Mountain King

Atari 5200 version of Mountain King

Mountain King is an action/platform game developed by E.F. Dreyer, Inc. first released in 1983. Versions were released for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, and Commodore 64 and VIC-20 computers. In the game, players take on the role of an explorer searching an ancient diamond mine with the goal of locating the Golden Crown of the Temple and taking it to the top of the mountain.

The game screen in Mountain King consists of numerous platforms and ladders which form the mountain. Players can walk left or right along the platforms, climb up and down the ladders, or jump to clear gaps and dodge opponents. To win, players need to locate the Golden Crown of the Temple and take it to the top of the mountain. To accomplish this, there are several tasks that must be completed. The first task is to earn 1,000 points; by doing so, players will be worthy of possessing the Flame Spirit. Throughout the mountain platforms are numerous clusters of diamonds; picking them up earns points. Additionally, there are a few treasure chests which provide even more points than diamonds. The chests are not visible in the dark making them tougher to find; to help out, players have a flashlight that can be turned on to view the immediate area to the left or right. After 1,000 points are earned, players can finally pick up the Flame Spirit which is hidden in a random location. The Flame Spirit is also difficult to see; while it may flicker visibly for brief periods, it is mostly hidden and only fully visible with the flashlight. The game uses music to help out here; the closer players are, the louder the background music becomes. On more difficult skill levels, the music will only play two verses of the theme; if the flame spirit isn't acquired in that time, it will disappear and players must acquire an additional 1,000 points for it to appear again. Once the flame spirit is acquired, players can finally enter the temple to retrieve the crown. The temple is guarded by the skull spirit; if players locate the temple without the flame spirit, the entrance is blocked. Additionally, time is limited; once players offer the flame spirt to the skull spirit, they need to enter the temple quickly or another flame spirit will need to be acquired. Once players pick up the crown in the temple, the final task is to escape and reach the top of the mountain before time runs out.

There are several obstacles and dangers throughout the mountain that players need to avoid. First are the giant bats; there are two kinds that appear. The black bats are normally hidden and can only be seen with the flashlight, however they are harmless. The grey bats can always be seen and attempt to guard the temple. They fly around randomly and are sometimes even hidden in treasure chests; if players have the crown (and, on more difficult levels, the flame spirit) the bats will steal it requiring players to begin the process all over again. The second danger is a giant spider located on the lowest platform of the mountain. The spider will first capture players in its web. Players can attempt to escape, but if they take took long the spider returns and a life is lost. On more difficult levels the spider will steal either the flame spirit or the crown if players are caught in the web; on the most difficult level, the spider and the web are invisible. Players can dodge the spider by jumping over it or by moving up to a higher platform. Perpetual flames also are dangerous to touch; these appear along the top of the mountain, and additional flames can appear if players fail to acquire the flame spirit in the given time limit.

There is a limited amount of time to complete all of the tasks; if time runs out, the game is over. Each time players are successful in retrieving the crown, bonus points are awarded based on the amount of time remaining. The game then repeats but with increased difficulty and less time available.