How to play Skeet Shoot online
- Aim the gun: arrow keys (the gun points left, right, diagonally or straight ahead)
- Launch a clay pigeon: press Space once
- Shoot: press Space again
- Player 2 (two-player variations): T/F/G/H to aim, A to launch and fire
- Choose a game variation: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Clay pigeon speed: F4 (Player 1) and F9 (Player 2) difficulty switches
Gameplay and variations
Each hit is worth a point. The cartridge has 17 variations for one or two players. They change where the shooter stands (left, centre, right, or chosen by the computer) and which way the clay pigeons fly (from the left, centre or right, or chosen by the computer). Game 2 is the odd one out: one player picks the shooter’s position while the other decides where the targets come from.
The difficulty switch sets the speed of the clay pigeons. Unusually, position A is the easier, slower setting, and B makes them faster. In a two-player game each player can use a different setting as a handicap.
Tips
- Aim before you launch. The same button launches the target and fires, so set your angle first and shoot the moment the pigeon crosses your line.
- Learn on fixed settings. Start with a variation where the shooter and the target direction are fixed, before trying the computer-controlled ones.
The story behind Skeet Shoot
Salvo taught himself to program the 2600 after buying an Atari 800 computer, and wrote Skeet Shoot in about a month, working nights at his home in Iowa. He then answered a job advertisement from Pat Roper, who bought the game for $5,000 and released it in December 1981 as Apollo’s first title. It still had bugs at launch, including one that could flip the picture upside down.
Critics were unkind. Reviewers called it primitive and poorly controlled, and even Apollo’s own publicist admitted it was not a spectacular start. Still, it sold very well. Salvo became Apollo’s director of development and the company released several more games. It then ran into debt and filed for bankruptcy in November 1982.
Similar games to play next
- Shootin’ Gallery – a colourful fairground shooting game from Imagic
- Carnival – shoot rows of targets in a carnival shooting gallery
- Space Cavern – a later and more polished Apollo shooter
- Wabbit – another Apollo cartridge, about protecting your carrots from rabbits