Quick Step
Quick Step is an Atari 2600 action game written by David Johnson. It was published by Imagic in September 1983 as one of the last Atari 2600 games from the company. The player controls a kangaroo competing against a squirrel, where both animals must jump between moving platforms, changing them to their character's color to earn points.
Also recorded as Quick Step!
Quick Step
- Date
- 1983
- Publisher
- Imagic
- Language
- English
- Genre
- action game
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Quick Step is an Atari 2600 action game written by David Johnson. It was published by Imagic in September 1983 as one of the last Atari 2600 games from the company. The player controls a kangaroo competing against a squirrel, where both animals must jump between moving platforms, changing them to their character's color to earn points.
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q126080176
In this article
The object
The object
There is a two-player mode where the second player controls the squirrel.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Quick Step • Developer — Imagic • Publisher — Imagic • Designer — David Johnson • Released — September 1983 • Genre — Action • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — Atari 2600
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — Quick Step on Atari 2600 The gameplay of Quick Step consists of controlling a green kangaroo that must jump across different colored vertically scrolling platforms, competing against a purple squirrel. Jumping onto a platform changes it to the character's color and the player gets a point for every platform of their color that scrolls off the screen. Certain platforms (called "magic mats") will freeze the other character in place when jumped on, which can cause the other player to lose a life if they are near the bottom of the screen and the platform they are on scrolls off. The player can also press the fire button to release a "tricky trap" which causes the platform under the other character to disappear, causing them to fall. The platforms speed up as gameplay progresses, and eventually collapse into a single column towards the end of the level. The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where the second player can control the squirrel.
Development
Development
Quick Step was designed by David Johnson, with graphics assistance from Wilfredo Aguilar, Michael Becker, and Wendy Szeto.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Quick Step is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
A review in the December 1983 issue of Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated was mixed, being critical of the graphics and having a mixed reaction to the gameplay. Video Games Magazine was also critical of the graphics, but praised the game as "a truly different game, if only because of the potpourri of elements". Computer Entertainer praised the two-player mode, calling it a "gem". The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called Quick Step "closer to a miss than a hit". Many reviewers considered it a clone of Q*bert. In a retrospective review of Imagic games, IGN said Quick Step "is a brilliant, furious multiplayer game for a system not exactly known for aggressive two-player action games", putting it in their top five list of Imagic games for the Atari 2600. videogamecritic.com said that while Quick Step was inspired by Q*bert, it lacks the "charm" that made Q*bert a video game classic.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hague, James. The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers.
- 2.Sittnick, Mike. Quick Step. Video Games Magazine. 2. 5. 71–72. February 1984.
- 3.Meade, E.C. Quick Step. Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated. 12. 17–18. December 1983.
- 4.Puglia, Vincent. Quick Step. Electronic Games. 2. 16. 71–72. November 1984.
- 5.Quick Step. Computer Entertainer. 2. 8. 114. November 1983.
- 6.Quick Step. MobyGames.
- 7.Hudson, Lou. Gyruss will be enjoyed, in some circles. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 30 June 1984.
- 8.Wiswell, Phil. Quick Step. Enter. 1. 5. 59. March 1984.
- 9.Buchanan, Levi. Top 5 Imagic Games for Atari 2600. IGN. 21 January 2009.
- 10.Atari 2600 Reviews P-Q. videogamecritic.com. 17 April 2008.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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