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Joust (video game)

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Joust
Arcade flyer for Joust
Developer(s)Williams Electronics
Publisher(s)Williams Electronics
Designer(s)John Newcomer
Platform(s)Arcade
Release1982
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously

Joust is a classic arcade game produced by Williams Electronics in 1982, and ported to numerous platforms.

The player controls a knight armed with a lance, mounted on either an ostrich (player 1) or a stork (player 2), who battles waves of computer-controlled enemy knights mounted on giant buzzards. These knights have three different speed and agility levels. The game screen is static; its only features are five platforms hanging in mid-air (some wrapping around the screen), the ground, and a pit of lava beneath.

A joystick moves left and right, and a "Flap" button flaps the mount's wings once. Pressing "Flap" in rapid succession will produce a gain in altitude until simulated gravity drags the mount downward.

Gameplay

Screenshot of Joust

Each wave begins with enemy knights appearing on the screen at one of four "spawn points". The three types of knights, from weakest to toughest, are: Bounder (red, 500 points), Hunter (white, 750 points), and Shadow Lord (blue, 1,000 points). To destroy a knight and collect its point value, the player must collide with the knight while the player's lance is vertically higher than the knight's. If the player's lance is vertically lower, he or she loses a life and is awarded 50 points.

After destroying a knight, an egg will fall to the ground. The player must touch the egg to destroy it before the egg hatches to produce another, more powerful knight. Eggs may also be destroyed in later levels by the egg falling into the open lava. If an egg hatches, the hatchling is harmless and may also be destroyed by touch prior to the knight mounting a new buzzard. The award for destroying eggs and hatchlings progresses with each one collected, from 250 to 1,000 points in 250-point increments. Catching an egg in mid-air before it touches the platform is worth 500 bonus points. This progression starts anew upon the death of the player or the beginning of another wave.

A wave is cleared when the player destroys all enemy knights and eggs. "Survival Waves" reward a player who avoids death during the round with 3,000 bonus points. If too much time has elapsed during a wave, a pterodactyl will appear from one side of the screen and fly around until it either collides and kills the player, the player clears the wave, or the player destroys it by hitting the pterodactyl directly in the mouth with his lance, earning 1,000 points.

Two players can play Joust simultaneously, and each player earns points for destroying enemy knights as well as his human opponent (2,000 points). Cooperative play is possible by agreement, but accidental kills through collision remain possible. Completion of "Team Waves" award 3,000 bonus points each to players who successfully avoid killing one another. "Gladiator Waves" encourage players to kill each other by similarly offering 3,000 bonus points to the first player to do so.

During the first two waves flooring at the bottom of the screen covers a lava pit, which is uncovered on the third wave as the floor burns away. On the fourth and subsequent waves, a troll inhabits the lava pit; if any player or enemy knight flies too close to the lava, the troll's hand will emerge and tug the mount down toward the lava. Players can escape the troll's grip by repeatedly pressing the "Flap" button.

As waves progress, some platforms disappear, to be rejuvenated for Egg Waves.

Every fifth wave is an Egg Wave, which begins with a full complement of platforms pre-populated with eggs. These hatch after a period of time, although it is possible for a player to destroy all eggs before any have hatched.

Programming bugs

One flaw in the program's design, later touted by producers as a "hidden feature", gives players a strategic advantage. Two platforms are situated on the right side of the screen so that one slightly overhangs the other. If a player flies his or her mount so that its belly skims the lower platform such that its legs do not extend, the bird will then "belly flop" across the platform and illogically "squeeze" through the point where the two platforms meet, shooting out below the upper platform. Game creator John Newcomer stated in interviews that this design flaw was so popular it was intentionally retained as a permanent feature of the game.[1]

Early ROM revisions of the game presented a situation which a player could periodically exploit to accumulate an indefinite number of points with low risk. The player could maneuver an enemy knight too close to the lava, such that the lava troll would grip it, but not low enough that the troll would succeed in pulling it in, and not high enough that the enemy knight could escape. By doing so, the knight could not attack the player and the wave would never end. The player could then stand in the middle of the central platform to safely face oncoming pterodactyls, striking them in the mouth merely by standing still. Pterodactyls would appear at an increasing rate from different sides of the screen to be killed repeatedly, scoring large amounts of points toward extra lives. Arcade operators were not too pleased to see players exploit this bug.[2]

Reception and Legacy

Given the different control scheme, Williams was concerned that the game would be unsuccessful. Though arcades were hesitant to purchase the game for the same reason, Joust sold well. Williams eventually shipped 26,000 units.[3] A cocktail table version was later released, engineered by Leo Ludzia.[3] It differs from other cocktail games in that it features side-by-side seating rather than opposing sides.[3][4] This setup allowed Williams to use the same ROM chip as in the upright cabinets.[5] The cabinets have since become collector's items. Though the upright cabinets are common, the cocktail version is a rare, sought after game.[4][6] Between 250-500 units were manufactured.[3][4]

