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Taz | |
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Developer(s) | Atari, Inc. [1] |
Publisher(s) | Atari, Inc. [1] |
Designer(s) | Steve Woita [1] |
Artist(s) | Jerome Domurat Steve Woita |
Platform(s) | Atari 2600 [1] |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action [1] |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Taz is a video game developed and released by Atari, Inc. in 1983 for the Atari 2600. It features the Looney Tunes character the Tasmanian Devil in a food frenzy. Within the game, Taz only appears as a tornado. The same game was later released as Asterix, with the character Asterix instead of Taz. [2]
The player guides Taz between the stage lines in order to eat hamburgers and avoid the dynamites. The game does not use any buttons and the difficulty increases by increasing the speed of the objects on screen. As the game progresses, the burgers may change into other edible or drinkable objects such as root beers, hamburgers, etc. There are not many sound effects in the game except a blipping sound when the player hits an edible object and another sound that resembles of explosion when the player hits dynamite.
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.
Millipede is a fixed shooter video game released in arcades by Atari, Inc. in 1982. The sequel to 1981's Centipede, it has more gameplay variety and a wider array of insects than the original. The objective is to score as many points as possible by destroying all segments of the millipede as it moves toward the bottom of the screen, as well as eliminating or avoiding other enemies. The game is played with a trackball and a single fire button which can be held down for rapid-fire.
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as a player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). 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.
Adventure is a video game developed by Warren Robinett for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1980 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a square avatar whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find a magical chalice and return it to the golden castle. The game world is populated by roaming enemies: three dragons that can eat the avatar and a bat that randomly steals and moves items around the game world. Adventure introduced new elements to console games, including enemies that continue to move when offscreen.
Mouse Trap is a maze video game developed by Exidy and released in arcades in 1981. It is similar to Pac-Man, with the main character replaced by a mouse, the dots with cheese, the ghosts with cats, and the energizers with bones. After collecting a bone, pressing a button turns the mouse into a dog for a brief period of time. Color-coded doors in the maze can be toggled by pressing a button of the same color. A hawk periodically flies across the maze, unrestricted by walls.
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.
Spelunker is a 1983 platform video game developed by Timothy G. Martin of MicroGraphic Image. It is set in a cave, with the player starting at the cave's entrance at the top, and the objective is to get to the treasure at the bottom.
H.E.R.O. is a video game designed by John Van Ryzin and published by Activision for the Atari 2600 in March 1984. The game has players control Roderick Hero who traverses a mineshaft avoiding enemies and hazards to rescue trapped miners. He travels through the mines equipped with a hoverpack that allows him to traverse the game levels as well as bombs and laser that let him destroy walls and defeat enemies respectively.
Golf is a 1980 sports video game programmed by Michael Lorenzen for Atari, Inc. 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.
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.
Kick is an action video game where the player controls a clown on a unicycle catching falling balloons and Pac-Man characters on the clown's hat. It was released in arcades by Midway in 1981. The game was later renamed Kick Man. Commodore published a Commodore 64 port in 1982 without the space in the title as Kickman.
Pressure Cooker is a video game for the Atari 2600 designed by Garry Kitchen and released by Activision in 1983. The player is a short-order cook at a hamburger stand who must assemble and package hamburgers to order without letting ingredients or hamburgers fall to the floor.
Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600. It was published by Activision in 1982. A pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.
Taz in Escape from Mars is a video game developed by HeadGames and released by Sega in 1994 for the Genesis/Mega Drive and Game Gear featuring Taz, the Looney Tunes Tasmanian devil cartoon character. The Game Gear version was ported by TecToy to the Master System and released in March 1997 only in Brazil. Taz must escape from Mars, where he was brought by Marvin the Martian. The game includes six worlds with two or three levels in each world.
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.
Surround is a video game programmed by Alan Miller and published by Atari, Inc. for 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.
Tooth Protectors is a video game for the Atari 2600 video game console. It is an early example of an advergame, released exclusively via mail order in 1983 by American company Johnson & Johnson.
Snoopy and the Red Baron is an Atari 2600 shoot 'em up featuring Peanuts character Snoopy and his aviation rival, the Red Baron. It is the first video game based on Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz and was published by Atari, Inc. in 1983.
Miniature Golf is a golf video game developed for the Atari VCS by Tom Reuterdahl and published by Atari, Inc. in 1979.
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.