Major Havoc
1984 · Action · Arcade
Overview
Major Havoc (1984) is Owen Rubin's vector arcade game for Atari, which runs a space shooter, a platform maze and a lunar-landing sequence back to back.
Deep Dive
Each round plays three segments in a row: a fixed shooter, a platform section and a lunar-lander sequence. A game of Breakout powers the warp system and can earn extra lives. Dedicated cabinets used a roller controller, while conversion kits for older vector games used the controls they came with, such as Tempest's spinner.
Developer Story
Owen Rubin designed and programmed the game, with Mark Cerny designing and tuning some levels after joining about a year in. Atari released it in January 1984, followed by a conversion kit for machines such as Tempest in March. It was not a major commercial success in the West.
Did You Know?
- Some games name the enemy Vaxxian homeworld "Maynard", after the Massachusetts town where Digital Equipment Corporation, maker of the VAX, was based.
- It inspired the MSX game Theseus and served as the basis for Silpheed.
Sources & further reading
- Major Havoc — Wikipedia
