- "Battlezone" is used for this article. For all other users, see Battlezone (disambiguation).
Battlezone is an arcade game released in 1980. It was later ported to the Atari 2600.
Contents
Gameplay[]
In both versions of the game, you control a tank that moves across a playfield to blast away at tanks (both regular and super versions), saucers, and missiles. The tanks provide the main threat of the game, while the missiles serve as secondary threats and the saucers are simply distractions that allow you to earn bonus points. A single shot from a tank or a collision with a missile can destroy your tank, so be careful. A rotating radar scope can help you find where the enemy tank is located. As gameplay progresses, the player will encounter more super tanks and missiles, and fewer regular tanks.
In the arcade version, there is the additional presence of obstacles in the playfield that you can either hide behind for protection or get stuck trying to manoeuvre past.
Controls[]
In the arcade version, the player used two joysticks for manoeuvring the tank. Pushing both sticks forward caused the tank to go forward. Pulling both sticks back caused the tank to go backward. Pushing one stick forward and pulling the other back caused the tank to rotate to either the left or right, depending on which sticks are pushed forward and pulled back.
Scoring[]
- Tank — 1000 points
- Missile — 3000 points
- Supertank — 3000 points
- Saucer — 5000 points
Notes[]
An Atari 5200 version that was much closer to the arcade original was being developed by Atari, but it was never finished or released.
