Planetoids is a clone of Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade game published by Adventure International for the Apple II in 1980 and TRS-80 in 1981. Each was originally an independently sold game, neither of which was titled Planetoids. The Apple II version, written by Marc Goodman, was published as Asteroid.[1] The TRS-80 game was written by Greg Hassett as Fasteroids by Adventure Works.[2] Fasteroids was still sold by Adventure Works at the same time Planetoids was available through Adventure International.[3] The TRS-80 version includes features not present on the Apple II or arcade original.
| Planetoids | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Adventure International |
| Programmer(s) | Marc Goodman (Apple II) Greg Hassett (TRS-80) |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, TRS-80 |
| Release | Apple II
|
| Genre(s) | Multidirectional shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
editPlanetoids is a version of the 1979 arcade game, Asteroids.[4] The TRS-80 adaptation includes three additional modes: high-speed asteroids, very slow moving asteroids, and a dogfight with only enemy ships.[3]
Reception
editIan Chadwick reviewed Planetoids in Ares magazine #11 and commented that "it's enjoyable and [...] well done. It's a must for fans of the arcade game".[4] In 80-U.S. magazine, Bob Liddil called Fasteroids, "Asteroids with GUSTO" and called out the ability to save high scores to tape and the pause feature as positives.[5]
References
edit- ^ Hague, James (1997). Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers.
- ^ "Planetoids". Adventure International Catalog. 2 (4): 16. 1981.
- ^ a b "Planetoids Manual". archive.org. Adventure International. 1981.
- ^ a b Chadwick, Ian (November 1981). "Games". Ares Magazine (11). Simulations Publications, Inc.: 27.
- ^ Liddil, Bob (September 1981). "Captain 80". 80-U.s. 4 (5): 97-98.
External links
edit- Review in Byte
- Review in Creative Computing