Battlezone (1980 video game)
| Battlezone | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Promotional arcade poster
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| Developer(s) | Atari |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Designer(s) |
Ed Rotberg Owen Rubin (exploding volcano) Roger Hector (tank & enemy graphics) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release |
Arcade November 1980 Atari 2600
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| Genre(s) | Combat simulation, Vehicular combat |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Cabinet | Standard, Horizontal |
| CPU | 6502 |
| Sound | POKEY and discrete circuits |
| Display | Horizontal orientation, Vector monitor (b&w) with color overlay |
Battlezone is a first-person tank combat arcade game from Atari released in November 1980. The player controls a tank which is attacked by other tanks and missiles. The game uses wireframe vector graphics on a black and white (with green and red sectioned color overlay) vector monitor. It was designed primarily by Ed Rotberg, who designed many games for Atari Inc., Atari Games, and Sente.
Gameplay is on a plane with a mountainous horizon featuring an erupting volcano, distant crescent moon, and various geometric solids (in vector outline) like pyramids and blocks. The player views the screen, which includes an overhead radar view to find and destroy the rather slow tanks, or the faster moving supertanks. Saucer-shaped UFOs and guided missiles occasionally appear for a bonus opportunity. The saucers differ from the tanks in that they do not fire upon the player, and do not appear on radar. The player can hide behind the solids or maneuver in rapid turns once fired on to buy time with which to fire himself.
No additional tanks are awarded until the score counter rolls over at ten million, and additional bonus tanks are again awarded at indicated scores of 15,000 and 100,000. The game only includes one hostile enemy on the game board at all times; the player never has to battle two enemy tanks at once, or a tank and guided missile. The UFO can appear on the screen at the same time as an enemy tank, and it can occasionally be destroyed by enemy fire.
The geometric solid obstacles are indestructible, and can block the movement of a player's tank. However, they are also useful as shields as they block enemy fire as well.
The music heard when a score of 100,000 is attained and in the high score initials prompt is from Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
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