How to play The Entity online
- Move the walls: left and right arrow keys
- Spray liquid helium to slow the Entity: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
Your goal is to drive the Entity to the highest plane of existence before your energy runs out. The planes are stacked rows, a layout similar to Taz, but only three of them fit on the screen at once. Each row has a portal leading to the next one up. You slide the walls left and right, and when a wall lines up with a portal it locks in place. With nowhere else to go, the bouncing Entity is pushed up through the gap.
The Entity does not like being pushed around. Each time you force it through a portal it bounces faster and pushes back harder against the walls. A tap of the fire button sprays it with liquid helium and slows it down for a while. The helium is also the danger: it is stored in a tank at the bottom of the screen, and if you fail to keep the Entity moving upward, it drops into the tank and you lose 25% of your energy. When your energy is gone, the game ends.
Tips
- Spray before you push. Slowing the Entity down first gives you more time to line a wall up with the portal.
- Work fast early on. The Entity gets quicker and stronger with every plane, so the first portals are the easiest ones.
- Keep the Entity rising. Each drop into the helium tank costs a quarter of your energy, so a stalled Entity is your biggest threat.
Why The Entity was never released
The prototype is labelled “Entity 9/27/82 Rev.1”. Fox never published the game, and no official reason is known. AtariProtos points out that the film’s subject matter was rather adult, and that the movie was not a box office hit like Porky’s or Fantastic Voyage, which Fox also turned into 2600 games. The site also notes that the gameplay, while fun, grows repetitive quickly. Mark Klein also programmed two other unreleased Fox games, Pick Up and Look Ahead.
