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Aztec Challenge


RetroX

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One of the most classic games from early 80's is Aztec Challenge, created by Robert T Bonifacio. Aztec Challenge, Boulder Dash and Activisions Decathlon were my very first games on Atari 800 XL. Few people knows that Aztec Challenge started it's life under another name, "The Bonifas" and was distrubuted by APX (atari program exchange). It was about to control a jumping robot in a science fiction environment.

Cosmi got interested and bought the rights to the game, changed the environment and replaced the robot by a human, then switched name to Aztec Challenge. Aztec Challenge was released for Atari 8bit, TI-99/4A and Vic 20. The first version for Atari was a 16k version contained quite simple graphics, later an updated 48k version was released.

A year later Cosmi released the follow up for C64 and later Atari 2600 created by Paul Norman. For some strange reason they didn't called the follow up for Aztec Challenge II but perhaps it was because of a completly new game by a completly new programmer. Well, looking at the orginal Aztec Challenge for Atari 8bit. It had several features that was very unusual for a platform game released in 1982/83, action replay and 2 player simultaneous action.

Even today i would call Aztec Challenge a good game.

 

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I didn't know that RetroX, many thanks for the inside story, it's always great to read and hear new information on classic Atari 8-bit games, it's great enough that they are true classic, then finding out that they have even more riches to offer many years after they have died out...

 

I would of course agree totally about the game being a classic, it was a simplistic title that delivered a smooth learning curve transitioning you into the harder levels and even today has great gameplay, and wouldn't be out of place with the likes of temple run and the likes, infact I would suggest that this game is the great great grand father of those games!

Unofficial Atari: a Visual History

WWW.GREYFOXBOOK.COM

 

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Is that one similar to the 2600 homebrew: A-VCS-tec Challenge?

 

http://atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=2743

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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