John Van Ryzin‘s classic cave rescue game, H.E.R.O., was ported to Atari 8-bit computers by The Softworks and first published by Activision in 1984.

The Atari 8-bit version plays identically to the original Atari 2600 version but has slightly better graphics and sound. It was released on various formats, including cassette, disk, and cartridge, and I believe the cartridge version was 16k and therefore had more levels and features than the 2600 version.

Just like the original, the aim is to delve downwards into a network of caves, blowing away walls with dynamite, avoiding deadly creatures, and also trying not to collide with light fittings (otherwise the rooms will go dark). At the bottom of each cave is a trapped miner who you must touch to rescue. A time limit is applied by the constantly falling power level, shown as a bar at the bottom of the screen.

The levels get progressively longer and more complex as they increase in number, although they are the same every time you play, so if you’ve got a good memory you can zip through it by remembering where everything is.

H.E.R.O. is an excellent game, although the graphics are fairly basic and the gameplay has limited longevity. It’s still a decent game to play nowadays, though, and the Atari 8-bit version is arguably one of the best ports.

More: H.E.R.O. on Wikipedia