentice is a wonderful cartoon videogame treat for the whole family. [2]
Video Games magazine said that "it's not a total disaster, but in light of the other child-oriented games recently released by Atari, especially Pigs in Space and Snoopy and the Red Baron, it is a disappointment". [3] TV Gamer said that "not the most difficult game ever created but then it is designed for younger gamers. The graphics are pretty good and overall the game is to be recommended to young gamers and Walt Disney fans". [4]
The Vid Kid's Book of Home Video Games gave the game an overall rating of B. [5]
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. Branded as the Atari Video Computer System from its release until November 1982, the VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man.
Q*bert is an arcade video game developed and published for the North American market by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a 2D action game with puzzle elements that uses isometric graphics to create a pseudo-3D effect. The objective of each level in the game is to change every cube in a pyramid to a target color by making Q*bert, the on-screen character, hop on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. Players use a joystick to control the character.
Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who is seeking treasure in a jungle with a 20 minute time limit. The game world is populated by enemies such as snakes and scorpions and hazards including quicksand and logs that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.
Gorf is an arcade video game released in 1981 by Midway Manufacturing, whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force". It is a fixed shooter with five distinct levels, the first of which is based on Space Invaders and another on Galaxian. The game makes heavy use of synthesized speech for the Gorfian robot which teases the player, powered by the Votrax speech chip. Gorf allows the player to buy two additional lives per quarter before starting the game, for a maximum of seven lives.
Chuck Norris Superkicks is a video game produced by Xonox in 1984. It was later sold as Kung Fu Superkicks and Super Kung Fu when the license for the use of the name Chuck Norris expired. The game was produced for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Atari 2600, and ColecoVision as part of Xonox's double-ender cartridge line.
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, known as Zoom 909 in Japan, is a pseudo-3D rail shooter released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1982. The player controls a spaceship in a third-person perspective, adapting the three-dimensional perspective of Sega's earlier racing game Turbo (1981) for the space shoot 'em up genre. It used the Buck Rogers license, referencing the space battles, though Buck himself is never seen.
Robert S. Harris, nicknamed RoSHa, is the designer and programmer of several 1980s home computer and console games, including War Room and Killer Bees!.
Killer Bees! is an action video game written by Robert S. Harris for the Magnavox Odyssey2 and published in 1983.
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G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike is a video game written by John Emerson for the Atari 2600 in 1983. The game was developed and published by Parker Brothers and involves three different types of gameplay. The game is loosely based on the G.I. Joe franchise of the same name and is the first licensed G.I. Joe video game. The UK version was renamed Action Man: Action Force.
M*A*S*H is an action game, based on the film, written for the Atari 2600 and published by Fox Video Games in 1983. It was designed and programmed by Doug Neubauer. Ports to the Atari 8-bit family, VIC-20, TI-99/4A, Intellivision, and ColecoVision followed.
Cosmic Ark is an Atari 2600 game designed by Rob Fulop and published by Imagic in 1982. The objective is to gather specimens from different planets in a spaceship which contains the survivors from the city of Atlantis. There are two versions of the cartridge. One allows the player to toggle the starfield display with the Black & White / Color TV switch. In the other the starfield cannot be disabled.
Rawson Law Stovall is an American video game designer and former video game journalist who was the first to be nationally syndicated in the United States. Stovall's first column appeared in Abilene Reporter-News, his local newspaper, in 1982, when he was ten. His work was first distributed by Universal Press Syndicate in April 1983 and by 1984, his column "The Vid Kid" appeared in over twenty-four newspapers. After being reported on by The New York Times, he was featured on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Discovery Channel's The New Tech Times, and he helped introduce the Nintendo Entertainment System at its North American launch.
Assault is a 1983 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Bomb for the Atari 2600. Controlling a spaceship fixated at the bottom of the screen, gameplay involves the player shooting projectiles towards an enemy mothership that deploys smaller ships to attack the player. The player must also prevent enough projectiles from touching the bottom of the screen.
Lifespan is a video game written by John O'Neill for the Atari 8-bit family which was published on cartridge by Roklan in 1983. It was released on disk in 1985 by Antic Software.
CommaVid Inc. was a game developer and publisher for the Atari 2600 that released six games between 1981 and 1983, plus a programming tool for the console. The company was founded by Dr. Irwin Gaines, Dr. John Bronstein, and Dr. Joseph Biel under the name Computer Magic Video, which was shortened to Com Ma Vid, or CommaVid. It was based in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to developing its own titles, CommaVid ported the arcade game Venture to the 2600 for Coleco.
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Obelix is a 1983 video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It is centred around the characters Asterix and Obelix created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
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