Doubleback is an original game which is a lot of fun. The object is to enclose objects with the line you draw, to collect points and eliminate them from your screen (except skulls, which can never be eliminated, and there can be up to 10 of them on the screen at once). Some objects are stationary, some can move on one axis only, and others can move in 8 directions, of varying speeds. If the object can move, it will always move towards you.
The secret to getting high scores in the game is to circle as many objects as possible at one time; you will get the # of points per object times the # of objects encircled for EVERY object within the loop; If you have 10 objects worth 100 points each, you will get 10*100 for EVERY object, for example. If you wait long enough, you can get tens of thousands of points in a single shot this way.
A very fun game that is easy to learn, it also could run even on a 4K Coco... I believe one of the last
games by Radio Shack to do so. It is also one of the games that really makes use of the fact
that Radio Shack used analog joysticks; you could very your speed (and the length of your line)
to 64 different settings on both axis. Really young kids even like to simply draw with it,
and not worry about circling objects.
Interesting trivia - the working title for the game (before Tandy got it), was "Superfly and the Amazing Chomping Things".
Title: Doubleback
Author: Dale Lear
Publisher: Radio Shack/Tandy
Released: Early March 1983 (written in late 1982)
Requires: Color Computer 1,2,3, 4K RAM, cartridge, joystick.
Download DALELEAR_DSK.ZIP. This DSK image contains all 4 of Dale's games.