How to play Vault Assault online
- Aim at an attacker: arrow keys (up, down, left or right)
- Fire: 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
Enemies appear at the top, bottom, left and right edges of the screen and fire at your vault. You turn your guns towards each threat and shoot it down before its shot reaches you. If you are hit, you lose a life, and when the last one is gone the game is over. There is only one game mode and no break between waves: the attacks keep coming, faster and faster.
Vault Assault adds one idea that the arcade game did not have. Now and then a small mini-base appears instead of an enemy. If you hold your fire and let it be, you get an extra life. In the middle of a frantic fight, that is harder than it sounds. On the other hand, it leaves out the arcade game’s attack satellite, which circled the base and broke the action into rounds.
Tips
- Look before you shoot. The free life only comes if you spot the mini-base and leave it alone.
- Use the slow start to practise switching direction quickly. Later you will not have time to think.
History
Prescott released the 4 KB cartridge at the 2001 Classic Gaming Expo and sold every copy he brought, and he made the source code public. A separate edition followed for the Philly Classic 3 show in 2002, and the game has also been sold through the AtariAge store.
It was later included, with several other homebrew games, in the Activision Anthology collection. Players praise its speed and pick-up-and-play feel; the usual complaint is the lack of variety, with the same four enemies over and over.
