WikiMili
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Atari, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Atari, Inc. |
| Designer(s) | Howard Scott Warshaw |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | November 1982 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure [1] |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an action-adventure game for the Atari 2600 released in 1982, based on the 1981 film of the same name. The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw.
Contents
- Gameplay
- Development
- Release
- Reception
- References
- Sources
- External links
Gameplay
The player controls Indiana Jones as he searches for the lost Ark of the Covenant. The game requires the player to use two different controllers: controller 2 moves Jones and its button uses an item; controller 1 selects the item to use and its button drops the item.
The video game is set in the city of Cairo in 1936, represented by an entrance room and a marketplace. From the entrance room, the player can blast a hole in the wall with a grenade and enter the Temple of the Ancients. Two paths await inside the Temple, both of which contain various dangers, after which the player will at last find the treasure room. Gold and artifacts can be picked up in the treasure room which will help the player later in the game.
The player must cross a mesa, on the other side of which lies the Map Room where the location of the Lost Ark is revealed. South of the Map Room is a Thieves Den and a Black Market. The Black Market contains various figures, such as two sheikhs, a Tsetse fly and a lunatic, and items needed to win the game (most notably a shovel).
After acquiring all needed items from the various rooms, the player returns to the mesa and jumps off using a parachute. The player goes inside the mesa, via a small hole at the end of a branch, and digs up the Ark, after dodging more thieves.
Development
Howard Scott Warshaw volunteered to work on the game when it was offered at Atari. While Warshaw felt that doing adaptations of popular arcade games "always seemed like an exercise in futility" to him, the chance to adapt the film felt like a perfect middle ground of making an original game that had the boost of a popular property. [2] Warshaw met with director Steven Spielberg to discuss the game and after began development of it in mid-1981. [2]
Warshaw did not want to make a game where you could only carry one item at a time such as in Adventure (1980). To avoid this, he had the game use the second joystick to let players manage items they had collected. [3] Warshaw wanted a game that had more unique play scenarios than other games and felt the game had to emphasize the adventure nature of the film, so began stripping down the film to its key points, such as finding the Ark of the Covenant. This led to him developing areas to surround this such as a treasure room and a map room. [2] Warshaw also developed new elements such as an in-game timer that made elements of the game change as time went on. [3]
Raiders of the Lost Ark was made for an eight kilobyte ROM cartridge. [3] While Warshaw handled most of the graphics for the game himself, graphic artist Jerome Domurat produced the animated character of Indiana Jones. [4] The packaging, manual, and advertising artwork was painted by Atari art director James Kelly. [5] During development of the game, designer Warshaw wore a hat and carried around a long leather bull whip. [2]
Release
The marketing department at Atari included hints in the manual of the game which was against Warshaw's wishes. He reflected on it saying he "didn't see the point of having this elaborate game if people could just open the manual and run through it. In retrospect, I realise we should've given people more, not less. I've learned that people want a road map and then they can choose whether to use it or not." [3]
The game was released in November 1982. [6] While reports have stated that the game was financially successful for Atari, leading to Spielberg asking Warshaw to adapt his next film project, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark was described by Bruce Chadwick as selling below Atari's expectations at less than a million copies sold by February 1983. [7] [4]
Reception
From contemporary reviews, Richard A. Edwards reviewed Raiders of the Lost Ark in The Space Gamer . Edwards commented that "though the graphics are not great (but they are fairly good) and the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song has a note or two off-key, this is still the adventure cartridge of the year. Those gamers who prefer magic items, puzzles, and thoughtful play mixed with arcade movement should find Raiders well worth the price". [8] Video Games in 1983 called Raiders of the Lost Ark "a more complex adventure game" than E.T. , released a month later. The magazine noted that the documentation was incomplete and advised players to experiment with multiple ways to progress. [9] Electronic Games stated that the game "doesn't quite live up to its inspiration [...] does not excel in excitement", and was inferior to Pitfall! , which was also released in 1982. [10] [11]
From retrospective reviews, Skyler Miller of Allgame found the game graphics average for an Atari 2600 game of the period, with weak animation. Miller concluded that if you could get over these elements, "you'll find a surprisingly complex game that will definitely give your problem-solving skills a workout." [1]
Related Research Articles
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 adventure video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600 and based on the film of the same name. The game's objective is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet.
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as the player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after it was released. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.
Joust is an action game developed by Williams Electronics and released in arcades in 1982. While not the first two-player cooperative video game, Joust's success and polished implementation popularized the concept. Players assume the role of knights armed with lances and mounted on large birds, who must fly around the screen and defeat enemy knights riding buzzards.
Adventure is a 1980 action-adventure game developed by Warren Robinett and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. The player controls a square avatar whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find a magical chalice and return it to the golden castle. The game world is populated by roaming enemies: three dragons that can eat the avatar and a bat that randomly steals and moves items around the game world. Adventure introduced new elements to console games, including enemies that continue to move when offscreen.
Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.
Howard Scott Warshaw, also known as HSW, is an American psychotherapist and former game designer. He worked at Atari, Inc. in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the Atari 2600 games Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Crystal Castles is an arcade video game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls Bentley Bear who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well.
Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.
Cyberball is a video game released in arcades in 1988 by Atari Games. The game is a 7-man American football using robotic avatars of different speeds, sizes, and skill sets set in the year 2022. Originally released for arcades, Cyberball was ported to several home consoles and computers.
Infidel is an interactive fiction video game published by Infocom in 1983. It was written and designed by Michael Berlyn and Patricia Fogleman, and was the first in the "Tales of Adventure" line. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, TRS-80, and TI-99/4A. Ports were later published for Mac, Atari ST, and Amiga. Infidel is Infocom's tenth game.
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and published originally for the IBM PCjr in 1984 and later for several other systems between 1984 and 1989. The game was originally titled King's Quest; the subtitle was added to the games box art in the 1987 re-release, but did not appear in the game.
Haunted House is a 1982 adventure video game programmed by James Andreasen for the Atari Video Computer System and published by Atari. The player controls an avatar shaped like a pair of eyes who explores a mansion seeking out parts of an urn to return to the entrance. The game world is populated by roaming enemies including vampire bats, tarantulas, and a ghost. Haunted House was among the first games to use player-controlled scrolling between large portions of the visual space.
Adventure Island 3 is a side-scrolling platform game published by Hudson Soft that was originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. It is the third game in the Adventure Island released for the NES, following Adventure Island II. Unlike the first two games in the series, the NES version was never released in Europe. A portable version was also released for the Game Boy in 1993 titled Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima III, renamed to Adventure Island II: Aliens in Paradise outside of Japan.
Atlantis is a fixed shooter video game released by Imagic in July 1982 for the Atari 2600. It was written by Dennis Koble who also wrote Trick Shot for Imagic. Atlantis was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, VIC-20, Intellivision, and Magnavox Odyssey 2.
Space Dungeon is a multidirectional shooter released as an arcade video game by Taito in 1981. Designed and programmed by Rex Battenberg, it was available both as a conversion kit and full arcade cabinet. An Atari 5200 port was published in 1983.
Wizard and the Princess is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by On-Line Systems. It is the second installment in the Hi-Res Adventures series after Mystery House. Unlike its predecessor, which featured monochrome drawings, Wizard and the Princess introduced color graphics. Ports for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 were released in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The 1982 self-booting disk version for IBM PC compatibles was renamed Adventure in Serenia.
Dominos is a one player or two players video action game packaged in its own distinctively styled upright cabinet that rests directly on the floor.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an action game released in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is based on the arcade game and film of the same name. The resulting product differed from the arcade version in several aspects, but kept the same underlying premise and style.
Yars' Revenge is a 1982 video game designed by Howard Scott Warshaw for the Atari Video Computer System. The game involves a fly-like humanoid alien race known as Yars attacking their arch-rivals the Qotile who have destroyed their habitable planets in their solar system. The players control a Yar and fire or devour an energy shield protecting the Qotile to finish off the enemy with their Zorlon cannon.
Lost Tomb is an overhead-view twin-stick shooter written by Dan Lee and released as an arcade video game by Stern Electronics in 1982. Armed with a gun and whip, the player uses dual joysticks to explore the chambers of a South American pyramid looking for treasure and fighting mummies, spiders, and scorpions. The game was Stern's first arcade conversion kit and was intended for use with earlier machines from the company.
References
- 1 2 Miller.
- 1 2 3 4 Drury 2007, p.34.
- 1 2 3 4 Drury 2007, p.35.
- 1 2 Drury 2007, p.37.
- ↑ Lapetino, Tim (26 October 2016). Art Of Atari. Dynamite Entertainment. p.177. ISBN 9781524101060 . Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ↑ "Raiders of the Lost Ark Starring You!". Atari Age . 1 (4). The Atari Club: 9. Nov–Dec 1982. ISSN 0731-5686. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ Chadwick 1983.
- ↑ Edwards 1983, pp.41–42.
- ↑ Wiswell 1983, p.69.
- ↑ "The Players Guide to Fantasy Games". Electronic Games. June 1983. p.47. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ↑ "Lost Ark Store" . Retrieved 15 January 2021.
Sources
- Chadwick, Bruce (February 26, 1983). "'E.T.' and Pals go Video". Times-Advocate . p.B5.
- Drury, Paul (2007). "The Making Of...Raiders of the Lost Ark". Retro Gamer . No.45.
- Edwards, Richard A. (March 1983). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer . No.61. Steve Jackson Games.
- Miller, Skyler. "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Allgame . Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- Wiswell, Phil (March 1983). "Softspot: New Games From Well-Known Names". Video Games. Vol.1, no.6. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
External links
- Raiders of the Lost Ark at Atari Mania
- Raiders of the Lost Ark at AtariAge
- Raiders of the Lost Ark manual at the Internet Archive
- Brief mention of Raiders on Howard Scott Warshaw's web page
Indiana Jones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Films |
| ||||
| Television |
| ||||
| Characters |
| ||||
| Games |
| ||||
| Novels |
| ||||
| Comics |
| ||||
| Attractions |
| ||||
| Unofficial works |
| ||||
| Related |
| ||||
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
