Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: 1979 computer and video games | Arcade games | Atari 2600 games | Fixed shooters | Stationary shooters | Greatest Hits games
Asteroids
- This page is about the arcade game Asteroids. For the planet-like space object, see Asteroid.
| Asteroids | ||
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| Developer: | Atari | |
| Publisher: | Atari | |
| Game designer: | Lyle Rains and Ed Logg | |
| Release date: | 1979 | |
| Genre: | Retro/Fixed Shooter | |
| Game modes: | Up to 2 players, alternating turns | |
| Cabinet: | Standard and table | |
| Controls: | Five buttons | |
| Monitor | ||
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| Notes | ||
| One of the most successful arcade games; Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games; According to KLOV the #7 most popular game of all times | ||
Asteroids is a popular vector-based video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari. The object of the game is for the player to shoot and destroy asteroids without being hit by the fragments.
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Description
The game was conceived by Lyle Rains and programmed by Ed Logg. Asteroids was a hit in the United States and became one of Atari's best selling games of all time. It was so popular that video arcade owners usually had to install larger boxes to hold all the coins this machine raked in.
One feature of the game was the ability for players to record their initials with their high scores, an innovation which is standard in arcade games to this day.
Asteroids was the first of several games to use Atari's "Quadra-Scan" vector-refresh system (although a raster-based full-color version was developed for the Atari 2600 home video game system). Later full-color Quadra-Scan games would include Tempest. The game was in itself based on the black-and-white raster game, Computer Space.
Legacy
The gameplay in Asteroids was imitated by many games that followed. For example, one of the objects of Sinistar is to shoot asteroids in order to get them to release resources which the player needs to collect.
Due to its success, Asteroids was followed by three sequels:
However, the original game was by far the most popular of the series.
The Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) credits this game as one of the "Top 100 Videogames." Readers of the KLOV credit it as the seventh most popular game.
Ports
Being one of the most popular video games ever, Asteroids has been ported to multiple systems, including many of Atari's systems (Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Atari Lynx) and many others. Also, a new version of Asteroids was developed for PlayStation and the Windows in the late 1990s. In addition, many of the recent TV Games series of old Atari games have included either the 2600 or arcade versions of Asteroids. Atari has also used the game for its other late '90s anthology series. Essentially, if you love this game, you will be able to find it somewhere.
Record breaking gameplay
In March 2004, Portland, Oregon resident Bill Carlton attempted to break the world record for playing an arcade version of Asteroids, playing over 27 hours before his machine malfunctioned, ending his record run. He scored 12.7 million points, putting him in 5th place in the all-time Asteroids rankings. In November 1982 Scott Safran set the still unbroken record of 41 million points.
External links
- The Killer List of Video Games entry on Asteroids
- Atari Times: All About Asteroids
- Category at ODP
- Asteroids vector clones
- Asteroids clone written in Java
- Asteroids clone written in Flash
- Asteroids-based 3D wireframe written in Flash
- Asteroids-based computer game written in Flash
- Asteroids game with health written in Java
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