The story of Rob Fulop and Imagic is probably the best example of Atari killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Fulop made a killer conversion of Missile Command that was not only a huge seller but also well received. But after making tens of millions for Atari and only receiving his base salary, instead of royalties for his Christmas bonus he received a coupon for a Safeway frozen turkey (not even a fancy, free-range, fresh one). And this was after Activision had already started releasing games, so Atari couldn't claim ignorance of the potential consequences of treating its talent like crap. After that last straw, Fulop and others met to form Imagic knowing that it was already settled, thanks to Activision, that third-party software for consoles was 100% legal.
Thanks for the video! I remember this game very well and being really impressed at the time - and still today! Unfortunately my parents had a very strict one console in, one out policy, so my 2600 had already been swapped for a series of home computers at this point. So I was playing on my ZX Spectrum during the Demon Attack heyday. But I still looked on with envy in the shops! I love the way the alien ships materialise with the horizontal effect, coupled with that sound - peak 2600!
Demon Attack was the last videogame I played as a single man. I was at my best man's place getting ready for the wedding. We were ahead of schedule and had a bit of time to kill, so we fired up Stella and played a few rounds. Also, the game had the BEST TV ad!
I’ve been playing the Atari 2600+. I didn’t grow up with the Atari and don’t have any nostalgia for the system. I’ve been picking up random games that I see and messing around with them periodically. This is one of the games that I really do enjoy, cosmic ark has been my favorite so far tho.
Great video! Something no one’s mentioned is that this game was scary to a lot of us kids, in addition to being awesome! Love the little tune between stages, and our goal was always to see the last enemy type! Challenging and ingenious game.
I just played this the other day, was having a 2600 night. I’m still on a Retron 77, waiting to grab the 7800+. But, I will say, it still looks really great regardless. I was grinding on it for about an hour before moving onto something else in my collection. Anyhow, classic game that I love going back to.
One of my absolute favourites, like you said in many ways nothing special but everything just feels right and fits perfectly together to make an absolute classic.
Yes, Rob, it’s never too late. I play demon attack as a quick button smasher when I need to throttle some 2600 need. It’s a great quick pick it up game.
Saw a video about Imagic made back in the day. It is awesovme! Imagic was one of the most successful third party developers behind Activision of course. I loved that as kids we used our imagination to augment our games! Imagic boxes are so iconic! Thanks for the memories
I finally got around to downloading the additional ROM's (only 2600 for now) to my Atari GSP. I am overjoyed that i have so many new titles to enjoy. My kids love it. And yes, this was a title i was super excited to play. When i had my 7800 as a kid, i had 2600 titles, but not Demon Attack. I never even know about it until i stumbled upon this channel late last year. I didn't even know about the GSP until i heard about it in this channel. Thanks so much for the great videos, tips and reviews. Now i gotta get the additional ROMs for the 5200, 7800, NES and Sega Genesis. Thank you GenX!!!!
Oh, that's incredibly gratifying to hear! I'm glad you have found entertainment as well as practical value in my work, and that it's helped to bring you some fun gaming times! 😁 Thanks.
So this great video reminds me of BIG Question I have for you, and perhaps a possible topic for a future video of you haven’t already addressed it (but you probably have)… I find that looking back in retrospect that the Atari 2600 games that were designed originally for the console are much better games to play in looks and gameplay, than the games that were “watered down” versions of games based on existing Arcade Games. I feel like the people trying to bring the Arcade Games to the console were limited in their options and had to try and stay close to the original game, where as the games designed for the console itself could bring the most of the capability in looks and game play as they were not having to follow another version. They were free to be whatever they could make it be. Loved this level 5 version of this game as it seemed to be the most of what Atari 2600 would allow it to be with no regard to being an easy game like level 1 needed to be for the most casual and newbie of users. Thanks Jon 👊🏻🕹️😎
I agree with you! Even those home games which were based on arcade games, but which had to be more different not just to technical limitations but also lack of licensing, sometimes worked out better. For example, Minestorm on the Vectrex is arguably better than the Asteroids arcade game which inspired it.
