1981 CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Spin. Blast. And drop into hyperspace to avoid a killer asteroid shower. Power on. Attack computer engaged. Fire a quick burst at the alien antagonists. Got 'em!

Now take a deep breath and relax. But only for a fraction of a second, because more trouble is on the way.

You're all alone in a hostile universe of tumbling asteroids and homicidal aliens. You've got the wits and the speed, but you're awesomely outnumbered.

With a little practice, you may survive . . .

• Battle aliens and tumbling asteroids
• Hyperspace feature
• Unlimited scoring potential

BUG: There's no check for the score overflowing -- beyond 9,999,999 points, the scoring routine starts displaying negative numbers, letters and other ASCII characters. (Ironically, the catalog description promises "Unlimited scoring potential.")

BUG: John simply branched around the code for the Asteroids version of the game; the code is still in the cartidge. Verrrry rarely, when there's a glitch hitting RESET, the Asteroids version will show up on screen. (This would be a dandy Easter egg if it were intentional or reliably repeatable, but it's neither.)

PLAYING TIPS: From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 1, Fall 1981:

Here is some extra ammunition from John P. Sohl, creator of Astrosmash. [Note: this issue was the only time that Intellivision programmers were publicly referred to by name until the inclusioin of credits on cartridges late in 1983. The same issue mentions Mike Minkoff as the creator of Bowling.] Sohl says you'll be unbeatable if you follow three basic rules: don't get hit, shoot anything that moves and never take risks unless you have to.

Sound easy? It is if you practice Sohl's special tecniques for hitting your targets.

• To hit rocks, fire two shots rapidly. The first will split the rock, the second will explode both smaller fragments. If you are threatened by a rock and a spinner, go for the spinner.
• Shoot the fastest falling spinners first. Aim carefully; the extra moment you take aiming usually pays off with a hit on the first shot. Go for spinners at any cost -- if one reaches the ground, you've lost.
• Guided missiles are easy to shoot, hard to evade, so shoot them high on the screen before they give you trouble. If you miss, they'll follow you around. The only way to get rid of them is to lure them off the edge of the screen and use the hyperspace to get away.
• The UFO will appear when the score is over 20,000. It shoots torpedoes at your laser base wherever the base is when the shot is fired. So keep moving and you will avoid 90% of all UFO torpedos.

Precision aiming is important. To get the highest scores, Sohl says to leave the anti-fire on and steer with the directional wheel using the firing button to get off extra shots as you need them. Keep on shooting!

FUN FACT: The unused Asteroids-version code was recycled in the game Space Hawk.

FUN FACT: Late in 1981, Mattel held a series of local "Intellivison Video Challenge Tournaments" in Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, benefitting Variety Clubs International. Contestants competed for prizes (Grand Prize: an RCA projection TV) playing Major League Baseball, Auto Racing, and U.S. Ski Team Skiing. The publicity was so good, that Marketing took the idea national in 1982 with the "$100,000 Astrosmash Shootoff."

From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.

Over 13,000 people entered, and quickly it became obvious ther was a problem. First, because of the scoring bug, many of the pictures showed scores made up of seemingly random ASCII characters. John Sohl had to review the photos and, with an ASCII table, decipher the actual scores. Second, it turned out that no one in Marketing realized that Astrosmash, like many Intellivision games, can be played at slower speeds simply by starting the game by pressing 1, 2 or 3 intsead of the disc. (This is a feature programmed into the EXEC.) There was no way of telling who had legitimately obtained a high score and who had played at the easiest speed. There were reports of competitors who literally played for days at the slowest speed, pausing the game (pressing 1 and 9 simultaneously, also programmed into the EXEC) to sleep or go to school.

Unable to decide who was legit and who wasn't, instead of the announced 16, Mattel Electronics ended up flying 73 entrants to Houston for an all-expense paid weekend, September 11 & 12, 1982. There, the entrants competed in 1 hour of timed play. 18-year-old Manual Rodriguez of Stockton, California won the $25,000 top prize with a score of 935,180.