Gorgon (video game)
{{Short description|1981 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Gorgon
| image = Gorgon coverart.png
| caption =
| developer = Sirius Software
| publisher = Sirius Software
| designer = Nasir Gebelli{{cite web |last1=Hague |first1=James |title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers |url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist/}}
| released = June 1981
| genre = Scrolling shooter
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = Apple II
}}
Gorgon is a clone of the arcade video game Defender, a horizontally scrolling shooter, for the Apple II. It was programmed by Nasir Gebelli and published by Sirius Software{{r|callamaras198112}} in June 1981.
Gameplay
In Gorgon, the player flies a spaceship across a side-scrolling landscape while protecting civilians on the ground from aliens that drop down from the top of the screen to try to carry them off.{{cite web |title=Gorgon Manual |url=https://archive.org/details/Gorgon_Apple_Manual |website=archive.org}}
The game uses keyboard controls, with the A, Z, and left/right arrow keys for movement and the space bar for firing.
Development
Reception
By June 1982, Gorgon had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the best-selling computer games at the time.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Computer Gaming World|date=September–October 1982|volume=2|issue=5|page=2|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=2&id=6 | title=List of Top Sellers}} Bill Kunkel of Electronic Games called the game "another winner from ace designer Nasir" and "fine home version" of Defender, only criticizing the Apple II's lack of joystick support at the time.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-premiere/Electronic_Games_Issue_01_Vol_01_01_1981_Winter_Premiere#page/n57/mode/2up/search/raiders | title=Computer Playland | work=Electronic Games | date=January 1981 | accessdate=28 January 2015 | pages=38}} BYTE stated that Gorgon "is well programmed and much more enjoyable than the arcade version [and] should provide many hours of enjoyment ...
Rest assured that you Nasir Gebelli fans will not be disappointed by this one!"{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-12/1981_12_BYTE_06-12_Computer_Games#page/n91/mode/2up | title=Gorgon | work=BYTE | date=December 1981 | accessdate=19 October 2013 | author=Callamaras, Peter V | pages=90}}