Panther for Atari 8-bit computers | Review

January 14, 2010 • Updated: Mar 11, 2025 - 08:34 PM

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There is no doubt that Panther is one of those games that we said "just one more time" to... and we ended up glued to the joystick for another dozen games. This brilliant shoot'em up is one of the most addictive and challenging titles, not only from Mastertronic (1987) or Atari, but from the 8-bit genre in general.

The game, programmed by Chuck Peavey, transports us to an Earth devastated by an alien invasion, where a few survivors - most of them military - seek protection in underground shelters or in oil bases on the surface of the sea.

Our mission is to steer the last available rescue ship and locate the few unfortunate people left behind on this post-apocalyptic planet. Something that would be simple if it weren't for the continuous waves of enemy UFOs and their anti-aircraft defenses that you will have to face throughout your journey. The goal: to reach the platforms that will take the survivors safely to outer space.

According to some sites on the net, the game has an "isometric perspective, moving diagonally. The rescue part, added to the player's point of view, makes Panther a combination of Choplifter and Zaxxon." There's a reason they say comparisons are odious, I think.

Apart from the action, the strongest point ofPantheris the energetic tunecomposed ofDavid Whittaker; a truesoundtrackwhich was -among other reasons- what led us to rediscover Atari, even if it was through an emulator.

PANTHER

Posted by:Mastertronic, 1987.
Gender:Shoot'em up! isometric perspective.
Extra:1 player, joystick.

GAME SCREEN

TO. Your ship
B. Survivor
C. Enemy ships

1. Score
2. Radar
3. Alert line
4. Number of birds that make up the current enemy fleet
5. Number of lives remaining
6.Total number of survivors rescued

CONTROLS

The ship's controls are simple:stripfrom the lever fortake offor elevate you;push herfordescendor land. If you flyhigher, the greater thespeed; at lower altitude, lower speed as well.

You must be careful during your journey, as it is possible thatcrashesagainst the remains of cities razed by the invaders. Likewise, you can lose one of your five lives by crashing into thewater

To respond to your enemies' attacks, simply press thetrigger button. However, you can only fire one shot until the current one hits an enemy or goes off-screen. Due to the perspective of the game, you will notice that the shots arefasterin the cornertop left

Your enemies will try to align themselves with you.altitudeto shoot you. Some will be difficult to identify as they blend in with thecolorof the terrain. The strategy is to be guided by theshadesboth your own ship and the UFOs and shoot first.

It is possible to shoot even with the ship resting onmainlandHowever, there will be areas where if you land, the shot will not go off.

As we mentioned, your transportation hasFive Phoenix Shields (lives)that allow it to self-repair, but it takes a few seconds to activate. By depositing survivors in space rescue ports, you will earn up totwo additional lives

RESCUE

You will be able to recognize theshelterswith survivors seeing asmall figure, frantically moving thehandto get your attention. You should land as close as possible, so that survivors can approach andget intoquickly to thenave. And while there's no clock to race against, alien fleets will be on your trail as soon as you touch down. Don't worry about leaving a few survivors unrescued...

In total, I have been able to count up to36 survivors, distributed in a shelter on land (6), and on two platforms at sea (17 and 13 each). However, it seems that thefigure variesas you finish with the waves of UFOs.

Once you have crossed the enemy barriers that we detail below, you will find aspecial zonewhere you should land andleaveto the survivors. These are thespaceportssurvival drop) and are represented by atriangle. After unloading your precious cargo, the triangle rises and disappears.

At that time there will be no enemies attacking you. Even if there were any when you entered, aforce fieldwill save you the trouble of destroying them. And best of all, they will give you aPhoenix shieldadditional.

ENEMIES

Typically aline of textnotifies you moments before being attacked by the next oneenemy wave(with thenameof each wave followed by the phrase "wave launched"). Always keep an eye onradarto anticipate the position of approaching enemies.

These waves, in truth, are not such, becauseneveryou will have to facefurtherofthree shipsat the same time. That's right, the numbertotalof ships to be destroyed ranges fromone to 24, in the following order:

Alpha... 1 ship •Beta... 2 ships •Gamma... 3 ships •Delta... 4 ships •Epsilon... 5 ships •Zeta... 6 ships •And so... 7 ships •Theta... 8 ships •Iota... 9 ships •Kappa... 10 ships •Lambda... 11 ships •Mu... 13 ships •Xi... 14 ships •Omicron... 15 ships •Pi... 16 ships •Rho... 18 ships •Sigma... 19 ships •Tau... 19 ships •Upsilon... 20 ships •Phi... 21 ships •Chi... 22 ships •Psi... 23 ships •Omega... 24 ships

ApracticeWhat has worked for me is to fly relatively high, in one of the corners. Then, when the enemies come, I almost land and let them go ahead. When they are in front of the ship, I shoot them, changing altitude from time to time.

It is important to note that if you flytoo low, your shotswill collideagainst other objects (like the ruins of buildings, for example) and you won't hit your enemies.

You can advance by evading flotillas - although alwaysThey will try to bring you downall the way to the end, shooting from behind - look at the radar - and without having to pick up people.

Most of the time, once you aredejected, the enemy wave passes andleaves you alone. This is unless you have more than two enemy ships to shoot down at that time.

OTHER THREATS

Aside from their UFO fleets, the invaders have modified theanti-aircraft defensesearthlings in their eagerness to make your life impossible. When you read the alert "Fly Under Radar"You will know that a volley ofmissileswill come straight to you to sabotage your mission.

To pass this stage, you must go absolutely to theground level, dodging buildings (or what's left of them). I suggest starting at thetop left cornerand try to stay on this side.

If you crash, try not to take off, as they will attack you again with missiles. When you reach the edge of the next lagoon, you must take off, otherwise you will crash.

Additionally, there will be times when the ship will notify you of the "Plasma Attack": enemies attack you from theforeheadand forbehind(sometimes at the same time), flying directly towards the height you are at; apart from that they send youdouble shotsand triples from thesides

The strategy is to fly changing altitude, in the form ofrectanglefrom the right (top) horizontally to the left, and from there descend and move back to the right (or vice versa). And shoot as much as necessary.

SCORE

For eachsurvivorrescued, you will receive500 points. Eachenemy shipknocked down will give you600 points. Finally, the game will reward you with1,500 pointsFor every survivor you leave in thetriangleof space transportation.

TRAINER FILE

This trick is for users of theversion 4.0of theemulator. It is about creating atrainer file(with extension.a8t) so that we haveinfinite livess

First, we load the game. Then, we enter the menuMisc->Cheat Options. Click onMemoand put it in5. The same inSearch, but with the value4. Click onOK

We played untillose a life. Now we return to the menuMisc ->Cheat Options. We press the buttonSearch-to locate thememory address(code) of the life counter. It will show us the value$00A0

We mark the box that appears to the left of that code. The option is activatedLock in. We put it in5. We pressOKAnd, that's it! We already havePantherwith infinite lives.

If we want, we can record it by clicking on the buttonSave

Pd 1.- I suggest you, with all my heart,refrainto use this type of options. Here I leave you a videothat inspired me to play againPantherand I trust he will do the same for you.

Pd 2.- I won't show them theendgameBecause, simply, it has beenimpossiblefinish it. Apparently, the whole thing needs to be wiped out.last wave (Omega); otherwise, thisIt repeats itselfad infinitum.