How to play Atlantis II online
The controls are the same as in the original game:
- Fire the centre cannon: Space bar with no arrow key pressed
- Fire the left or right sentry post: hold the left or right arrow key and press Space
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Choose a game variation: F11 (the consoleās Select switch)
How it differs from Atlantis
You still defend the undersea city with three fixed guns while Gorgon ships sweep lower and lower across the sky. The full rules, scoring and variations are explained on the Atlantis page. In Atlantis II the ships move faster, each hit scores less, and the score display looks slightly different. The result is a much tougher game, where high scores take far longer to build.
The story behind Atlantis II
Imagic ran a high-score contest called āDefend Atlantisā. So many players reached huge scores in the original game that the company needed a harder test. Top scorers were sent this special cartridge, and the four best players on Atlantis II were flown to Bermuda for a final shoot-out with a $10,000 prize. Because only contest entrants received it, AtariAge rates the cartridge as āunbelievably rareā.
