1. History

2. Gameplay

3. Reception

4. Legacy

5. References

6. External links

Astro Chase is a scrolling shoot 'em up written by Fernando Herrera for the Atari 8-bit family and published by First Star Software in 1982. The company later licensed the game to Parker Brothers, which released versions for other platforms, and also to Exidy for use with their Max-A-Flex arcade cabinet.

Gameplay takes place on a 2D scrolling map of space around Earth, which the player has to defend from an alien force. The primary target is a number of Mega-Mines, which approach the Earth and must be destroyed.

History

In 1981, Atari, Inc. introduced the Atari Star Award for the best new program distributed though their Atari Program Exchange. Winner of the first $25,000 grand prize was Fernando Herrera for My First Alphabet, a children's game.^[5] Fernando was working at a computer retail store owned by Billy Blake who was also partners with Richard Spitalny at the time. Billy and Richard, then feature film producers, decided to start and fund an interactive software company to showcase Fernado's talents. Richard and Billy funded the company, naming it First Star Software.

Gameplay

The game opens with the player looking at a scene at a spaceport, in a simulated 3D view. A flying saucer is hovering just to the right of center, and the player's character is seen exiting a terminal building on the left, walking to the spaceship, waving goodbye, and then beaming aboard.

The view then cuts to space, where the player uses the joystick to cause the screen to rapidly scroll in the selected direction, creating the illusion of flight in the chosen direction. The screen is filled with planets and other objects. When the user presses the fire button on the joystick, the stick stops causing the ship to move, and instead fires its weapon in the chosen direction. The ship can simultaneously move and fire in different directions.

The enemy aliens attack the player with an endless supply of attack saucers; however, they are but a mere distraction. The real threat to Earth are the 16 Megamines that start at the end of the universe and then slowly make their way towards planet Earth, displayed in the center of the map. If a single Megamine manages to reach Earth, the planet explodes.

The game's music is an endless loop of the 1812 Overture. Once the player destroys all 16 Megamines in a given level, he or she is able to move to the next of the 36 levels. Every four levels, the ship returns to Earth where a cut scene animation is shown.

Reception

The Atari computer system version of Astro Chase was reviewed by Video magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was described as "a state-of-the-art space shoot-out" and as "a revolutionary game with graphic achievements of stunning virtuosity". Reviewers specifically praised the game's innovative "single thrust propulsion" mechanic.^[7]{{rp|28}} Softline stated that "Astro Chase is just about all you could ask for in an arcade game ... an exercise in class and style", citing its "Tremendous graphics".^[8]

The game was awarded "1984 Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Computer Game" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards, where judges described it as "slam-bang space battle" and praised its animated intermissions.^[9]{{rp|28}}

In a more recent review of the Atari 5200 version, Keita Iida wrote, "the gorgeous 3-D starfield is just another 2-D maze—with round obstructions instead of walls." He concluded, "Astro Chase is one big letdown and serves as a reminder that graphics are only skin deep."^[10]

Legacy

In 1994, MacPlay released a first-person reworking of the game for the Macintosh as Astro Chase 3D.

References

External links

• Astro Chase for the Atari 8-bit family at Atari Mania
• Astro Chase at Arcade History
• {{internet archive game|arcade_mf_achas}}

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