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Rubik's Cube [Model CX2698]

Atari 2600 cart. published 40 years ago by Atari, Inc.

Listed in MAME

Rubik's Cube [Model CX2698] screenshot

Rubik's Cube © 1984 Atari, Incorporated.

Marvin's home is a six-sided, multi-colored cube. Each side has nine smaller faces, colored red, blue, green, white, purple, or orange. When you start a game, the colors are scrambled. Your task is to arrange the colors so that each side becomes one solid color.

Play RUBIK’S CUBE by moving Marvin around the cube and having him pick up and drop colors. Each time Marvin picks up a color, he trades his color for the one he has picked up. You can then make Marvin run to another face to trade for a different color. Solve the puzzle in the least amount of moves or time. Or, you can watch Marvin race the clock to solve the cube. You might even get some cube-solving tips!

You can only see one side of the cube at a time, except when turning the cube to another side. To turn the cube, move Marvin to the edge of any side. The cube will rotate, and Marvin will enter the next side. The cube and rotate up, down, and sideways.

RUBIK'S CUBE includes 18 game variations:
Games 1-10 play at normal speed, and Games 11-18 play at a faster speed.
In Games 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 17, and 18, the cube is blacked out unless rotating to a different side.
Games 5-8, and Games 15-18 are slef playing, in which Marvin shows you how to solve the cube in the least amount of moves or time. In these variations, all you need to do is press the GAME RESET switch. The computer will take control and start the game.
In Games 9 and 10, Marvin's movements are restricted and he can only move in two directions: up, or to the right.
Odd-numbered games (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17) are scored by the number of moves and the number of colors that are swapped. Even-numbered games (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) are scored by the time it takes to solve the cube.

TRIVIA

Rubik's Cube was nothing more than a re-release of an earlier Atari title "Atari Video Cube [Model CX2670]". For some reason Atari felt the need to rename it in an attempt to cash in on the popular craze that was sweeping the nation.

SCORING
The object of the RUBIK'S CUBE game is to get the lowest score possible. If you are playing an odd-numbered game, your score is displayed as a single number on the bottom of the screen. Each time Marvin crosses a new square, picks up a color, or attempts to cross a square of his own color, you score one point. Your score is displayed on the lower center portion of the screen, beneath the cube.
TIPS AND TRICKS

* Use the center square's color in selecting the color of a side.

* Try not to backtrack. If you can pick up and deposit colors on three or more sides without turning back, you will save valuable moves and time.

* Watch the computer solve the cube a few times. Then try using some of the same strategies that Marvin uses to complete the cube.

* There is one extra square of color per game (for instance, one extra square of blue). This will be the _last_ square Marvin picks up to win the game.

SOURCES

Game's ROM.