Combat (video game)

The "Tank" variation of game in Combat, featuring the score at the top and the playing field from an overhead view.

Combat uses two four-directional joysticks, one for each player.[2] The game has several modes of gameplay: "Tank", "Biplane" and "Jet" and with variations of the above models.[3] The tank and jet modes are viewed from a top-down perspective while biplane games are side view.[4] In all forms of the game, pushing the button fires a missile. The player whose tank or aircraft has been hit less at the end of two minutes and sixteen seconds is the winner. Variation of the gameplay in Tank mode add obstacles to maneuver around, having the missiles rebound off of walls (referred to as Tank-Pong) and having invisibility, where the tanks are invisible except when they are firing a missile or are hit by one.[3][5] In the other two modes, Jet and Biplane, there are no obstacles with both aircraft continuously moving forwards.[3] These levels have options for obscuring clouds in which the planes can hide behind.[5] The original Atari VCS game system has six switches in front, including left and right difficulty switches and a game select switch. The difficulty switches change the range of fire of the missiles and in the plane-based games, changes the speed of flight.[6]

In his article "Combat in Context", Nick Monfort stated it was difficult to place the game genre to Combat as applying genre to it with be any genre assignment would be considered anachronistic.[6] AllGame would later categorize it as a shooter game.[4]

Combat was programmed while the Atari 2600 hardware was still under development.[3] Early development on the game existed by late 1975 by Steve Mayer. This program was a tank game made on early prototype Atari 2600 hardware made by Mayer and Ron Milner from Cyan Engineering, a consulting firm that Atari had purchased in 1975.[7][8] The VCS hardware was designed to be capable of playing Atari's popular arcade games Pong (1972) Pong Doubles (1973), Quadrapong (1974), Gran Trak 10 (1974), Tank (1974), and Jet Fighter (1975).[9] Combat was based on the Tank.[7]

Combat was made to fit into a two Kilobyte cartridge's ROM.[6] In his academic journal Combat in Context, Nick Monfrot stated that the code was made in assembly language with early work done it by Joe Decuir who was working on the VCS hardware with Miner.[6] Decuir has deferred much of the credit on the game, stating that "Ron Milner and Steve Mayer conceived of what became Combat I was an implement [...] I worked on it mostly as a test case for the hardware".[1] Decuir had most of the game made, while it was put into its final form by Larry Wagner, who was the lead cartridge programmer for the game. Wagner refined the tank games and added both the aircraft modes.[7] Decuir would proclaim that Wagner "made the Combat display engine a lot more fun."[1]

Combat was included with the release of the Atari 2600 (pictured) from 1977 to 1982.

Combat was bundled in with the release of the Atari 2600 from 1977 to 1982.[10][7][11] According to Weekly Television Digest from October 17, 1977 the Atari VCS was shipped to all major market areas by August 1977.[12] The system became known as the Atari 2600 only after the release of the Atari 5200 in 1982.[6] The cover art of Combat was made by Cliff Spohn. Spohn commented he was not happy with the cover, noting that as the graphic was cut up into four areas that the jet trail is cut and it "always really bothered [him]."[13]

Combat was re-released in various compilation formats, such as the Atari 80 in One for Windows in 2003 and the Atari Anthology for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004.[14] It was also released on portable devices ar part of Atari Classics Evolved (2007) for the PlayStation Portable and Atari Greatest Hits (2011) for iOS.[15][16] In 2010, it was made available as part of Microsoft's Game Room for the Xbox 360.[16]

From contemporary reviews, Video compared the Atari VCS's launch titles, and gave tank pong the highest rating of the variations on Combat with a seven-and-one-half rating for Tank-Pong and Invisible Tank Pong, six-and-one-half for invisible tank game, and six for all the other variations. In comparison, Blackjack and Video Olympics received a ten and eight-and-one-half rating each, while Basic Math, Surround, Street Racer, and Star Ship all received lower ratings.[17] By 1982, the game was receiving negative reception. Walter Lowe, Jr. ranked the game with a one-and-a-half star rating in Playboy's Guide to Rating Video Games while Ken Uston in Buying and Beating the Home Video Games declared "It's not fair to be too critical because, after all, this cartridge is nearly five years old; an in this age of rapid computer technology, that makes it almost an antique."[16] Craig Kubey's The Winners' Book of Video Games simple described it as "adequate" with both Lowe, Jr. and Kubey both only finding the saving grace that it came included with the console.[16] In the British publication TV Gamer from August 1983, Sonya Bradford found the controls took time to get used to and that the game "becomes a bit monotonous, which is not helped by the poor graphics."[16]

From retrospective reviews, Brett Alan Weiss of the online video game database AllGame gave the game a four-and-a-half-star rating out of five, noting that the simple graphics and sound fail to give a true impression of the game, noting its high replay value and "highly entertaining cat-and-mouse action."[4] In the first issue of Classic Gamer Magazine (1999) D.B. Caufield declared Combat as "still an outstanding two-player game" noting that what it lacked in graphics it made up for in gameplay.[1]

In 1995, Flux magazine ranked Combat #48 on their list of "Top 100 Video Games". The article stated that despite what the publication described as poor-quality graphics, the gameplay made Combat earn its position on the list.[18] In 2012, PCMag included Combat in their "The Greatest Atari Games of All Time" list, with writer Eric Griffith noted the dated graphics by 2012 standards, while finding that the game felt "pretty magical in the 70s."[19]

A gameplay scene from the prototype release of Combat Two.

A sequel to Combat went into development for the Atari 2600 and was to be titled Combat Two. The game would have included landscape elements such as water, forests and bridges as well as a level editor. The game was officially announced but was never officially released for the system. An incomplete prototype of the game surfaced in 1999 by former AtariAge magazine editor Steve Morgenstern.[20]

Physical copies of the game were made for sale in limited quantity at the 2001 Classic Gaming Expo.[1] The prototype was released as part of the Atari Flashback 2 dedicated console.[20]

• List of Atari 2600 games

• Combat at Atari Mania
• Combat at AtariAge
• Combat Two at AtariAge