Shoot'em Up! / Shoot'em Up! - Vertical Scrolling · 1981
Caverns of Mars
Published by Christensen, Greg · Developed by Christensen, Greg
atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-caverns-of-mars-41702
Information
- Genre
- Shoot'em Up! - Vertical Scrolling
- Language
- Machine Language
- Controls
- Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Programmer(s)
- Christensen, Greg
- Graphic Artist(s)
- Christensen, Greg
- Sound
- Christensen, Greg
- Cover Artist(s)
- [n/a]
- Year
- 1981
- Publisher
- Christensen, Greg
- Developer
- Christensen, Greg
- Country
- USA
- License
- Prototype
- Medium
- Disk
- Rarity
- 0
- Serial
- -
Votes / Statistics
Rating: 7.9/10 · Votes: 159 · Downloads: 1,028 · Hits: 2,303
Additional Comments
Screenshots (5)
Cover Art (1)
Book / Magazine Reviews (1)
Electronic Fun · April, 1983 · Rating: 3.5 / 4
The game starts with the selection of one of four skill levels, Novice through Commander. Instantly, the fighter (very reminiscent of the fighters flown by Cylon raiders in the TV show Battlestar Galactica) starts its descent into the deep Martian cavern. The speed of the descent and left-right motion of the fighter are controlled by the joystick, while the action button fires the twin wing-mounted laser torpedoes. The game graphics are quite good, with both the fighter and the scrolling accomplished smoothly and clearly.
Depending on the skill level selected, the player must penetrate two to five different caverns to reach the bomb. The first cavern has no defenses but winds treacherously. Its walls are lined with rockets, radar installations and fuel tanks - targets for the fighter's lasers. Hits score points and the destruction of fuel tanks adds to the player's fuel supply. The fighter can't carry enough fuel at the start to complete the mission.
In cavern two, the fighter must blast and weave through waves of missiles. Some are rockets, others (in red) are fuel carriers. Cavern three boasts laser gates - fiendish devices that flash lethal energy across the entry channel. They are immune to the fighter's torpedoes so they must be timed and sped past. Cavern four is the home of deadly space mines, white diamond-shaped objects that jump around while trying to explode against the fighter. These can be either avoided or shot but neither defensive ploy is easy, as their movements are unpredictable. Some of the mines are invisible at times, making them even more dangerous.
Only on the Commander level does the fighter have to pass through Cavern five, which is actually a maze-like section of a Martian city. It is especially treacherous, requiring incredible dexterity to navigate, plus split-second timing to destroy the fuel tanks that block the way. And, of course, getting to the bomb is only half the job. Getting out safely requires a highspeed back tracking through the same mazes and winding cavern walls, though there are no rockets, lasers or mines to dodge this time.
Regardless of the starting level, you get five fighters to complete the mission. Contact with a cavern or city wall or anything else on the way up or down, or running out of fuel, costs you one fighter. When you lose one, the replacement starts the mission back at the entry to the cavern even if you were only a hair's breadth away from the exit when destroyed. This can be particularly frustrating when you are learning to play and find yourself having to fly the same segment of the mission over and over.
The one disappointing aspect of Caverns is the conclusion. The reward for a successful mission is the display of the points you accumulated and, after a nerve wracking game, that's a bit of a letdown.
Some laser gates have multiple beams. The only way through them is one at a time. Pause between them as they flash on and off.
Comments (11)
ddahlstrom — 9 Aug 2023
One of the earliest games I played on the Atari. Actually played it on my friends Atari 400 long before I got my 800XL. The game ranks at 100% on the nostalgia scale for me and remains fun in short sessions, but I also acknowledge that while it may go deep below the Martian surface, the depth of the gameplay is limited. Still, the graphics are smooth well done, and there was always this mystery about what I might find at the bottom. A true classic of its time.
the big m — 29 Jul 2023
Smooth vertical scrolling shooter! So amazing for 1981! I can't get very far. But I still love the challenge!
Atari A to Z (Pete Davison) — 4 Jul 2022
Caverns of Mars is one of the earliest examples of a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up, and a classic of the early Atari 8-bit library. Let's Play! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3syVP76tSwc
tkarner — 21 Jun 2016
This should have been a good game. Good graphics, smooth scrolling, responsive control and a feel-good story about the teenage programmer. But it's far more aggravating than it is enjoyable. Collision detection on the missile level is poor. The mines on the fourth level move randomly. Basically, your success is more dependent on chance than skill. The worst part, when you do suffer the inevitable cheap deaths you're forced to start at the beginning of the level, losing any progress.
rave.N — 6 Apr 2016
CHEAT MODE unlimited lives - change the 3 byte sequence which reads $"CE AC 1A" to become $EAEAEA. Cartridge didn't work for me, I see here you say it needs the emu SIO patch turned off. It would be very easy to edit cartridge to no longer require this. Cartridge is the same game as disk, cart copies the program into lower RAM then runs it there. Also, there appears to be a 1 byte corruption in the cartridge scan, in which a very large block of zeros has a bit turned on in the middle, not seen like that in any other version.
atarifan2020 — 27 Dec 2014
This was one great game created in 6months in assembler by 17 year old Greg Christensen at the time. Outstanding to say the least. I wonder how it would've done as an arcade game. The arcade quality was there in the design of the game. I've played this game a zillion times and is always a blast to play.
Punkydudester — 21 Dec 2014
Good game, I never beat it. I always wondered what was at the bottom.
devwebcl — 7 May 2014
contribution: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l8GN5FehGMM/U2luc1NiRoI/AAAAAAAADUQ/tfsVFWjnnK0/s1600/Equinox+November-December+1982.jpg
mymoon — 27 Aug 2013
great game! the atari spirit is in this one. Just played it for ten or so minutes and it was great fun.
Daniel Thomas MacInnes — 9 May 2011
Classic Atari 800 game. Very challenging and very tough vertical space shooter, this is definitely for the die-hard fans. I do wish Infogrames, aka Atari Interactive, would bring this game back...that is, faithfully and without completely screwing it up. I'm probably asking for too much.
Greg B. — 30 Oct 2007
A great game but probably one of the most frustrating games I've EVER played. Stands as the only computer game or video game in the last 30 years which actually made me mad enough to smash a controller. A few of them, actually...