Ballblazer

Ballblazer is a simple one-on-one sports-style game bearing similarities to basketball and soccer. Each side is represented by a craft called a "rotofoil", which can be controlled by either a human player or a computer-controlled "droid" with ten levels of difficulty. The game allows for human vs. human, human vs.

droid, and droid vs. droid matches. The basic objective of the game is to score points by either firing or carrying a floating ball into the opponent's goal. The game takes place on a flat, checkerboard playfield, and each player's half of the screen is presented from a first-person perspective.

Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus! were the first two games developed by the fledgling Lucasfilm Computer Division Games Group. The Games Group had been established in 1982 on a $1 million funding from Atari, Inc. in exchange for the "right of first refusal" for Atari as publisher.

Both games were developed with the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari 5200 console in mind. The games were ready by March 1984 and were first publicly revealed on a Lucasfilm press conference on May 8. Cartridge versions for the Atari computers and the 5200 were planned to be the released first in the third quarter of 1984, with disk versions for the Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Apple IIc and IIe coming under the Atarisoft label in the fourth quarter of that year. Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus! were also scheduled to be released for the then-upcoming Atari 7800 console.

Computer Gaming World stated that the "quick and intense" Ballblazer "squeezes more out of the Atari 400/800 than any game I've ever seen ... spectacular graphics". Info rated Ballblazer four stars out of five, stating that "it is undoubtedly the FASTEST game available for the 64" and recommending it to "gamers with strobe-like reflexes".

Zzap!64 gave an enthusiastic review of the Commodore 64 version of the game, their only criticism being weak sound effects. With an overall rating of 98% the game was described as being "the best sports simulation to hit the 64 yet". Commodore User were less impressed, stating that playing against the computer gave "little satisfaction" although this "improved slightly" when playing with a human opponent. The reviewer felt "inhibited by the constraints of the game". It was rated 3 out of 5 stars for value.

In 1990, LucasArts and Rainbow Arts released a remake and follow-up called Masterblazer for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. In 1997, a remake of the original titled Ballblazer Champions was released for the PlayStation. Latter on was designed to take advantage of the console's graphics hardware as well.