Beany Bopper

• Title — Beany Bopper • Developer — Sirius Software • Publisher — Fox Video Games • Designer — Mark Turmell • Programmer — Grady Ward • Platforms — Atari 2600 • Released — September 1982 • Genre — Multidirectional shooter • Modes — Single-player • Illustration — Gameplay of Beany Bopper

The player controls the "bopper", which is a ball that traverses a playing field with rectangular obstacles in it, and is tasked with preventing "beanies" (so called because they wear propeller beanie hats) from reaching the bottom of the screen. To do this the player must shoot the "beanies" with a stun-gun that can pivot through 360 degrees, and then touch them to capture them. Two play-modes are possible: a first in which the "beanies" can not move through the obstructions, and a second in which they can. Objects fall from the top of the screen that can be collected by the player for additional points. Once sufficient "beanies" have been captured, "Bouncing Orange Eyes" start bouncing around the play-area that must be avoided.

Initial design for the game was done by Mark Turmell, then twenty years old. It was programmed by Grady Ward. Launch of the game was accompanied by a television advertising campaign which portrayed a boy being absorbed into the electronic world of the game. The game was part of a series of games launched by 20th Century-Fox for the Atari 2600, which included Deadly Duck, Worm War I, and Fast Eddie.

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