Airlock

PAL version of Airlock for the Atari 2600

Airlock is an action game for the Atari 2600 by Data Age released in 1982. In the game players find themselves on a nuclear submarine which is in trouble and taking on water! The goal is to escape the sub by climbing up all the way from the bottom floor of the sub to the top. Once the top floor is reached, the game is over and players have won, however if it takes players too long to reach the top and water catches them it's game over. To reach each floor, players need to take an elevator that needs to be unlocked; there are two hatch keys on each floor, one on the left and one on the right. After the keys are collected, the door blocking the elevator is opened. There is a time limit; take too long, and the floor will flood! Additionally, each floor has a rogue torpedo that is bouncing back and forth; if it hits the player, it won't explode but they will be temporarily stunned costing precious time. Each floor also has several barriers that block the way; players can jump over both the barriers and torpedos to avoid these dangers.

The game includes two difficulty settings; on the easy setting, there are five floors on a single screen that need to be completetd to win the game. On the difficult setting, there are ten floors spread across two screens. Additionally, the second screen contains additional barriers making it more challenging. One and two player options are also available.

The NTSC and PAL versions of Airlock have some graphical differences. Besides different colors, the PAL version includes a more detailed and animated player character and has different torpedo graphics. The PAL version is also more difficult and includes additional barriers on some of the floors that are not found in the NTSC version. Gameplay is otherwise identical.