Space Panic

Space Panic is a 1980 Arcade Game by Universal. It has been called the first Platform Game, which is like calling Space Invaders a prototypical Third-Person Shooter. Despite that the game's action takes place in Side View, in some ways its mechanics, which do not include jumping, are closer to Maze Games, particularly Heiankyo Alien.

The hostile Space Monsters pursue the Spaceman by moving through mazes of platforms and ladders. The Spaceman can control this threat by digging holes in the girder platforms; when a hole is completed, a Space Monster can fall into them and be trapped. To eliminate a trapped Space Monster, the Spaceman must fill the hole up, causing the Space Monster to fall through. More points are scored the more floors Space Monsters fall through, but a "Boss" will survive a fall of one floor, and a "Don" will survive a fall of up to two floors. If a Space Monster falls on another Space Monster, both are eliminated for extra points.

Though Space Panic was not widely ported, and is quite primitive by modern standards, it was nevertheless popular enough in its time to inspire clones such as Apple Panic, Broderbund Software's first commercially successful computer game.

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Tropes:

• Oxygen Meter: Serves much the same function as a conventional level timer.
• Randomly Generated Levels: The ladders are placed randomly.
• Turns Red: Let a trapped Space Monster break loose, and it will get meaner.