Caverns of Mars
| Caverns of Mars | |
|---|---|
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| Publisher(s) | Atari Program Exchange |
| Programmer(s) | Greg Christensen |
| Platform(s) | Atari 8-bit family |
| Release | 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Vertically scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | single player |
Caverns of Mars is a computer game for the Atari 8-bit computers, programmed by Greg Christensen and published by Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. It became the best selling APX title of all time, eventually being released by Atari in game cartridge format.
The game is essentially a vertical version of the arcade game Scramble, with the twist that the player must re-trace their steps through the map to finish the levels.
Greg Christensen, a high-school senior, purchased an Atari 800 in 1981, and wrote Caverns over a six-month period. Fred Thorlin, one of APX's few employees at the time and later the director of APX between 1982 and 1984, recalls Caverns arriving at APX:
Two months after sending it to APX, Christensen received his first royalty check for $18,000, and a phone call from an Atari executive who praised the game. Caverns eventually won the 1981 APX game contest, winning another $3,000, and as of December 1982[update] Atari told Christensen he might receive up to $100,000 in royalties.
Atari licensed the game in early 1982 for distribution in the main Atari catalog, distributing it on diskette. This was the first such example of an APX to Atari move, among very few examples in total. When asked to collaborate on a cartridge-based port, Christensen declined, having started college.
Caverns of Mars is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up similar in concept and visual style to the 1981 arcade game Scramble. Christensen changed the orientation of the caverns from Scramble, having the player fly down into them as opposed to sideways through them. For technical reasons, vertical scrolling is somewhat easier than horizontal to implement on the Atari platform. Unlike Scramble, the targets generally did not move relative to the map.
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