''The Pit'' is an

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

released in 1982 by Zilec in the United Kingdom and licensed to

Centuri Centuri, formerly known as Allied Leisure, was an American arcade game manufacturer. They were based in Hialeah, Florida, and were one of the top six suppliers of coin-operated arcade video game machinery in the United States during the early 1 ...

in North America and

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

in Japan. The game was designed by Andy Walker and Tony Gibson and developed by AW Electronics. The objective of ''The Pit'' is to descend into an underground labyrinth, retrieve a gem, and escape. A handheld version was released in 1983 as both ''FL Exploration of Space Zackman: The Pit'' and ''Zackman, Tandy Space Explorer''. A game similar to ''The Pit'', programmed by Chris Gray, inspired Peter Liepa to create ''

Boulder Dash Boulder Dash may refer to: * ''Boulder Dash'' (video game), a 1984 video game * Boulder Dash (roller coaster), a wooden roller coaster See also * Balderdash (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

''.

Gameplay

left, Arcade screenshot The player's avatar (described as "The Astronaut-Explorer" by the game manual) lands in a spaceship and must dig his way into a series of tunnels. While there, he must avoid being crushed by rocks, eaten by monsters, impaled by arrows, or melted in a vat of acid. In lieu of a traditional timer is a tank (the "Zonker") shooting away a mountain near the player's spaceship. If the player dallies too long in the maze, the Zonker will destroy the player's spaceship, and the player loses a life. After collecting the treasure, the only route back to the spaceship is by crossing "The Pit", which is a room with a sliding retractable floor underneath which is a monster that will devour a player who tarries too long. The player receives 200 points for shooting each enemy, 1000 points for each crystal collected, 2000 points for collecting buried treasure, and 1000 points for crossing "The Pit" safely and reboarding the ship.

Release

''The Pit'' was released in April 1982. A sub-genre of action games with digging mechanics was emerging at the time. Namco's ''

Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game released by Namco in 1982. It was distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player digs underground tunnels to attack enemies in each level, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rock ...

'' was released in March 1982 in Japan, just a month before ''The Pit'' released, with ''Dig Dug'' releasing internationally the same month in April 1982. This led to some controversy, with ''Dig Dug''s US distributor Atari, Inc. threatening legal action, but Centuri registered their US copyright for ''The Pit'' three weeks earlier than Atari did for ''Dig Dug''. ''The Pit'' designer Andy Walker claimed he demonstrated a prototype of ''The Pit'' at a trade show where it was seen by some Japanese people who may have been from Namco or Atari.

Ports

The tank is labeled "Zilec" in the U.K. version, and "Taito" in the Japanese version. In addition, the game map layout as well as the color palette differ between the regional versions. The game was ported from the original 6502 processor board to Centuri's Z80 board in 1982. A port for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

was published in 1983 and one for the

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...

in 1984. Bandai released a portable VFD handheld version of ''The Pit'' in 1983 as ''FL Exploration of Space Zackman: The Pit''. It was also sold by Tandy in the US and some European countries as ''Zackman, Tandy Space Explorer''.Zackman, Tandy Space Explorer
/ref>

References

External links

* 1982 video games Arcade video games Centuri games Commodore 64 games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer hotseat games Taito arcade games VIC-20 games Video games developed in the United Kingdom {{Arcade-stub