The game is similar to the Atari, Inc. arcade gameCentipede, with long, segmented enemies that progress in a zig-zag fashion and can be broken apart. Players control a small ship that can fire upwards and move freely around the screen. The player must also avoid pulses emitted by the X-Y zappers which patrol the edges of the grid. The game has twenty waves of enemies to complete.
Development
Llamasoft released Gridrunner in 1982 for the unexpanded VIC-20. The game was written over the course of a single week, which Minter refers to as "the best week of work I've ever done." Although it draws its inspiration from the arcade game Centipede with the concept of a snake-like enemy descending the screen through a series of obstacles it plays much faster. Versions of the game appeared for several of the home computers of the early 1980s.
Reception
The Commodore 64 Home Companion advised "forget the plot; fast action is the name of this game".
Legacy
In 1983, Minter released Matrix: Gridrunner 2, which retained much of the original's gameplay, but introduced new enemy types and a scrolling background. It was first published on the Commodore 64, and ported to other platforms. This title was released in the US as Attack of the Mutant Camels, a title taken from an unrelated Llamasoft title released in the UK. A second sequel, