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''Chopper Command'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter released by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
for the
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...
in June 1982. It was written by
Bob Whitehead Robert A. Whitehead (born November 1, 1953) is an American video game designer and programmer. While working for Atari, Inc. he wrote two of the nine Atari Video Computer System launch titles: ''Blackjack'' and ''Star Ship''. After leaving Atar ...
.


Gameplay

In ''Chopper Command'', the player controls a military
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
in a desert scenario protecting a convoy of trucks. The goal is to destroy all enemy
fighter jet Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
s and helicopters that attack the player's helicopter and the friendly trucks traveling below, ending the current wave. The game ends when the player loses all of his or her lives or reaches 999,999 points. A
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
, called a Long Range Scanner in the instruction manual, shows all enemies, including those not visible on the main screen. The player's helicopter is destroyed if it collides with an enemy aircraft or a truck (which would destroy the truck as well) or if it is shot by an enemy bullet. The enemy bullet splits in two one going up and one going down. Using the "A" difficulty level results in a slower player shot. Each enemy helicopter is 100 points and each enemy jet is 200 points. After each wave, bonus points are awarded for remaining trucks. A player who achieved 10,000 points could send in a photo of the TV screen and receive a "Chopper Commandos" patch.


Reception

Richard A. Edwards reviewed ''Chopper Command'' in ''
The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the ...
'' No. 56. Edwards commented that "It is well-done, but if you wish to avoid another arcade shooting match, even if it has nice sound and graphics, then pass it up." '' Computer and Video Games'' magazine reviewed the game in 1989, giving it an 83% score and noting it was very similar to ''Defender''. Brett Weiss referred to it as "'' Defender'' in the desert". ''Chopper Command'' won "Best Action Video Game" at the 4th 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

''Chopper Command'' can be found on the ''
Activision Anthology ''Activision Anthology'' is a compilation of most of the Atari 2600 games by Activision for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by Absolute Entertainment and Imagic, as well as various homebrew games. The ...
.''


See also

*
List of Atari 2600 games This is a list of games for the Atari Video Computer System, a console renamed to the Atari 2600 in November 1982. Sears licensed the console and many games from Atari, Inc., selling them under different names. A few cartridges were Sears exclu ...
* List of Activision games: 1980–1999


References

{{reflist


External links


''Chopper Command''
at Atari Mania

at AtariAge 1982 video games Activision games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Helicopter video games Horizontally scrolling shooters Video games developed in the United States