Demon Attack, Star Voyager, Trick Shot - Atari Archive Episode 68
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- čas přidán 7. 11. 2023
- We've reached April 1982, and that means the debut of one of the most celebrated third-party publishers of the early 1980s: Imagic. Founded by former Atari and Mattel staff, Imagic quickly gained a reputation for the quality of its video game output, a sight easily seen with its initial three releases: Demon Attack, Star Voyager and Trick Shot. Nothing before these cartridges hit stores were really pulling off what they did, and the praise and interest foreshadowed rapid growth for the company - though, ultimately, they were brought back down to earth with the market meltdown.
Apologies for the weird sound glitch at 34:14 - I'm not sure where that got introduced in this process.
Sources for this video include:
Dennis Koble, interviews with Kay Savetz (2017) and Scott Stilphen (2017) and myself (2023)
Classic Gaming Expo Imagic panels, 2004 and 2005
Bob Smith, interview with the author, 2021
Rob Fulop, interviews with Paleotronic (2019) and Atari 2600 Connection (1993)
Larry French, interview with the author, 2021
Video, August 1982
Arcade Express, various
Weekly Television Digest, various
Merchandising, various
Computer Entertainer/Video Game Update, various
Logical Gamer, August 1982, issue 1 (special thanks to the Video Game History Foundation for scanning this!)
Computer and Video Games, September 1982
Electronic Fun with Computers and Games, various
Electronic Games, various
Joystik, December 1982
Numb Thumb News, various
Computer World, April 8 1970 (special thanks to Ethan Johnson for providing this scan)
Retro Gamer issue 161
Space Gamer, issue 53
Video Games, various
TV Gamer, December 1983
Magnavox v Bally, 1977
Atarimania
Various local newspapers
Hagley Museum and Library
They Create Worlds, Vol. 1
Keith Smith, All in Color for a Quarter blog
The Ultimate Machines, 1970 - Hry
Finally, a person who correctly pronounces the word "Imagic". Most other channels obviously don't see the connection with the word "image", and pronounce the name as if it were an Apple product.
All one has to do is watch one of their commercials where they tell you the name of their company.
My friend owned the same lizard and F16 toys used for the mash-up demon on the cover of Demon Attack. I never was able to convince him to let me recreate that monster.
Star Voyager's tune for an approaching portal sounds to me like "Aldo Sprach Zarathustra" by Strauss. Think 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I didn't see a connection to _Close Encounters of the Third Kind,_ like the author said, but now that you mention it _2001: A Space Odyssey_ seems to be what they were intending. I didn't like the Star Raiders first-person perspective space games, and Star Raiders might have been one I'd have returned if I thought I could do that. I did play Star Voyager once or twice but don't have it for my collection, as I didn't see it or Trick Shot at the thrift store years later.
As a kid I had a great time with Trick Shot (and later, Side Pocket, NES and SNES). In retrospect, now that I've learned about the hardware limitations, and dabbled lightly with coding for it, man... whole new appreciation for many of these games.
Demon Attack was always a staple in our household. Only played a few Magic games like Cosmic Ark and Riddle of the Sphinx. Even as a kid I noticed the quality was a cut above most 2600 games. Thanks for this and the history of the company. Always wondered what the connection between them and Activision was since the Activision comps on PS2
I didn't know much about ports to and from Intellivision back in the day. It looks like Imagic took that extra step to upgrade its games for that system, while Activision: not so much. There is something about the graphics in Imagic games that distinguishes it, and from this video, apparently it's partly due to their sprite-creation software, and perhaps partly due to hiring a graphics designer.
Yeah, the Imagic box art was very striking. It certainly stood out amongst other titles. Great vid
Nice to see Imagic's debut on the VCS. Demon Attack definitely is the best game of the three, and Trick Shot has the most interesting history behind it. I do like games like Star Voyager so I'd have played it if I would have had it. Ooh, a Defender clone from Activision that kinda also looks like Choplifter on the next one.
Things are getting really interesting now as Imagic enters the scene. They created my favorite Intellivision games, but they are no slouch on the Atari. Their flair for stunning visuals and fun gameplay made them stand out in the early home console boom.
Magnificent as always! Demon Attack is mesmerizing to both watch and play. I remember going to the top floor of May Company in summer 1982 and seeing these games under the glass case. I had thought I knew about ALL Atari games, but seeing these opened a new world of what could be! Demon Attack was my next Atari VCS purchase as a 12 year old that summer.
Demon Attack is a fun game, but it's a clone of the older but much better Phoenix, which was also on the Atari 2600. Imagic had to lose the awesome boss battles (against the huge mother ship) that made Phoenix so revolutionary, so it's just a lesser version of Phoenix. Demon Attack does have better graphics, though.
