Cosmic Chasm (set 1)

Arcade Video game published 41 years ago:

Cosmic Chasm (c) 1983 Cinematronics.

Strap on your vector spacesuit, and hop into your vector spaceship. It is a good old ship, and it has seen a lot of action. From navigating the asteroid belt and blasting aliens around the sun, to attacking evil space cannons, your little vector ship has done it all, and this time it has been upgraded with twin blasters. You see the ship in Cosmic Chasm seems to be the same spaceship that is in every vector game. You control it using rotation buttons and a thruster button, with a laser and a shield button thrown in for good measure, just like almost every other vector game around.

Now here is what you have to do. You guide your ship through a space fortress room by room. Each room contains a center section that slowly grows and will eventually trap you if you are not fast enough. You can shoot the center section to slow its growth. Each room also contains several exits. One of the exits will always spew forth a bunch of bad guys, shoot them, then exit to go to a different room. Between rooms you get to see an excellent tunnel animation. The idea is to make your way to the center of the fortress, blast the power core, and then leave. There is a map at the top of the screen to keep you from getting lost. This is a pretty decent game. It has a lot more to offer than the one screen of bad guys that most vector games have.

- TECHNICAL -

Main CPU : Motorola 68000, Zilog Z80
Sound Chips : General Instrument AY8910 (x2), DAC

Screen orientation : Vertical

Players : 2
Controls : dial
Buttons : 3
=> [1] FIRE, [2] THRUST, [3] SHIELD

- TRIVIA -

This title was first available in 1982 on the CGE Vectrex home vector console, licensed by Cinematronics from GCE. It was only available in the arcades later, in February 1983. That is quite a reverse from the norm, usually games hit the arcades a year or two before they make it to the consoles.

It was the last color vector game released by Cinematronics. Approximately 400 units were produced (based on serial numbers). This title used a 68000 processor and a color X-Y monitor, which allowed for some very nice graphical effects that most early 80s hardware was simply not capable of.

People often mistake Cosmic Chasm machines for converted "Dragon's Lair" machines. That is because they shipped in almost the exact same cabinet. They both have the same side panels, overall design, and three-section marquee. But Cosmic Chasm differs in the angle of the control panel, and in the placement of the monitor. The artwork on this machine is mostly purple. The sideart is done with two large stickers, and it shows a huge logo, and a scene of some giant girders out in space.

Dwayne Richard holds the official record for this game with 124,500 points on December 1, 2005.

- STAFF -