Space Panic
| Space Panic | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Universal |
| Publisher(s) | Universal |
| Platform(s) | Arcade (original) ColecoVision |
| Release |
November 1980 1983 (ColecoVision) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright / cocktail |
| Sound | 1-channel (mono), amplified |
| Display | Raster, 336 x 240 pixels, 8 colors |
Space Panic (スぺース・パ二ック Supesu Panikku?) is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal Entertainment Corporation, which Chris Crawford called "the granddaddy of all platform games," as it predates Nintendo's Donkey Kong (from 1981) which is often cited as the original platform game. Space Panic lacks Donkey Kong's jump mechanic and the main character instead digs holes in the platforms into which he must lure the aliens. He must then hit them to knock them out of the hole and off the screen. In later levels, two or more holes must be lined up vertically in order to dispose of the aliens. There is also a limited supply of oxygen.
A ColecoVision port by CBS Electronics was released in 1983.
The trap-em-up premise of the game (digging holes to trap aliens) is likely to have been inspired by the then-contemporary Heiankyo Alien (a 1979 game first released in arcades in 1980), but while that game is set in a maze viewed from above, Space Panic used platforms and ladders viewed from the side.
The concept found success in the unauthorized home computer version, Apple Panic, and in 1983's Lode Runner which has similar look and also uses the basic premise of digging holes to trap enemies.
Universal revisited the genre with Mr. Do's Castle (1983), which incorporated and expanded upon the play styles explored in Space Panic.
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