I didn't play Demon Attack at the time but I do now, having discovered it a few years ago. A brilliant, classy, crafted game. And quite brave knowing it's going to get compared to Phoenix, but without the mothership. That gamble paid off, as the game is fine as it is. Addictive and with a perfect difficulty curve. Nice video as usual!
Showed up to express my love for Demon Attack, but then a reference to hidden multiplayer gem QuickStep was a treat. Imagic, through perhaps just the unique carts felt as though it had its own house style.
Cosmic Ark has been one of my favorite games since I was a kid, so I’ll always have a soft spot for Imagic. So happy to finally see some games covered on here. Can’t wait until you get to that one.
I got to play the Arcade game, Space Zap, upon which it was based.
I just played that for the first time yesterday, it put me in a trance!
Star Voyager was an early love for me. Just the fact that you could toggle between 2 different weapon systems with the laser beams sucking up a ton of energy per shot but covering a huge amount of space and firing instantly vs the cheap 'torpedoes' that cost 1 unit of energy but took some skill to shoot effectively was mind-blowing to my 8 year old self.
Not sure it's fair to call other spacecraft "aliens" in Star Voyager, we're all in outer space there! 😄 Fantastic video, really fascinating and thorough, loved the comparisons of the similar space games and the really old pool table experiment.
Another great watch! Seeing those boxes, it's interesting how the big 3 of 2600 development all represented their "vision" (for want of a better term) through their box arts. Something we don't really get these days, or even across other platforms of a similar vintage. I won't lie: I do miss that.
As for the games themselves? I've not played a lot of Demon Attack on the 2600 itself, but it does pull off that feeling off immediacy great games on the machine do. I've certainly enjoyed it elsewhere (spent a bunch of time on the VIC 20 port a few months back and had a blast!).
I should be so in for Star Voyager, but the truth is - when I've got Starmaster to hand, I think I'd rather go for that any day of the week. Then again, I've not really tried Phaser Patrol, which I really need to at some point.
As for Trick Shot, well I've got to give some props for trying to squeeze Pool into the 2600, and considering the history, there's a lot to be impressed by with the work Kobel did to get it going.
I'd say the closest we get these days to publishers having a "house style" for box art is sports games. FIFA, Madden, etc. And it's certainly lacking in comparison.
Fantastic episode! The research and interviews always amaze me.
I find the repetitive and grating sound of Demon Attack in this episode to be mixed just high enough that it was very hard to get through that part. I ended up watching in two sessions to maintain my ability to listen ^^;
Another excellent video! Proud to own 2 of these 3 games! Definitely interested in sourcing a copy of Trick Shot now!
Never knew the VCS version was the first of Demon Attack. I had always played on a friends Intellivision and thought it was the original version. I always enjoyed Star Voyger. But really loved trick shot. I had more fun with it than most 8 bit pool games I tried. Trick shot was really good despite its limitations with a fairly good control scheme and ways you could affect your shot.
Time for the greatest VCS box art ever.
Really enjoyed the Imagic history, especially the part about who may or may not own the rights now.
I love learning more about this early era of video games!
I'd love a channel like yours for arcade cabinets, that'd be a real hoot!
Always sad to hear that a development studio shut down, though.
At least they were here at all, eh?
The Tandy Color Computer version does include the mother ship.
Demon Attack was the first game I re-bought when I started rebuilding my 2600 collection years ago. A classic.
I never really got into it, partly because I liked Phoenix better. But I heard about the lawsuit and wondered how much of their profit for this multi-million seller went to the settlement. Interesting to hear that it was for the version with the base ship. Too bad, as I liked both Phoenix and Gorf which both had one to fight in the last stage. Sadly, the Galaxians stage of Gorf didn't make it to the Atari port.
Oh yes Imagic. Nice video. Very informative
I still play Demon Attack today.
The Tandy version of Demon Attack also has the boss.
So it does! I missed that one, whoops
I believe the Commodore 64 version has one as well! It's different looking, but still has that Phoenix-esque boss.
this game looks fun bit kind of annoying when it comes to the little targets with that erratic movement
I wanted to inquire about the next episode. According to the Random Terrain website (which seems to be pretty definitive and well-researched), Chopper Command was released in June 1982. In May 1982, according to that site, Yars' Revenge was definitely released and Space Cavern and Cosmic Swarm were most likely released. Up until now, I'd assumed that you were going by that website, or at least using it as a reference. I was wondering if you had information that suggested that Chopper Command was in fact released earlier than June 1982?
I developed my own release list concurrent to his and landed on some different conclusions. I don’t remember specifically how I settled on May since it’s been years but I’ll double check it!
Demon Attack is other 2600 classics that don´t look or play right in more modern systems. As with Pitfall, Riveraid and Keystone Kapers.