This was a part of the initial group of our 2600 games and I still have an original copy today. I’ve also played the Intelivision version which plays quite differently from its 2600 counterpart and even has a boss battle of sorts.
I've been playing video games since 1977. I enjoy both modern and retro games equally. Demon Attack is in my top 10 games of all time and the reason I purchased an Atari 2600+. A sequel from the original programmer would be a smart move with the rising popularity of retro games and systems.
Demon Attack is really well aligned with the hardware capabilities and limitations of the 2600. Very straightforward use of two sprites on a scanline, and raster coloring. The bottom demon is the only one which can shoot because the shower of bullets is a sprite.
I actually wrote to Rob Fulop yesterday to thank him for Demon Attack (as well as his other fine work in the industry). The sprite design and movement in this game are unparalleled, the difficulty curve is highly satisfying, the sound design is first rate... it just plays like a dream, and looks like nothing else in the fixed shooter category. Seriously, those sprites! In its own minimalist way, I think Demon Attack is the most beautiful game designed for the 2600. Interestingly, a lot of the competition for that title came from Imagic itself. A great company -- they released a lot fewer games for the VCS than Activision, but I think they had as many top notch titles overall. Incidentally, Fulop is also a very fine musician (Jazz and Ragtime piano), and he continues to stay visible doing talks about the industry and his history with it. A very interesting dude, and a one of the great VCS coders/designers.
Probably my favorite 2600 shooter. There are some people that say Atari 2600 Phoenix is better. I know that Demon Attack is inspired by Phoenix, but I still feel that it's a superior game.
When Imagic games came out in 1982, it felt like a big advancement in the graphics capabilities of the 2600 at that time. We knew it was the closest thing to having the arcade game Phoenix (which Atari sued about). That same year, another game maker named Starpath (formerly Arcadia) came out with a cassette-loaded game platform for the 2600 called the Supercharger. It added more RAM to the console but the games took too long to load. They went out of business after 5 years. Sad since their games had the most advanced graphics.
I played this a lot on the 2600. I could clear quite a few waves, but never made it too far into the double digits as far as levels. There was a nice version for the C64, with really pretty graphics, and a boss level. Unfortunately, the planet in the background tended to make the enemy bullets hard to see when they were in front of it.
I remember not liking this game when I got it. It pretty much sat gathering dust on my game shelf. The thing that killed it for me was the fact that only the bottom "demon" would attack you. And once it was gone, you couldn't die. I always thought that was a big oversight and that they should have found SOME way to get all of the attacking ships to drop bombs. And the steering bombs was more annoying to us than anything. We always thought that it felt like a flawed, unfinished, game that they could have done more with. One thing that Imagic had that I love to this day, is their box art. NO ONE had amazing box art like theirs. Atlantis and Cosmic Ark (which absolutely HAD to be played back to back due to the fact that you were continuing the story of Atlantis with Cosmic Ark), were AMAZING games. Imagic games might have been one of the first "cinematic universes" in video games.
this and Atlantis the very best from Imagic and in my top 5 2600 games. Demon Attack is the best shooter for the machine and really rather unique. Great challenge too my top 10 in no order would be: Demon Attack, Attlantis, Pole Position, Pitfall, Adventures of Tron, Chopper Command, Yars Revenge, Beamrider, Raiders of the Lost Ark. River Raid
Atari sued Imagic in 1982 for Demon Attack's similarity to Phoenix; maybe it's because the IntelliVision port had a Boss Wave ! i find it's closer to Vulture Attack. Two different versions of this game exist. In the original version, the screen will go black (the code is stuck in an endless loop) after completing 84 waves (game modes 5 - 8 start on wave 13 and will freeze after completing wave 72). The fixed version goes all the way to wave 255 before wrapping around back to wave 0.
I can verify that on the version of Demon Attack for the Atari 2600 that I had when I was a kid that after you beat Level 84 that yes indeed the screen goes black. I did it and damn those demons move fast. Level 84 demons were the pulsating eyes, tiny little fuckers...
Loved this game. The only one that ever shut down on me. I kept going and going and just like that...blank screen. Like it ran out of levels or something.
You did the two most popular 2600 games that I do not like back-to-back, this and River Raid. I would probably give Demon Attack the edge between these two. It is not like I hate either game, I just do not find them as fun as the majority does.
