| Spacechase | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Games by Apollo |
| Publisher(s) | Games by Apollo |
| Designer(s) | Ed Salvo [1] |
| Release | 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, 2 players alternating |
Spacechase is a fixed shooter video game for the Atari Video Computer System (later called the Atari 2600) written by Ed Salvo and published by Games by Apollo in 1981. [1] [2]
In orbit of an unnamed "moon," the player uses a Starcruiser to destroy formations of alien enemy raiders that attack from above. The lunar surface rotates in the background, but has no effect on gameplay. The player's ship can maneuver in eight directions within the lower third of the game screen. As the game advances, the aliens attacks begin to include "Lazer-Directed Heat-Seeking Proton Missiles".
There are single and two-player games; players alternate turns in the latter. The game can be handicapped for each player by setting the Atari's Difficulty Switch. In the "A" position the player's shots are slower than when the switch is in the "B" position. [3]
Spacechase became Apollo's best selling title. Apollo also marketed Spacechase with an offer to make customized or "monogrammed" versions of Spacechase. Less than 10 were sold, and several were given to press including Electronic Games magazine co-founder Arnie Katz.
PM Magazine visited Apollo's offices to film a segment on Apollo and Spacechase, with Leeza Gibbons doing the interview. The segment included programmer Ed Salvo making a customized Spacechase for Gibbons, changing three shapes in the explosion graphic to her initials. When her ship was destroyed, Leeza's initials appeared. [2]
The Atari Times, reviewed by Ethan C. Nobles, gave it a 75% rating. [4]
neXGam (German), reviewed by Michael Tausendpfund, gave it a 63% rating. [5]
Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.
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Games by Apollo Inc. was a third-party developer of games for the Atari 2600 video game system, based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded in October 1981 by Pat Roper as a subsidiary of his National Career Consultants (NCC). Apollo's first title was Skeet Shoot, and neither it nor the ten games that followed caught on, and the company was one of the first to declare bankruptcy as a result of the video game crash of 1983.
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