Stampede (video game)
Lasso cattle in a left-to-right scrolling round-up.
In 1981, Activision published Stampede, an action game for the Atari 2600 programmed by Bob Whitehead. Players guide a cowboy in a left-to-right scrolling cattle round-up. An Intellivision port followed in 1982.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Activision
- Designer
- Bob Whitehead
- Platforms
- Atari 2600, Intellivision
- Released
- 2600 NA, December 1981 Intellivision NA, December 1982
- Genre
- Action
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The objective is to round up all cattle without letting any pass by. The player lassoes each cow to capture it. Initially, only two cattle may slip past; a third ends the game. All cattle run in the same direction as the player, but slower, except for the Black Angus calf, described as stubborn and motionless, which forces the player to prioritize it. For every 1,000 points scored, the player gains one extra free pass. For example, at 2,000 points with no passes used, four cattle could pass before the fifth ends the game. After about 5,000 points the game essentially resets and repeats the same pattern. According to David Yancey, a bug typically limits play to eight loops, though a different binary version allows scoring up to 99,999.
Reception
Stampede earned praise from Video magazine in 1982, which hailed it as a thrilling rope-riding game with charming visuals. Critics noted that even with only 2k of ROM, the title proved Activision could successfully market fresh, unusual games and that solid, playable games don't require expanding memory. Richard A. Edwards, reviewing the Atari version in The Space Gamer No. 53, considered it among the best strategy and action games for the system. In 1983, Video Games reported that the Intellivision version was easier than the tough Atari 2600 original, with graphics that looked identical. Danny Goodman of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games expressed surprise that the Intellivision version’s graphics were barely more detailed than those of its Atari predecessor.
More in Atari 2600 Game Library: Action Game
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