Blitz (video game)
Blitz (originally Vic New York, then later New York Blitz) is an action game published by Commodore for the VIC-20 personal computer. The game is based on the 1977 arcade game Canyon Bomber, replacing the goal of clearing boulders with bombing closely packed skyscrapers. Several later clones of the concept also used the city setting.
| Blitz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | TaySoft |
| Publisher(s) | TaySoft Commodore |
| Designer(s) | Simon Taylor |
| Platform(s) | VIC-20 |
| Genre(s) | Action |
Blitz was followed by Blitz-64 for the Commodore 64 and Blitz-16 for the Commodore-16.
Gameplay
A plane flies across a single-screen cityscape at a steady speed. When it reaches the edge of the screen, it wraps to the other side at a lower altitude, with its speed increasing each pass. The player drops bombs from the plane, and each bomb removes one or more segments of the structure it hits. As the plane descends, it risks colliding with remaining buildings. The level is complete when all buildings are destroyed, and the plane has descended safely to the bottom of the screen.
Development
The game was prompted by a verbal description of the arcade game Canyon Bomber (Atari, Inc., 1977). The change from a canyon filled with rock pillars to a city of skyscrapers was copied by later clones including Blitz, City Bomber and City Lander (for ZX Spectrum, C64 and ZX81).
The game was originally written as Vic New York written by Simon Taylor, before he contracted with Commodore in 1982.[1] Taylor later produced versions for the Commodore 64, Commodore 16, and Epson HX-20 portable computer.
Legacy
Mastertronic later sold the game as the budget-priced New York Blitz.[1]
References
- Wills, John (2019). Gamer Nation. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1421428703.