Avalanche © 1978 Atari.
Avalanche is a 2-D game of skill. You control a multi-storied platform with a spinner-knob. Your goal is to prevent the falling rocks from ever reaching the ground. There are six rows of rocks to deal with. You start with a 6-storied platform and you lose one platform per row of rocks cleared. You score points for those rocks you prevent from reaching the ground. Of course, the farther the row of rocks, the smaller and faster they become. Your ultimate goal is to get enough points so that you can continue your game should you lose your first one. Get your hard hat out and prepare to catch some rogue rocks.
Cabinet dimensions : 66'' (168cm) high x 26'' (66cm) wide x 27'' (68cm) deep. Monitor : 23'' B/W.
Game ID : 030574
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 756 Khz)
Sound Chips : Discrete circuitry.
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 256 x 240 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette Colors : 2
Players: 2 (Alternatively)
Control: Rotating knob (LEFT and RIGHT)
Buttons: 1 (SERVE)
Avalanche shipped in a cool looking black and white cabinet. It has three-color painted sideart which shows a group of falling boulders. This title does not have a marquee, instead the monitor bezel extends all the way to the top of the cabinet (this game was seldom converted because of that). The monitor bezel is decorated with a brownish scene of dirt and rocks, and has a clear semi-circular are that shows the black and white monitor within. The game uses a set of color overlays to simulate color on the otherwise monochrome screen. The control panel is decorated with a brown overlay showing large cracks in the earth, and it has a single optical spinner mounted in the center, with buttons far off to each side.
Released in April 1978, selling at an MSRP of $1195.
1978 proved to be a pivotal year in the arcade industry. Atari was still the big name in arcade games, but that title would soon be threatened. A relatively unknown company out of Japan called Taito partnered up with the well known company Midway in the United States. The game that took the world by storm was called Space Invaders. It proved to be such a huge success, quarter shortages were reported due to all the gameplay. This also meant that other arcades that came out during 1978 received significantly less patronage. Therefore, Avalanche didn't do very well at the arcades. Many of Atari's games from this period were based more on the skill of the player then anything else. Although Atari released many memorable arcade games after this period, times would never be the same. With the big videogame collapse during the early 80's coupled with poor management, Atari started a downward spiral it would never recover from.
This game was released in Italy by Sidam as Cascade.
David Nelson of holds the official record for this game with 2,453 points on March 21, 2004.
| The score for each rock corresponds to its row number. Rows are numbered 1-6 starting from the lowest row and moving up. Therefore, the rocks values are | |
| Row 1 | 1 point |
| Row 2 | 2 points |
| Row 3 | 3 points |
| Row 4 | 4 points |
| Row 5 | 5 points |
| Row 6 | 6 points |
