afire is a video game written by Brad Stewart for the Atari 2600 published by Imagic in 1982.^[1] The player uses fire fighting equipment in an attempt to extinguish the fire in a tall building and rescue the occupants. afire

Gameplay – afire

The player moves a fire fighter around a non-scrolling screen to spray water on fires in a building, the size of which may vary between levels depending on options selected by the player, before a person trapped in the building is killed by the fire. Once the fire is out the player can extend a ladder from a fire truck to rescue the person from the building. afire

The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where each player takes turns.^[2]

Reception – afire

The contemporary reception to the game was broadly positive. Good Housekeeping praised it, saying “Fire Fighter strikes a positive note by having the player save people and property rather than destroy them”.^[3] German magazine TeleMatch gave it 4/6, praising particularly its action and gameplay.^[4] TV Gamer magazine described it as “a pleasant game that is moderately challenging” though they also noted that “the novelty may soon wear off and boredom could set in”.^[5] Viedogaming Illustrated described the game as “not so much fun as an exercise in stubborn, methodical perseverance”.^[6] The 1983 Book of Atari Software assessed the game as a C+ overall, praising the graphics and the sound but criticising the replayability of the game.^[7]

References