Knowledge

Desert Falcon

Source 📝

254:
in the sand. Landing and hopping over three hieroglyphs unlock what are labeled "super powers" in the manual. The specific combination of collected hieroglyphs determines the acquired ability, including invincibility, teleportation to a level's end, bonus points, a decoy to mislead enemies, and an
32: 313:, David Plotkin wrote, "The manual describes a wide variety of enemies. Unfortunately, except for some flying triangles, they all looked pretty much alike". He still concluded with "It has excellent graphics and is very playable." 242:
The game uses a scrolling, isometric perspective. Vultures, warriors, flying fish, and other creatures guard treasures and try to stop the player. At the end of each level, the player faces a large, howling
623: 618: 633: 598: 628: 464: 417: 593: 608: 613: 174: 44: 603: 588: 583: 578: 562: 307:
isn't quite as smooth as it could be," but complimented the animation of the falcon and the use of shadows. In
156: 377: 337: 194: 73: 513: 490: 251: 209: 51: 39: 320:
described it as "an average arcade game with a below average plot and above average visual appeal."
63: 263:
The game was revealed in 1984 as part of the Atari 7800 announcement. It was referred to as both
105: 399: 186: 170: 146: 56: 309: 281: 247:
before moving forward. The falcon can shoot arrows to eliminate foes and defeat the sphinx.
141: 534: 542: 572: 438: 31: 118: 198: 182: 178: 114: 110: 289:
has good graphics, cute sound effects, and a tired, boring theme." He cited
193:, as one of the planned launch titles for the 7800. A cartridge version for 208:
is loosely based on ancient Egyptian mythology. The diagonally-scrolling
555: 231: 550: 299: 244: 227: 214: 204:
Designed by Bob Polaro, who also programmed the Atari 2600 version,
189:
in 1987. It was initially announced in 1984, prior to being named
359: 234:'s scattered treasures in the desert to earn points. 152: 140: 124: 104: 72: 62: 50: 38: 24: 316:After playing the 7800 cartridge, Len Poggiali of 255:air bomb that annihilates all airborne opponents. 297:a visually different spin on the same gameplay. 8: 360:"The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers" 353: 351: 624:Video games developed in the United States 30: 21: 371: 369: 619:Video games based on Egyptian mythology 484: 482: 329: 285:in 1989, Matthew J.W. Ratcliff wrote, " 279:Reviewing the Atari 8-bit version for 393: 391: 212:had reviewers comparing it to Sega's 201:-styled packaging, followed in 1988. 7: 376:Ratcliff, Matthew J.W. (June 1989). 634:Video games with isometric graphics 514:"The 7800 Game Cart: Desert Falcon" 491:"Newest Game Cartridges from Atari" 599:General Computer Corporation games 463:Davidson, Steve (September 1984). 14: 629:Video games set in ancient Egypt 418:"Atari XE Desert Falcon Manual" 226:Players take on the role of a 1: 489:Plotkin, David (April 1989). 398:Rixon, Paul (December 1989). 465:"Introducing the Atari 7800" 175:General Computer Corporation 45:General Computer Corporation 512:Poggiali, Len (July 1989). 650: 594:Atari 8-bit computer games 230:, striving to collect the 609:Single-player video games 553:of the 7800 version from 303:wrote, "The scrolling in 29: 400:"Fly Me to the Pyramids" 250:Throughout the game are 614:Video games about birds 378:"Review: Desert Falcon" 293:several times, calling 565:in Power Play (German) 195:Atari 8-bit computers 427:. Atari Corporation. 