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Frontispiece

So... What exactly is Food Fight? For a start, it's one of my favorite videogames of all time, and in my biased opinion, it was one of the most overlooked games of the arcade videogame boom of the 1980s.

Its novel theme is that you, the player, control a character named Charley Chuck who throws food at chefs to get them out of the way of a melting ice cream cone that you're trying to eat to be able to go to the next level and do it all over again. Meanwhile, there are holes in the floor of each level that you need to avoid falling into, and the chefs are throwing food at you, too. If you get hit by food, fall into a hole, or touch a chef, you lose a life. You also lose a life if the ice cream cone melts before you reach it.

Food Fight's playfield consists of the screen itself, and is non-scrolling. You begin the game on the right side of the screen, and must make your way to the left side where the melting ice cream cone is waiting.

Characters

The characters in the game are:

	Charley Chuck. You control him.
	Oscar. A chef trying to keep you from your ice cream cone.
	Angelo. Another chef standing between you and the ice cream.
	Jacques. Another chef.
	Zorba. Another chef.

Objects

The objects in the game are:

	Peas. Nice, short-range, wide-swath food to throw at chefs.
	Bananas. Long-range, wide-swath food to throw.
	Pies. Long-range, medium-swath food to throw.
	Tomatoes. Long-range, medium-swath food to throw.
	Watermelon. Long-range, medium-swath food to throw. Unlike other foods, watermelon never runs out.
	Ice cream cone. This is the goal for Charley... The thing you need to eat to finish a level.
	Closed hole. When you hit a chef with food or they fall into an open hole, chefs will immediately reappear, and they may emerge from a closed hole (like this) or an open one at any time.
	Open hole. You can fall into these and lose a life. A chef will also fall in if he crosses one trying to get you. Chefs may also emerge from these holes after falling into one, or getting hit with food.

Game Play

Here's the description of game play, expanded upon from the game intro screens themselves. These are the basics; strategy can be found in my Frequently Fronted Feelers and Fancy Folklore section.

• Stay away from the chefs
  
  
• Walk to and eat the cone before it melts
  
  
• Points: 500 x level for each level completed (up to 25,000 maximum), plus 100 for each piece of food leftover (except watermelon)
  
  
• Hit the chefs with food to get 100 to 1,000 points (first hit of a chef on each level is 100, second is 200, and so on, up to 1,000 maximum)
  
  
• Your arm and eyes points in the direction of throw; you walk and direct your throw at the same time
  
  
• Avoid food thrown by chefs at you
  
  
• If a chef falls into an open hole, you get 200 points
  
  
• Watch out for open holes yourself
  
  
• An extra Chuck is awarded at 25,000 points, at each 100,000 points, and for starting at higher levels

Screen Shots

Here are some random screen shots from the game:

One of the intro screens while the game is idle.

Another idle screen, showing the food items.

Level 64, just after Charley has eaten the cone. (Note the satisfied look on his face.)

Level 87, just after eating the cone again.

Level 96, just at the beginning. Note Charley's eyes; this is the most obvious indication of the direction you're pointed (in this screen, pointed to the right).

Content unique to this web site, Copyright © 1998 Alan D. Bryant, all rights reserved.

Screens, characters, and other game elements, Copyright © 1982, 1998 Atari Games (formerly Atari, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Midway Games, Inc., and/or their heirs and assigns, all rights reserved. "Food Fight" is a trademark of Atari Games.

DISCLAIMER: I do not condone or encourage software piracy. Use of computer system emulators is legal, but possession or use of copyrighted software, including disk-based images of software ROMs for use in emulators, is subject to license, and the lack of such license may subject the violator to prosecution under civil and/or criminal statutes.