Gravitar
1982 · Shooter · Arcade
Overview
Atari's 1982 vector shooter of planets with gravity: the Asteroids-style rotate-and-thrust controls are fighting a constant pull, which made it one of the hardest games of its day.
Deep Dive
Gravitar was developed and published by Atari for arcades in 1982. It uses the same rotate-and-thrust controls as Asteroids and Space Duel, but adds gravity: the player's ship is drawn towards planets and stars, so every move has to account for the pull. The game became known above all for its difficulty. It was the first of more than twenty games that Mike Hally designed and produced for Atari; Rich Adam was its main programmer and Brad Chaboya designed the cabinet art. An Atari 2600 version, programmed by Dan Hitchens, followed in 1983.
Developer Story
Gravitar was developed by Atari in 1982. Players navigated a spacecraft with realistic physics through cave systems, rescuing humanoids and destroying reactors while managing both fuel and gravity from a central star. The game was notoriously difficult — the physics simulation was unforgiving and the cave walls were instant death. It was admired by programmers for its physics engine and by masochists for its difficulty.
Did You Know?
- Gravitar featured one of the most realistic gravity simulations in any arcade game — the pull from the central star was always present and had to be counteracted.
- The game was so difficult that Atari created a "Novice" version by adding more fuel — even the easy mode was considered hard.
- Cave walls were instant death — a single touch destroyed the ship regardless of speed.
- The reactor explosion sequence, after successfully destroying a base's reactor, gave a brief respite of satisfaction before the next challenge.
Sources & further reading
- Gravitar — Wikipedia
