''Quick Step'' is an

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 ...

action game written by David Johnson. It was published by

Imagic Imagic ( ) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''Atlantis'', '' Cosmic Ark'', and '' De ...

in September 1983 as one of the last Atari 2600 games from the company. The player controls a kangaroo competing against a squirrel, where both animals must jump between moving platforms, changing them to their character's color to earn points. There is a two-player mode where the second player controls the squirrel.

Gameplay

The gameplay of ''Quick Step'' consists of controlling a green kangaroo that must jump across different colored vertically scrolling platforms, competing against a purple squirrel. Jumping onto a platform changes it to the character's color and the player gets a point for every platform of their color that scrolls off the screen. Certain platforms (called "magic mats") will freeze the other character in place when jumped on, which can cause the other player to lose a life if they are near the bottom of the screen and the platform they are on scrolls off. The player can also press the fire button to release a "tricky trap" which causes the platform under the other character to disappear, causing them to fall. The platforms speed up as gameplay progresses, and eventually collapse into a single column towards the end of the level. The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where the second player can control the squirrel.

Development

''Quick Step'' was designed by David Johnson, with

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

assistance from Wilfredo Aguilar, Michael Becker, and Wendy Szeto.

Reception

A review in the December 1983 issue of ''Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated'' was mixed, being critical of the graphics and having a mixed reaction to the gameplay. ''Video Games Magazine'' was also critical of the graphics, but praised the game as "a truly different game, if only because of the potpourri of elements". ''

Computer Entertainer ''Computer Entertainer'', also known as ''The Video Game Update'', was an American video game newsletter. Based out of Los Angeles, California and edited by Celeste Dolan, it was published monthly between 1982 and 1990. It regularly featured news ...

'' praised the two-player mode, calling it a "gem". The ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...

''called ''Quick Step'' "closer to a miss than a hit". Many reviewers considered it a clone of ''

Q*bert ''Q*bert'' () is a 1982 Action game, action video game developed and published by Gottlieb for Arcade video game, arcades. It is a Video game graphics, 2D action game with Puzzle video game, puzzle elements that uses Isometric video game gr ...

''. In a retrospective review of Imagic games, ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' said ''Quick Step'' "is a brilliant, furious multiplayer game for a system not exactly known for aggressive two-player action games", putting it in their top five list of Imagic games for the Atari 2600. videogamecritic.com said that while ''Quick Step'' was inspired by ''Q*bert'', it lacks the "charm" that made ''Q*bert'' a video game classic.

References

External links

* {{cite web , title=Classic Game Room review , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNBF_LGrfM , website=YouTube , date=28 April 2015 1983 video games Action games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Imagic games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer hotseat games Video games about squirrels Video games about animals Video games about kangaroos and wallabies Video games developed in the United States