Choplifter

Choplifter is military themed scrolling shooter where you play as a pilot. Take off from your home base and fly across a horizontally-scrolling playfield of rugged terrain to reach the enemy Bungelings' barracks. There, you must land and rescue a group of helpless hostages and return then to your base. To hinder your mission, the enemy will attack with an array of armaments including tanks, jets, and dangerous air mines. To complete a perfect game, you must rescue all of the 64 hostages.

Released: 1 May 1982
Platforms: Apple II Atari 5200 Atari 7800 Atari XEGS ColecoVision Commodore 64 Commodore VIC-20 FM-7 MSX Master System NES SG-1000 Sharp X1 VIC-20
Genres: Action Arcade Shooter
Developers: Dan Gorlin
Publishers: Broderbund
Series: Choplifter
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action
Country: United States
Languages: English
Entry: #1 in Choplifter

About

Choplifter (stylized as Choplifter!) is a 1982 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Broderbund for the Apple II. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers the same year, and later to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers. In 1985, Sega released a remake for arcades, with subsequent ports published for the Master System and Famicom in 1986. Graphically enhanced versions for the Atari 8-bit computers and the Atari 7800 were also released in 1988 by Atari Corporation.

›Story

Assume the role of a combat helicopter pilot and attempt to save hostages being held in barracks in territory ruled by the evil Bungeling Empire.

Keywords

modern warfare
helicopter
shoot 'em up
side-scrolling
hostages
modern military
launch titles
fuel management

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player assumes the role of a combat helicopter pilot who must rescue hostages held in barracks within the territory controlled by the evil Bungeling Empire. The player must collect the hostages (described in the backstory as "delegates to the United Nations Conference on Peace and Child Rearing") and safely transport them to the nearby U.S. Postal Service building, all while fending off hostile tanks and other enemy combatants. According to the backstory, the helicopter's parts were smuggled into the country, disguised as a "mail-sorting machine".

The helicopter can face three directions: left, right, or forward (facing the player). It can shoot at enemies in any of these directions and need not fly in the same direction it is facing. The forward-facing mode is primarily used to shoot at tanks. The player must be cautious to protect the hostages from enemy fire and avoid hitting them with friendly fire.

Development

Coming off a stint working for the Rand Corporation, Dan Gorlin initially developed Choplifter using an Apple II loaned to him by his grandfather. Initially, Gorlin envisioned Choplifter as a 3D game, but he switched to a traditional 2D game environment due to technical limitations.

The game was developed in six months. After Gorlin began experimenting with animating a helicopter on the Apple II, he added scenery, tanks, and planes, with the hostages being added last. He noted that, as a story developed, the film camera techniques seemed appropriate, including the final message "The End" instead of "Game Over". Gorlin's first demonstration to Broderbund was "too realistic" for a helicopter simulation, and the company helped him make it easier to fly.

Reception

Debuting in May 1982, the game sold 9,000 copies by June, appearing on Computer Gaming World's list of top sellers. II Computing listed Choplifter seventh on the magazine's list of top Apple II games as of late 1985, based on sales and market share data.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Sega's arcade version of Choplifter as the most successful table arcade unit of October 1985. After being dethroned by Taito's The Legend of Kage on November 15, Choplifter returned to the top of the chart on December 1.

Legacy

Choplifter II, subtitled "Rescue Survive", was released for the Game Boy in 1991, then remade for both the Game Boy and Game Gear as Choplifter III in 1994. An unrelated Choplifter III was released for Super NES.

1994 Amiga game Apocalypse was seen as significantly inspired by Choplifter.