Fireball (video game)

Fireball
Front cover of the Fireball cassette
Developer(s)	Arcadia/Starpath
Publisher(s)	Arcadia/Starpath
Director(s)
Producer(s)
Programmer(s)
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
Series
Engine
Platform(s)	Atari 2600
Release	NA: August 1983 UK: 1983 DE: 1983
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet
Arcade system
CPU
Sound
Display

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File:Fireball Atari 2600.png

Fireball on the Atari 2600

Fireball is a 1983 Breakout clone video game developed by Arcadia (whose name changed to "Starpath" during development) for the Atari 2600. The game was released on cassette tape and required the Starpath Supercharger add-on to play.

Gameplay

The game is similar to Breakout in that the player uses a ball (a fireball, hence the name) to break-up walls made of bricks by hitting the bricks with the ball, with the shape of the walls changing as the player progresses. The game differs from breakout, however, in that rather than just being a bat, the player controls an animated juggler who can catch and throw the ball at the bricks. The game also differs from the traditional Breakout format in that six fireballs may be kept in the air at any one time, and the brick that are to be destroyed in each level are arranged in varying shapes/patterns. Five different modes of play are provided, including "Firetrap", "Knock-a-block", "Marching Blocks", "Migrating Blocks", and "Cascade", and as many as six balls may be on-screen at any given time.

The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where each player takes turns. Playing the game required both the Starpath Supercharger and a tape recorder to load the game into the Supercharger.

Reception

The contemporary reception to the game was broadly positive. The British TV Gamer magazine described it as "very similar to other Breakout games" though they also noted that the game was "challenging and entertaining". In a 1983 Miami Herald review entitled "Fireball is not hot enough", Rick Vogt gave the game a rating of "B" both for children and for adult players. The German TeleMatch magazine gave it a positive review, praising its gameplay and graphics, and criticising only its "monotone" sound. Vidiot magazine described it as "the best variation on the Breakout theme yet". The 1984 Software Encyclopedia was broadly positive about the game, giving it 7/10.

Later reviewers have been more positive about Fireball. In Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984: A Complete Reference Guide, Brett Weiss described in in-game action as "fun, hectic, and more than a little challenging". Writing for Atari HQ, Iida Keita also gave the game a positive review, describing the game as "very derivative and familiar to most classic videogame enthusiasts" whilst also saying that "the design does provide for some challenging and exciting play".

Reviews

• Games

Further reading

• Blanchet, Michael (25 August 1982). "Arcadia upgrades Atari". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. 22, 2D.
• Meyers, Mike (May 1983). "Player's Choice". Blip. p. 27.
• Goodman, Danny (June 1983). "Starpath's Supercharger". Radio Electronics. Vol. 54 no. 6. pp. 65–67.
• "It's 'Killer Satellites'". The Sacramento Union. 24 January 1983. p. 9.
• "Supercharge a VCS". Computer & Video Games. No. 21. July 1983. pp. 20–21.
• Salm, Walter (6 January 1983). "A game cartridge is not a tape". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 34.
• "Fireball (Starpath)". The Logical Gamer. Vol. 2 no. 1. August 1983. p. 9.
• Landrum, Stephen (October 1992). "Theory and Practice: AtariUser Interviews a Lynx Developer". AtariUser (Interview) (18). p. 21.
• "Starpath's Dr. Robert Brown Interviewed". The Logical Gamer (Interview) (11). June 1983. p. 6.

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