• Tag Archives Crossbow

  • Crossbow (Commodore 64, Apple II, DOS)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Crossbow (Commodore 64, DOS, Apple II)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/171408966764/retrocgads-usa-1988-crossbow-commodore-64-dos

    Crossbow started life as an arcade game developed by Exidy in 1983. In 1987, it was ported to a number of platforms including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XE, Commodore 64, Apple II and DOS. The ad above is by Absolute who handled the Commodore 64, Apple II and DOS versions. Atari handled the Atari versions.

    The arcade version of Crossbow is a light gun game in which you are responsible for protecting a party of adventurers. The light gun in this case takes the form of a full size crossbow. The adventurers walk from the left hand side of the screen to the right and you have to protect them from various enemies and obstacles. The adventurers that survive the trip get to go on to the next location. You have to be careful not to shoot any of your friends (as the game refers to them) because you can hurt and kill them. This was the first light gun game I ever played and still one of my favorites.

    The disadvantage of the computer ports done by Absolute for the Commodore 64, Apple II and DOS is that they do not support a light gun. Instead, you control a crosshair with a joystick in order to aim. Despite this disadvantage, the conversions are fairly good and if you liked the arcade original then you would probably like these. I’m not sure why light gun support was not included. Light guns were not popular on home computers though I know they were technically feasible as there were a couple available for the Commodore 64. My guess is that they only worked well with TVs and while many people did have their 8-bit computers connected to a TV, many others used computer monitors.

    Being a Commodore 64 fan, that version is my favorite. However, I would also recommend the Atari 7800 version for the best combination of good graphics and light gun support. You’ll have to play on a real 7800 with a CRT TV though for that to matter. If you are playing on an emulator or making use of a modern television or computer monitor then you are probably better off with the Commodore 64 version anyway.

    This is a good example of an early light gun game and a nice change of pace from more modern rapid fire light gun games you see today. I think this game would make a good candidate for an update. A company called Mean Hamster released an iPhone version of the game. They had developed some Atari 5200 games around the turn of the century and some other mobile games more recently. They were apparently planning a Windows version of Crossbow before going out of business (at least in terms of developing new software…I think the old stuff is still available).





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  • Crossbow (2600, 7800, XE)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    atarian_issue2_15

    Source: Atarian – Issue Number 2 – July/August 1989

    Crossbow is an arcade game developed by Exidy and released in 1983. In 1987, it was ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XEGS and the Commodore 64. This is probably the first light-gun (or light-crossbow in this case) game that I ever played. My local roller skating rink had one circa 1985.


    (Atari 2600)

    The above review (really more of a summary or even advertisement) is from the July/August 1989 issue of Atarian. It isn’t surprising that Atarian didn’t last very long. They were always reviewing or printing other editorial content about years old games as if they were new. In this case we are talking about an arcade game that was released in 1983, ported to various home systems in ’87 and Atarian is treating it as if it were a new release in the Summer of ’89.


    (Atari 7800)

    Having said that, even though the game was a bit dated, the home versions were decent enough, particularly if you were using the light-gun on the Atari 7800 and XE versions. I remember the arcade version the best and will never forget the “Don’t shoot your friends!” announcement you would get when you accidentally shot those you were escorting… The point of the game was to lead a group of adventurers through various locations, shooting anything that was out to harm them. Those you were defending would walk slowly across the screen depending on your protection. It was non-linear in the sense that you could choose your own path to a limited degree and the difficulty depended on the path you chose. This game can be played with a joystick but for best results, use an Atari 7800 or XE system with a light gun.





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