Space Cavern

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Space Cavern
two-player

Space Cavern is a 1982

fixed shooter video game for the Atari 2600 developed and released by Games by Apollo. Players control a spaceship commander who has landed on a planet and must defend the ship against its hostile creatures. Games by Apollo founder Pat Roper was impressed by the game Demon Attack
and tasked Apollo member Dan Oliver with making a game very similar to it.

Gameplay

Screenshot with the player near the bottom

In Space Cavern, players control the commander of an intergalactic spaceship that is traveling through a previously unknown area in space. The spaceship lands on a mysterious planet inhabited by creatures known as Electrosauri and Marsupods, who attempt to attack the crew of the ship.[1]

The

extra life is awarded every 2,000 points;[2] points are earned by destroying enemies, with 115 or 165 points awarded for killing an Electrosaurus and 200 points for a Marsupod.[3]

There are twenty-four gameplay variations included in Space Cavern; all are playable by one or two players and activated by modifying the 2600's difficulty switches. The variations differ in the number of enemies, their speed, the direction of their lasers,[2] and the inclusion of Marsupods.[3]

Development

Company founder Pat Roper had flown programmer Ed Salvo to a Consumer Electronics Show to show him the Imagic video game Demon Attack. Impressed with Imagic's game, Roper decided he wanted to produce one similar to it. He told developer Dan Oliver what he wanted in the game without disclosing his inspiration.[4] Space Cavern was released in 1982. Game publisher Panda rereleased an identical version of Space Cavern under the name Space Canyon the following year,[5] and an Atari 5200 port was started but not completed.[4]

As development neared completion, mounting financial pressures came to a head and Games by Apollo found itself owing nearly $5 million, half of which debt belonged to its advertising agency

Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although Roper expected Apollo to "return in smaller form",[6] the company closed in 1983 after reorganization attempts failed.[7]

Reception

Arcade Express magazine was positive about Space Cavern, praising the graphics of the player's death, while criticizing the design of the enemies, and concluding by opining that the game was more suited to skilled players.

Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz did not agree whether Space Cavern's control scheme was unnaturally "cumbersome" or "an exciting departure from the expected". They wrote that the controls were "at least a little controversial" among arcade players.[9]: 30  In a follow-up review for Electronic Games, Kunkel and Katz concluded that the game would entertain arcade players hundreds of times over[10]: 60  but criticized the graphics of the enemies.[10]
: 62 

TV Gamer's called the game too simple and not requiring much brainpower.[11] Videogaming Illustrated compared the game positively to Phoenix, and believed that it was "arguably the best space game on the market". The writer called it Apollo's best game and noted its suitability for both young and experienced players.[3]

Space Cavern was an

Arkie Awards.[12]
: 108 

References

  1. ^ "Space Cavern – Game Instructions". Games by Apollo. August 25, 1982. pp. 3–5. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  2. ^
    All Media Network. Archived from the original
    on November 16, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  3. ^
    ISSN 0739-4373
    . Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Stilphen, Scott (December 5, 2010). "DP Interviews... Ed Salvo". Digital Press. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  5. ISBN 978-0-7864-8755-4
    .
  6. ISSN 0006-2510
    . Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  7. ^ "AGH – Third Party Profile: Apollo". Atari Gaming Headquarters. January 23, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  8. ^ "Space Cavern". Arcade Express. Reese Publishing Company. August 30, 1982. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  9. ISSN 0147-8907
    .
  10. ^ a b Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (October 1982). "Face the Terrors of the Alien Cave!". Electronic Games. Internet Archive. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  11. ^ "Space Cavern". TV Gamer. Boytonbrook. June 1983. p. 32. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  12. ISSN 0147-8907
    .

External links

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