Ludography
83/100
Players7 ratings
Planetfall cover

1983 · Infocom · Adventure · Science

Planetfall

Planetfall is a science fiction interactive fiction computer game written by Steve Meretzky, and the eighth title published by Infocom in 1983. Like most Infocom games, thanks to the portable Z-machine, it was released for several platforms simultaneously. The original release included versions for the PC (both as a booter and for DOS) and Apple II. The Atari ST and Commodore 64 versions were released in 1985.

Released
8 July 1983
Platforms
AmigaAmstrad CPCAmstrad PCWApple IIAtari 8-bitAtari STAtari ST/STECP/MCommodore 16Commodore 64Commodore C64/128/MAXCommodore Plus/4MS-DOSPC-9800 SeriesTRS-80TRS-80 Color ComputerTRS-80 Model ITatung EinsteinTexas Instruments TI-99/4AWindowsmacOS
Genres
AdventureScienceText adventure
Developers
Infocom
Publishers
Infocom
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Text
Themes
Science fictionComedy
Engine
Z-machine
Country
United States
Languages
English
Time to beat
12hwith extras

About

Planetfall is a science fiction-themed interactive fiction video game written by American videogame developer Steve Meretzky, and published in 1983 as the eighth game from Infocom. The original release was for Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, TRS-80, and IBM PC compatibles (both as a self-booting disk and for MS-DOS). Atari ST and Commodore 64 versions were released in 1985. A version for CP/M was also released.

Planetfall was Meretzky's first published game, and it proved one of his most popular works and a best-seller for Infocom. It was one of five top-selling games to be re-released in Solid Gold versions with in-game hints. Planetfall uses the Z-machine originally developed for Zork and was added as a bonus to the Zork Anthology.

›Story

After the fall of the Second Galactic Union in 1716 GY, a ten-thousand-year dark age settled upon the galaxy. nterstellar travel was non-existent, and many star systems descended into a near-barbaric state, burning coal and as for energy, and growing food directly from the exposed topsoil.

In 11,203 GY, a treaty between the Empires of Tremain and Gallium formed the Third Galactic Union. Ships of the tellar Patrol (a pseudo-military wing of the Union government on Tremain) began exploring the galaxy, searching for he human civilizations that are the remnants of the Second Union.

You are a native of the planet Gallium. Although it is one of the most politically powerful worlds in the Union, Gallium is no garden spot. In fact, the Gallium Chamber of Commerce brochure entitled "Ten Great Reasons to Visit Gallium" ends on page 3. The author ran out of reasons after listing just two.

For five generations, your family has served in he Stellar Patrol. Your great-great-grandfather was a High Admiral and one of the founding officers of the Patrol. It as taken for granted that when you came of age you would join up.

Now, more than a year after signing up, and two months after being transferred to the S.P.S. Feinstein, you are still only ranked Ensign Seventh Class. Your superior officer, Ensign First Class Blather, has been making your life iserable. You're beginning to wonder if you.re really cut out for the Stellar Patrol. But then the unthinkable happens...

Keywords

  • interactive fiction
  • text adventure
  • second person perspective
  • scummvm compatible

Media

Planetfall screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

S. Feinstein, a starship of the Stellar Patrol. Overbearing superior Ensign First Class Blather assigns the player to mop decks, not exactly the glorious adventures promised by the recruiters on Gallium. In the diary provided in the "feelies", the player is on the verge of deserting ship.

But a sudden series of explosions aboard the ship sends the player scrambling for an escape pod, which eventually crash-lands on a nearby planet. There are signs of civilization, but curiously no traces of the beings that once lived there. Eventually encountering a helpful but childlike robot named Floyd, the player must unravel the mysteries of the single deserted structure on the planet, Resida, and find a way to get back home. As the fate of the planet's former inhabitants becomes clearer, a time limit also imposes itself.

Reception

Softline stated that "the puzzles are good; the character of Floyd is great". The magazine stated that the "game is excellent", but criticized the ending as "unabashed adolescent wish fulfillment ... more like a fairy tale". In 1984 the magazine's readers named the game the tenth most-popular Apple program of 1983.

Computer Gaming World called Floyd's role as sidekick "unique" and hoped that future games would add such innovations. It stated that Planetfall was "another excellent adventure" for text-adventure fans, and a good place to start for those new to interactive fiction. Creative Computing wrote that Planetfall "is as remarkable, funny, perplexing, and entertaining a game as you are likely to find anywhere." It praised Floyd as "the most imaginative and cleverly written part of the entire game, Floyd, besides being hysterically funny through most of the adventure, evokes in the player of Planetfall authentic feelings of affection and attachment".

Legacy

In February 1992, a remake of Planetfall (プラネットフォール, Puranettofōru) was developed and published by Japanese software development company SystemSoft for the NEC PC-9801, over eight-and-a-half years after the original Planetfall. There are differences in this enhanced remake: the game recognizes verb commands typed in kana (Japanese syllable system) or Latin alphabet. For convenience, some of the most common verb commands (Look, Take, etc.) can be accessed by pressing a corresponding button, but the player still has to type the name of an object.

This remake also helps the player to interact with the environment by displaying a list of objects after the player has typed a command. Also, unlike the original, the remake contains enhanced graphics; every location has a unique background picture, on which the text is super-imposed, like in the PC-9801 version of Zork I and Enchanter.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Apple II8 July 1983North America
MS-DOS31 December 1983North America
TRS-8031 December 1983North America
Atari 8-bit31 December 1983North America
TRS-80 Color Computer31 December 1984North America
Commodore 1631 December 1984North America
Commodore Plus/431 December 1984North America
macOS31 December 1984North America
Amiga31 December 1985North America
Atari ST/STE31 December 1985North America
Tatung Einstein31 December 1985Europe
Commodore C64/128/MAX31 December 1985North America
Amstrad CPC31 December 1986Europe
Amstrad PCW31 December 1986Europe
PC-9800 Series28 February 1992Japan

Editions and related releases

Included in
The Lost Treasures of InfocomThe Zork Anthology
Followed by
Stationfall

Games like this

Collections6 collections

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