Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Fire Fighters?

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Release Date: 1982
Publisher: Imagic
Controller: Joystick
Players: 1
Genre: Arcade
Alternate Title: N/A
Model #: IA3400
Rarity: 3
Programmer: Brad Stewart

We will never forget ! (9/11)

You are a one man fire brigade working the overnight shift in the big city. A call comes in from a massive warehouse with a poor soul trapped in a fiery inferno. It’s up to you and only you to rush to the scene, fight back the flames and use your ladder truck to rescue him before it is too late.

When you begin the game you will find a man on the second floor of a ten story building that is running back and forth with his arms flailing in fear due to the flames that have engulfed the first floor. Your first instinct will be to leap off the truck and use your hose to douse the fire and save the day, which is a pretty good way to go since the fire is small and easily extinguished. For those who are fleet of foot, it’s possible to finish off the threat in about fifteen seconds. It actually takes longer to extend the ladder and run up it than it does to save the building.

The second game plan that you can employ is to simply raise the ladder to the forth or fifth floor and wait for the heat to drive the visibly distraught man upwards and into your waiting arms. Granted this puts a dent in your rescue time, but even with this strategy you can still complete your goal in about a minute.

If your approach to fire fighting is strictly hands off, don’t worry because there is a game plan for you as well. When you arrive at the scene, simply kick back, break out the marshmallows and make some s’mores. The blaze will spread and send the warehouse employee fleeing to the roof, where he will be trying in vain to flag you down for your assistance. Luckily the fire gets bored easily, so it will eventually put itself out, leaving you with the single task of moving the ladder to the first floor window. Needless to say, this takes all the tension out of the gameplay.

With the dull gameplay and lack of any real challenge, there isn’t much of a reason to check out Fire Fighter. Unless of course you have always dreamed of being a one man fire brigade.