Communist Mutants from Space

Communist Mutantsfrom Space
Developer	Arcadia (Starpath)
Publisher	Arcadia (Starpath)
Release date	1982
Platforms	Atari 2600

First Release: 1982, Atari 2600

Story

Enemies start off in a formation over players anti-mutant cannon as eggs. However, it does not take long before the eggs hatch into full-sized Mutants and fly towards players cannon, dropping bombs all the while (along with some eggs never hatching, but charge towards the bottom of the screen as Mutant Bombs). There is Mother Creature at the top of the screen that will lay more eggs if not destroyed quickly enough. a

Gameplay

Each new game starts with several mutant eggs appearing over a players anti-mutant cannon, with the Mother Creature hovering over the formation of eggs. Eggs will turn into Mutants, which will charge towards the bottom of the screen while shooting at the player’s cannon. The Mother Creature will continually lay eggs until it is destroyed.

As more and more waves of Mutants are cleared out, they will move faster, shoot more often, and the Mutant Bombs will drop faster as well. Whenever a player’s cannon is hit by a Mutant, Mutant Bomb, or a shot fired from a Mutant, they will lose a cannon and the game will end when there are no more cannons in reserve. Players earn an extra cannon with every other screen, along with a bonus for every wave cleared.

Player

Anti-Mutant Cannon
	FEATURES: - attack: single fire: straight, guided or penetrable bullets; (see game modes) - defense: default none; optional shield (see: game modes)

Moves

Basic Moves

Special Moves

move	image	description	how to perform

Forbidden Moves

Weapons

name	image	damage	price []	description

Game Environment

Levels

map	name	features

Items

name	icon	type	characteristics

Interactable Objects

name	icon	type	characteristics

Enemies

All enemies are encountered at all attack waves (levels).

name	image		attack	durability	loot/score
Mother Creature
Eggs
Diving Mutant Attacker

Bosses

None.

Dangers

No obstacles.

Characters

None.

UI

Menu

main menu		submenu
image	options

Game modes

There are several playing options from an onscreen menu to choose from, plus up to four players can play as well. Both options which are fairly rare for an Atari 2600 game:

• Number of players: one to four, alternating turns
• Difficulty level: from 1 to 9 (9 being the hardest level)
• Shields: protects players from Mutants and their fire, but can be used only once per wave per ship (i. e. if a cannon is destroyed during a wave, the player can use the shield again during that wave with the replacement cannon)
• Time Warp: slows down everything onscreen for several seconds; can only be used once per wave per ship (like shield usage)
• Penetrating Fire: every shot a player fires will penetrate all rows of eggs up to the Mother Creature
• Guided Fire: players can control their shots after they are fired (shoot moves where ship goes)
• Difficulty Switch (A position): slows anti-mutant cannon speed down

Save Options

None.

HUD

name	image	description

Controls

peripheral	button/key	action

Scoring

score	action

Releases & Credits

platform	first release
	box cover		date	developer	publisher	authors

OTHER RELEASES:

platorm	box cover		date	publisher	country

Manual

language	file
English [EN]

Additional Info

• Arcadia had to change their name to Starpath for legal reasons. The title screen and cover still reads Arcadia as to being the company name though.
• Communist Mutants needed the Starpath Supercharger add-on in order to be able to run, as the game came on cassette. The Supercharger was like an overgrown cartridge that plugged into the Atari 2600, with a wire that could plug into a tape player. The game was then loaded from the tape. Most games had previews of other Starpath games that could be viewed after the main game was loaded. Communist Mutants had previews of Fireball and Suicide Mission.
• Game is a bit similar to Galaxian, but has differences mainly in enemies and game options.

Gallery

tape box cover