Sky Diver

You’re ready for the big jump! The longer you can wait to open your parachute, the more points you score. Steer your parachute against the wind to guide yourself toward the bull’s-eye.

About the Game

Mastering most games on the Atari came down to deft joystick handling or familiarity with patterns. You use a bit of both here, but ultimately Sky Diver is a test of nerves.

In game variations 1-4, your real competition is the conditions. Once you learn how to adjust for the wind or moving platforms, and the precise timing to earn a maximum score on each drop, your totals will consistently reach the 90s.

Game variation 5 is the ultimate Sky Diver test of dominance. The single landing pad scores only for the first person to land on it. Like many of the best Atari cartridges, you’ll quickly forget about blocky graphics and limited audio options because you’re lost in a tense contest where fractions of a second are the difference between a big score and your skydiver turning into a pancake.

Object of the Game

Guide your skydiver onto the landing pad and score points. To win a game, you must score more points than your opponent.

How to Play

You and your opponent (all five game variants are designed for two players) are challenged to score points during a series of nine jumps. The right and left scores on-screen represent the right and left players, respectively. The white number in the lower-left corner is the number of rounds remaining in the current game.

There’s a brief pause before the planes start moving and initiate each scoring round. Both planes fly across the screen simultaneously, starting from opposite corners. Press the red button to release your skydiver from the plane and push down on the joystick to deploy your skydiver’s parachute. Once the parachute opens, guide your skydiver by pushing left or right on the joystick. You retain control through the entire descent, meaning you can change direction at any time.

Your skydiver keeps a bit of the momentum from the plane’s motion, but its overall effect is negligible. Ultimately, the wind has a greater impact on your ability to successfully complete a landing. Since skydivers fall quickly, the wind doesn’t really affect them until the parachutes are deployed.

If you’re playing games 1, 2, or 5 (there’s no wind in games 3 or 4), check the white windsock at the bottom-center of the screen. The windsock indicates the wind’s direction and speed, which obviously changes between jumps. Continue to check the windsock while your skydiver floats to the landing pad, as the wind may shift during a jump.

When there is no wind, your skydiver moves in the direction you push the joystick. At its strongest, the wind blows skydivers with the same force as if you were pushing the joystick. That means if the wind is at full-force and you push the joystick in the opposite direction, the skydiver—with the parachute deployed—falls straight down.

Each jump is worth between -4 and 11 points. The maximum score in all games is 99. You score points only when your skydiver lands squarely on the pad of the same color with an open parachute (except in game 5, which has a single pad). As long as any part of the skydiver’s foot is touching the pad, even if most of his foot is outside of it, points are awarded.

When your skydiver hits the ground with an unopened chute, you are treated to an amusing sound and a much shorter skydiver! You lose up to 4 points (your score never goes below 0).

If you neglect to release your skydiver from the plane, or miss the landing pad, you score zero points for that round. If the skydiver hits the landing pad safely, your score is determined by how close to the ground the parachute was deployed. However, if you wait too long, it becomes impossible to open your parachute.

Difficulty Options

In the A position, the planes fly significantly faster across the screen. It is possible for one player to have fast planes (using the A position) and the other player to have slow planes (using the B position) in the same game. The difficulty buttons have no effect in Game 5, as both planes fly at the faster speed.

Game Options

Games 1 and 2 are identical with one exception. Each landing pad in game 2 is narrower, making it more difficult to score points. The landing pads change locations between each jump, as well.

In games 3 and 4, the landing pads move from left and right. The landing pads in game 4 are half the size of those in game 3. Neither game variation includes wind in this instance.

Game 5 adds a twist to gameplay. There’s only one landing pad in the middle of the screen. The first player to land on the pad scores points. The second player receives no points, even if their skydiver lands squarely on the pad.