Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 11, 2013 17:50:31 GMT
by aspro73
25 Years Later - A look at the first home console vertically scrolling shooter.
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Platform: Atari 2600, Atari 800,Intellivision, Atari 5200, Collecovision, Commodore 64, MSX, Mobile
Release: 1982 (25 Years ago!)
When thinking about a game to feature to a group of avid collectors the tendency to pick your favorite game, or the game that you have the earliest memories of, is difficult to overcome. However, when that game is also the first vertically scrolling shooter to appear on a home console, is developed by the first female video game designer and is the first game to be banned by the German government, the presentation of such a game is a duty.
As described by Wikipedia, River Raid is a scrolling shooter in which the player controls an airplane in a top-down view over a river and gets points for shooting down emeny planes, helicopters, jets, ships and bridges. River Raid appeared in 1982 on the Atari 2600 console, the same year that the first vertical scroller was released in the arcades (Xevious). Carol Shaw, who became the first female game designer in 1979 with her rendition of Tic-Tac-Toe, used all of the 128 bytes of RAM and 4K of ROM available to her in River Raid by dynamically generating the terrain and enemy locations using a form of random number generation.
carol shawTension is a word that is not often used to describe game play, but really, along with frustration and feelings of accomplishment it is one of the things that make a gaming experience enjoyable. Resource management, and thus the tension, probably makes another first appearance in this game. While you fly along your gas gauge constantly dips, forcing you to seek out fueling depots to replenish your fuel. Particularly skilled players can shoot the fuel depots as they are leaving for additional points. Adding to the tension is the realism of the sound effects that vary along with the speed of the jet along with the warning alarms when your fuel level goes low.
According to an interview relayed by cgaming.com Shaw initially intended River Raid to be a space shooter, but Activision guided Shaw away from the crowded space shooter game market. 'Originally, the jet was going to be a boat, but the top part of the boat looked kind of funny so it became a jet,' explained Shaw, (also explaining why hitting the side of the river results in the jet's demise).
Beyond being the first home console vertical scroller the game was also the first game to be banned by the German government who deemed the game to be harmful to children because it made minors think like an "uncompromising fighter and destroyer" and that older children who played the Atari 2600 game would be subject to "physical cramps, anger, aggressiveness, erratic thinking and headaches." It was not until 2002 when the publisher of Activision Anthology for the Playstation successfully petitioned for the game to be cleared for sale in Germany.
river raid River Raid's appeal has endured, spawning several free online versions, web sites that distribute unauthorized clones of the game, mobile versions and soon to be released a DS version named Raid Over The River. Not a bad legacy for a game that is now 25 years old.
Release Timeline:
1982 Atari 2600, Atari 800
1983 Intellivision, Atari 5200
1984 Commodore 64, Collecovision, MSX
1988 Atari 2600 (River Raid II)
2003 Mobile
2007 Nintendo DS (Raid Over The River)
Play the online version of the game here:
absolutist.com/online/riverraid/
Site dedicated to unauthorized versions of the game:
www.riverraid.org/
Gamespot's Game Link:
www.gamespot.com/atari2600/action/riverraid/index.html
Raid Over The River Link
www.gamespot.com/ds/action/raidovertheriver/screenindex.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;img;2
25 Years Later - A look at the first home console vertically scrolling shooter.
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Platform: Atari 2600, Atari 800,Intellivision, Atari 5200, Collecovision, Commodore 64, MSX, Mobile
Release: 1982 (25 Years ago!)
When thinking about a game to feature to a group of avid collectors the tendency to pick your favorite game, or the game that you have the earliest memories of, is difficult to overcome. However, when that game is also the first vertically scrolling shooter to appear on a home console, is developed by the first female video game designer and is the first game to be banned by the German government, the presentation of such a game is a duty.
As described by Wikipedia, River Raid is a scrolling shooter in which the player controls an airplane in a top-down view over a river and gets points for shooting down emeny planes, helicopters, jets, ships and bridges. River Raid appeared in 1982 on the Atari 2600 console, the same year that the first vertical scroller was released in the arcades (Xevious). Carol Shaw, who became the first female game designer in 1979 with her rendition of Tic-Tac-Toe, used all of the 128 bytes of RAM and 4K of ROM available to her in River Raid by dynamically generating the terrain and enemy locations using a form of random number generation.
carol shawTension is a word that is not often used to describe game play, but really, along with frustration and feelings of accomplishment it is one of the things that make a gaming experience enjoyable. Resource management, and thus the tension, probably makes another first appearance in this game. While you fly along your gas gauge constantly dips, forcing you to seek out fueling depots to replenish your fuel. Particularly skilled players can shoot the fuel depots as they are leaving for additional points. Adding to the tension is the realism of the sound effects that vary along with the speed of the jet along with the warning alarms when your fuel level goes low.
According to an interview relayed by cgaming.com Shaw initially intended River Raid to be a space shooter, but Activision guided Shaw away from the crowded space shooter game market. 'Originally, the jet was going to be a boat, but the top part of the boat looked kind of funny so it became a jet,' explained Shaw, (also explaining why hitting the side of the river results in the jet's demise).
Beyond being the first home console vertical scroller the game was also the first game to be banned by the German government who deemed the game to be harmful to children because it made minors think like an "uncompromising fighter and destroyer" and that older children who played the Atari 2600 game would be subject to "physical cramps, anger, aggressiveness, erratic thinking and headaches." It was not until 2002 when the publisher of Activision Anthology for the Playstation successfully petitioned for the game to be cleared for sale in Germany.
river raid River Raid's appeal has endured, spawning several free online versions, web sites that distribute unauthorized clones of the game, mobile versions and soon to be released a DS version named Raid Over The River. Not a bad legacy for a game that is now 25 years old.
Release Timeline:
1982 Atari 2600, Atari 800
1983 Intellivision, Atari 5200
1984 Commodore 64, Collecovision, MSX
1988 Atari 2600 (River Raid II)
2003 Mobile
2007 Nintendo DS (Raid Over The River)
Play the online version of the game here:
absolutist.com/online/riverraid/
Site dedicated to unauthorized versions of the game:
www.riverraid.org/
Gamespot's Game Link:
www.gamespot.com/atari2600/action/riverraid/index.html
Raid Over The River Link
www.gamespot.com/ds/action/raidovertheriver/screenindex.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;img;2