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Vaguely Tempest-like. Beamrider is a great example of the originality and quality of the Intellivision game library.

Graphics: 4 Sound: 5 Replay Value: 4 Notes: 1- or 2-player game; Easter Egg Screen Shots

A very dear friend of mine, now over at Raven Software, had Beamrider back in the day. I enjoyed the graphics and sound effects of this game back then, and I still do now. This is another excellent offering from Activision. In some ways, this game reminds me of Tempest (well, at least the flat level). Still, once you've seen all the different adversaries, this game can wear you down. I have not played the Atari VCS or ColecoVision versions, so I can't say how it stacks up against those. The Intellivision Rocks CD has an interesting little anecdote from the designer about how the movement of the aliens was dreamt up. Best Score: 42144 (Sector 17)

A total of two Beamrider box variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Activision	M-005-02	1983		Has barcode on back
	Digiplay	N/A	1983		Digiplay logo on box; no part number or copyright apparent; TM Activision on back; trayless pocket; manual and overlays in separate slots; 'Av. Açaí' address on box

A total of four Beamrider manual variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Activision	M-005-03	1983	U.S.A.
	Activision	EMP 005 RC 740	None		French RCA version of the manual; distributed by RCA Video Games; though it does say Made in USA by ACTIVISION-Santa Clara-California on the cover, it's unclear if that pertains to the game rather than the manual itself
	Activision	N/A	None		Italian version of the manual; image courtesy of Oscar G.; no part number, origin, or date are apparent
	Digiplay	N/A	None	Brazil	Digiplay edition; no part number or copyright apparent; Av. Açaí address on back

A total of three Beamrider overlay variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Activision	M-005-05	1983	U.S.A.
	Digiplay	N/A	None		No Activision logo or copyright
Image not available.	Digiplay	N/A	None		With Activision logo but no copyright

A total of three Beamrider label variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Activision	M-005-04	1983
	Digiplay	N/A	None		Digiplay version; ™ upper right; game title not localized; green background label; large label, square corners
Image not available.	ShockVision	N/A	None		Trippy ShockVision label

	Nice animated title screen. The only other Activision games to have non-default style title screens were other late offerings—River Raid and Worm Whomper.
	The launching bay between waves was an excellent touch. I LOVE the sound effect when you launch.
	Smooth, fast action!

Credit: Carl Mueller's post to the intvprog group on Yahoo on 2. April 2001

Left Controller: Press and hold: [6]
Right Controller: Press and hold: [8]
Press Reset
Easter Egg: Wait at the title screen for a special message. Click on the image below to download an MPEG1 movie showing the Easter Egg.

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