Combat (video game)
Encyclopedia
Combat is an early video game by Atari
for the Atari 2600
. It was released as one of the nine launch title
s for the system in October 1977, and was included in the box with the system from its introduction until 1982. Combat was based on two earlier black-and-white coin-operated arcade game
s produced by Atari: Tank
(published under the Kee Games
name) in 1974 and Anti-Aircraft II in 1975.
Earlier in 1977, Coleco
had released the similarly titled Telstar Combat!, an entry in its Telstar
series of dedicated console
s. Unlike the Coleco game, Combat had color graphics and numerous gameplay variations. The 27 game modes featured a variety of different combat scenarios, including tanks, biplane
s, and jet fighters
. The tank games had interesting options such as bouncing munitions ("Tank-Pong") and invisibility. The biplane and jet games also allowed for variation, such as multiple planes per player and an inventive game with a squadron of planes versus one giant bomber. Atari also produced a version of Combat for Sears
titled Tank Plus (alluding to the original arcade game Tank). It was released as the pack-in game with Sears "Tele-Games" branded Atari 2600 console, the Sears Video Arcade. Combat was programmed by Joe Decuir and Larry Wagner.
in which the shots would bounce off the walls, with variations upon whether a direct hit could strike their opponent, or a strike required a billiard hit. There was also an Invisible Tank in which the players would be invisible except for a brief few seconds after firing, and Invisible Tank Pong option. Along with the play styles there were also mazes to choose from including an empty field, a simple maze and a complex maze.
One notable (and perhaps unintentional) interaction that could be performed in the tank game consisted of bringing one tank up behind the opponent tank such that the cannon of the first was inserted into the rear cutout of the second. Once in this position, by rotating the first tank, a sprite collision could be triggered which would send the tanks into a wild "jump", during which they usually would pass through obstacles, or leave the edge of the screen to enter on the other side.
caused the game to be delayed and finally cancelled. Combat 2 featured a more sophisticated version of the original's tank game, with Tanks requiring multiple hits to destroy, and Missile Bases with an outer barrier which took many hits to chip through but the appropriate tank could hide within, and the ability to launch a large homing missile at very slow intervals. The game's single action button fired the Tank's gun normally, but launched a missile if pressed while the tank was within the Missile Base. Destroying an opponent's Missile Base also eliminated all of their reserve Tanks. The game took place in a forest environment divided by a river that could be crossed by either of two bridges. In some modes, the tanks could move under the trees and in others, the tanks were forced to go around or shoot their way through solid barriers. Some mode allowed each player to detail the placement of trees or barriers prior to the battle. While the game never hit store shelves, it was illegally manufactured in cartridge format and sold at Classic Gaming Expo in 2001. Atari finally officially released it on the Atari Flashback 2 dedicated console, in 2005.
Space Combat was released through Sears. Space Combat was a colored version of the previously black-and-white Space War
(already visually similar to Combat), and was of identical gameplay. Players controlled a Star Ship that moved by applying thrust, similar to the vessel from Asteroids, with the ability to fire straight-missiles and enter Hyperspace to avoid being hit. Players either competed to destroy each other, or to capture a moving Space Modules. Game variations included features such as wrap-around
or rebounding playfield edges, the need to fight against the pull of gravity from a Space Sun which would destroy a Star Ship upon contact, a Starbase which could resupply a Star Ship's fuel and missiles, and each player trying to capture their own Space Module or competing to capture the same one. Space War, the original black-and-white version of the game, was available on the Atari Flashback 2.
Combat was made available on Microsoft's
Game Room
service for its Xbox 360
console and for Windows-based
PC
s on March 24, 2010.
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
. It was released as one of the nine launch title
Launch title
A launch game, or launch title, is a video game released to consumers synchronously with the release of its respective video game console, meaning they are the only available games at the time of the console's launch. Several of these games are also packaged with the console...
s for the system in October 1977, and was included in the box with the system from its introduction until 1982. Combat was based on two earlier black-and-white coin-operated arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s produced by Atari: Tank
Tank (arcade game)
Tank is a two-player arcade game by Atari Inc. subsidiary Kee Games, originally released on November 5, 1974 and designed by Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains...
(published under the Kee Games
Kee Games
Kee Games was an arcade game manufacturer that released games from 1973 to 1978. Kee was headed by Joe Keenan, a long-time friend of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Keenan managed to hire several defectors from Atari, and began advertising itself as a competitor...
name) in 1974 and Anti-Aircraft II in 1975.
