''Cohen's Towers'' is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

written by Frank Cohen and released by

Datamost Datamost was an American computer book publisher and computer game company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for th ...

in 1983 for

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. It was re-released in 1986 by Databyte in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Gameplay

In ''Cohen's Towers'' the player plays the part of Allen, starting his new job as a mail boy. He has to collect mail parcels one at the time from different floors and deliver them to any of the three available 'mail drops'. To move up and down between the floors the player can use different elevators, but if he stays on one for too long a falling plant pot will knock him off. The player's work is also hindered by a dog pursuing him on most of the floors, or a sleepwalker. Once the player collected and deposited all the parcels in the building, the Boss shows up and takes him to the next one. There are three different buildings in the game – Fanda, Datamost, and Cohen's Tower – each one harder to complete.

Music

The game's music is one of the first examples of

adaptive music Adaptation, in biology, is the process or trait by which organisms or population better match their environment Adaptation may also refer to: Arts * Adaptation (arts), a transfer of a work of art from one medium to another ** Film adaptation, ...

. Different tunes accompany unusual occurrences: a dog chasing the player, a sleepwalker appearance, the Boss checking on the player's work. The main theme is an arrangement of

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

's "

Elite Syncopations "Elite Syncopations" is a 1902 ragtime piano composition by American composer Scott Joplin, originally published in 1903 by John Stark & Son.

Reception

Steve Panak wrote in his column in the 1984 ''

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' was an American computer magazine devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANALOG'' printed multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. Almo ...

'' holiday issue, "don't even consider buying it. ''Cohen's Towers'' gives big business a bad name, and all copies should be piled up and turned into a towering inferno". In a 1985 review for ''

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'') was a British magazine aimed at users of Atari 8-bit computers and Atari ST home computers. The first issue was in 1982, and it was renamed to ''Page 6 Atari User'' and then ''New Atari User'' be ...

'' Jim Short wrote: "it is an original and highly addictive game with great graphics and even better sound. ..''Cohen's Towers'' is an excellent little game that I can highly recommend." Lloyd Davies, writing in ''

Ahoy! ''Ahoy!'' was a computer magazine published between January 1984 and January 1989 in the US, covering on all Commodore color computers, primarily Commodore 64 and Amiga. History The first issue of ''Ahoy!'' was published in January 1984. The ...

'', praised the "colorful scrolling screens and clever visual effects" and the game's learning curve, calling it "an arcade-quality piece of software." Writing for ''

InfoWorld ''InfoWorld'' (''IW'') is an American information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a Web-only publication. Its parent company is International Data Group, and its sister pu ...

'' in March 1984, Scott Mace called it "one of the most humorous video games ever," joking that: "Now, for every mail clerk, everywhere .. there's a video game that sums up what a fun job it can be". ''

's Essential Guide to Atari Computers'' cited it as among the best Datamost arcade games. In the journal ''Education, Research and Perspectives'', Michael Scriven called it a "novelty" game whose "whimsy is central though not oppressive."

References

External links

* *{{Internet Archive game, id=Cohens_Towers_1983_Fanda
Game manual
at the Internet Archive 1983 video games Atari 8-bit computer games Commodore 64 games Datamost games Fictional postal officials Platformers Video games developed in the United States

Gameplay

Music

See also

References

External links