| Liberator | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Atari |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Released | 1984 |
| Genre | Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Input methods | Trackball, 2 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Standard |
| Arcade display | Horizontal orientation, Raster |
Liberator is an arcade game commonly described as the opposite of Missile Command. Liberator was released by Atari in 1982, and only 762 were ever made. Liberator is based on the Atari Force comic book series. The story Atari Force Code Name: Liberator describes the premise of the game in detail and was included as part of the DC Comics Superman in the House of Mystery, issue #53. In the opening screen of the arcade game, Commander Champion of the Atari Force asks you to help free the galaxy from the evil Malaglon Army. In Liberator, the player controls four cannons at the corners of the screen. The trackball is used to move the cross-shaped cursor. One button is used to fire a bomb at the cursor's location from the closest cannon. The second is used to activate force fields around the cannons. It can only take four hits each round, and the count is shared between all the cannons. Before each star system, each consisting of three stages, the player is flying through outer space. Spaceships fly onscreen and leave in an arc. Sometimes they will try to ram into the cannons, and shields do not work, so it is important to destroy them. After this stage, the player is taken to a view of a rotating planet. The most prominent enemies are flashing missile bases. They shoot missiles at the cannons in an attempt to destroy them. They can also detach from the planet, turn into satellites, and orbit the planet while shooting missiles. Once all missile bases are destroyed, the player moves onto the next level. The missiles can be destroyed, although some split into four smaller particles when destroyed. Flying saucers will sometimes appear from the planet. When one shows up, it will fly over to a cannon and shoot a large, deadly laser. The laser cannot be stopped, so the saucer must be destroyed before the laser sprouts. Fireballs take four hits to destroy, but they slow down on each hit. Star balls take four hits to destroy, much like fireballs. However, unlike fireballs, they return to normal speed soon after being hit. Lastly, there is the white master base. It is very intelligent, and it can change the direction or speed of the planet rotation to avoid getting hit. Bonus cannons are earned at 20,000, but they are not applied immediately. Instead, they are added only after each stage, but the player will miss the bonus points if all four active cannons are destroyed. There is a cheat in this game... after inserting coins, if the player presses Fire and Start, he will be taken to a level select, allowing him to start at any third level (1, 4, 7... up to 22). The game was not very popular and was rare. The appears, emulated in the Atari Anthology
External links
- Liberator at the Killer List of Videogames
- Atari Force Headquarters Liberator Section - an Atari Force fan site that discusses Liberator.
