Notable for its not-quite-linear progression, complexity and extreme difficulty - to the point where its own creators couldn't beat it without cheating
note - Gravitar was received relatively poorly with only about 5,700 machines produced, several of which were converted to Black Widow machines.
The game was first ported to the Atari 2600 with features to lower the game's difficulty, but has since been included in many of Atari's Compilation Re-Releases.
Gravitar contains examples of:
- Alternate Universe: Whenever you're finished with all the planets in one universe, you're sent to a new one with all the same planets but with key differences. Per universe,
- Gravity on planets is reversed.
- The planet surface is invisible.
- The planet surface is invisible while gravity is reversed.
- Collision Damage: Colliding with any enemy crafts will destroy your ship. Flying into a turret on the ground will destroy your ship as well.
- Conveniently Close Planet: Solar systems are very small; you can get from one planet to another in seconds.
- Deadly Walls: Touching a planet's surface will instantly destroy your ship.
- Deflector Shields: Your ship comes equipped with one alongside a tractor beam, which can be used to pass through enemy bullets. However, using it rapidly consumes fuel.
- Endless Game: Clearing the fourth universe will just repeat it, allowing the player to continue indefinitely.
- Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: Your weapon can only fire in the direction your ship is currently pointing, which can get pretty tricky when you're trying to keep flying in the right directions while shooting.
- Gravity Screw: Gravity regularly changes; while in space you're constantly being pulled toward the sun, whereas on planets you'll either be pulled towards the center of the screen or downwards.
- The second and fourth universe have gravity on planets reversed.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Just about everybody; your ship, enemy turrets and enemy craft can all be downed in a single shot.
- Non-Standard Game Over: Running out of fuel will immediately end your game, no matter how many lives you amassed.
- No Plot? No Problem!: No proper explanation of why the player is flying about blowing up planets exists - it all just is.
- Remixed Level: Levels in universes past the first are repeats of previous ones, but with slightly altered conditions.
- Timed Mission: You've only got so long to complete those Red Planets once you enter them, and you get even less time for every set of planets you clear.
- Tractor Beam: Your ship is equipped with one that also activates the shields. Using it allows you to beam up fuel from the surfaces of planets. Using it rapidly consumes fuel.
- Video-Game Lives: You're given five ships to start with and are granted a new one every 10,000 points. Losing all of your fuel ends your game immediately regardless of how many ships you have in stock.
- Updated Re Release: A few over the years. Some notable ones include...
- The Atari 2600 port, which introduced difficulty settings and a slightly different set of planets.
- The version included in the Nintendo DS game Retro Atari, giving the game a completely new graffiti aesthetic but otherwise keeping it mostly the same.
