''Laser Blast'' is a
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...
video game developed and published by
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
in March 1981 for the Atari VCS console (renamed to
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...
in 1982).
Designed by
David Crane,
one of Activision's co-founders, it places players in control of flying saucers attacking land targets.
Gameplay
The object of ''Laser Blast'' is to destroy a series of land-based enemies. The player controls a fleet of flying saucers, operating one at a time. On the planet's surface below is a group of three mobile laser bases, guarded by an invisible force field that prevents the player's saucer from getting too close to the surface. Both the player and the enemy bases are armed with laser blasters, which may fire a single continuous beam at a time. If the player's saucer is hit, it will lose altitude and crash to the ground, but the player may direct this fall, potentially into one of the bases, destroying it as well. Each succeeding wave of enemy bases moves faster and targets the player's saucers more quickly, while the force field becomes stronger and decreases the amount of space in which the saucer can move.
Players score points for each base destroyed, with points multiplying each wave up to a maximum of 90 points per base. Players earn extra flying saucers with every 1000 points scored and may keep a maximum of six extra saucers in reserve.
Players who scored 100,000 points or more could submit photographic proof to Activision and be admitted to the Activision Federation of Laser Blasters. When the score of 999,999 is reached, the digits in the score turn to exclamation points, and the game ends.
Reception
''Laser Blast'' earned an Honorable Mention for "Best Science Fiction Game" in 1982 at the Third Annual
Arkie Awards
''Electronic Games'' was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz.
History
The h ...
.
Legacy
Activision re-released ''Laser Blast'' as part of its ''
Activision Anthology
''Activision Anthology'' is a compilation of most of the Atari 2600 games by Activision for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by Absolute Entertainment and Imagic, as well as various homebrew games. The Mi ...
'' video game, made available for a number of consoles at various times in the 2000s.
See also
*
List of Atari 2600 games
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console released in September 1977. Sears licensed the console and many games from Atari, Inc., selling them under different names. Three cartridges were Sears exclusives.
The list contains
games, divided in ...
*
List of Activision games: 1980–1999
References
External links
''Laser Blast''at AtariAge
* {{atarimania, id=7773
1981 video games
Activision games
Atari 2600 games
Atari 2600-only games
Shoot 'em ups
Video games designed by David Crane (programmer)
Video games developed in the United States
Single-player video games