It is constantly surprising how some excellent games
for the Atari seem to lie dormant for many years and then suddenly
appear in public view. This is a supreme example of a Defender type game
that was written so long ago that it requires a translator on the XL/XE!
Despite being an early game, Eggnapper is an excellent arcade game that
could not be bettered by today's high programming standards. The rather
complex plot has a series of mind control devices planted in eight
underground caves in Iowa whose object is to spawn thousands of 'Deeley-bugs'
that can be distributed across the Western world to cause total havoc.
The government has located the caves and built a base in the first
equipped with three fighter planes with which you must destroy the
myriad creatures being created by the master-hopper and finally the
master itself. If you succeed, then funds can be allocated to building
the next base and, with luck - a great deal of luck - you will clear all
eight caves. You will find all sorts of nasty things in the caves:
Landers, which descend to the ground, munch away and then throw certain
unmentionable stuff at you to bring you down; Bees which are launched
slowly towards you and Sons of Bees which will come at you apace. On the
roof and floor of the caves you will find adult and larval males and
females that have their own nasty ways and eggs which will drift slowly
to the floor where they will hatch, possibly into mutant bugs that will
bomb your base. You objective is to destroy everything that looks nasty
before it can attack your base, and of course destroy the masterhopper
itself. All of the action takes place in Defender style with a radar at
the top of the screen and smooth scrolling along the cave. Graphics and
sound are excellent and Eggnapper is a great new discovery for the
public domain which every arcade game lover should enjoy. Full
instructions for play are included on the disk.
Boot with Basic.
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