Battlezone
Description official descriptions
Commonly considered the earliest progenitor of first-person shooters (FPS), Battlezone is a 3D tank game initially released in the arcades, and later converted officially to many systems. Earth has been invaded, and you and your tank lead the defensive effort. You drive around the battlefield from a first-person view, targeting and firing at tanks, planes and UFOs. You have a radar to help you see where the enemies are in direction and distance. Objects can be used as strategic cover. Controls simulate the tracks of a tank realistically, so the direction and speed settings are varied - combining forward right and backward left movements (as you can on keyboard versions) sees you change direction more quickly.
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Arcade version)
6 People
| Programmed by | |
| Project leader | |
| Electrical engineer | |
| Vector-graphics generator by | |
| Enemy tank models | |
| Artwork | |
| Erupting volcano code by |
Reviews
Discussion
| Subject | User | Date |
|---|---|---|
| The arcade original | John F (0) | 2007-08-23 12:03:11 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Battlezone appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott
Arcade version
Development of the original Battlezone coin-op was a team effort: Morgan Hoff was the project leader; Jed Margolin handled electrical engineering; Ed Rotberg programmed it; Roger Hector modelled all 3D objects as minimally as possible, and Howie Delman's vector-graphics generator was used.
References to the game
Battlezone units appear in the movies: * Tron (1982) * Joysticks (1983) * The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) * Running Scared (1986)
Volcano
Owen Rubin kept pestering Rotberg to make the volcano on the horizon active; Rotberg brushed him off, challenging Rubin to write the code for the volcano himself if he felt so strongly about it# The next morning, there it was sitting on his desk.
Awards
- Retro Gamer
- Issue 46 - #20 in the "Top 25 Atari 2600 Games" poll
Information also contributed by Nélio, PCGamer77 and FatherJack.
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Related Sites +
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Battlezone's wikipedia page
You can find all sorts of info about Battlezone here. -
Kumar's Gaming | Battlezone Review
A detailed review of Battlezone on the Atari 2600 gaming console. -
The International Arcade Museum
extensive information about the arcade game machine
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 360
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Trixter.
Windows, Xbox 360 added by Alaka. Atari 8-bit added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Atari ST, Apple II, VIC-20, Atari 2600 added by Servo. Commodore 64 added by wanax.
Additional contributors: Alaka, Martin Smith, Pseudo_Intellectual, Nélio, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, ZeTomes, Abhishek Kumar.
Last modified February 27th, 2023.