Video games - Choplifter

Home > Listing Index > Video games > Choplifter

	Video games - Choplifter

Choplifter is a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Brøderbund. It was ported to other home computers, and in 1985, Sega released a coin-operated arcade game version. While many arcade games have been ported to home computers and consumer consoles, Choplifter was one of the few games (Lode Runner
is another) to take the reverse route: first appearing on a home system and being ported to the arcade.

This game was fairly successful and popular, spawning two sequels: Choplifter II for the Nintendo Game Boy and Choplifter III for the Super Nintendo. On the Commodore 64, Choplifter's sequels were Lode Runner
and Raid on Bungeling Bay
, all three games featuring the fictional Bungeling Empire.

Overview

In Choplifter, the player assumes the role of a combat helicopter pilot. The player attempts to save hostages being held in prisoner of war camps in an unnamed enemy country, ruled by the evil Bungeling Empire. The player must collect the hostages and transport them safely to the nearby friendly base, all the while fighting off hostile tanks and other enemy combatants.

According to the backstory, the helicopter parts were smuggled into the country described as "mail sorting equipment."

The scenario is presumably loosely based upon the American attempt at a helicopter rescue during the Iran hostage crisis, which ended the year before the game was released.

Description

The player rescues the prisoners by first shooting their hostage shacks to release them and then landing to allow the prisoners to board the sortie. A maximum of eight passengers can be carried in one trip. Since the object of each level is to rescue at least 20 hostages (40 in the Sega Master System version), the helicopter must make several trips. Usually, each trip back is more risky than the previous one since the enemy is alerted and has deployed a counter-attack.

The helicopter can be turned left, right, or forward, facing the player. The player may shoot in any of these directions and the forward-facing mode is required to shoot some enemies, such as tanks.

The player lands to pick up hostages. When the sortie is full, no more hostages will attempt to board; they will wave the helicopter off and wait (hopefully) for its return. In the Apple II version, if the vehicle is not landed correctly (it is slightly tilted), hostages will die, being crushed as they attempt to board the chopper.

While grounded, the helicopter may be attacked by enemy tanks, which it can shoot at only by returning to the air. As the levels progress, the enemies get harder and harder. Eventually jets and anti-aircraft fire join the fray in an attempt to defeat the rescuing 'copter.

The arcade version is listed in the Killer List of Videogames Top 100 and one of the four best games in 1985.

Platforms

Choplifter was ported to many other home systems of the era. These versions were ports of the original Apple II game, not the much later arcade version. These systems include the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64 and Texas Instruments TI-99/4A.

Beginning in 1986, ports of the arcade version back to home versions were developed for the Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System.

Not surprisingly, the arcade version is much more colorful and engaging than the Apple II version. It boasts more environments (desert, sea, caves and city) as opposed to the Apple's single desert environment.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Choplifter ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Choplifter; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay