''Jeepers Creepers'' is a grid capture video game written by James Albanese for

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 ...

. It was published by Quality Software in 1982. Similar in concept to Konami's '' Amidar'', the player controls a "bug" which moves around a grid, changing the color of the lines, while avoiding wasps. When all of the lines surrounding a rectangle have been colored, the rectangle is filled in. Some rectangles give special rewards when filled. The goal is to fill all the rectangles.

Gameplay

The player steers what the manual calls a ''bug'' around an irregular grid of different sized rectangles, coloring the orange lines yellow as it moves, and capturing a rectangle by coloring all the lines around it. When all of the lines have been colored (and thus all of the rectangles filled), the level ends. There are four different mazes. Some rectangles contain a ''jump'' or a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

which are acquired by capturing the rectangle. Once a jump has been collected, pressing the joystick button moves the player to a random position in the maze, like ''hyperspace'' in ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

''. When its containing rectangle has been filled, a normal beetle emerges to pursue and eat a single wasp. A Super Beetle is faster and may eat multiple wasps. The game can be played in normal and "coast" modes. When coast is enabled, the bug keeps moving in the current direction, even when the joystick is released, until hitting the end of a path. In normal mode, the bug stops as soon as the joystick is no longer moved.

Development

''Jeepers Creepers'' was written by James Albanese in QS Forth, a version of the Forth programming language also written by Albanese and sold by Quality Software.

Reception

''Consumer Guides The Best Atari Software'' wrote, "The action in ''Jeepers Creepers'' is superb, and the sound effects and graphics make it a good game for any age group, even young children". ''Book of Atari Software 1983'' gave an overall rating of B, with a B+ grades for "game depth" and "holds interest": "This chase game is extremely fun and intriguing to play. It is a simple game offering a lot of choices and good depth." Both the Twin City Atari Interest Group newsletter and ''

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 ...

'' compared ''Jeepers Creepers'' to ''

Kid Grid ''Kid Grid'' is a grid capture video game which borrows heavily from the 1981 arcade video game '' Amidar''. Written by Arti Haroutunian for Atari 8-bit computers, it was published by Tronix in 1982. A Commodore 64 port from the same programmer ...

'', also released in 1982.

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