National Game Registry 1980: Battlezone

BATTLEZONE
original platform
arcade
notable conversions
Atari 2600 (1983)
developer/publisher
Atari
key personnel
Ed Rotberg

Battlezone is a tank simulation game utilizing wireframe vector graphics. The objective is simply to pilot around an obstacle-littered field, battling tanks and other vehicles. Enemies appear before, behind or to the sides of the player, sometimes visible only on a radar display. This requires the player to think spatially in three dimensions, uncommon for the time. In the original arcade release, the player views the action through goggles that eliminate outside distractions, while the the controls involve a realistic tank setup.  The Atari 2600 version, released a few years later, replaces the vector graphics with full-color raster visuals and an impressive pseudo-3D effect.

arcade

Battlezone was inducted on March 23rd, 2009.

Return to the National Game Registry to view more inductees.

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