I'm surprised this was so popular. Everybody had it. But it was 1981. I was 5 years old, but I knew Defender was the hot new arcade game with awesome sounds and hyperspace and crunchy explosions and little dudes falling to their death. Space Invaders was SUPER boring to me. When I saw this I barely noticed the awesome graphics. This was Space Invaders if you took away the shields and all but 3 of the aliens. And those 3 aliens were floppy birds that were really annoying to try to shoot! And it was a weird tall skinny cartridge that didn't fit right in the cases people put cartridges in. But Missile Command was awesome.
`My all time favorite 2500 game. It actually plays better on the 2600 than on the Atari 8-bit home computers. There's a smashingly good, but almost completely different, version for the Intellivision. Early versions of the carty, the demons do give uo and go home. I actually did that once a long time ago...I heard that this was onlly on early versions, and that later versions had the "bug" fixed.
I played the Intellivision version of this game and I guess I'm not as hard core as you are because I prefer the easier versions. I play the game for relaxation and I being able to sit back and play for a while without a bunch of stuff flying at me the moment I start.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
The story of Rob Fulop and Imagic is probably the best example of Atari killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Fulop made a killer conversion of Missile Command that was not only a huge seller but also well received. But after making tens of millions for Atari and only receiving his base salary, instead of royalties for his Christmas bonus he received a coupon for a Safeway frozen turkey (not even a fancy, free-range, fresh one). And this was after Activision had already started releasing games, so Atari couldn't claim ignorance of the potential consequences of treating its talent like crap. After that last straw, Fulop and others met to form Imagic knowing that it was already settled, thanks to Activision, that third-party software for consoles was 100% legal.
Loved this game. It really felt like an arcade port even though there was never a Demon Attack arcade version.
This was one of my very favorite games for 2600 as a kid. This, Phoenix, Cosmic Ark, Chopper Command...
This was always my favourite 2600 game, I also thought the Imagic cartridges looked superb with the mirrored finish.
I've always felt that this game is one of the more impressive 2600 titles, the way the enemies move and look is lovely, it works really well.
Couldn’t agree more! After all these years, Demon Attack STILL plays really really well!
The animation of the winged demons was next level.
Excellent game. I love that you are reading the manuals because I never know about the selection.
One of my favorite 2600 games for sure. Not easy at all!
I agree, but I never really feel that it’s unfair, just tough. And that’s fine by me! :-)
Thanks for the video! I remember this game very well and being really impressed at the time - and still today! Unfortunately my parents had a very strict one console in, one out policy, so my 2600 had already been swapped for a series of home computers at this point. So I was playing on my ZX Spectrum during the Demon Attack heyday. But I still looked on with envy in the shops! I love the way the alien ships materialise with the horizontal effect, coupled with that sound - peak 2600!
Demon Attack was the last videogame I played as a single man. I was at my best man's place getting ready for the wedding. We were ahead of schedule and had a bit of time to kill, so we fired up Stella and played a few rounds.
Also, the game had the BEST TV ad!
Imagic always had the coolest box art.
Thank you again Jon for presenting the detailed instructions and gameplay for this game. I’m now off to play this now on my console.
You bet. Enjoy!
I’ve been playing the Atari 2600+. I didn’t grow up with the Atari and don’t have any nostalgia for the system. I’ve been picking up random games that I see and messing around with them periodically. This is one of the games that I really do enjoy, cosmic ark has been my favorite so far tho.
Demon Attack is an awesome game. Definitely my favorite fixed shooter for the Atari 2600. Great video!
Really appreciate the breakdown of the different game types. I never explored these as a kid so its almost like playing a brand new game !
My pleasure!
Friday Plays is a great series! Keep it going for sure. Good job, Jon!
Demon Attack and Megamania were my two favorite shooters on the Atari as a kid.
Wow! I forgot about this game - I love that noise when the demons warp onto the screen.
Same.
The cover is timeless
Great video! Something no one’s mentioned is that this game was scary to a lot of us kids, in addition to being awesome! Love the little tune between stages, and our goal was always to see the last enemy type! Challenging and ingenious game.
