Death Tank
| Death Tank | |
|---|---|
 Death Tank Zwei start screen | |
| Developer(s) | Lobotomy Software |
| Platform(s) | Sega Saturn |
| Release | 1996 |
Death Tank is a 1996 competitive multiplayer, 2D artillery game developed by Ezra Dreisbach of Lobotomy Software. Influenced by Scorched Earth,[citation needed] the gameplay is real-time instead of turn-based. It supports two to seven players, represented by differently-colored tanks, with a range of weapons. The terrain on which this occurs is heavily deformed during play.
The original Death Tank was a hidden bonus game in the Sega Saturn port of PowerSlave (1996). An update, Death Tank Zwei, was hidden in the Saturn version of Duke Nukem 3D (1997).
In a 1996 interview Lobotomy Software co-founder Brian McNeely said that Dreisbach "threw [Death Tank] together in his spare time. We play it every day, religiously."[1] The title screen shows the red and blue tanks because these were the colors favored by Dreisbach and Jeff Blazier, who had an ongoing rivalry in the game.[2]
Xbox Live Arcade version[edit]
Dreisbach, working with Snowblind Studios, developed a standalone version of the game for Xbox Live Arcade. It was released on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
A version of Death Tank Zwei is included as an extra in this release, which can be unlocked by shooting down a supply plane in the main game. There are a number of minor differences between this new version and the original; it lacks the title screen (and Death Tank theme), options and player selection screens. The game has an upper limit of four players (instead of the original seven), and there are a number of changes to the names of the weapons.
Reception[edit]
Death Tank appears in the video game reference book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die edited by Tony Mott and published in October 2010 by Universe Publishing.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Leadbetter, Rich (December 1996). "Lobotomised!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 14. Emap International Limited. p. 48.
- ^ "Interview: Lobotomy Software Inc". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 25. Emap International Limited. November 1997. p. 49. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ Mott, Tony (2010). 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2090-2.
External links[edit]
- Death Tank at MobyGames
- 'Bastards of 32-Bit' - Death Tank Zwei Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
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