Surround (video game)

Last updated
Surround
Surround cover.jpg
Surround cover art by Cliff Spohn [1]
Developer(s) Atari, Inc.
Publisher(s) Atari, Inc.
Programmer(s) Alan Miller
Platform(s) Atari 2600
ReleaseSeptember 1977
Genre(s) Snake
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Surround is a video game programmed by Alan Miller and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600 (originally the Atari Video Computer System). The game plays similarly to the arcade game Blockade (1976), which allows players to navigate a continuously moving block around an enclosed space as a wall trails behind it. Every time the opposite player has their brick hit a wall, the opposing player earns a single point, with the winner being the first to collect ten points.

Contents

Following Gremlin Industries' presentation of Blockade at the 1976 Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo, several other game developers created their own Snake-style video games, including Atari with their arcade game Dominos (1977) and their Atari 2600 game Surround. The game includes various modes of Surround, controlling the speed and freedom of movement, as well as a Video Graffiti mode that allowed players to draw on their screen.

Surround was among the launch titles for the Atari 2600. Initial reviews noted that the game was complex, while generally stating it was a strong game. Retrospective reviews found the graphics and sound for the game weak but that Surround remained a high quality title when played with a second player competitively.

Gameplay

A sample round in Surround. The score of the two players is displayed at the top of the screen while the players maneuver their square as it leaves a wall behind them until while player collides with it. Surround-gameplay-atari-2600.gif
A sample round in Surround. The score of the two players is displayed at the top of the screen while the players maneuver their square as it leaves a wall behind them until while player collides with it.

In Surround, two players or one player and a computer-controlled opponent attempt to navigate an enclosed space. [2] The computer-controlled blocks move automatically across the screen and can be navigated up, down, left and right and, in some modes, diagonally across the playing field. [3] As the block moves through the space, a wall trails behind them, forming a wall. A player earns one point if they manage to make the other player to crash into any wall. [4] [2] The first player to reach 10 points wins. [2]

Variations of the competitive game can be chosen that allow for the blocks to speed up to different intervals as the game continues. Other modes allow for diagonal movement, or offer a feature called "Erase", where the player can push the red controller button to stop creating the trail. A final feature offers wraparound, where the leading blocks will wrap around the playfield when leaving the screen. The final two modes are titled Video Graffiti and allow the player to draw a picture on the screen with the joystick. [5] One variant operates like an Etch A Sketch, while the other offers an erase option. [6]

Development

Like many of the Atari 2600 launch titles, Surround was based on an established arcade game. [7] Prior to the release of Surround, designer Lane Hauck developed an arcade game Blockade (1976) for Gremlin Industries. When it was shown at the 1976 Music Operators of America (MOA) Expo in Chicago, it proved popular and Gremlin received 3,000 orders of the game. [8] [9] At the times of Blockade's release, counterfeiting was high and public demand for the game was not as long-lasting as the company had hoped. [8] As they worked to adapt to their new game to new tech, other companies released similar games such as Ramtek with Barricade , Meadows Games with Bigfoot Bonkers and Atari with Dominos for arcades and Surround for the Atari 2600. [9] [10]

Surround was programmed by Alan Miller. [11] [2] Miller previously studied computer simulations at Berkeley and graduated in 1972. In 1977, Miller responded to an ad by Atari looking for someone with microprocessor knowledge and was hired and began working on Surround as his first task. [12] In Larry Wagner notes from Atari at the time, the game was labeled as the Blockade game. [13] Miller spoke of the game negatively in a 1982 interview with Bill Kunkel, stating the game was graphically "extremely crude" and felt the name for the game was inappropriate, saying "Surrounding your opponent isn't the only, or even the best, way to win. The title, the conception, was weak." [12]

The "Video Graffiti" mode in the game was part of a trend of early consoles, such as the Fairchild Channel F, the RCA Studio II, the Bally Astrocade and APF-MP1000 containing similar illustrative modes. [6]

Release

Surround was one of the launch titles for the Atari Video Computer System, later retitled the Atari 2600. Atari-2600-Woody-FL.jpg
Surround was one of the launch titles for the Atari Video Computer System, later retitled the Atari 2600.

