Demons To Diamonds Video Game
Product Information. Demons to Diamonds is a 'slide-and-shoot' game with precise paddle control, pleasant (if simplistic) sound effects, smooth gameplay, and nifty laser shots that lengthen when the button is held down. In the solo game, players guide a laser gun along the bottom of the screen, firing upward at demons that are the same color as the gun. The dead demons eventually turn to diamonds (hence the cool title), which can be shot for additional points. If a demon of the wrong color is shot, a nasty, trigger-happy skull will take its place.
Or perhaps a curse?Someone who was supposed to be there isn’t.Someone who wasn’t supposed to be there is.Someone who was alive last night is dead now.And someone who is here right now isn’t alive.So, there is no way to avert tragedy. But every year, there is an event.This event is a mysterious death.On a certain day in June, someone dies, and someone else goes missing.The series of deaths is connected to the upheaval surrounding the dam construction project.A murder case that was covered up is being reenacted.Is it a conspiracy? There is no choice but to give up.But don’t give up.Only you can stand up to this. About This GameThe 58th year of Shouwa, early summer.It’s June, and the summer heat has arrived earlier than it does most years.By day there are crickets, and by night there are cicadas.We’re in Hinamizawa, a small village in the countryside.There are fewer than two thousand people here. A coincidence? Higurashi when they cry full intro.
Description In Demons to Diamonds, you control a laser zapper which moves horizontally at either the top or the bottom of the screen.Your goal is to earn as many points as possible by shooting objects in the center of the screen. Wandering back and forth in the middle are demons which can be one of two colors.
The diamonds and all the characters move horizontally. In the superior two-player (simultaneous) mode, the second gamer controls the laser gun at the top of the screen. This potentially enjoyable shooter is hampered by overly blocky graphics, a boring color scheme and, most importantly, very easy gameplay.
| Demons to Diamonds | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Atari, Inc.[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Atari, Inc.[1] |
| Designer(s) | Nick Turner[2] |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
Demons to Diamonds is a fixed shooter for the Atari 2600 produced by Atari, Inc. and released in 1982.[3] It was programmed by Nick Turner with graphics designed by Alan Murphy.[4] Nick Turner previously ported Super Breakout to the 2600.[5] The manual states that the game was 'primarily designed forchildren in the 6 to 12 age range.'[6]
Players attempt to shoot demons in a 'cosmic carnival' and then pick up the diamonds left behind by them while dodging shots from enemy skulls. The game includes both single-player and two-player simultaneous play modes.
Gameplay[edit]
The player operates a laser base at the bottom of a multi-row playfield, using the paddle controller to move it from side to side and the controller's action button to fire a laser beam vertically up the playfield. The player can control how far onto the playfield the beam advances by releasing the button at the desired height. Demons begin to appear at various rows on the playfield and cross the screen horizontally. The player must shoot demons whose color matches that of the gun. If successful, the demon transforms into a diamond, which can itself be shot for additional points. If a player shoots a demon of a different color, the demon transforms into a skull, which can shoot the player with its own laser beam. The skull cannot be destroyed by the player but will disappear after a short time.
The player receives one point for each demon and ten points for each diamond successfully shot. Points are multiplied by the distance from the base to the target. For example, a demon shot one row above the player is worth one point, while a demon shot four rows above the player is worth four points.
In multiplayer mode, the second player operates a laser base at the top of the screen, firing from top to bottom. Again, the second player must shoot demons that match the color of its gun in order to produce diamonds. However, diamonds may be shot by either player. Also, skulls are capable of shooting both up and down the playfield. In select variations of the game, the players can shoot their opponent's laser gun in order to deplete their stock of extra lives.
In both single and multiplayer versions, players begin with five lives. One life is lost when the player's laser base is hit by a laser beam fired by a skull or by an opponent, depending on the game variation being played. The game ends when all lives are lost; in multiplayer versions, the surviving player receives a bonus for each life remaining.
Reception[edit]
Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz of Electronic Games in 1983 described Demons to Diamonds as a 'video sleeping pill.'[7]
References[edit]
- ^ abcd'Demons to Diamonds'. GameFAQs. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^Hague, James. 'The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers'.
- ^http://uk.ign.com/games/demons-to-diamonds/2600-4649
- ^'Demons to Diamonds'. AtariAge. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- ^'Super Breakout'. AtariProtos.com.
- ^'Demons to Diamonds Manual'. AtariAge.
- ^Katz, Arnie; Kunkel, Bill (June 1983). 'Programmable Arcade'. Electronic Games. pp. 38–42. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
External links[edit]
- Demons to Diamonds at Atari Mania
- Demons to Diamonds at AtariAge