''B-17 Bomber'' is a single-player

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

released by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

for their Intellivision console in 1982. The game was bundled with the

Intellivoice The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module, commonly abbreviated as Intellivoice, is an adapter for the Intellivision, Mattel's home video game console, that utilizes a voice synthesizer to generate audible speech. The Intellivoice is a large, brow ...

voice synthesis module.

Gameplay

In ''B-17 Bomber'', the player controls a simulated

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

aircraft. The objective of the game is to complete missions by dropping bombs on targets in continental Europe, including anti-aircraft guns, airports, factories, and naval vessels. The game plays like a rudimentary

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

, which models altitude, air speed, tilt and pitch, fuel consumption, and the effects of taking damage. Enemy planes occasionally attack the aircraft from any direction and must be shot down. The aircraft can also come under fire from

flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

guns on the ground, which can be taken out with a bomb. The game ends when the aircraft is destroyed. When an enemy plane attacks, the Intellivoice module announces the direction of the attack, prompting the player to turn that direction in order to fire back. While the game is playable without the Intellivoice module, it becomes very difficult since the player is given no other audio cue that an enemy is approaching, and must guess which direction the attack is coming from.

Reception

Danny Goodman Danny Goodman is a computer programmer, technology consultant, and an author of over three dozen books and hundreds of magazine articles on computer-related topics. He is best known as the author of ''The Complete HyperCard Handbook'' (1987, Ban ...

of '' Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games'' said in 1983 that ''B-17 Bomber'' was his favorite Intellivoice game, praising the voices and noting that the game and others "made the voice an integral part of game play". ''B-17 Bomber'' was well received, gaining a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Videogame Audio-Visual Effects (Less than 16K ROM)" at the 5th annual

Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

Legacy

A remake of the game has been announced for release exclusively for the

Intellivision Amico The Intellivision Amico is an upcoming home video game console that is being developed and marketed by Intellivision Entertainment. It was originally slated to be released in October 2020, but repeated delays followed, leaving the console with ...

References

{{reflist

External links

B-17 Bomber
at GameFAQs 1982 video games Intellivision games Intellivision-only games North America-exclusive video games Video games developed in the United States World War II video games Mattel video games