''Chop Suey'' is a martial arts

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

developed by Adam Billyard 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 1985 by English Software. Antic Software published the game in the US. The title is a repurposing of the name of the American Chinese dish chop suey.

Gameplay

''Chop Suey'' is a one-on-one martial arts fighting game. The action takes place on a box-type stage, watched by an audience sitting in several rows of seats in front of two competitors. Each successful attack on an opponent means their pain bar goes up and when the bar is full, the POW symbol will start blinking. It means the player is in a very fragile state of health - one more punch or kick and the fighter will fall. The match ends when the fighter falls eight times or the timer runs out. At the top of each wall air vents will open occasionally, allowing scorpions to drop to the floor and scuttle away. The players should avoid them at all costs, as they give potentially lethal bites. If the player is victorious, a more difficult opponent is faced in the next match.

Development

Adam Billyard wrote some routines to draw large bitmapped sprites, and he wanted to use them in a game. He was at college at the time, and got so absorbed into writing ''Chop Suey'' that he missed his end of the year exams and was expelled. Billyard later graduated and completed a doctorate. ''Chop Suey'' uses a variation of Johann Sebastian Bach's

Brandenburg Concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in Dee ...

No. 3 as its title music.

Reception

Jim Short was impressed with ''Chop Suey'' in his review for '' Page 6'' magazine. He concluded: "English Software are onto a winner here. ..Graphics and animation are first-rate and, perhaps more importantly, it's an easy and fun game to play. Well done, English Software!"

References

External links

* 1985 video games Atari 8-bit family games Atari 8-bit family-only games Karate video games Fighting games Video games developed in the United States English Software games {{Videogame-stub