Robot Tank

The player remotely controls a robot tank in 2019, using radar to find and destroy enemy robot tanks intent on reaching downtown Santa Clara, California, United States. The enemy is organized into squadrons of 12 tanks each. Defeating an enemy squadron adds a reserve tank to the initial three, to a maximum of 12. The game ends when all of the player's tanks are destroyed.

As the player's tank is damaged, firepower and/or visual display capabilities are irreparably worsened. Enough damage eventually destroys a tank. Combat can take place at any time of day or night (displayed on-screen), which adds challenge in tracking enemy combatants by radar alone. Weather conditions, announced at the start of each level, can be clear, rain, snow, or fog. Rain slows the tank's movements, snow causes the tank to lose traction and fog impairs the tank's vision.

Robot Tank was designed by Alan Miller for Activision. Miller had previously developed games at Atari, Inc. such as Surround (1977), Hangman (1978) and Basketball (1978). After leaving Atari, Inc.

to form Activision with David Crane, Miller made the games Checkers (1980), Tennis (1981) and Ice Hockey (1981), and his most financially successful game, Starmaster (1982). Prior to developing Robot Tank, Miller began developing a racing game which he halted as he described it as "unworkable".

From contemporary reviews, critics such as Bill Kunkel, juvenile journalist Rawson Stovall and publication Computer Entertainer all praised the game for its visuals. Kunkel said the game's graphics was "non-parallel in the 2600 universe" noting the visual depth. Stovall praised small touches to the graphics, such as the visuals becoming screen static when the player's tank is destroyed. The Computer Entertainer review specifically praised its unique first-person point of view in its gameplay.

Critics also complimented the gameplay, Kunkel and Robert J. Sodaro of Videogaming & Computergaming Illustrated specifically noting how the weather effected the gameplay. Michael Blanchet of Electronic Fun with Computers & Games stated "for every obvious strategy there is another subtle, almost hidden one that must be discovered and implemented. This is a good solid challenge for anyone looking for a different breed of shoot-em-up."