Quick Step (video game)
{{Short description|1983 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Quick Step
| image = Quick Step cover.jpg
| developer = Imagic
| publisher = Imagic
| programmer =
| engine =
| released = September 1983
| genre = Action
| modes = Single player, two-player simultaneous
| platforms = Atari 2600
}}
Quick Step is an Atari 2600 action game written by David Johnson. It was published by Imagic in September 1983 as one of the last Atari 2600 games from the company. The player controls a kangaroo competing against a squirrel, where both animals must jump between moving platforms, changing them to their character's color to earn points. There is a two-player mode where the second player controls the squirrel.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Quick Step consists of controlling a green kangaroo that must jump across different colored vertically scrolling platforms, competing against a purple squirrel.{{cite magazine |last=Sittnick |first=Mike |date=February 1984 |title=Quick Step |url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_2_Number_05_1984-02_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n69/mode/2up |magazine=Video Games Magazine |volume=2 |number=5 |pages=71-72 |access-date=20 May 2024}} Jumping onto a platform changes it to the character's color and the player gets a point for every platform of their color that scrolls off the screen.{{cite magazine |last1=Meade |first1=E.C. |last2=Clark |first2=Jim |date=December 1983 |title=Quick Step |url=https://archive.org/details/video-and-computer-gaming-illustrated-issue-12-december-1983/page/16/mode/2up |magazine=Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated |issue=12 |pages=17-18 |access-date=20 May 2024}} Certain platforms (called "magic mats") will freeze the other character in place when jumped on, which can cause the other player to lose a life if they are near the bottom of the screen and the platform they are on scrolls off.{{cite magazine |last=Puglia |first=Vincent |date=November 1984 |title=Quick Step |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_02_Number_16_1984-11_Reese_Communications_US/page/n71/mode/2up |magazine=Electronic Games |volume=2 |number=16 |pages=71-72 |access-date=20 May 2024}} The player can also press the fire button to release a "tricky trap" which causes the platform under the other character to disappear, causing them to fall.{{cite magazine |date=November 1983 |title=Quick Step |url=https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-2-8/page/114/mode/2up |magazine=Computer Entertainer |volume=2 |number=8 |page=114 |access-date=20 May 2024}} The platforms speed up as gameplay progresses, and eventually collapse into a single column towards the end of the level.{{cite web |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/16517/quick-step/ |title=Quick Step |website=MobyGames |access-date=21 May 2024}}{{better source|date=September 2024}}
The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where the second player can control the squirrel.
Development
Quick Step was designed by David Johnson, with graphics assistance from Wilfredo Aguilar, Michael Becker, and Wendy Szeto.{{better source|date=September 2024}}
Reception
A review in the December 1983 issue of Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated was mixed, being critical of the graphics and having a mixed reaction to the gameplay. Video Games Magazine was also critical of the graphics, but praised the game as "a truly different game, if only because of the potpourri of elements". Computer Entertainer praised the two-player mode, calling it a "gem". The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called Quick Step "closer to a miss than a hit".{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/638531619/?match=1&terms=%22quick%20step%22%20atari |title=Gyruss will be enjoyed, in some circles |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |last=Hudson |first=Lou |date=30 June 1984 |access-date=22 May 2024}} Many reviewers considered it a clone of Q*bert.{{cite magazine |last1=Wiswell |first1=Phil |last2=DeKoven |first2=Bernie |date=March 1984 |title=Quick Step |url=https://archive.org/details/EnterMagazineVarious/Enter%20Issue%205%20%28March%201984%29/page/n59/mode/2up |magazine=Enter |volume=1 |number=5 |page=59 |access-date=22 May 2024}}
In a retrospective review of Imagic games, IGN said Quick Step "is a brilliant, furious multiplayer game for a system not exactly known for aggressive two-player action games", putting it in their top five list of Imagic games for the Atari 2600.{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/01/22/top-5-imagic-games-for-atari-2600 |title=Top 5 Imagic Games for Atari 2600 |website=IGN |last=Buchanan |first=Levi |date=21 January 2009 |access-date=20 May 2024}} videogamecritic.com said that while Quick Step was inspired by Q*bert, it lacks the "charm" that made Q*bert a video game classic.{{cite web |url=https://videogamecritic.com/2600pq.htm |title=Atari 2600 Reviews P-Q |website=videogamecritic.com |date=17 April 2008 |access-date=23 May 2024 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210000659/https://videogamecritic.com/2600pq.htm |url-status=bot: unknown}}
References
External links
- {{cite web |title=Classic Game Room review |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNBF_LGrfM |website=YouTube |date=28 April 2015}}
Category:Atari 2600-only games
Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games
Category:Multiplayer hotseat games
Category:Squirrels in popular culture
Category:Video games about animals