Crossbow (video game)
| Crossbow | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Exidy |
| Publisher(s) |
Exidy Atari Corporation Absolute Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1983, 1987 |
| Genre(s) | Light-gun games |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Exidy 440 |
| Display | Raster, 320 x 240 pixels (Horizontal), 256 colors |
Crossbow is an arcade game released by Exidy in 1983.[1] It was later published by Absolute Entertainment for the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS, and by Atari Corporation for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit family starting in 1987.[2]
Description
Crossbow was the first arcade game with fully digitized sound and speech (some earlier games such as Journey used a loop tape for music and speech effects). It also featured some of the most advanced graphics of the time. Crossbow featured an optical light gun. The game's light gun resembled a full-sized crossbow.
Gameplay
Gameplay requires the player to protect a band of adventurers (referred to as "friends" by the game) from afar by shooting objects that threaten them. The adventurers enter from the left-hand side of the screen and attempt to cross the screen unharmed. If the player helps them reach the opposite side of the screen safely, the adventurers survive to the next scenario, and new adventurers are occasionally granted between scenarios.
In addition to the obstacles, the adventurers are vulnerable to the player's shots. The first time the player shoots an adventurer, an on-screen message is shown: "DON'T SHOOT YOUR FRIENDS!" Thereafter, shooting an adventurer will cause him/her to emit a cry of pain, and to walk at a slower pace the rest of the way. A second shot will kill the adventurer.
Scenarios are chosen by shooting a destination on a map screen, which include: town, desert, volcano, cave, bridge, jungle, and castle. The goal is to reach the final scenario, past the castle, in which the player confronts the Master of Darkness, who presumably created the dangers in the game. Defeating the Master of Darkness requires shooting him in the eyes when they turn red (and deadly). The player is treated to a brief congratulation and a challenge to defeat the Master of Darkness, but if you dare. Following this screen the player starts over with however many adventurers survived the confrontation.
Legacy
An iPhone version was released in 2010 by Mean Hamster Software.
Credits
- Game designer and chief programmer: Nick Ilyin
- Programming: Vic Tolomei, Larry Hutcherson
- Hardware designer:Howell Ivy
- Sounds and vocal characterization: Ken Nicholson
- Lynn Pointer (art design)