Demon Attack
Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game programmed by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.
| Demon Attack | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Imagic |
| Publisher(s) | Imagic |
| Designer(s) | Rob Fulop |
| Programmer(s) | Atari 2600 Rob Fulop Odyssey 2, Atari 8-bit Gary Kato |
| Artist(s) | Michael Becker |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Philips Videopac+ G7400, TI-99/4A, TRS-80 Color Computer, VIC-20 |
| Release | March 1982
|
| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | 1-2 players alternating turns |
Fulop designed the game after leaving Atari, saying he was not properly reimbursed for his work on a port of Space Invaders. He co-founded the company Imagic in 1981 and began developing Demon Attack. It was the first game he developed that had a graphic artist, Michael Becker, who created eight-phase animations for the demons. On the games release in 1982, it received positive critical attention for its graphics and gameplay and became one of the best-selling Atari 2600 games, and the best-selling game developed by Imagic.
Several ports were made for other video game consoles and home computers in the 1980s. Among them, was a port for Intellivision which added a final boss mothership. Atari had the exclusive rights to produce Phoenix for home consoles and filed suit against the company Imagic, believing that the Intellivision version of Demon Attack was too derivative of Phoenix. A settlement was reached in January 1983, with Imagic still being allowed to release Demon Attack.