604:Scrolling shooters 210:isometric graphics 187:Atari Corporation 185:and published by 171:scrolling shooter 162: 161: 147:Scrolling shooter 57:Atari Corporation 641: 589:Atari 7800 games 584:Atari 2600 games 579:1987 video games 522: 521: 509: 503: 502: 486: 477: 476: 469:Electronic Games 460: 454: 453: 451: 449: 435: 429: 428: 422: 414: 408: 407: 395: 386: 385: 382:ANALOG Computing 373: 364: 363: 355: 346: 345: 334: 282:ANALOG Computing 34: 22: 649: 648: 644: 643: 642: 640: 639: 638: 569: 568: 531: 526: 525: 511: 510: 506: 488: 487: 480: 462: 461: 457: 447: 445: 443:AtariOnline.org 439:"Desert Falcon" 437: 436: 432: 420: 416: 415: 411: 397: 396: 389: 375: 374: 367: 357: 356: 349: 338:"Desert Falcon" 336: 335: 331: 326: 277: 261: 240: 224: 132: 99: 95: 93: 90: 87: 85: 83: 81: 20: 19:1987 video game 17: 16:1987 video game 12: 11: 5: 647: 645: 637: 636: 631: 626: 621: 616: 611: 606: 601: 596: 591: 586: 581: 571: 570: 567: 566: 560: 548: 547:at Atari Mania 540: 539:at Atari Mania 530: 529:External links 527: 524: 523: 504: 478: 455: 430: 409: 404:New Atari User 387: 365: 358:Hague, James. 347: 328: 327: 325: 322: 300:New Atari User 276: 273: 260: 257: 239: 236: 223: 220: 160: 159: 154: 150: 149: 144: 138: 137: 126: 122: 121: 108: 102: 101: 82:Mike Feinstein 76: 70: 69: 66: 60: 59: 54: 48: 47: 42: 36: 35: 27: 26: 18: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 646: 635: 632: 630: 627: 625: 622: 620: 617: 615: 612: 610: 607: 605: 602: 600: 597: 595: 592: 590: 587: 585: 582: 580: 577: 576: 574: 564: 561: 558: 557: 552: 549: 546: 545: 544:Desert Falcon 541: 538: 537: 536:Desert Falcon 533: 532: 528: 519: 518:Current Notes 515: 508: 505: 500: 496: 492: 485: 483: 479: 474: 470: 466: 459: 456: 444: 440: 434: 431: 426: 419: 413: 410: 405: 401: 394: 392: 388: 383: 379: 372: 370: 366: 361: 354: 352: 348: 343: 339: 333: 330: 323: 321: 319: 318:Current Notes 314: 312: 311: 306: 305:Desert Falcon 302: 301: 296: 295:Desert Falcon 292: 288: 287:Desert Falcon 284: 283: 274: 272: 270: 266: 258: 256: 253: 248: 246: 237: 235: 233: 229: 221: 219: 217: 216: 211: 207: 206:Desert Falcon 202: 200: 196: 192: 191:Desert Falcon 188: 184: 180: 176: 173:developed by 172: 168: 167: 166:Desert Falcon 158: 157:Single-player 155: 151: 148: 145: 143: 139: 135: 130: 127: 123: 120: 116: 112: 109: 107: 103: 98: 92: 80: 77: 75: 74:Programmer(s) 71: 67: 65: 61: 58: 55: 53: 49: 46: 43: 41: 37: 33: 28: 25:Desert Falcon 23: 554: 543: 535: 517: 507: 501:(12): 10–11. 498: 494: 475:(14): 28–29. 472: 468: 458: 446:. Retrieved 442: 433: 424: 412: 403: 381: 342:Atari Protos 341: 332: 317: 315: 308: 304: 298: 294: 290: 286: 280: 278: 268: 264: 262: 249: 241: 225: 213: 205: 203: 190: 165: 164: 163: 133: 128: 96: 89: 78: 52:Publisher(s) 40:Developer(s) 425:archive.org 259:Development 252:hieroglyphs 218:from 1982. 136:Atari 8-bit 119:Atari 8-bit 106:Platform(s) 97:Atari 8-bit 88:Chris Fitch 86:John Mracek 64:Designer(s) 573:Categories 324:References 269:Nile Flyer 183:Atari 2600 179:Atari 7800 131:2600, 7800 115:Atari 7800 111:Atari 2600 94:Bob Polaro 91:Atari 2600 84:Bob Kakura 79:Atari 7800 68:Bob Polaro 448:March 29, 406:(41): 36. 384:(73): 73. 275:Reception 520:: 62–63. 238:Gameplay 177:for the 142:Genre(s) 100:Ken Rose 559:issue 1 556:GamePro 232:Pharaoh 197:, with 153:Mode(s) 125:Release 563:Review 551:Review 291:Zaxxon 265:Sphinx 245:sphinx 228:falcon 215:Zaxxon 495:Antic 421:(PDF) 310:Antic 169:is a 134:1988: 129:1987: 450:2023 267:and 222:Plot 199:XEGS 181:and 575:: 516:. 497:. 493:. 481:^ 471:. 467:. 441:. 423:. 402:. 390:^ 380:. 368:^ 350:^ 340:. 271:. 117:, 113:, 499:7 473:2 452:. 362:. 344:.

Index


Developer(s)
General Computer Corporation
Publisher(s)
Atari Corporation
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)
Platform(s)
Atari 2600
Atari 7800
Atari 8-bit
Genre(s)
Scrolling shooter
Single-player
scrolling shooter
General Computer Corporation
Atari 7800
Atari 2600
Atari Corporation
Atari 8-bit computers
XEGS
isometric graphics
Zaxxon
falcon
Pharaoh
sphinx
hieroglyphs
ANALOG Computing
New Atari User
Antic

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.