Remember those cool light cycles in the movie Tron? Ever wished you could join in on the fun? Well, the concept of players trying to trap their opponent with ever growing colourful walls wasn’t a new one in 1982 by any stretch. Arcade gamers had played something very similar back in 1976, when Gremlin released Blockade. It proved popular; so much so that when Atari developed the 2600 console, they asked Alan Miller to make an unofficial port for the launch (you could get away with stuff like that back in the seventies). In doing so he created the first home console version of what would eventually become known as a light cycle or snake game (it’s worth noting that snake games often involve the player growing their snake by eating things rather than trapping other players).
The light cycles in the 1982 movie Tron were cool, but the “sport” was not original by any stretch.
Image Credit: aGupieWare
The Blockade arcade game from 1976: The instigator of the attack of the clones.
Image Credit: Emuparadise
I never played the Blockade arcade machine as a kid, nor did I own an Atari 2600 with Surround. I did however have an Intellivision, and one of the many games I owned was a Blockade clone called Snafu. I remember playing it a bit, but not having family members that were keen to pick up a controller meant I spent the majority of my time playing one player games like Burger Time, Demon Attack and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Like many people of my generation though, I once owned a Nokia phone (aka The Brick), and the only game that came with the OS was Snake. I wouldn’t be the only Nokia owner that filled many a bus trip and um…toilet time trying to beat my highest score. Anyway, the point is that I’d had plenty of experience with light cycle and snake games by the time I loaded up Surround on my Stella emulator and picked up an Atari joystick. The same can’t be said for my very accepting wife. This was going to be her first go at it.
Snafu: I loved my Intellivision, but it was very much a solitary endeavour for me.
Image Credit: The Old Computer
Snake: This was a daily thing for me in the late nineties. Well…as long as I remained regular.
Image Credit: Hashslush
After the overindulgent Video Olympics offered up 50 versions of pretty much the same thing, I was quite relieved to see that the Surround box boasted only 14 games. As is often the case with Atari 2600 games, even this was an exaggeration. Surround has only 2 different games, with the other 12 being minor variations. I’ll focus on the variations first before discussing the games themselves.
Game Program Chart for Surround: Always helpful to figure out what tools are available in each variant. Unfortunately, game 10 is incorrect on this one, and should be only Diagonal Movement and Wrap-Around, not Speed Up.
Image Credit: Atari Age
Variations
Speed Up
The games with the speed up variant get faster and faster over time, making it more and more difficult to stop your “cycle” from colliding with something. I enjoyed the challenge offered by these variants, mostly because it sped up the initial part of the game where players go through the motions until real estate becomes sparse.
Diagonal Movement
As the name suggests, these variants allow players to move their “cycle” diagonally on top of the standard horizontal and vertical directions. It works perfectly well, and does add an extra dimension to play.
Erase
At first this seemed a bit useless, as I couldn’t understand why I might want my “cycle” to stop leaving a trail behind by pressing the joystick button. I soon realised it was actually really valuable, as I could survive in even the smallest enclosure by holding down the button and moving in a tight square. Of course both players could do this, resulting in an endless stalemate, but where’s the fun in that.
Wrap-Around
Along with Speed-Up, this is the variant that I thought added the most fun to Surround. Basically the walls at the edge of the screen are removed, allowing each “cycle” to leave the screen on one edge and reappear from the opposite side. This really opens up opportunities to catch your opponent by surprise, but you also have to be careful you don’t run straight into a wall when you reappear.
The original Surround box.
Image Credit: Moby Games
Surround Ad 1: Really not sure how this image relates to the game but yeah, whatever.
Image Credit: Atari Age
Surround Ad 2: A little more on topic. And clearly someone can use Video Graffiti better than me.
Image Credit: Atari Age
Games
Surround (Game 01 – 12)
As I’m sure you’ve garnered by now, Surround asks players to control an ever growing coloured block, avoiding contact with walls, your opponent’s trail, as well as your own. It’s a very simple idea, but one that gains complexity through the actions of your opponent. Players vie to trap each other in enclosed areas from which there can be no escape, and time and time again the writing is on the wall for someone quite some time before their doom actually arrives. Players gain 1 point each time they outlast their opponent, with the first player reaching 10 winning the overall game. Like Video Olympics (aka 50 Shades of Pong), there’s something primal about Surround, and even my non-gamer wife was able to pick it up immediately. Our playing styles were naturally different though, with me always the aggressor while she concentrated on survival. This resulted in me regularly trapping her before she even noticed what was happening, but it occasionally resulted in me killing myself trying to achieve something risky while she was being cautious (particularly in the speed-up variants). Probably the most notable thing I took from the experience was that, unlike Video Olympics, neither of us showed much emotion while playing Surround. It’s not a particularly exciting game, with only the occasional moments of joyful satisfaction.
Like Pong, Surround is such a simple concept. It’s difficult not to find some enjoyment until the novelty wears off.
Diagonal movement is an obvious variation, but it does change things up enough to be worthwhile.
Wrap-Around is by far the best of the four variants, creating the opportunity for some nasty surprise attacks.
Video Graffiti (Game 13 – 14)
The last two games are not really games at all. They give either 1 or 2 players the opportunity to create a bit of art utilising the same mechanics they previously used to trap and humiliate. I guess it probably seemed quite novel back in the late seventies when home video games were new, let alone being able to create some artwork with a game’s control mechanics. Neither my wife or I found it very easy to create anything attractive, and the lack of colour variations meant anything we did come up with looked bland regardless. Still, at least they tried to include something beyond the title game.
Video Graffiti is an opportunity for artistic expression rather than a game. I can’t imagine too many kids spent much time playing around with it though.
Here’s a video I made of my wife and I playing the game (I’m player 1, she’s player 2). The music I’ve used is also from the year 1977, being Cluster & Eno’s Wermut track off their self-titled album. I went for something quiet as the game is irritatingly loud.
The Surround (1977) RetroCard has now been added to the RetroCard Shop. It’s an uncommon card, so therefore costs 30 smacks and has a limited release of 60.
Featured Image Credit: Moby Games
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