Surround was released for the Atari 2600 on September 1977. [2] The game was among the nine launch title for the console, but was not immediately available as the earliest Atari games other than Combat (1977) were initially available by mail order. [15] [7] Competitors released similar games to Blockade for their home consoles around the same period, such as the Bally Astrocade being built-in with Checkmate, the APF-MP1000 with Blockout and years later with Mattel releasing Snafu for the Intellivision. [16] For the Sears release of the Atari 2600 under their Tele-Games label, the game was titled Chase. [11] [2] Surround remained in circulation for over a decade, with 97 copies of the game being sold as late as 1988. [17]

Surround was re-released in various compilation formats, such as the Atari 80 in One (2003) for Windows, the Atari Anthology (2004) for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (2022) compilation for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Xbox One. [18] [19] It was also released to portable gaming compilations such as Atari Greatest Hits for Nintendo DS and iOS-based smartphones. [20] [21]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, two reviews came from Video , the first review found the game complex and challenging with sound effects that would keep the players alert. The review gave the variations first twelve 12 variations of the game a nine out of ten rating, while the Video Graffiti games were "basically pretty dull" and gave them a five out of ten. [24] Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz (under the name Frank T. Laney II) later reviewed the game in Video magazine, stating they found mode 4 to the be the best for solo play, while noting the computer controlled player did not play aggressively and just tried to avoid making mistakes. [25] [26] The two found mode six to be the most competitive and promoted frequent replays. [25] David H. Ahl found the launch titles for the Atari 2600 to be designed with continuous fun play, while noting that the game was complicated, they appreciated the Video Graffiti options and praised the sound effects as "fantastic". [27]

From retrospective reviews, Both the 1983 review from TV Gamer and 1984 Software Encyclopedia issue of Electronic Games stated that the game had low-quality graphics and sound. [28] [23] The reviewer in TV Gamer noted that the game was still remained popular and fun, while the Electronic Games magazine specifically praised the gameplay and competitive nature of the game as excellent, giving it an eight out of ten rating. [28] [23] Brett Alan Weiss writing for online database AllGame echoed the previous statements of the game's sound and visuals being overly simplistic while two-player matches were highly competitive and entertaining. [22] Kevin Bunch in his book Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978 (2022) declared the game to be one of the highlights of the early days of the Atari 2600 noting its unique gameplay to the system and that the 1970s titles for the system were "frequently overlooked, but Surround is one of the few–alongside with the likes of Combat, Air-Sea Battle and Indy 500 –that really holds up." [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Kaboom!</i> (video game) 1981 action game

Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade game Avalanche (1978), with the game now involving a Mad Bomber who drops bombs instead of falling rocks. Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after the release of the game. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.

<i>Star Raiders</i> 1980 video game

Star Raiders is a space combat simulator video game created by Doug Neubauer and published in 1980 by Atari. The player assumes the role of a starship fighter pilot, who must protect starbases from invading forces called Zylons. Piloting and combat are shown in the 3D cockpit view, while a 2D galactic map shows the state of the Zylon invasion. Neubauer made the game during in his spare time at Atari, inspired by contemporary media such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, as well as the 1971 mainframe game Star Trek. Originally released on the Atari 400/800 computers, Star Raiders was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST.

<i>Pitfall!</i> 1982 video game

Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.

<i>Phoenix</i> (1980 video game) 1980 video game

Phoenix is a fixed shooter video game developed for arcades in Japan and released in 1980 by Taito. The player controls a space ship shooting at incoming enemies that fly from the top of the screen down towards the player's ship. There are five stages which repeat endlessly. The fifth is a fight against a large enemy spaceship, making Phoenix one of the first shooters with a boss battle, an element that would become common for the genre.

<i>Combat</i> (video game) 1977 video game

Combat is a 1977 video game by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. In the game, two players controlling either a tank, a biplane, or a jet fire missiles at each other for two minutes and sixteen seconds. Points are scored by hitting the opponent, and the player with the most points when the time runs out wins. Variations on the gameplay introduce elements such as invisible vehicles, missiles that ricochet off of walls, and different playing fields.

<i>Demon Attack</i> Fixed shooter video game from 1982

Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.

<i>Golf</i> (Atari 2600 video game) 1980 video game

Golf is a 1980 video game programmed by Michael Lorenzen for Atari for the Atari 2600. It is based on the traditional sport of golf. The game allows one or two players to play nine holes of the game, featuring various obstacles.

<i>Haunted House</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Haunted House is a 1982 adventure video game programmed by James Andreasen for the Atari Video Computer System and published by Atari. The player controls an avatar shaped like a pair of eyes who explores a mansion seeking out parts of an urn to return to the entrance. The game world is populated by roaming enemies including vampire bats, tarantulas, and a ghost. Haunted House was among the first games to use player-controlled scrolling between large portions of the visual space.

<i>River Raid</i> 1982 video game

River Raid is a video game developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls a fighter jet over the River of No Return in a raid behind enemy lines. The goal is to navigate the flight by destroying enemy tankers, helicopters, fuel depots and bridges without running out of fuel or crashing.

<i>Air-Sea Battle</i> 1977 video game

Air-Sea Battle is a fixed shooter developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS. Air-Sea Battle is partially based on the 1975 Atari arcade video game Anti-Aircraft where each player uses a ground-based gun to shoot passing aircraft. The cartridge adds other variants, such as planes dropping bombs on ships and a carnival-themed shooting gallery.

