Release Date: 1980
Publisher: Atari
Controller: Joystick
Players: 1
Genre: Adventure
Alternate Title: N/A
Model #: cx2613
Rarity: 2
Programmer: Warren Robinett
In this ambitious ground breaking game you have the honor of controlling the first great video game hero. The Dot.
As The Dot you are on an epic quest to retrieve the Enchanted Chalice that has been stolen by an Evil Magician and hidden somewhere in the kingdom. In order to achieve this goal you must travel to far off lands, find your way through seemingly never ending mazes, and fend off fearsome duck dragons. There are three different levels to tackle, starting with what is essentially a tutorial level followed by two increasingly difficult journeys.
As your first adventure begins you find yourself standing outside your home castle (the Gold one) armed only with a key to the front gate. After grabbing the arrow sword that is inside you are off in search of duck dragons to slay. Lucky for you they are just a couple of screens away, guarding both a black key and the entrance to the maze. Once you dispatch both of them and have the key it’s time to find your way to the black castle, where the Enchanted Chalice has been hidden. Once you grab it and return it to its rightful place within your castle walls, you are not only greeted with some celebratory sound and color effects, but you are now ready to try your hand at a real quest.
The second adventure ramps up the difficulty substantially. There is a much larger world to explore, which includes new kingdoms filled with a variety of items and hazards. The duck dragons return and they are joined by one of the most annoying creatures ever to inhabit a video game, the bat. The bat not only randomly appears, but also will exchange an on screen item with a random one. Imagine navigating the obstructed view maze (where you can only see a small portion of the screen) to find the key to the black castle, finding your way back to civilization and to the black castle only to have the bat show up and replace it with a different key. Or worse, you could be running towards a sword only to have the bat steal it and replace it with a duck dragon. If you are ultimately able to survive the various challenges and retrieve the Enchanted Chalice once again, you are ready for the third and final adventure. This journey takes place in the same kingdom you just went through, however the Evil Magician has randomly hidden items across the landscape. Needless to say, this makes your life much more difficult.
In addition to the arrow sword, there are a handful of other items that will aid you in your quest. The bridge will make navigating the maze much easier as it allows you to climb over any wall you might come across. Plus it’s portable so once you cross it you can pick it up and carry it to the next wall you want to scale. Another item is a magnet, which allows you to drag other items behind you. This is incredibly helpful since you can only carry one item at a time, and also marks one of the earliest examples of a video game character having an inventory. The most valuable thing on your journey however is the reset button, as if you are eaten by a dragon or just become lost in a maze, hitting it will take you back to your castle with everything in its place.
More in the Atari 2600 Encyclopedia on great games like this! Plus subscribe to Old School Gamer for FREE by clicking here!
