Choplifter

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Choplifter
Studio Dan Gorlin
Publisher United StatesUnited States Brøderbund
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1982
platform Arcade , Apple II , Atari 5200 , Atari 7800 , ColecoVision , NES , Atari XEGS , Master System , C64 , VC 20 , TI-99 / 4A , MSX , PC DOS , PC-88 , X1
Game mode Single player
medium Floppy disk , cartridge
Choplifter on an open Educator 64 (right)

Choplifter is a computer game that was developed by Dan Gorlin in 1982 and initially published by Brøderbund for the Apple II . Choplifter is one of the minority of games that initially appeared on a home computer and was later published in the arcade . Another game that came out this way was Lode Runner . Choplifter was very successful in the video game market and has therefore also been ported to the most popular systems . By April 1983 the diskette versions for Apple II and Atari 400/800 alone were sold about 60,000 times.

Game description

The player must rescue prisoners of war by picking them up with a helicopter and dropping them off at a nearby base. A maximum of 16 people can be transported at once. As opponents there are tanks and planes that the player can shoot down. There are slight differences between the various ports in the game. In some versions a maximum of 64 UN delegates can be rescued, in other versions only 8 people board the helicopter at the same time. Sometimes drone air mines appear as additional opponents. The helicopter can fly horizontally to the left and right, as well as facing forward. At least 20 hostages must be freed per round, 40 in the SEGA Master System version.

Home computer version 1982

The home computer versions mostly had only 16 colors and only one scenario due to the hardware. The Commodore VC 20 version was even only monochrome in yellow. With the Apple II version, the helicopter must also be landed more carefully.

A similar game is Fort Apocalypse ( Synapse Software , 1982).

Arcade version 1985

Only in 1985 was the arcade game by Sega produced. In addition to the much better graphics ( parallax scrolling and large color palette ), there were also various scenarios. In addition to a desert environment, there was also a sea, a cave and a city mission. Background music and voice output were also built into the game. Only three arcade games were more successful than Choplifter in 1985.

Technical specifications

  • 2 Z80 processors (@ 4 MHz)
  • 2 sound chips SN76496
  • 256 × 224 pixels (4/3)
  • Color palette: 1536
  • 8-way joystick ; 2 buttons

Bug in the game

The original Apple game (and perhaps also other versions of the game on other platforms) contain a move that can also be viewed as a bug in the game: In the game it is possible to create a situation in which it there is no end of the game. In the game, the refugees usually run towards the helicopter when it lands. If the helicopter starts before the refugees can come on board and then lands a little further away in the direction of the rescue station, the refugees can be slowly led back to the rescue station. With a whole series of these "jumps" of the helicopter, the refugees run back into the station without a point being counted. Thus the game does not end unless the helicopter is destroyed.

successor

All games act in the fictional bungeling empire. Another game with opponents of this location is Lode Runner .

Ports

Similar games

  • Air Rescue (Master System, 1992)
  • ResQ (Mega Drive, 1994)
  • Apocalypse (Amiga, 1994)
  • Airlift Rescue (PC, 1995)
  • Chopper (MacOSX, 2004)
  • Glory Days - The Essence of War (Gameboy Advance, 2005)
  • Saucelifter (PC, 2006)
  • Glory Days 2 (Nintendo DS, 2007)
  • Chopper (iPhone, 2009)
  • Chopper 2 (iPhone, 2010)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deborah Wise: Broderbund games' features rival arcades. InfoWorld, April 4, 1983, p. 4.
  2. ↑ [1]