amidar is a video game developed by Konami and released in arcades in 1981 by Stern.[1] The format is similar to that of Pac-Man: the player moves around a fixed rectilinear lattice, attempting to visit each location on the board while avoiding the enemies. When each spot has been visited, the player moves to the next level. The game and its name have their roots in the Japanese lot drawing game Amidakuji. The bonus level in Amidar is a nearly exact replication of an Amidakuji game and the way the enemies move conform to the Amidakuji rules; this is referred to in the attract mode as “Amidar movement.”
Amidar was the first in the grid capture sub-genre of maze games and was highly cloned in arcades and for home systems.
Gameplay
As in Pac-Man, the player is opposed by enemies who kill on contact.[2] The enemies gradually increase in number as the player advances from one level to the next, and their speed also increases. On odd-numbered levels, the player controls an ape (in some versions labeled “Copier”) and must collect coconuts while avoiding headhunters (labeled “Police” and “Thief”). On even-numbered levels, the player controls a paint roller (labeled “Rustler”) and must paint over each spot of the board while avoiding pigs (labeled “Cattle” and “Thief”). Each level is followed by a short bonus stage.
Whenever a rectangular portion of the board is cleared (either by collecting all surrounding coconuts, or painting all surrounding edges), the rectangle is colored in, and in the even levels, bonus points are awarded (In odd-numbered levels, the player collects points for each coconut eaten). When the player clears all four corners of the board, he is briefly empowered to kill the enemies by touching them (just as when Pac-Man uses a “power pill”). Enemies killed in this way fall to the bottom of the screen and revitalise themselves after a few moments.
The game controls consist of a joystick and a single button labeled “Jump,” which can be used up to three times, resetting after a level is cleared or the player loses a life. Pressing the jump button does not cause the player to jump, but causes all the enemies to jump, enabling the player to walk under them.
Competition
There are two ROM sets for Amidar: a harder version distributed by Stern and an easier set created by Konami. According to Twin Galaxies, Scott Karasek, of Racine, Wisconsin, USA, scored a world record 3,208,870 points on the Stern ROM set on June 22, 1982. On the Konami ROM set, Todd Lamb reached 19,225,030 points in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA, on October 1, 1983.
References
- ^ “Overseas Readers Column – Konami’s “Amidar” and “Gattang Gottong” Licensed in U.S.A. and W.Germany”. Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 183. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 March 1982. p. 30.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Fox, Matt (2013). The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012. McFarland. p. 11. ISBN 9781476600673.
amidar Marquee
