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Raiders of the Lost Ark Coverart

Video game cover for Atari 2600's "Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a video game created for the Atari 2600 and based on the movie of the same name.[1] The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw.

Gameplay[]

The game requires the player to use two different controllers: controller 2 moves Jones and its button uses an item; controller 1 selects the item to use and its button drops the item. This control scheme anticipated later game controllers with more buttons and games where buttons would allow the player to switch items without interrupting gameplay.

Raiders of the lost ark pal 29

Screenshot of the Black Market, one of many locations in Raiders of the Lost Ark

The video game is set in the city of Cairo in 1936 represented by an entrance room and a marketplace. From the entrance room, the player can blast a hole in the wall with a grenade and enter the Temple of the Ancients. Two paths await inside the Temple, both of which contain various dangers, after which the player will at last find the treasure room. Gold and artifacts can be picked up in the treasure room which will help the player later in the game.

RaidersLostArk2600Screen2

Indiana Jones wins the game by locating the Lost Ark of the Covenant.

The player controls Indiana Jones as he searches for the lost Ark of the Covenant.

The player must eventually cross a mesa, on the other side of which lies the Map Room where the location of the Lost Ark is revealed. South of the Map Room is a Thieves Den and a Black Market. The Black Market contains various figures, such as two sheiks and a lunatic, and items needed to win the game (most notably a shovel).

After acquiring all needed items from the various rooms, the player returns to the mesa and jumps off using a parachute. The player then goes inside the mesa, via a small hole at the end of a branch, and digs up the Ark, after dodging more thieves.

Development[]

The game began development in late 1981. In order to collect inspiration, Howard Scott Warshaw walked around the offices at Atari, Inc. wearing a fedora and cracking a bullwhip, which became an inside joke among those who worked at Atari at the time. “When I was coding Raiders, I really tried to get into character," said Howard Scott Warshaw. “I wore the hat and had a real ten-foot-long leather bullwhip. Man, it was loud. Like a gunshot! I said it was for R&D – Research and Discipline. If people were snooping round the building, I’d sneak up behind them and crack that whip. They’d jump out of their suits and I’d be like, ‘Hey, how ya doin’?”[2]

The packaging, manual, and advertising artwork was painted by Atari art director James Kelly.

Reception[]

Video Games in 1983 called Raiders "a more complex adventure game" than E.T., released at the same time. The magazine noted that the documentation was incomplete and advised players to experiment with multiple ways to progress.[3] Electronic Games stated that the game "doesn't quite live up to its inspiration ... does not excel in excitement", and was inferior to Replay Value:0.[4]

Game rooms[]

  • Entrance Room
  • Marketplace
  • Temple of the Ancients
    • Room of the Shining Light
    • Room of the Giant Spider
    • Treasure Room
  • Mesa Field
    • Interior Mesa Chamber
    • Well of Souls
  • Valley of Poison
  • Map Room
  • Den of Thieves
  • Black Market

See also[]

References[]

  1. Template:Cite news
  2. http://www.nowgamer.com/features/894737/the_making_of_raiders_of_the_lost_ark.html
  3. Template:Cite news
  4. Template:Cite news

External links[]

Template:Indiana Jones

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