Violence, bloodshed, weapons, and killing enemies are some of the ideas that first come to people’s minds when you say video games. These play an intricate part in many games, but violence is not everyone’s cup of tea. Thankfully, an alternative game will give you an exact amount of action but less violent than the other video games.
One of the classic types of video games that you can enjoy is the classic Atari video game, Adventure. Players are tasked to take a journey fueled by a good storyline, great characters, puzzle-solving surprises, and events throughout the game.
The Adventure video game is also considered one of the most influential computerized games of all time, making it deserving of the spotlight that it has been getting from the industry. Discover more about this interesting video game and its contributions to the industry in this article.
- About Adventure
- Gameplay
- Features and Gameplay of Adventure
- The Game’s Success
- The Legacy of the Game
About Adventure
In 1979, game designer Warren Robinett developed the classic Adventure game. The world’s first action-adventure game was released for the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), also known as the Atari 2600 game console. This game was the first to have sound and colored graphics.
Robinett based the game he developed on Colossal Cave Adventure that was introduced to him in 1977. Inspired to create a whole new graphical version of the said game, he started designing Adventure as his graphics-based game.
Robinett initially found ways to translate Colossal Cave Adventure elements and made easier, simpler, and recognizable visuals. However, his idea was rejected by his boss. But it didn’t stop him, and he continued to work on the game secretly, then had the go-signal from his co-worker.
Robinett first intended all the rooms in the kingdom to be bidirectionally connected. However, this was not made possible due to programming bugs that created unidirectional connections. If you will read the game’s manual, it is included and explained as “bad magic.”
Influence on the Gaming World
The game’s main contribution lies in Robinett’s Easter Egg concept. This concept is accessible by finding a single pixel in a room and bringing it near the golden castle where an impassable wall will disappear, allowing the player to enter another room showing a credit statement: “Created by Warren Robinett.”
Robinett called the Easter Egg concept his signature. It was an act of revenge toward the company that did not give royalties or credits to game designers like him. Today, the Easter Egg is used throughout different pop culture platforms, such as songs, movies, and other video games worldwide.
The Adventure video game went on to inspire the creation of more popular games including Pac-Man, 1979 Superman, and other Swordquest games.
Gameplay
The game’s main objective is for the player to find the magic chalice and return it to the golden castle. The player, represented by a square avatar, takes the journey of a multi-screen perspective containing rooms, mazes, and palaces.
Throughout Adventure’s world, there are hidden objects, such as keys to unlock castles, a magnet to pull items toward it, a sword, and an enchanted bridge allowing the player to go through a wall. The player is only allowed to take and bring one of these items while exploring the world.
To achieve the game’s main premise, the player must solve a series of mind-tricking puzzles and mazes. The gameplay may seem simple, but take in mind that the player has to face every challenge while avoiding the attempt of duck-like dragons to devour you.
These three dragons are the yellow Yorgle, red Rhindle, and green Grundle. There is also a bat that can freely roam around the kingdom and move objects. These creatures are tasked to protect the castle from the player and can drastically change the game’s perspective.
Advanced Gameplay
Adventure was groundbreaking considering that other games released for the platform were extremely limited in different features. Some had a single backdrop, while others require the gamer to shoot only at the moving objects. The Adventure video game was a breath of fresh air.
Its revolutionary functions allow players to use items, fight dragons, explore the multi-screened maze, and lock and unlock doors using a standard joystick controller.
Features and Gameplay of Adventure
Indeed, the gameplay’s straightforward interface allows its player to complete the game in less than five minutes easily. As mentioned, Adventure’s main objective is to bring back the enchanted chalice to the castle.
The game’s world consists of three castles known as the gold, black, and white castles. As a player, you will start traveling from the gold castle, exploring a maze that directs to the black one and a catacomb that creates a path to the white palace.
The Adventure video game features three main modes, making it playable for beginners to experts. The first mode removes the white castle, the bat, Rhindle, and all mazes, excluding the path leading to the black castle. For the second mode, the game consists of all the mazes, dragons, castles, and objects, but the player will only stay in the same places. The last mode is where the hidden objects are spread throughout the kingdom.
As the player, you have the control to either tweak the game’s difficulty through left and right difficulty switches. The left one speeds up the dragon’s bite, while the right controls the dragon’s emotions toward the sword: whether or not it’s afraid of the object.
Why this Game Is Unique
What makes Adventure stand out from its peers is its feature where players can reset the game.
Even if a dragon ate the player, there’s an option to resurrect the character and retain most of the progress. However, slain dragons will also be revived.
This feature is also considered the earliest example of the “continue game” option that most modern video games have today.
The Game’s Success
Adventure developed its trademark genre on video game consoles as the first action-adventure game console and the first console fantasy game. It is the first graphical adventure game on the Atari 2600 machine and includes a well-known Easter Egg.
It’s also the first to enable a player to use several handheld on-screen objects while roaming an open-ended setting, making it one of the first illustrations of an open-world game, although a small and primitive one.
In its catacombs, the game is the first to use a fog of war effect, which obscures most of the playing area except for its immediate environment.
Popularity
Atari's Adventure sold over 1 million copies, making it the seventh best-selling Atari 2600 title.
It received critical acclaim in the following years of its release, and it has remained popular since then.
The Legacy of the Game
In multiple polls, the game was named the best Atari 2600 game, and it was praised as a major step forward in the growth of home video games. In 2007, GamePro rated it as the 28th most influential video game of all time, and in 2010 1UP.com called it one of the most valuable games of all time. Adventure was named one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 by Entertainment Weekly.
Early in 1982, a sequel to Adventure was released. The proposed sequel later became the Swordquest video game series. Atari also published a sequel written by Curt Vendel in 2005 for the Atari Flashback 2 system.
The Easter Egg in Adventure is heavily listed as the basis for a contest to locate an Easter Egg concealed in the futuristic virtual reality game OASIS in both the book and film versions of Ready Player One.
And discovering the secret room inside Adventure is a key plot point in both versions, with footage from the game, specifically the Easter egg, inserted into the movie adaptation.
Video Game Console Used
As stated, the Adventure video game was released for the Atari 2600. The Atari 2600 is a home video game console designed and manufactured by Atari, Inc. It was initially named the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) until November 1982.
The original console had six switches on the top bezel: control, TV form (color or black-and-white), game selection, player difficulty, and game reset.
Later models of the console shifted the complexity switches to the back of the bezel. The controller ports, TV output, and power adapter outlets were all located on the back bezel.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, the classic Adventure game gives players a whole new flavor when playing action-adventure video games.
From a good storyline of retrieving an enchanted chalice from an evil magician who steals it from the golden castle to a simpler, accessible, and easy-to-control gameplay, it’s truly undeniable that Adventure is the most classic game in history.
