''Red Baron'' is an

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an ar ...

developed by Atari, Inc. and released in 1980. A first-person

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

game, the player takes the role of a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

ace in a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

fighting on the side of the Allies. The game is named after the nickname of

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

, German

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

. The game utilizes the same monochrome

vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display ...

and similar arcade hardware as Atari's own '' Battlezone''; both were developed at the same time. Like Battlezone, the player is presented with a first-person view of the action. Both ''Battlezone'' and ''Red Baron'' required additional hardware, an "Auxiliary" board, to perform the mathematical computations required for simulating a 3D environment.

Gameplay

The game is divided up into rounds. Most rounds are divided into air combat (shooting from one to three airplanes in formation) and ground combat (two zeppelins and multiple ground targets). While the game does not feature accurate flight physics (it is not possible to crash the plane directly into the ground, for instance), the vector-rendered mountain ranges serve as solid objects and flying into or through them causes the player to crash and lose one

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

. The mountain ranges do not impede attacks, either from the player or the enemies, and can be shot through. Enemies include: formations of enemy biplanes,

zeppelins A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

, pillboxes, turrets, and enemy buildings. ''Red Baron'' adjusts its own game difficulty by maintaining a consistent average game time from the last 32 games played. The

NVRAM Non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) is random-access memory that retains data without applied power. This is in contrast to dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and static random-access memory (SRAM), which both maintain data only for as lon ...

stores top three scores as well as average game times. In other words, this game has "adaptive difficulty". The goal of this feature was to adapt to the skill level of the typical player at that location and prevent excessive game times. The upright versions of '' Battlezone'' (also released in 1980) and ''Red Baron'' share the same cabinet. In ''Battlezone'', the player looks through a window that was shaped like a tank periscope. Side-view windows were available on both sides for people not playing the game to watch the action. ''Battlezone'' utilizes a two-way mirror to superimpose the monitor display (mounted horizontally) on a tank "interior" background. Although ''Red Baron'' uses the same cabinet as ''Battlezone'', no mirror is used and the monitor is mounted vertically, with the player viewing the display directly. ''Battlezone'' and ''Red Baron'' both used the same "Analog Vector Generator" (AVG) circuit boards and by switching the

PROM A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school y ...

's they could be interchanged (with very minor jumper additions). ''Red Baron'' and ''Battlezone'' use different auxiliary boards which are not interchangeable.

Reception

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' magazine reported that ''Red Baron'' was not successful in arcades despite "gorgeous quadra-scan graphics and magnificent audio frills", and expressed hope that "this marvelous flight simulator with a combat theme will re-emerge in home format some day".

Legacy

While playing ''Red Baron'' in 1982, Bill Stealey and

Sid Meier Sidney K. Meier ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian-American programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the ''Civilization'' series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bi ...

decided to create what became

MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization'' and '' X-COM'' series. Most of their inte ...

's first game, ''Hellcat Ace''. The company later obtained the unit they had played as a memento. ''Red Baron'' was released as part of the '' Atari: 80 Classic Games in One!'' compilation for Microsoft Windows, and later on the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

and PlayStation 2 in ''

Atari Anthology ''Atari: 80 Classic Games in One!'', known as ''Atari Anthology'' on consoles, is a video game collection developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Atari Interactive. The title is a compilation of 80 video games previously published by Atar ...

''. This version included parts of the cabinet art surrounding the game screen. The game is also available on '' Atari Greatest Hits Volume 2'' for the DS. The arcade version of “Red Baron” it’s also available on the AtGames Legends Ultimate Arcade Cabinet.

References

External links

*{{KLOV game, id=9289, name=Red Baron
''Red Baron''
at the Arcade History database 1980 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Atari arcade games Flight simulation video games Shoot 'em ups Vector arcade video games Video games developed in the United States World War I video games de:Red Baron