''Action Quest'' is a video game written by Jack Verson for the
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
.
[ It was published in 1982 by his company, JV Software. ''Action Quest'' combines real-time action with puzzle solving as the player explores 30 rooms in an attempt to collect 20 treasures.][ Reviewers found the combination to be different from how puzzles in games—such as ]graphic adventure
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
s—worked at the time.
Gameplay
The player takes the role of a gun-carrying ghost exploring a world divided into 5 levels with 6 rooms on each.[ Rooms contain monsters or timed-puzzles. The gun is used both to defend against monsters and to aid in puzzle solving.
]
Reception
''The Creative Atari'' commented on the generic name, but found the real-time aspect to be "a rather radical departure from the format of traditional adventure games."[ The style was also new to ]John J. Anderson
John J. Anderson or J.J. Anderson (November 8, 1956 – October 17, 1989) was a writer and editor covering computers and technology. The New Jersey native was Executive Editor of '' Computer Shopper'' and ''Atari Explorer''. At the time of his ...
of ''Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s "Atari Arcade" column: "Rather than entering coded text commands, as one would expect with a conventional adventure program, this program is played solely with joystick and trigger."[
In a "B−" review, the ''Book of Atari Software 1983'' stated, "The game's sounds and graphics are fair. The puzzle content is high enough that it will take several hours to retrieve all twenty treasures."][ John Anderson agreed about the puzzles: "The play-value of this program won't diminish until you've reached the thirtieth room, which shall take quite some time to accomplish".][
]
Legacy
''Action Quest'' was followed by a sequel from the same author, ''Ghost Encounters''.
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite web, url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist, title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers, last1=Hague, first1=James]
[{{cite web , title=Action Quest back of box , url=http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/boxes/hi_res/action_quest_jv_d7_2.jpg , website=Atari Mania]
[{{cite book , title=The Creative Atari , date=1983 , publisher=Creative Computing Press , pages=177–178 , isbn=9780916688349 , url=https://archive.org/details/ataribooks-the-creative-atari/page/n177/mode/2up]
[{{cite book , title=Book of Atari Software 1983 , date=1983 , publisher=The Book Company , page=128 , url=https://archive.org/details/ataribooks-the-book-of-atari-software-1983/page/n129/mode/2up]
[{{cite magazine , last1=Anderson , first1=John J. , title=Atari Arcade , magazine=Computer Gaming World , date=May–June 1982 , volume=2 , issue=3 , page=18 , url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.3/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.3/page/n19/mode/2up]
External links
''Action Quest''
at Atari Mania
Review
in ''Creative Computing
''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...
''
1982 video games
Action games
Atari 8-bit family games
Atari 8-bit family-only games
Video games about ghosts
Video games developed in the United States