Ludography
Pentapus cover

1983 · Arcade · Shoot 'em up

Pentapus

1983 video game

Released
1983
Platforms
Apple II
Genres
ArcadeShoot 'em upShooter
Developers
—
Publishers
—
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
First personBird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Languages
English

About

Pentapus is a shoot 'em up for the Apple II published by Turning Point Software in 1983. It was developed by Jeremy Sagan, son of astronomer Carl Sagan. The player battles an army of enemies led by the Pentapus.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players move a weapon, a Stargate, which is able to fire projectiles to defeat enemies, but is also vulnerable to bombs and has five lives. The game contains four difficulty levels of play, from K to 1-3, with the K level featuring slower paced gameplay designed for children. In each level, a player must defeat three waves of enemies, and then defeat the Pentapus. The game is compatible with a joystick, features a pause system, and allows high scores to be saved and written to the disk.

Reception

Pentapus received mixed reviews. Positive reviews praised the novelty and challenge of the game. Creative Computing stated Pentapus was an "exciting game" that featured "great sound and graphics" with "interesting twists to the arcade format". Writing for Electronic Games, Rick Teverbaugh praised the game's imagination, stating that although the game "owes its look to Galaxian...there is just enough new strategy (to) keep even the most accomplished Galaxian player befuddled.

Some reviewers were mixed on the strengths and weaknesses of the game. While Jeff Hurlburt for SoftSide Magazine found the game to be "an attractive, slickly presented game", he also stated "experienced arcade players may be disappointed", noting the "implementation of the stargate weapon leaves much to be desired. Movement control is very sluggish. The stargate responds as though attached to the paddle with a set of rubber bands."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Apple II31 December 1983North America

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.