Choplifter

Name:	Choplifter
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-5253
Programmer:	Unknown
Year:	1984
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Original game by Dan Gorlin

Back in the early days of computing it was hard to find someone who hadn't at least heard of Choplifter.  This fun and deceptively simple game had quickly become one of the staples of the Apple II library upon its release in 1982.  Through its easy to learn yet hard to master style of play, Choplifter had won over the hearts of both gamers and non-gamers alike.  Choplifter was so popular in fact that it was voted Computer Game of the Year in 1982 (a huge honor).  Therefore its not surprising that every major video game company wanted a version for their own system, and Atari was no exception.

You are the pilot of one of the most advanced rescue helicopters in existence.  Your mission is to rescue 64 UN diplomats who are being held hostage by the enemy (you know, THE enemy).  Armed only with a machine gun and several bombs, you must make your way through enemy territory and free the frightened hostages from their prisons.  Of course the enemy isn't just going to let you waltz right in and rescue the hostages unhindered, they've got other plans for you.

As soon as your helicopter crosses the boarder you'll be under constant attack from one of three enemy types.

Enemies aside, rescuing the hostages isn't an easy task.  Unlike other games, the hostages aren't simply milling around waiting for you to come pick them up.  In Choplifter the hostages are still being held prisoner, so it's up to you to break them out.  Using a carefully aimed shot form your guns, you must blow open the prison while not blowing open the hostages.  Once freed the hostages will start huddling around the building waving for you to pick them up.  To pick up the hostages you must land on the ground (despite the box art showing you saving them while still in the air), but you must be care not to land on them or you'll crush the poor innocent people (this happens more often than you'd think).

Since you only have limited space on your chopper (16 seats to be exact), you'll have to make numerous trips back and forth to rescue all the hostages.  However when the hostages see your chopper flying away they'll instinctively run towards it, thus scattering the people around the playfield (you didn't think they were going to form nice single-file lines did you?)  During this time tanks will be patrolling the area near the prison trying to shoot as many hostages as they can.  Be quick about rescuing all the hostages once you've freed them or you'll quickly find yourself with a lot more free room in your chopper than you should have.

Although the game ends once all the living hostages have been rescued, the real goal of Choplifter is to rescue all 64 hostages.  This may sound easy, but given the propensity for tanks to blow up hostages while you're busy elsewhere makes this a daunting task.  Getting all 64 takes time, skill, and a lot of luck.

Although Choplifter was planned for all of Atari's systems, the 2600 version mysteriously never materialized.  A prototype was only recently found and was sadly only about 50% complete.  Interestingly the Atari 400/800 has two completely different versions of Choplifter, one made by Broaderbund (an exact clone of the 5200 version) and a later version made by Atari in which the graphics were updated a bit for their new XE line.  However since the 5200 version supports a two-button joystick it's the preferred Choplifter of choice amongst most players.  Choplifter was one of the last 5200 games to be released by Atari before the crash hit, and is therefore one of the harder to find titles in the 5200 library.

A prototype box can be seen in this picture (second row, third box from the end) .  Notice how the background is black instead of blue and the logo is different.

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