Asteroids Deluxe

Asteroids Deluxe
Developer(s) Atari Inc.
Publisher(s) Atari Inc.
Designer(s) Dave Shepperd
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s) Arcade
  • NA May 1981
Genre(s) Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet Upright and cocktail
CPU MOS Technology 6502
Sound POKEY and discrete circuits
Display Vector monitor

Asteroids Deluxe is a video arcade game released in May 1981[1] by Atari Inc. and is the sequel to Asteroids. It was later followed by Space Duel in 1982 and Blasteroids in 1987.

Gameplay

Like in the original Asteroids the objective is to score as many points as possible by destroying asteroids and flying saucers. The player controls a ship that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. Asteroids Deluxe replaces the hyperspace feature with shields which deplete with use. Other differences include asteroids which rotate and a new enemy which is dubbed a "killer satellite" which would, when shot, break apart into three smaller ships that homed in on the player's position.

Technical description

The Asteroids Deluxe arcade machine is a vector game. This means that the game graphics are composed entirely of lines which are drawn on a vector monitor. The hardware consists primarily of a standard MOS 6502 CPU, which executes the game program, and the Digital Vector Generator (DVG), vector processing circuitry developed by Atari themselves. As the 6502 by itself was too slow to control both the game play and the vector hardware at the same time, the latter task was delegated to the DVG.

Asteroids Deluxe also features various sound effects, most of which are implemented by its own circuitry but some sounds are generated using the Atari POKEY sound chip.

References

External links