<i>Basic Math</i> (video game) 1977 video game

Basic Math is an educational video game for the Atari Video Computer System. The game was developed at Atari, Inc. by Gary Palmer. The game involves a series of ten arithmetic problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. The player can edit different game play modes to alter how the numbers in the problem are chosen, or if their questions are timed. The game was released in 1977 as one of the earliest releases for the console.

<i>Blackjack</i> (Atari 2600 video game) 1977 video game

Blackjack is a video game simulation of the card game blackjack. It was designed by Bob Whitehead for the Atari Video Computer System. The game allows up to three players to play a variation of blackjack. Each player is given 200 chips where they can bet 1 to 25 of each round. The game ends for a player when they either run out of chips or earns 1000 chips or more.

<i>Basketball</i> (1978 video game) 1978 video game

Basketball is an Atari 2600 video game programmed by Alan Miller and published by Atari, Inc. in 1978. The cartridge presents a simple game of one-on-one basketball playable by one or two players, one of the few early Atari 2600 titles to have a single-player mode with an AI-controlled opponent. Miller wrote a version of Basketball for the Atari 8-bit family with improved graphics, published in 1979. That same year, an arcade version similar to the computer port was released by Atari but in black and white.

<i>Ice Hockey</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

Ice Hockey is an ice hockey video game designed by Alan Miller for the Atari VCS, and published by Activision in 1981. Actor and comedian Phil Hartman starred in the commercial for the game.

<i>Video Olympics</i> 1977 video game

Video Olympics is a video game programmed by Joe Decuir for the Atari 2600. It is one of the nine 2600 launch titles Atari, Inc. published when the 2600 system was released in September 1977. The cartridge is a collection of games from Atari's popular arcade Pong series. A similar collection in arcade machine form called Tournament Table was published by Atari in 1978.

<i>Indy 500</i> (1977 video game) 1977 video game

Indy 500 is a 1977 racing video game developed by Atari, Inc. for its Video Computer System. It is themed around the Indianapolis 500, and is based on Atari's earlier 8-player arcade game, Indy 800.

<i>Blockade</i> (video game) 1976 video game

Blockade is an arcade video game developed by Lane Hauck for Gremlin and released in November 1976. It is a two-player game where each player controls the direction of an arrow on the screen which creates a trail behind it. The object is the avoid any walls surrounding the playfield or created by each player for a select amount of turns. Blockade spawned many clones which came to be known as snake games.

<i>Dominos</i> (video game) 1977 video game

Dominos is a one, two or four-player video action game packaged in its own distinctively styled upright cabinet that rest directly on the floor.

<i>Superman</i> (1979 video game) Action-adventure game for the Atari 2600

Superman is a video game programmed by John Dunn for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls Superman, whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find three pieces of a bridge that was destroyed by Lex Luthor, capture Luthor and his criminal gang, and return to the Daily Planet building. The game world is populated by antagonists such as a helicopter that re-arranges the bridge pieces and roving kryptonite satellites that cause Superman to revert into Clark Kent.

<i>Space Invaders</i> (Atari 2600 video game) 1980 video game

Space Invaders is a 1980 video game based on Taito's arcade game of the same name for the Atari 2600. It was developed and released by Atari, Inc. and designed and developed by Rick Maurer. The game is based on the arcade game in which a player operates a laser cannon to shoot at incoming enemies from outer space. Maurer's version has unique graphics and offers some gameplay variations. These include a two-player mode and variations that allow for invisible enemies and moving shields, and for enemies shots to zig zag and potentially hit players.

References

  1. ↑ Lapetino 2016, p. 66.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bunch 2022, p. 114.
  3. ↑ Atari 1978, p. 2.
  4. ↑ Atari 1978, p. 1.
  5. ↑ Atari 1978, p. 3.
  6. 1 2 Bunch 2022, p. 115.
  7. 1 2 Montfort & Bogost 2009, p. 123.
  8. 1 2 Horowitz 2018, p. 22.
  9. 1 2 DeWyze 1982.
  10. ↑ Bunch 2022, pp. 158–159.
  11. 1 2 Bunch 2022, p. 112.
  12. 1 2 Kunkel 1982, p. 13.
  13. ↑ Bunch 2022, pp. 114–115.
  14. ↑ Montfort 2006.
  15. ↑ Bunch 2022, p. 37.
  16. ↑ Bunch 2022, p. 115-116.
  17. 1 2 Bunch 2022, p. 116.
  18. ↑ Machkovech 2022.
  19. ↑ Harris 2004.
  20. ↑ Aaron 2010.
  21. ↑ "Atari's Greatest Hits". MetaCritic. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  22. 1 2 Weiss.
  23. 1 2 3 Kunkel, p. 101.
  24. ↑ Kaplan 1979, pp. 32–33.
  25. 1 2 Kunkel & Laney 1979, pp. 42–43.
  26. ↑ Willaert 2020.
  27. ↑ Ahl 1978, p. 38.
  28. 1 2 Williamson 1983, p. 37.

Sources


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.