About the Game
History
How to Play
Imitations
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Original Release
Arcade

Other Releases
Atari 2600

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Screenshot Galleries
Title
Solar Systems
Saucers
Bunkers
Rammers
Picking Up Fuel
The Alien Reactor

When Gravity Attacks

Not many games require you to think about gravity. Even fewer games classify gravity as a weapon. Gravitar is one such game, but the bad news is, that weapon is being used against you!

Gravitar was conceived by Mike Hally, one of Atari's most prolific game designers. The idea for the game came from a combination of Atari's Lunar Lander, where players must contend with gravity while controlling a ship's descent to the lunar surface, and Asteroids, where players must fly through space while destroying both asteroids and enemy saucers. Originally Gravitar was dubbed Lunar Battle by Atari's engineers, a natural choice given the game's roots. The name wasn't well received, however, and other suggestions were tossed around all through-out the game's development. Eventually Atari's marketing department came up with Gravitar. This new name wasn't any more loved than Lunar Battle had been, but once the marketing department's minds were made up, the new name stuck.

Gravitar proved to be a very hard arcade game, arguably even harder than Defender. Some players enjoyed the challenge, but others were quick to take their attention and quarters elsewhere. Consequently, arcade Gravitar was not a very big hit for Atari. When the time came to consider making the game available for home systems, only one console port was deemed worth the effort, a version for the Atari 2600. Interestingly, 2600 Gravitar was originally only available by mail order, making the home port about as unpopular as the arcade game. Later, after the Atari 2600's reintroduction in the late 1980s, Atari repackaged and rereleased 2600 Gravitar to a wider audience. Of course by then most home players were glued to their Nintendo Entertainment Systems, so Gravitar still didn't get much of an audience.

Despite little financial success at the arcade and little chance to wow players at home, Gravitar has managed to keep an avid following of fans. The fact that the current world record for a Gravitar high score was set in 2006, 24 years after the game's release, proves that a game where even gravity turns against you just might be worth playing.