Author Steve Kent considered Joust one of the more memorable games of its time.[7] Author David Ellis agreed, and stated that the game retains it enjoyment in contemporary times.[4] Retro Gamer writer Mike Bevan praised the game's physics, calling them "beautifully realised", and described Joust as one of Williams' "most remarkable and well-loved titles".[5] Author John Sellers praised the competitive two-player gameplay, and attributed the game's appeal to the flapping mechanism.[8]

Sequels and remakes

A pinball version was released in 1983, designed by Barry Oursler and Constantino Mitchell. The game includes artwork and themes from the arcade version. In addition to single player gameplay, it features competitive two-player gameplay with the players on opposing sides of the machine. Less than 500 machines were produced.[3] An arcade sequel, Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, was released in 1985.

In addition to a Nintendo Entertainment System version, the game was ported to several Atari platforms: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, and Atari Lynx consoles, and the Atari 8-bit and Atari ST home computers.[5] Macintosh and personal computer version were also released.[9] Previously unreleased Atarisoft prototypes of Joust for the ColecoVision surfaced in 2001 at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.[10] In 2000, a web-based version of Defender, along with nine other classic arcade games, was published on Shockwave.com.[11] Four years later, Midway Games also launched a website featuring the Shockwave versions.[12] The game has been included in several multi-platform compilations: the 1996 Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, the 2000 Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits, and the 2003 Midway Arcade Treasures.[13][14][15] Other compilation titles are the 1995 Arcade Classic 4 for the Game Boy and the 2005 Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play for the PlayStation Portable.[16][17]

In 1986, the company released Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, an arcade sequel. As part of its "Extreme Chain Series", Tiger Electronics marketed a handheld adaption of Joust in 1998. The movie rights to Joust were optioned by Midway Games to CP Productions in 2007.[18]

In the 1980s and 1990s, Atari ported Joust to its 2600 (1983), 5200 (1983), 8-bit (1983), ST (1986), 7800 (1987), and Lynx (1992) home systems. There were also versions for the Apple II and IBM PC. Other ports included ones for the Macintosh (1994) and Nintendo's NES (1988), Game Boy (1995), and Game Boy Color (1999). Between 1995 and 1997, Joust also appeared within the Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits collection for the PlayStation, SNES, and Sega's Genesis and Saturn consoles and within the Williams Arcade Classics anthology for personal computers (both MS-DOS and Windows) and the Game.com handheld.

Publishers have also released ports of Joust for a nominal price to online services that support current-generation video game consoles, such as the Xbox Live Arcade (November 22, 2005) and the PlayStation Network (May 24, 2007).[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Interview with John Newcomer. "Williams Arcade Classics" (Document). Williams Entertainment Inc. 1995..
  2. ^ "100 Video Game Cheats". Arcade: 61. 1985. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Digital Eclipse (2003-11-18). Midway Arcade Treasures (PlayStation 2). Midway Games. Level/area: The Inside Story On Joust.
  4. ^ a b c d Ellis, David (2004). "Arcade Classics". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. pp. 337–338. ISBN 0375720383.
  5. ^ a b c Bevan, Mike. "The Making of Joust". Retro Gamer (63). Imagine Publishing: 36–41.
  6. ^ Ellis, David (2004). "Arcade Classics". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. p. 385. ISBN 0375720383.
  7. ^ Kent, Steven (2001). "The Golden Age (Part 2: 1981–1983)". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. p. 177. ISBN 0761536434.
  8. ^ Sellers, John (2001). Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games. Running Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0762409371. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Joust". MobyGames. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
  10. ^ Ellis, David (2004). "ColecoVision". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. pp. 146–148. ISBN 0375720383.
  11. ^ Parker, Sam (2000-05-05). "Midway Coming Back At You". GameSpot.
  12. ^ Kohler, Chris (2004-09-24). "Midway Arcade Treasures Web site goes live". GameSpot.
  13. ^ Weiss, Brett Alan. "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits - Overview - allgame". Allgame. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  14. ^ All Game Staff. "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits: Vol. 1 - Overview - allgame". Allgame. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  15. ^ Harris, Craig (2003-08-11). "Midway Arcade Treasures". IGN. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  16. ^ "Arcade Classic 4 Defender / Joust". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  17. ^ Harris, Craig (2006-02-13). "Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play". IGN. {{cite web}}: Text "accessdate - 2010-07-10" ignored (help)
  18. ^ Fritz, Ben (2007-09-03). "'Joust' Clicks with CP: Cerenzie-Peters Banner Gets First Project". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Joust Game Detail Page". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  20. ^ Miller, Greg (2007-05-23). "Joust Rides onto the PlayStation Network: Grab Your Favorite Ostrich and Controller". IGN. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
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