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The player controls a dolphin attempting to flee from a giant squid. It must avoid colliding with packs of seahorses while navigating both forward- and backward-moving currents (indicated by arrows pointed with or against the dolphin's direction, respectively) that accelerate or decelerate its speed.
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was designed by
Matthew Hubbard. Hubbard started in the video game industry working for Atari in 1980 and joined Activision in 1982. As a child, Hubbard was fascinated by animals, particularly whales and dolphins. He recalled that when he first started at Activision, he began animating a dolphin and
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was "fascinating, although fans of heavy video action may find it a bit too cerebral. There is plenty of action - and suspense - in this game, but the aquatic setting gives it something of a languid feeling at the same time." Dan
Persons of
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gave the game a positive review, stating that the graphics of the game were up to
Activision's high standards noting the realistic dolphin swimming movements while finding the seagull unimpressive. The review concluded that
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Occasionally, a seagull appears above the water's surface which, if touched, permits the player a short period of invincibility. During this time, the dolphin is able to touch the squid and drive it away.
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to audibly give clues on where the player had to go next. Hubbard also had the game feature much larger characters than a typical Atari 2600 game. To achieve this effect in game, Hubbard was assisted by
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The dolphin's sonar sounds to indicate how to avoid seahorses: a high pitch indicates an opening near the water's surface, and a lower resonance indicates a seafloor passage.
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might miss shooting action, but overall described the game as innovative and most players will find it to be a satisfying experience.
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magazine made similar statements, describing the game as "graphically stunning" and "instead of creating another aquatic rehash of
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was announced in
January 1983 and was set to be shipped in April and be available in retail stores in May 1983.
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was released in May 1983. By June, it was the fifth best selling video game of the month.
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439:(Macintosh). Activision. Level/area: Help > History > Matthew Hubbard on "Dolphin".
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569:. Vol. 1, no. 3. Dimension Publishing, Inc. August 1995. pp. 26–27.
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won the "Best
Videogame Audio/Visual Effects (Less than 16K ROM)" category in the
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1984 Arcade Awards. From retrospective reviews, Brett Weiss in this book
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has been re-released in various compilation packs, including the
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requires the player to use audio cues in order to survive.
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The Video Game Update includes
Computer Entertainer 1983a
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The Video Game Update includes
Computer Entertainer 1983b
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asked the staff if they could recognize what it was.
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The Video Game Update includes
Computer Entertainer
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The Video Game Update includes
Computer Entertainer
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
628:. Vol. 2, no. 3. June 1983b. p. 48.
619:. Vol. 2, no. 3. June 1983a. p. 48.
580:. Reese Communications. January 1984. p. 70.
633:"Critically Speaking...Atari 2600-Compatible".
275:Hubbard wanted to use a dolphin's ability of
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642:Persons, Dan (September 1983). "Soft Spot".
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738:Video games developed in the United States
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
646:. Vol. 1, no. 12. p. 69.
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437:Activision's Atari 2600 Action Pack 2
360:(2007) found that fans of games like
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637:. Vol. 2, no. 2. May 1983.
47:adding citations to reliable sources
593:Harris, Craig (December 11, 2003).
411:List of Activision games: 1980–1999
228:created by Matthew Hubbard for the
653:Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984
358:Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984
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565:"If it Works the First Time...".
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655:. McFarland & Company, Inc.
450:"Activision Announces Dolphin".
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689:review by Keita Iida at AtariHQ
34:needs additional citations for
1:
309:for IBM-compatible PCs, and
613:"Video Take-Out's Top 10".
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733:Video games set underwater
728:Side-scrolling video games
723:Video games about dolphins
513:The Video Game Update 1983
743:Single-player video games
226:side-scrolling video game
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58:"Dolphin" video game
406:List of Atari 2600 games
307:Atari 2600 Action Pack 2
624:"Availability Update".
452:Activision News Release
595:"Activision Anthology"
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713:Atari 2600-only games
651:Weiss, Brett (2007).
635:The Video Game Update
537:Electronic Games 1984
325:The Video Game Update
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312:Activision Anthology
43:improve this article
435:Activision (1995).
277:Animal echolocation
252:Gameplay screenshot
454:. January 6, 1983.
384:Video games portal
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662:978-0-7864-3226-4
551:, pp. 53–54.
527:, pp. 70–71.
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604:November 28,
602:. Retrieved
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41:Please help
36:verification
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644:Video Games
567:Dimension 3
501:Harris 2003
336:Video Games
264:Development
174:Platform(s)
99:August 2016
697:Categories
549:Weiss 2007
417:References
234:Activision
230:Atari 2600
179:Atari 2600
158:Activision
147:Activision
69:newspapers
586:0730-6687
319:Reception
236:in 1983.
370:See also
363:Seaquest
341:Defender
315:(2002).
244:Gameplay
197:Genre(s)
686:Dolphin
678:Dolphin
559:Sources
348:Dolphin
331:Dolphin
303:Dolphin
297:Dolphin
293:Dolphin
288:Release
269:Dolphin
238:Dolphin
221:Dolphin
208:Mode(s)
185:Release
127:Dolphin
83:scholar
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202:Action
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224:is a
90:JSTOR
76:books
657:ISBN
606:2023
582:ISSN
190:1983
188:May
62:news
599:IGN
45:by
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425:^
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