Up'n Down

This article is about the video game. For the song, see Femme Fatale (Britney Spears album).
Up'n Down

Arcade version screenshot
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s) Sega
Platform(s) Arcade
ports:
Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64
Release date(s) 1983
Genre(s) Racing / Maze
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet Upright
Display Vertical, raster, standard resolution, 19-inch monitor

Up'n Down is a video game developed and published by Sega.[1] It was first released in 1983 as an arcade game, then later ported to the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64 home computers. In Up'n Down the player drives a car forward and backward along a branching, vertically scrolling track, collecting flags and jumping on other cars to destroy them.

Gameplay

Up'n Down is a vertically scrolling game that employs a pseudo-3D perspective.[2] The player controls a purple dune buggy that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle.[3] The buggy moves forward along a single-lane path; pressing up or down on the joystick causes the buggy to speed up or slow down, pressing right or left causes the buggy to switch lanes at an intersection, and pressing the "jump" button causes the buggy to jump in the air. Jumping is required to avoid other cars on the road; the player can either jump all the way over them, or land on them for points.[2]

To complete a round, the player must collect 10 colored flags by running over them with the buggy. If the player passes by a flag without picking it up, it will appear again later in the round. The roads feature inclines and descents that affect the buggy's speed, and bridges that must be jumped. A player loses a turn whenever the buggy either collides with another vehicle without jumping on it, or jumps off the road and into the grass or water.[2]

Atari 2600 port

Screenshot of the Atari 2600 port of Up'n Down

Sega released a port for the Atari 2600 in 1984, noted for its jarring background music.[3] According to Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design by Karen Collins, the arcade version's "bluesy F-sharp minor groove" was transformed by the Atari 2600's sound tunings into "a very unsettling version based in C minor with a flattened melodic sound".[4] The Video Game Critic criticized the 2600 version of Up'n Down for its "annoying" background music and "horrific graphics", but nonetheless awarded the game a B+ rating in part due to its "challenging and undeniably fun" gameplay.[3] The AtariAge rarity guide gives the 2600 version of Up'n Down a rating of "7 - Very Rare", the most rare rating of any game released by Sega for the 2600.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Up'n Down". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 9 Nov 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Up 'N Down (Colecovision)". The Video Game Critic. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Up 'N Down (Atari 2600)". The Video Game Critic. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ Collins, Karen (October 31, 2008). Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design. MIT Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-262-03378-X.
  5. ↑ Yarusso, Al. "Companies - Sega". AtariAge. Retrieved February 12, 2011.

External links

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