''Rainbow Walker'' is a color-changing action game designed by Steve Coleman for the Atari 8-bit family and published by

Synapse Software Synapse Software Corporation (marketed as SynSoft in the UK) was an American video game development and publishing company founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit family, then later developed for th ...

in 1983. A Commodore 64 port followed. Coleman also wrote another game published by Synapse in 1983, '' The Pharaoh's Curse''. The Atari version was later part of a "Double Play" promotion, where some Synapse games had a second, complete game on the other side of the diskette. The Double Play re-release of ''Rainbow Walker'' includes the game ''Countdown'' by Ken Rose.

Gameplay

The player controls a small creature named Cedrick who hops on a flat rainbow curving into the screen, giving a

pseudo 3D 2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwis ...

quality to the game. The rainbow consists of 8 arcs, each of which contains 16 squares. Hopping along an arc scrolls the rainbow and eventually wraps around to the starting square. Each level omits some parts of this grid to make it more challenging. At the start of each round the squares are gray, and moving onto them adds color. The goal is to color the entire rainbow. Hopping off the rainbow costs one life. Holding the button while moving jumps over a square. Other creatures attempt to change the squares back to gray or to knock Cedrick off the rainbow. A shooting star moves along an arc then drops Cedrick off, possibly in a location without a square. A demon bird carries Cedrick into the clouds and undoes all of the coloring done in the level. Fragile squares break if Cedrick stands on them for too long. One offensive opportunity is that if Cedrick steps on a freeze square, then it stops creatures moving for a few seconds during which time they can be stomped on and eliminated. There are twenty levels in all, with

bonus stage A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level, bonus round, or special stage) is a special level within a video game designed to reward the player or players, and typically allows the player to collect extra points or power-ups. Bonus stage eithe ...

s between them, and then the game ends. After reaching level five, it is possible to start a new game at that level, though only in the current play session.

Reception

In a 1984 ''

Antic Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by ...

'' review, Andrew Bell wrote, "''Rainbow Walker'', Synapse Software's latest arcade-style game, joins the company's previous games as one of the most imaginative, graphically stimulating and playable games on the market." Tracie Forman of ''

Electronic Games 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 ...

'' called ''Rainbow Walker'', "especially ear-pleasing” and concluded, "a pleasant game that has a way of growing on the player." In a review for ''

InfoWorld ''InfoWorld'' (abbreviated IW) is an 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 today is International Data Group, and its siste ...

'', Scott Mace wrote, "...as I played, I grew more and more infatuated with the game. Then it became an obsession. Finally, it had my respect". '' SoftSide'' called it "an artistic masterpiece and a lot of fun to play." In 2014, ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

'' included ''Rainbow Walker'' on a list of the top ten Atari 8-bit family games.

References

1983 video games Action video games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games Synapse Software games Video games developed in the United States

External links

''Rainbow Walker''
at Atari Mania *{{MobyGames, id=/rainbow-walker