| Gremlins | |
|---|---|
 Cover art by Greg Winters[2] | |
| Developer | Atari, Inc. |
| Publishers | Atari, Inc. |
| Designer | Scott Smith[3] |
| Composer | Robert Vieira |
| Series | Gremlins |
| Platform | Atari 2600 |
| Release | July 1984[1] |
| Genre | Action |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Gremlins is a 1984actionvideo game based on thefilm of the same name, developed and published byAtari, Inc. for theAtari 2600.[4][5] Atari released another, substantially different game based on the film for theAtari 5200.[6]
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The 2600 game consists of two playable screens and can be played by one player or two players alternating turns. The first screen is similar to the 1981 gameKaboom!. The player controls protagonist Billy Peltzer, who runs side-to-side across the screen catching falling Mogwai to prevent them from eating hamburgers. In the second screen, similar toSpace Invaders, the player moves Billy back and forth across the screen and shoots waves of descending gremlins.[7]
Gremlins, directed byJoe Dante, was the center of a majormerchandising push in the months surrounding its release. Atari developed video gametie-ins for both of its contemporary consoles, theAtari 2600 and theAtari 5200. The game was also the final game released for the 5200. Atari intended to release both along with the film in 1984, but the company stopped shipment of all its games after its reorganization that year.[8] Atari first previewed the 2600 version of the game at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.[9] It was released in limited numbers later that year, and became moderately rare.[8]
In retrospective reviews, Brett Weiss called it "derivative" and lacking in originality,[7] and humoristSeanbaby criticized the premise of defending hamburgers from gremlins, calling it a "clumsily rearrangedHamburglar game".[10]
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