Battle Zone (Arcade) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 149
15Military-grade vector-based arcade combat action baby!
EDIT: I have since learned that ROMs for the Battle Zone version made for the Army do exist online! Well done internet... well done
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, fan of retro games, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EACH of the video games in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game review parts are just for fun, and are not meant to be definitive, in depth reviews; this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey itself. From Mario games to the Halo series, from arcade games to Commodore 64, PC games to the NES and Sega Genesis, Playstation to the Xbox, let's play those classic retro games that we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Battlezone
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlezone_(1980_video_game)
Battlezone is a first-person shooter[1][2][3] tank combat arcade game from Atari, Inc. released in November 1980.[4] The player controls a tank which is attacked by other tanks and missiles. The game uses wireframe vector graphics on a black and white (with green and red sectioned color overlay) vector monitor. It was designed primarily by Ed Rotberg, who designed many games for Atari Inc., and later Atari Games, and Sente.
Gameplay is on a flat plane with a mountainous horizon featuring an erupting volcano, distant crescent moon, and various geometric solids (in vector outline) like pyramids and blocks. The player views the screen, which includes an overhead radar view, to find and destroy the rather slow tanks, or the faster-moving supertanks. Saucer-shaped UFOs and guided missiles occasionally appear for a bonus score. The saucers differ from the tanks in that they do not fire upon the player and do not appear on radar. The player can hide behind the solids or, once fired upon, maneuver in rapid turns to buy time with which to fire.
Bonus tanks are awarded at 15,000 and 100,000 points; after the score rolls over at ten million, additional bonus tanks are again awarded at indicated scores of 15,000 and 100,000. The game only includes one hostile enemy on the game board at all times; the player never has to battle two enemy tanks at once, or a tank and guided missile. The UFO can appear on the screen at the same time as an enemy tank, and it can occasionally be destroyed by enemy fire.
The geometric solid obstacles are indestructible, and can block the movement of a player's tank. However, they are also useful as shields as they block enemy fire as well.
The music heard when a score of 100,000 is attained and in the high score initials prompt is from Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
A version called The Bradley Trainer (also known as Army Battlezone or Military Battlezone) was also designed for use by the U.S. Army as targeting training for gunners on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.[6] Approaching Atari in December 1980, some developers within Atari refused to work on the project because of its association with the Army,[7] most notably original Battlezone programmer Ed Rotberg.[8] Rotberg only joined after he was promised by management that he would never be asked to do anything with the military in the future.[9] Only two were produced; one was delivered to the Army and is presumed lost, and the other is in the private collection of Scott Evans,[10][11] who found it by a dumpster in the rear parking lot at Midway Games. The gunner yoke was based on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle control and was later re-used in the popular Star Wars game.[9] The Bradley Trainer differs dramatically from the original Battlezone as it features helicopters, missiles, and machine guns; furthermore, the actual tank does not move—the guns simply rotate.