''Crack'ed'', subtitled "An Egg-Citing Adventure," is a target shooting video game developed by Robert Craig (credited as Robert Neve) for the Atari ST and released by

Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than two months later when Warner Communica ...

in 1988. An

Atari 7800 The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one ...

port was published the same year. In ''Crack'ed'' the player must protect bird eggs by shooting predators. An

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 ...

version was in development, but never released.

Gameplay

The goal of ''Crack'ed'' is to protect the eggs in five nests during an attack by egg-stealing creatures. The controls are similar to that of light-gun games, except the ST mouse is used to position the crosshairs and the left mouse button shoots. On the 7800, the joystick is used instead of the mouse. If a creature carries off an egg, the creature can be shot so it drops its prize. The falling egg can be caught with the crosshairs and placed back in a nest. If at the end of the raid at least one egg remains in a nest, then the level ends. There are five differently themed levels.

Development

In a 2003 interview, Robert Craig stated he was against the release of console ports, as ''Crack'ed'' was designed as a "mouse game."

Reception

In the August 1988 issue of ''ST Action'' magazine, the Atari ST version of ''Crack'ed'' received a 58% rating.

Retrospective

Atari 7800 Forever scored a 2 out of 5, criticizing the stiff controls but praising the original idea for the game. After playing the unreleased Atari 2600 prototype, a writer for AtariProtos commented, "While it may have been a mediocre title for the 7800, ''Crack'ed'' actually made a decent 2600 game."

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers , url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist/ , last1=Hague , first1=James {{cite web, title=Crack'ed, url=https://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=1053, website=AtariAge, access-date=2016-12-29, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229101104/https://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=1053, archive-date=2016-12-29, url-status=dead {{cite journal, title=Cracked, journal=ST Action, date=August 1988, url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-crack-ed_8999.html {{cite web, title=Crack'ed, url=http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/cracked/cracked.htm, website=AtariProtos {{cite web, last1=Martens , first1=Maarten , title=Interview with Robert Craig , url=http://emulazione.multiplayer.it/stgraveyard/Interviews/Robert%20Craig/RobCraig.htm , date=April 5, 2003 , website=ST Graveyard , url-status=bot: unknown , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040513095940/http://emulazione.multiplayer.it/stgraveyard/Interviews/Robert%20Craig/RobCraig.htm , archivedate=May 13, 2004 {{cite web, title=Crack'ed Manual, url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-crack-ed_8999.html, website=Atari Mania, publisher=Atari Corporation, date=1988 1988 video games Atari 7800 games Atari ST games Cancelled Atari 2600 games Video games developed in the United States