CODE & BOOKS

Atari 2600 · original game · version 1.0

Scalecrown

Sir Roderick goes down into the Crypt of Scales to destroy a cursed crown: sixteen rooms on four levels, timed traps, keys and doors, serpents that give chase, and the Serpent King on the throne. A 32K cartridge for the Atari 2600 in 6502 assembly.

Download the game scalecrown-1.0-ntsc.binscalecrown-1.0-pal.binSource codeThe book
The Scalecrown title screen on the Atari 2600: a gold crown and the words SCALE CROWN in letters that turn from yellow to red, on black under a purple glow, between two grey pillars with torches; below, Sir Roderick faces the Serpent King on a red floor.
The title screen
Scalecrown in play on level 1: the score 000100, the red energy bar and LEVEL 1 at the top; below, a room of grey stone blocks on a moss-green floor, with Sir Roderick in his yellow tunic and red plume in the corridor and two yellow serpents, one along the top wall and one coming along the corridor.
A room of level 1

Scalecrown is the game of the first volume of the Atari 2600 Game Manual Series. Sir Roderick comes in through the gate of Oakhaven and goes down the crypt level by level, by the stairs at the bottom of the rooms. Every level keeps its key in a chest, and its door opens only with that key; spikes rise and fall in the floor, and the serpents crawl along their lanes, sprint after him when he comes level with them, need two blows of the sword and come back four seconds later. He has twelve units of energy and no extra lives.

In the throne room the Serpent King follows him up and down, bites, and spits venom more and more often: the oak shield stops it if Sir Roderick is facing the shot, and only a blow to the head counts. After ten blows the crown appears on the throne. Strike it, and it shatters.

The title plays an original march in E minor on the two voices of the TIA; Game Select switches between music, sound effects and silence.

Where it comes from

Written line by line in Scalecrown, volume 1 of the Atari 2600 Game Manual Series:

Chapters 1 to 15 — see the contents.