INVADER X (Atari 2600)

DEMON ATTACK!

Marooned on the ice planet Krybor, you watch legions of eerie creatures
scream overhead. They hover ominously. They give you no quarter. Attack and
destroy them, or be destroyed! Armed with your Laser Cannon, you confront the
ultimate challenge: SURVIVE!

Or so you thought. Seems like that was just the training mission. Now prepare for the REAL THING!! INVADER X!!

Label Artwork

 Invader X is based on the  game DEMON ATTACK which was released for the Atari 2600 by Imagic in 1982 and was programmed by Rob Fulop.

 From the beginning this game was intended to be a Demon Attack 1.5 or Demon Attack Plus. I love the original version of Demon Attack but can play it for hours without any challenge. I can play until I decide to quit. My intended direction with Invader X was just to make it harder and keep the score from rolling. It has grown from there.

The original Demon Attack is a  colorful shooting game that really shows off the fast action that the Atari 2600 is capable of. It is an excellent game that is always at the top of any gamers top ten list for the 2600.

Players that have mastered Demon Attack have a few problems. The original release of the game has what many people believe to be a game killing bug but this is not actually the case.

The game was originally programmed to end after the 84th wave, as Rob Fulop did not expect anyone to get that far. Two days after its initial release, a kid was able to beat the game. After this initial run of cartridges, Fulop went back and changed one line of code so that the game never ends, but never gets harder after the 84th wave.

Invader X

 So If you have a Demon Attack cartridge released in 1982, Then your game will lock up after wave 84.

This quick fix has created another problem. A good Demon Attack player can routinely get to wave 84. Since the game does not get any harder after that point it just becomes a marathon. Rolling the score is another issue. Rolling the score is when a player exceeds the maximum score that the game keeps track of.

Invader X

 When this happens the score reverts back to zero.
It is kind of hard to brag to your friends what a great game you played when you can't even track your score.

The last issue that I addressed was the cosmetic look of Demon Attack. Invader X has completely redesigned graphics and a unique color rotation on the enemies that makes there seem to be more types then there actually are.

Invader X

 Demon Attack already had great sound effects but they have also been changed for Invader X. There is now a throbbing bass track in the background that really brings out the feeling of your impending doom. Think Jaws meets Space Invaders.

Changes made to Demon Attack:
Full graphic changes
Full sound changes (Nukey)
Scoring lowered
Difficulty increased
New color rotation for enemies (makes it seem like more types then there are)

At heart it is still good ole Demon Attack but I think the original idea was accomplished. A small production of real Atari 2600 cartridges playable on any Atari 2600 will be made available in Summer 2012.

Demon Attack

Demon Attack