Barnstorming (video game)

Barnstorming is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1982.[1] It was the first game designed by Cartwright. The idea for Barnstorming came to him as he watched a biplane one day while driving home from work.[3]

Barnstorming
Developer(s)Activision
Publisher(s)Activision
Designer(s)Steve Cartwright[1]
Platform(s)Atari 2600
Release
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The player must pilot a biplane through a series of barns in the shortest time possible while dodging windmills, weather vanes, and geese. Bumping into anything slows down the plane for a couple of seconds, increasing the overall time.

There are four levels of play determined by the game select switch. Game 1 is Hedge Hopper (10 barns), game 2 is Crop Duster (15 barns), game 3 is Stunt Pilot (15 barns), and game 4 is Flying Ace (25 barns). In the first three games, the course layout of barns, windmills, and even geese do not change, making it easy to memorize the layout. Game 4 is the only game with a random course.

Originally, a player with a time or better of 33.3 seconds on game 1, 51.0 seconds on game 2, or 54.0 seconds on game 3 could send Activision a picture of their screen and receive membership in the Activision Flying Aces and receive a Flying Aces patch.

Reception

Richard A. Edwards reviewed Barnstorming in The Space Gamer No. 54.[4] Edwards commented that "This is a game no Atari VCS owner should be without. Buy it."[4]

References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. GameFAQs Barnstorming release information at GameFAQs
  3. Classic Gaming Archived October 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at GameSpy
  4. Edwards, Richard A. (August 1982). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games (54): 28.


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