I just played this the other day, was having a 2600 night. I’m still on a Retron 77, waiting to grab the 7800+. But, I will say, it still looks really great regardless. I was grinding on it for about an hour before moving onto something else in my collection. Anyhow, classic game that I love going back to.
I didn’t know about the co-op variant! That looks so fun! 😊
It is!
One of my absolute favourites, like you said in many ways nothing special but everything just feels right and fits perfectly together to make an absolute classic.
Most definitely agree. 😁
Yes, Rob, it’s never too late. I play demon attack as a quick button smasher when I need to throttle some 2600 need. It’s a great quick pick it up game.
I love Friday Plays! It’s the best to watch while smoking my weed! ❤ The demons on the box remind me of those plastic dinosaurs painted silver.
...and that's exactly what they are! Imagic used a lot of dimestore toys as props in their game art!
I absolutely loved playing this. I would of been 10 or 11 at the time. I can still hear it in my head. My dad and I played alot.
Saw a video about Imagic made back in the day. It is awesovme! Imagic was one of the most successful third party developers behind Activision of course. I loved that as kids we used our imagination to augment our games! Imagic boxes are so iconic! Thanks for the memories
Demon attack was one of my favorite Intellivision game , I will have to try the Atari version, I'm impress by the sales figure of this game !
Probably my favorite Imagic game. So glad you did this one...
The friend in our group who had this was hounded constantly to get this loaned. It was one of our favs
I finally got around to downloading the additional ROM's (only 2600 for now) to my Atari GSP. I am overjoyed that i have so many new titles to enjoy. My kids love it. And yes, this was a title i was super excited to play. When i had my 7800 as a kid, i had 2600 titles, but not Demon Attack. I never even know about it until i stumbled upon this channel late last year. I didn't even know about the GSP until i heard about it in this channel. Thanks so much for the great videos, tips and reviews. Now i gotta get the additional ROMs for the 5200, 7800, NES and Sega Genesis. Thank you GenX!!!!
Oh, that's incredibly gratifying to hear! I'm glad you have found entertainment as well as practical value in my work, and that it's helped to bring you some fun gaming times! 😁 Thanks.
So this great video reminds me of BIG Question I have for you, and perhaps a possible topic for a future video of you haven’t already addressed it (but you probably have)… I find that looking back in retrospect that the Atari 2600 games that were designed originally for the console are much better games to play in looks and gameplay, than the games that were “watered down” versions of games based on existing Arcade Games. I feel like the people trying to bring the Arcade Games to the console were limited in their options and had to try and stay close to the original game, where as the games designed for the console itself could bring the most of the capability in looks and game play as they were not having to follow another version. They were free to be whatever they could make it be.
Loved this level 5 version of this game as it seemed to be the most of what Atari 2600 would allow it to be with no regard to being an easy game like level 1 needed to be for the most casual and newbie of users.
Thanks Jon 👊🏻🕹️😎
I agree with you! Even those home games which were based on arcade games, but which had to be more different not just to technical limitations but also lack of licensing, sometimes worked out better. For example, Minestorm on the Vectrex is arguably better than the Asteroids arcade game which inspired it.
I love how those demons kind of morf together.
Seems like it would have taken a lot computer power, which makes it even more impressive.
This was a part of the initial group of our 2600 games and I still have an original copy today. I’ve also played the Intelivision version which plays quite differently from its 2600 counterpart and even has a boss battle of sorts.
Great evocative game. That cloud of laser bolts coming at me …
Great vid, good times.
I've been playing video games since 1977. I enjoy both modern and retro games equally. Demon Attack is in my top 10 games of all time and the reason I purchased an Atari 2600+. A sequel from the original programmer would be a smart move with the rising popularity of retro games and systems.
Demon Attack is really well aligned with the hardware capabilities and limitations of the 2600. Very straightforward use of two sprites on a scanline, and raster coloring. The bottom demon is the only one which can shoot because the shower of bullets is a sprite.
this is pretty much my favorite space invaders style shooter. played this all the time on c64 as a kid.
I loved Demon Attack. It was our favorite out of all the games we had. We played on a B&W TV, so I never grew up with the cool colors.
I love and own this game! Great video as always!
Thanks, Tom!
I actually wrote to Rob Fulop yesterday to thank him for Demon Attack (as well as his other fine work in the industry). The sprite design and movement in this game are unparalleled, the difficulty curve is highly satisfying, the sound design is first rate... it just plays like a dream, and looks like nothing else in the fixed shooter category.
Seriously, those sprites! In its own minimalist way, I think Demon Attack is the most beautiful game designed for the 2600. Interestingly, a lot of the competition for that title came from Imagic itself. A great company -- they released a lot fewer games for the VCS than Activision, but I think they had as many top notch titles overall.
Incidentally, Fulop is also a very fine musician (Jazz and Ragtime piano), and he continues to stay visible doing talks about the industry and his history with it. A very interesting dude, and a one of the great VCS coders/designers.
Awesome. 😁
Probably my favorite 2600 shooter. There are some people that say Atari 2600 Phoenix is better. I know that Demon Attack is inspired by Phoenix, but I still feel that it's a superior game.
I absolutely loved this game.
Great Content Jon, thegame lopks cool!
When Imagic games came out in 1982, it felt like a big advancement in the graphics capabilities of the 2600 at that time. We knew it was the closest thing to having the arcade game Phoenix (which Atari sued about).
That same year, another game maker named Starpath (formerly Arcadia) came out with a cassette-loaded game platform for the 2600 called the Supercharger. It added more RAM to the console but the games took too long to load. They went out of business after 5 years. Sad since their games had the most advanced graphics.
Alternative Name: "Avoid Demon Poop"
Again, I learned something new about a game that I played a thousand times as a kid. 🙂
I love when that happens! Thanks for watching. 😁
This was indeed one of the best shooter games for its time and on this platform.
I played this a lot on the 2600. I could clear quite a few waves, but never made it too far into the double digits as far as levels. There was a nice version for the C64, with really pretty graphics, and a boss level. Unfortunately, the planet in the background tended to make the enemy bullets hard to see when they were in front of it.
Tough game, never unfair and good playability. One of my favourites on the VCS.
I remember this game. It was awesome.
Great episode. Would love to see Phoenix.
This game is awesome, the few 2600 games i own, this is one. My mom used to play the heck out of it when i was a kid.
Great memories.
I didn't know that 2600 games could look like this. And it looks fun.
The Intellivision version with Demon boss ship is great, too.
The tracer shot mode seems to be a very common mode among Atari 2600 games
Imagic had some cool stuff for the time. Demon Attack is one of their best.
I still have my cartridge I bought when I was 13.
i had this as a kid and back then i thought it was one of the best games i had.
Actually managed to roll that game once. Best day ever!!!!!!!!😅
I played the hell out of this game.
One of the top 5 2600 games!
I remember not liking this game when I got it. It pretty much sat gathering dust on my game shelf. The thing that killed it for me was the fact that only the bottom "demon" would attack you. And once it was gone, you couldn't die. I always thought that was a big oversight and that they should have found SOME way to get all of the attacking ships to drop bombs. And the steering bombs was more annoying to us than anything. We always thought that it felt like a flawed, unfinished, game that they could have done more with. One thing that Imagic had that I love to this day, is their box art. NO ONE had amazing box art like theirs. Atlantis and Cosmic Ark (which absolutely HAD to be played back to back due to the fact that you were continuing the story of Atlantis with Cosmic Ark), were AMAZING games. Imagic games might have been one of the first "cinematic universes" in video games.
this and Atlantis the very best from Imagic and in my top 5 2600 games. Demon Attack is the best shooter for the machine and really rather unique. Great challenge too
my top 10 in no order would be: Demon Attack, Attlantis, Pole Position, Pitfall, Adventures of Tron, Chopper Command, Yars Revenge, Beamrider, Raiders of the Lost Ark. River Raid
Atari sued Imagic in 1982 for Demon Attack's similarity to Phoenix;
maybe it's because the IntelliVision port had a Boss Wave !
i find it's closer to Vulture Attack.
Two different versions of this game exist. In the original version, the screen will go black (the code is stuck in an endless loop) after completing 84 waves
(game modes 5 - 8 start on wave 13 and will freeze after completing wave 72).
