''Night Stalker'' is a top-down maze shooter designed by Steve Montero and released for the

Intellivision The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 198 ...

console in 1982. ''Night Stalker'' was ported to 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 ...

as ''Dark Cavern'' and released under Mattel's M Network label.

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

and

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

versions were published in 1983.

Gameplay

The player controls a man trapped in a

hedgerow A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...

maze with no exits and many threats, some natural such as bats and spiders, others artificial and more deadly in nature such as robots. The player starts out in a

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

in the middle of the map completely defenseless. A gun icon flashes at one of five random locations which he must pick up to arm himself. Each gun has six bullets. Once the ammunition has been exhausted, the gun icon will appear again and the player must move defenselessly through the maze to retrieve the new weapon. There are five different

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

s that the man encounters in accordance with the point total. The terrain is filled with corners and ambush points that players must use to full effect. There is also a spider web in the northwest corner where the spider enemy spawns. Player movement is hindered here, and all firepower is heavily suppressed within, making it a strategic location. Also of importance is the player's bunker, in which the player begins each life. The bunker is a safe zone and the player is impervious to damage while inside, though the more advanced robot adversaries have the firepower to destroy this safe haven. The game features only one unchanging level and no music, instead having a pulsing background beat playing back at a set interval that signals the speed chosen by the player.

Legacy

The Intellivision version was made available for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

through PlayStation Home in fall 2012 in a collection titled ''Intellivision Gen2''. In addition to being filled with bats and spiders, it had a greater variety of killer robots along with a variety of maze structures. An updated version of ''Night Stalker'' of the same name has been announced for release on the Intellivision Amico video game console in 2020.

References

{{reflist

External links

*Blue Sky
Night Stalker
1982 video games Apple II games Atari 2600 games Intellivision games Mattel video games Maze games Video games scored by Russell Lieblich Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games