Earlier in 1977, Coleco
Coleco
Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...
had released the similarly titled Telstar Combat!, an entry in its Telstar
Coleco Telstar
The Telstar is a series of video game consoles produced by Coleco from 1976 to 1978. Starting with Telstar Pong clone based on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 chip in 1976, there were 14 consoles released in the Telstar branded series.-Models:...
series of dedicated console
Dedicated console
A dedicated console is a video game console that is dedicated to a built in game or games, and is not equipped for additional games, via cartridges or other media.- History :...
s. Unlike the Coleco game, Combat had color graphics and numerous gameplay variations. The 27 game modes featured a variety of different combat scenarios, including tanks, biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
s, and jet fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
. The tank games had interesting options such as bouncing munitions ("Tank-Pong") and invisibility. The biplane and jet games also allowed for variation, such as multiple planes per player and an inventive game with a squadron of planes versus one giant bomber. Atari also produced a version of Combat for Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
titled Tank Plus (alluding to the original arcade game Tank). It was released as the pack-in game with Sears "Tele-Games" branded Atari 2600 console, the Sears Video Arcade. Combat was programmed by Joe Decuir and Larry Wagner.
Gameplay
Combat boasted having 27 games in one, which were all variations on the tank, biplane, and jet gameplay.Tank game
The Tank game in Combat had the basis of two tanks controlled by players each moving around a playing field and shooting the other player until time ran out. The player with the higher score would win. There were various types of shots a player could have depending on which level they chose, including straight missiles, guided missiles, and Tank PongPong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
in which the shots would bounce off the walls, with variations upon whether a direct hit could strike their opponent, or a strike required a billiard hit. There was also an Invisible Tank in which the players would be invisible except for a brief few seconds after firing, and Invisible Tank Pong option. Along with the play styles there were also mazes to choose from including an empty field, a simple maze and a complex maze.
One notable (and perhaps unintentional) interaction that could be performed in the tank game consisted of bringing one tank up behind the opponent tank such that the cannon of the first was inserted into the rear cutout of the second. Once in this position, by rotating the first tank, a sprite collision could be triggered which would send the tanks into a wild "jump", during which they usually would pass through obstacles, or leave the edge of the screen to enter on the other side.
Biplanes
Another set of level choices in Combat were the Biplanes. Unlike the Tank version, this was played with three types of firing shots (straight-missile, guided missile, and machine guns). However, there were several different gameplay modes. Players had the option of fighting one on one, having a pair of Biplanes each that moved and fired in tandem, or have one player control three tandem Biplanes against one large Bomber. The Bomber's shot was an oversized projectile that otherwise behaved as a straight-missile. Instead of having mazes to fly through, there were two clouds in the middle of the stage that either player could fly into temporarily hiding them from view of the other player.Jet
Very similar to the Biplanes level, was the Jets option. In this mode, only straight missile and guided missiles were used. It still had the same map options and squadron options as the biplanes mode, with Jets flying singly, two-on-two, or three-on-three.Legacy
Atari developed a sequel to the popular Combat scheduled for release in 1984, but the video game crash of 1983Video game crash of 1983
The North American video game crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. Beginning in 1983, the crash almost destroyed the then-fledgling industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing...
caused the game to be delayed and finally cancelled. Combat 2 featured a more sophisticated version of the original's tank game, with Tanks requiring multiple hits to destroy, and Missile Bases with an outer barrier which took many hits to chip through but the appropriate tank could hide within, and the ability to launch a large homing missile at very slow intervals. The game's single action button fired the Tank's gun normally, but launched a missile if pressed while the tank was within the Missile Base. Destroying an opponent's Missile Base also eliminated all of their reserve Tanks. The game took place in a forest environment divided by a river that could be crossed by either of two bridges. In some modes, the tanks could move under the trees and in others, the tanks were forced to go around or shoot their way through solid barriers. Some mode allowed each player to detail the placement of trees or barriers prior to the battle. While the game never hit store shelves, it was illegally manufactured in cartridge format and sold at Classic Gaming Expo in 2001. Atari finally officially released it on the Atari Flashback 2 dedicated console, in 2005.
Space Combat was released through Sears. Space Combat was a colored version of the previously black-and-white Space War
Space War
Space War is an Atari-brand video game cartridge for the Atari 2600, released in 1978. It is an Atari 2600 port of Spacewar!, the famous 1962 computer game by Steve Russell. It was released by Sears as Space Combat, for the Atari 2600-compatible Sears Video Arcade...
(already visually similar to Combat), and was of identical gameplay. Players controlled a Star Ship that moved by applying thrust, similar to the vessel from Asteroids, with the ability to fire straight-missiles and enter Hyperspace to avoid being hit. Players either competed to destroy each other, or to capture a moving Space Modules. Game variations included features such as wrap-around
Wraparound (Video Games)
Wraparound, in video games, is a gameplay variation on the single-screen in which space is finite but unbounded; objects leaving one side of the screen immediately reappear on the opposite side, maintaining speed and trajectory...
or rebounding playfield edges, the need to fight against the pull of gravity from a Space Sun which would destroy a Star Ship upon contact, a Starbase which could resupply a Star Ship's fuel and missiles, and each player trying to capture their own Space Module or competing to capture the same one. Space War, the original black-and-white version of the game, was available on the Atari Flashback 2.
Combat was made available on Microsoft's
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
service for its Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
console and for Windows-based
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s on March 24, 2010.