Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber

Time after time in gaming, we’ve seen that the simplest concepts can be some of the most effective and addictive.

Atari’s Canyon Bomber, originally released to arcades in 1977, is a prime example of this. You only need one button to play, and that button drops bombs. The concept is so simple anyone — even someone not at all familiar with video games — can understand and enjoy it. Drop bombs, hit things, score points. Whoever scores most points, wins.

And one of the best things about this game when compared to some of its contemporaries is that the simplistic concept means that it was very straightforward to implement a “computer-controlled” opponent to compete against if you didn’t happen to have a friend handy. So even those of us with no friends can still enjoy this game… and end up playing it a lot longer than you might expect!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

4 thoughts on “Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber”

  1. You gotta love the straightforward titles games had back then. Canyon Bomber itself looks like a great example of innovating with the strict limitations developers had at the time.

  2. Nothing better than simple mechanics to develop an addictive experience. look in the more modern times like what the wii did with wii sports. Thanks, enjoyed the video.

    1. Thanks for watching! Yep, sometimes simplicity and elegance is all you need. And the Wii comparison is very apt; people saw the family friendly angle as new and exciting but it’s actually how the original Atari machines were marketed!

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