Atari‘s Food Fight is an interesting arcade game. It was initially developed by a ‘rival’ company, GCC, who were involved in a legal battle with Atari. The legal dispute was settled out of court, leading to an agreement that GCC would produce games for Atari, and Food Fight was one of the games made for that deal. It was released into arcades in March 1983.
Category Archives: Atari
Crystal Castles, Atari ST
The Atari ST – being an Atari machine – was renowned for Atari arcade conversions and Crystal Castles was one of the best on the system.
Tempest, Arcade
Tempest, by Dave Theurer, is one of the first ever ‘tube shooters’. It was released by Atari in 1981.
You control a spider-like yellow craft that walks along the edge of a 3D playfield, often taking the form of a cylindrical tube. You shoot bullets down the tube at enemies that are rising upwards to get you. Thus the name ‘tube shooter’.
Centipede, Arcade
Designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey, Centipede is a superfast fixed-screen shoot ’em up from the arcades of 1981.
Battle Zone, Arcade
Atari‘s 1980 hit Battle Zone was one of the first ever video games to use 3D polygonal vector graphics to represent the playfield.
It’s a tank game, and you’re basically hunting down tanks, flying saucers, and other baddies. Shooting them before they can shoot you.
Defender II, Atari 2600
The original Defender on the Atari 2600 is rubbish, but Defender II is the shizzle.
Ninja Golf, Atari 7800
A notch above “Monkey Tennis” in terms of great ideas, Ninja Golf was dreamt-up and released for the Atari 7800, way back in 1990.
Kung Food, Atari Lynx
This terrible scrolling beat ’em up was released for the Atari Lynx in 1992.
Kung Food features poorly-drawn, downright silly, food-related characters and enemies and takes place mostly inside a refridgerator.
Todd’s Adventures in Slime World, Megadrive/Genesis
Todd’s Adventures in Slime World is a game developed by Epyx and first released on the Atari Lynx in 1990.
This Megadrive/Genesis version came later – in 1991 – and in my mind is better than the original, because you can see more of the play area in this version (because the graphics are higher resolution), and there’s also simultaneous split-screen play.
Continue reading Todd’s Adventures in Slime World, Megadrive/Genesis
Asteroids, Arcade
Released in November 1979, Atari‘s Asteroids was an instant hit with gamers.
It featured a vector graphic-based, black and white display, with a player-controlled triangular ship, moving in space and firing at moving rocks.