Aztec Challenge refers to either of two early arcade-style computer games published by COSMI, as well as to subsequent remakes. In all game versions the player takes control of a running Aztec warrior. The first was a side-scrolling platform-jumping game created by Robert Tegel Bonifacio and released in 1982 for the Atari 400/800. Subsequently a different game with the same title and overall theme was created by Paul Norman and released for the Commodore 64. It included a level in a modified-first-person 3D-style. The remakes are mainly inspired by the Commodore 64 game, and include versions for Microsoft Windows and the Atari 2600.
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The game presented itself as a side-scroller, with the player's character running continuously from left to right as the background and path continuously scrolled. Control was limited to jumping at three different heights; holding the joystick down and pressing the button resulted in a low jump, holding the joystick up and pressing the button resulted in a high jump, and pressing the button by itself resulted in a medium jump. The running speed of the character was constant; only the height of the jumps differed, although speed of the character gradually increased of its own accord with each passing level. In two-player mode, each player controlled a different colored character with one character running in front of the other. The object of the game was to cover as much distance as possible without succumbing to the assorted perils of the path. Obstacles included platforms and ceilings of differing heights, pits, spikes, platform steps of staggered heights, and other assorted pitfalls. Contact with any part of the landscape other than the path would result in the loss of a player's life and would return the player to the beginning of that level. The game's collision detection system had a reputation of being utterly unforgiving, often killing a character for the sake of a single pixel. Coupled with the inability to save a game in progress or resume from a specific level, this was the cause of much frustration. Level changes were indicated by an overall color shift in the game, a very brief hiatus where the character was running on an unchallenging level surface, and a slight increase in the character's running speed. Completing each level became a matter of determining what height jump to use and exactly when to use it, usually (especially in the higher levels) though a system of trial and error.
This game was remade in 2003 by Paul Norman as Azteca: Queen of Quezalcoatl, It is only found on his website, DigiTTARIUS. A version named A-VCS-tec Challenge including the modified-first-person 3-D style was developed from 2002 to 2006 by Simon Quernhorst for the Atari 2600 (Sears VCS). It is an example of work of the hobbyist retro-development community, ironic in that the very first Aztec Challenge version for the more-powerful Atari 400/800 did not include the 3D level.[1]