Demon Attack is an Atari 2600 video game released in 1982 by Imagic, which was then ported to the Intellivision, Odyssey², Atari 8-bit computer family, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, PC, TRS-80, and TRS-80 Color Computer. In the game, you control a laser cannon that must destroy a legion of flying demons dropping bombs on you. In the Intellivision version, you fight off three waves of attackers on the moon's surface and then fly into outer space to destroy the demons' mother ship.
This game provides examples of
- Asteroids Monster: In later waves, the big demons will split into two smaller demons that will eventually drop down and try to ram you.
- Classical Music: The Intellivision version plays a snippet from "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky before you take on the demons' mother ship, and "Pomp and Circumstance" by Edward Elgar after you blow it away.
- Final Boss: The demons' mother ship in the Intellivision version.
- Game Over: The game ends when you run out of laser cannons or (in the Atari 2600 version) you complete wave 84, at which point the game freezes.
- Mook Chivalry: Only one attacker does ranged attacks, and only one attempts to ram.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: The cover art consists of what's clearly plastic dinosaur figurines with jet model parts glued on and painted silver.
- Scoring Points: For every demon you destroy, and for destroying the demon mothership.
- Shoot 'em Up: Similar to Phoenix (1980). In fact, so similar that Atari had sued Imagic over it.
- Video-Game Lives: Three, with a bonus one awarded by completing a wave without losing a cannon, though no more than six can be held in reserve at a time.
