''Canyon Climber'' is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

and published by

Tandy Corporation Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned Retail, retailer based in Fort Worth, Texas that made leather goods, operated the RadioShack chain, and later built personal computers. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store ...

in 1982. Ports to the

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

by Tim Ferris and

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

by Brian Mountford were published by

Datasoft Datasoft, Inc. (also written as DataSoft) was a software developer and publisher for home computers founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum and based out of Chatsworth, Los Angeles, Chatsworth, California. Datasoft primarily published video games, includi ...

. NEC released a version for the PC-6001. The three levels in ''Canyon Climber'' have American Southwest themes and do not scroll. Two levels are direct analogs of those in ''

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

''. The box art is by Scott Ross.

Gameplay

''Canyon Climber'' consists of three non-scrolling screens that are endlessly cycled through. In the first, similar to the rivet screen from ''

'', the goal is to place

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

charges on both ends of each of four

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s, using ladders to climb between them, then trigger a detonator.

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s pursue the player and can be jumped over. The second screen resembles ''Donkey Kong's'' opening level, with angled platforms and connecting ladders. Native Americans ("Indians" in the manual) on each platform shoot arrows which can be jumped or avoided. The goal is to reach the top. The objective of the third screen is to climb to the top while avoiding bricks dropped by

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. The soundtrack of the first screen is a musical adaptation of the Prelude section from Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 847.

Reception

The 1983 book ''The Creative Atari'' stated, "''Canyon Climber'' achieves a cartoon-like atmosphere in the rendering of its various screens, to very pleasing effect," concluding "You will spend a while with ''Canyon Climber''." In a review of four Atari 8-bit

games (alongside '' Pacific Coast Highway'', ''

Clowns and Balloons ''Clowns and Balloons'' is a circus-themed video game written by Frank Cohen for Atari 8-bit computers and published in 1982 by Datasoft. The game was also released for the TRS-80 Color Computer, written by Steve Bjork who had released a similar ...

'', and ''

Shooting Arcade ''Shooting Arcade'' is a fixed shooter written by Mark Riley for Atari 8-bit computers and published in 1982 by Datasoft. It was released under Datasoft's Gentry Software budget label as ''Target Practice''. It was ported to the TRS-80 Color Comp ...

''), Charles Brannon of ''

COMPUTE! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...

'' wrote, "the overall animation and execution are perhaps the best of the four." ''

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' was an American computer magazine devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANALOG'' printed multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. Almo ...

'' wrote, "The details and playability of the game are very good" and rated the graphics a 10 out of 10. ''

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games ''Electronic Fun with Computers & Games'' was a video game magazine published in the United States from November 1982 to May 1984. For the last two issues it was renamed ''ComputerFun''. Content The magazine was split up into the following sec ...

'' described ''Canyon Climber'' as "not quite as demanding as ''Donkey Kong'', but the concept is appealingly bizarre," and called the game "short-term addictive." Reviewing the TRS-80 Color Computer version for ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format t ...

'', Stephen B. Gray had a different view of the difficulty: "''Canyon Climber'' is a game for the expert or the masochist." Long after the game's initial release, Keita Iida noted the low difficulty level, calling the game "perfectly suited for beginning players who are just getting into platform/climbing games." Mark Sabbatini, looking at the Color Computer version, agrees: "as soon as you've completed the levels a few times the challenge is pretty much gone." He also disliked the randomness of the

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

and goats, stating "all too often whether you live or die is all about luck and not about skill and planning."

Legacy

One section of Llamasoft's 2011 '' GoatUp'' game for iOS is an homage to ''Canyon Climber''.

References

External links

*{{atarimania, id=875 1982 video games Atari 8-bit computer games Apple II games Datasoft games NEC PC-6001 games Platformers TRS-80 Color Computer games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Arizona Single-player video games