Cosmic Ark
Encyclopedia
Cosmic Ark is a 1982
Atari 2600
video game, developed and published by Imagic
as the sequel to Atlantis. It is believed to be the first-ever console game sequel. The objective is to gather specimens from different planets aboard a cosmic ark, which contains the survivors from the city of Atlantis
.
Cosmic Ark does not provide a set number of lives. Instead, the player's ark starts with 40 fuel units, which are lost with each meteor strike or shot fired, and gained by destroying a meteor or capturing a life form. Capturing both life forms from a planet before the warning klaxon will top off fuel reserves. If the ark runs out of energy, the next hit it takes will end the game.
Like its predecessor, Atlantis, Cosmic Ark ends with the destruction of the Ark but the smaller shuttle ship escaping. However, a sequel was never made to address this.
1982 in video gaming
-Events:* December 27 - Starcade, a video game television game show, debuts on TBS in the United States.-Notable releases:*October 13 - Mystique releases the Custer's Revenge adult video game for the Atari 2600 home console....
Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
video game, developed and published by Imagic
Imagic
Imagic was a short-lived American video game developer and publisher that developed games for the Atari 2600, Intellivision and other video game consoles in the early 1980s...
as the sequel to Atlantis. It is believed to be the first-ever console game sequel. The objective is to gather specimens from different planets aboard a cosmic ark, which contains the survivors from the city of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
.
Gameplay
In the first stage, the player must fend off meteor showers from all four sides of the screen by pushing the joystick to fire in the desired direction. The second stage requires the player to pilot a shuttle to a planet and use its tractor beam to pick up life forms. While near the planet's surface, planetary defenses will fire at the shuttle. If hit, one previously captured specimen will be freed, forcing the player to retrieve another. After a set period of time, a klaxon will warn of renewed meteor activity, and the player must return immediately to defend the ark.Cosmic Ark does not provide a set number of lives. Instead, the player's ark starts with 40 fuel units, which are lost with each meteor strike or shot fired, and gained by destroying a meteor or capturing a life form. Capturing both life forms from a planet before the warning klaxon will top off fuel reserves. If the ark runs out of energy, the next hit it takes will end the game.
Like its predecessor, Atlantis, Cosmic Ark ends with the destruction of the Ark but the smaller shuttle ship escaping. However, a sequel was never made to address this.