Choplifter is a military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family the same year and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.
Bill Williams was an American video game designer, programmer, composer, and author born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder. According to a medical encyclopedia Williams consulted when he was 12, people with cystic fibrosis weren't expected to live past the age of 13.
Caverns of Mars is a vertically scrolling shooter for Atari 8-bit computers. It was written by Greg Christensen, with some features later added by Richard Watts, and published by the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. Caverns of Mars became the best selling APX software of all-time and was moved into Atari, Inc.'s official product line, first on diskette, then on cartridge.
Crossfire is a multidirectional shooter created by Jay Sullivan for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Using keyboard-based twin-stick shooter controls, the player maneuvers a ship in a grid-like maze. Versions with joystick-control use the stick for movement and switch to firing mode when the button is held down.
Gateway to Apshai is an action-adventure game for the Commodore 64, ColecoVision and Atari 8-bit family, developed by The Connelley Group and published by Epyx as a prequel to Temple of Apshai. It is a more action-oriented version of Temple of Apshai, with smoother and faster graphics, streamlined controls, fewer role-playing video game elements, and fewer room descriptions.
Atari Program Exchange (APX) was a division of Atari, Inc. that sold software via mail-order for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers from 1981 until 1984. Quarterly APX catalogs were sent to all registered Atari 8-bit owners. APX encouraged any programmer, not just professionals, to submit video games, educational software, applications, and utilities. If selected, a program was added to the catalog with credit given to the programmer. The top submissions of the quarter in each category were recognized. One program each year received the top honor: the Atari Star award. Several APX titles, such as Eastern Front (1941), Caverns of Mars, and Atari Star winner Typo Attack, were moved to Atari's official product line. A few internally developed Atari products were sold through APX, such as Atari Pascal and the developer handbook De Re Atari.
Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers is a digital book edited by James Hague and published in 1997. The book was originally formatted using HTML and sold via mail-order, shipped on a floppy disk by Dadgum Games for USD$20. In 2002, Halcyon Days was made freely available on the web. The book continued to be sold by Dr. Dobb's Journal, on a CD-ROM also containing Susan Lammers's Programmers at Work, until Dr. Dobb's shut down at the end of 2014.
Bandits is a 1982 fixed shooter written by Tony and Benny Ngo for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software. The game is a clone of Taito's 1980 Stratovox arcade video game where the goal is to prevent aliens from stealing objects. Bandits was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20.
Secret Quest is an action-adventure game developed by Axlon for the Atari 2600 and published by Atari Corporation in 1989. The player controls a humanoid character that fights monsters and gathers items on a series of space stations. It was one of the last cartridges released for the console and has a larger ROM capacity than most 2600 games plus a small amount of RAM. The box credits Nolan Bushnell for the game and includes his photo on both the front and back. According to Secret Quest programmer Steve DeFrisco, "Atari thought that his name would entice people to buy some more 2600 titles".
Boulders and Bombs is a video game for Atari 8-bit computers published on cartridge by CBS Software in 1983. It was written by Keith Dreyer and Torre Meeder who previously developed the Berzerk-clone K-Razy Shoot-Out. In Boulders and Bombs, the player must dig tunnels so three people can cross from one side of the screen to the other. Bird-like creatures, flying in the upper portion of the screen, launch projectiles into the dirt to thwart the player. While there isn't a separate multiplayer mode, joysticks plugged into each of the remaining 1-3 ports can each control one of the birds. The game generally received poor reviews.
Airstrike is a horizontally scrolling shooter written by Steven A. Riding for Atari 8-bit computers. Having strong similarities to Konami's 1981 Scramble arcade game, it was published in 1982 as the first release from UK-based English Software. The company described the game as "Very, very, difficult!" in magazine advertisements, and reviewers agreed with that assessment.
Track Attack is a train-themed action game written by Chris Jochumson for the Apple II. It was published in 1982 by Broderbund, as was a port for Atari 8-bit computers by Bill Hooper. Track Attack contains both overhead maze levels and side-scrolling platform game levels. In the latter, the player controls a character who runs along the top of a train, performing acrobatic leaps between the cars. Jochumson co-authored The Arcade Machine which was released the same year.
Protector II is a video game written by Mike Potter for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Synapse Software in 1982. It is a sequel to 1981's Protector; both games are horizontally scrolling shooters inspired by the arcade video game Defender. Protector II was ported to the Commodore 64, TI-99/4A, and TRS-80 Color Computer.
Kid Grid is a grid capture game which borrows heavily from the 1981 arcade video game Amidar. Written by Arti Haroutunian for Atari 8-bit computers, it was published by Tronix in 1982. A Commodore 64 port from the same programmer was released in 1983. In Kid Grid, the player moves along the horizontal and vertical lines of the playfield, turning the lines from dotted gray to solid blue. If all the lines around a square are completed, it is filled-in. Deadly creatures chase the player.
Monster Smash is an action game written by Dave Eisler and published by Datamost in 1983 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family. A Commodore 64 port followed in 1984. The Atari version features music written by Gary Gilbertson that was praised by reviewers. An earlier version of the game was published by The Software Farm in 1982 as Monster Mash.
O'Riley's Mine is an action game designed by Mark Riley and published in 1983 by Datasoft for the Atari 8-bit home computer. The game was ported to Apple II by Larry Lewis and to Commodore 64 by Al Rubin. Both ports were also released in 1983.
Threshold is a space-themed fixed shooter written by Warren Schwader and Ken Williams for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Inspired by Sega's Astro Blaster arcade video game, Threshold introduces many enemy ship types and wave formations as the game progresses. Reviewers found the variety distinguished the game from the many similar shoot 'em ups.
Nightraiders is a vertically scrolling shooter designed by Peter Filiberti and published in 1983 by Datamost for the Atari 8-bit home computer. The game is heavily inspired by the 1982 Sega arcade game Zaxxon.
Zeppelin is a multidirectional scrolling shooter designed by Cathryn Mataga and published in 1983 by Synapse Software for the Atari 8-bit family. A Commodore 64 port programmed by David Barbour was released in 1984.
Elektra Glide is a futuristic motorcycle racing game developed by designer Adam Billyard for the Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64 home computers. It was published in 1985 by English Software. Mastertronic also published the game in the US.
