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Raiders of the Lost Ark (Atari 2600)
Encyclopedia
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a video game created for the Atari 2600
and based on the movie of the same name
. The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw
. It was the first ever movie licensed video game.
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. This control scheme anticipated later game controllers with more buttons and games where buttons would allow the player to switch items without interrupting gameplay.
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 eventually 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 sheik
s 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 then goes inside the mesa, via a small hole at the end of a branch, and digs up the Ark, after dodging more thieves.
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...
and based on the movie of the same name
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
. The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw is an American former game designer who worked for Atari in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the games Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and infamously, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
. It was the first ever movie licensed video game.
Gameplay
The player controls Indiana JonesIndiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
as he searches for the lost Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
. 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. This control scheme anticipated later game controllers with more buttons and games where buttons would allow the player to switch items without interrupting gameplay.
The video game is set in the city of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
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 eventually cross a mesa
Mesa
A mesa or table mountain is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape....
, 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 sheik
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
s and a lunatic
Lunatic
"Lunatic" is a commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, unpredictable; a condition once called lunacy. The word derives from lunaticus meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".-Lunar hypothesis:...
, and items needed to win the game (most notably a shovel
Shovel
A shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....
).
After acquiring all needed items from the various rooms, the player returns to the mesa and jumps off using a parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
. The player then goes inside the mesa, via a small hole at the end of a branch, and digs up the Ark, after dodging more thieves.
Game rooms
- Entrance Room
- Marketplace
- Temple of the Ancients
- Room of the Shining Light
- Room of the Giant Spider
- Treasure Room
- Mesa Field
- Interior Mesa Chamber
- Well of Souls
- Valley of Poison
- Map Room
- Den of Thieves
- Black Market
External links
- Raiders of the Lost Ark at AtariAgeAtariAgeAtari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...
- A brief mention of Raiders on Howard Scott Warshaw's web page