Space Panic
| Space Panic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Universal |
| Publisher(s) | Universal |
| Platform(s) |
Arcade (original) ColecoVision |
| Release |
November 1980 1983 (ColecoVision) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright / cocktail |
| Sound | 1-channel (mono), amplified |
| Display | Raster, 336 x 240 pixels, 8 colors |
Space Panic (スぺース・パ二ック Supesu Panikku) is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal Entertainment Corporation, which Chris Crawford called "the granddaddy of all platform games,"[1] as it predates Nintendo's Donkey Kong (from 1981) which is often cited as the original platform game. Space Panic lacks Donkey Kong's jump mechanic and the main character instead digs holes in the platforms into which he must lure the aliens. He must then hit them to knock them out of the hole and off the screen. In later levels, two or more holes must be lined up vertically in order to dispose of the aliens. There is also a limited supply of oxygen.
A ColecoVision port by CBS Electronics was released in 1983.
Origins and legacy
The trap-em-up premise of the game (digging holes to trap aliens) is likely to have been inspired by the then-contemporary Heiankyo Alien (a 1979 game first released in arcades in 1980), but while that game is set in a maze viewed from above, Space Panic used platforms and ladders viewed from the side.
The concept found success in the unauthorized home computer version, Apple Panic, and in 1983's Lode Runner which has similar look and also uses the basic premise of digging holes to trap enemies.
Universal revisited the genre with Mr. Do's Castle (1983), which incorporated and expanded upon the play styles explored in Space Panic.
Reception
Space Panic was commercially unsuccessful, which Electronic Games in 1983 attributed to its concepts' novelty to the audience:"not only the first of the climbing games, it was also the first of the digging games. That's quite a load for a player on a new game. No punning intended when I say that the rungs were too high for the average gamer to scale." The magazine reported that the average play time was 30 seconds.[2]
Reviewing the ColecoVision version for Digital Press Online, Kevin Oleniacz concluded, "Coleco had resurrected several short-lived arcade games and transformed them into home favorites, but they should have let Space Panic rest in peace."[3]
Clones
| First Published | Name | Company | System(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Apple Panic | Brøderbund | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, PC Booter, VIC-20 |
| 1982 | Panic | Visions Software Factory | ZX Spectrum |
| 1982 | Monsters | Acornsoft | BBC Micro, Acorn Electron |
| 1983 | Bonka | J. Morrison (Micros) Ltd. | Dragon 32/64, C64 |
| 1983 | Cuthbert Goes Digging | Microdeal | TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32 |
| 1983 | Panic 64 | Interceptor Micros | C64 |
| 1983 | Sam Spade | Silversoft Ltd | ZX Spectrum |
| 1984 | Panic Planet | Alligata | C64 |
| 1984 | Monsters 64 | Available as a Compunet download | C64 |
| 1984 | Hektik | Mastertronic | C64, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore C16 |
| 1984 | Roland Goes Digging | Amsoft/Gem Software | Amstrad CPC |
| 1986 | Panik! | Atlantis | Commodore 16, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit |
References
- ↑ Crawford, Chris (2003). Chris Crawford on Game Design. New Riders. ISBN 0-88134-117-7.
- ↑ Pearl, Rick (June 1983). "Closet Classics". Electronic Games. p. 82. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ↑ Oleniacz, Kevin (December 2003). "Space Panic". Digital Press Online.
External links
- Space Panic at KLOV