Boom! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1970s

"Combat" was created as one of the initial nine games for the Atari Video Computer System (later the Atari 2600) in 1977. The game was issued for several years with the VCS. The game was programmed by Steve Mayer and Ron Milner. Joe Decuir tested the game and Larry Wagner also assisted. Many then and now consider it one of the greatest games of all time.

Answer: True

"Combat" was based on the 1974 arcade game "Tank". "Tank" was developed by Kee Games. It was designed by Steve Bristol and Lyle Raines. "Tank" featured two players controlling a white tank or a black tank in a asymmetric maze built with right angles. It is estimated that "Tank" sold 10,000 units-- a large total for the time.

Answer: Destroyer

The player has several versions of the game that can be played. There are several versions that feature single tanks stalking each other. Likewise biplanes and jets are in multiple versions of the game. There is no version of the game that takes place at sea, though, and no version that features destroyers or any naval vessel.

Answer: Heavy Seas vs. Calm Seas

"Combat" took place on land or in the air. There were no options that took place near or on the sea or involved naval vessels. There were also "billiard hits" which involved bouncing your shot. It was also possible for the maze to be more or less complex. It was possible to have multiple aircraft on one side, though they still act as a unified group.

Answer: Two minutes

More specifically, a game of "Combat" lasts approximately two minutes, sixteen seconds. Within that time span, scoring is limitless as the player is trying to hit the opponent's icon as many times as possible. Each hit is worth a single point.

Answer: Tanks

"Combat" was really played as a two-dimensional game, though the two dimensions changed between vehicles. Your perspective was overhead when driving a tank which you could push forward or back and turn left or right. By comparison you saw the flying vehicles from the side with the option to cause the forward moving vehicle to speed up or slow down.

In addition, you could raise or lower the elevation.

Answer: No

The intention was to have a game called "Combat Two". Although there were prototypes, the actual game was never released. The prototype was released in various formats. Among the various games that made up "Combat" the tank pong levels generally ranked the highest.

Answer: Tank Plus

The name of "Tank Plus" was a reference to the arcade game "Tank" on which "Combat" was partly based. In addition to that game released in 1974 by Kee Games, "Anti-Aircraft", released in 1975, was also a partial inspiration. Otherwise "Combat" and "Tank Plus" were pretty similar.

Answer: No

"Combat was purely a 2-D game. In the tank games, the player had an overhead view (seeing right and left And forward and backward). The games with aircraft were of the side (showing forward and backward and up and down). All three dimensions were covered eventually but only two at a time.

Answer: No

In comparison to the Coleco game, the Atari game was more impressive in several ways. The Atari game was in color vs. black and white. In addition, the Atari game had twenty-seven variations featuring multiple vehicles, mazes, invisibility, and different types of ammunition.