The fixed version goes all the way to wave 255 before wrapping around back to wave 0.
Neat. Co-op would be a lot of fun. Get a friend, a six-pack of Jolt and package of oreos. We are locking in for the night!
Now you're talkin'! 😁
I just realized how crazy it is that you can play and talk coherently at the same time.
Isn't that normal? Oh, wait. I get it. I'm abnormal. That checks out.
@@GenXGrownUpHmmm… maybe über-normal.
@@katmacoconnor Also known as, "Nörmàl."
@@GenXGrownUp 😹
Most 2600 games were terrible in retrospect, but this one was great. Was one of my favorites as a kid
I can verify that on the version of Demon Attack for the Atari 2600 that I had when I was a kid that after you beat Level 84 that yes indeed the screen goes black. I did it and damn those demons move fast. Level 84 demons were the pulsating eyes, tiny little fuckers...
Yes!! Great game. I love you 2600
I loved and hated this game when I was growing up. It was fun and frustrating, particularly when the enemies would split into those little birds... :D
Nice, thanks.
I loved the TI-99 and C64 versions. I probably played Intellivision the most though.
Wow, thought I was one of only a few people who knew about this game. Guess I was wrong lol
Maybe "Super Demon Attack" for the TI 99/4A computer is the sequel.
Loved this game. The only one that ever shut down on me. I kept going and going and just like that...blank screen. Like it ran out of levels or something.
Awesome thank you
You're welcome.
Imagic had the best box art and silly me even liked the Atari ones.
Atari box art were just that...Art. They were great.
Sad that people didn’t use the “select” switch that much….including myself
This game always reminded me of Pheonix
Yeah. Lots of similarities!
You did the two most popular 2600 games that I do not like back-to-back, this and River Raid. I would probably give Demon Attack the edge between these two. It is not like I hate either game, I just do not find them as fun as the majority does.
Lucky you. Time to buy some lottery tickets!
@GenXGrownUp Do Omega Race next week, and it will be like I won the lottery.
@@jeremiahthomas8140 I promise you it's on the short list. 😉
I have both the Atari and Intellivision versions. I prefer the latter version of the two.
Wait, there was an Inty port?!? I need to check that out, thanks for the heads up!
@@PeranMe The INTV version has background graphics and an end of level boss.
pacman number 1 a very underrated game for me
I'm surprised this was so popular. Everybody had it. But it was 1981. I was 5 years old, but I knew Defender was the hot new arcade game with awesome sounds and hyperspace and crunchy explosions and little dudes falling to their death. Space Invaders was SUPER boring to me. When I saw this I barely noticed the awesome graphics. This was Space Invaders if you took away the shields and all but 3 of the aliens. And those 3 aliens were floppy birds that were really annoying to try to shoot! And it was a weird tall skinny cartridge that didn't fit right in the cases people put cartridges in. But Missile Command was awesome.
`My all time favorite 2500 game. It actually plays better on the 2600 than on the Atari 8-bit home computers. There's a smashingly good, but almost completely different, version for the Intellivision. Early versions of the carty, the demons do give uo and go home. I actually did that once a long time ago...I heard that this was onlly on early versions, and that later versions had the "bug" fixed.
I played the Intellivision version of this game and I guess I'm not as hard core as you are because I prefer the easier versions. I play the game for relaxation and I being able to sit back and play for a while without a bunch of stuff flying at me the moment I start.
Great 😊
I'd be totally down for a DEMON ATTACK 2! Just sayin'.
Kinda reminds me of phoenix
I had this game when I was a kid....I literally would play until it crashed...i was really good at it I guess?
On original carts, the screen would blank after level 84, so that's most likely what you had!
To me it looks like someone played too much Moon Cresta.
Do you mean Moon Cresta? I can see the influence.
Oh Moon Cresta. Im 57 and remember Moon Cresta on day one in the arcade. It was really unique...There was nothing like it. Dock those Rockets man.
It’s ok, but I thought the intellivision one was much better.
Games like Demon Attack show what the 2600 was capable of, and make games like Donkey Kong Jr. seem really lazy.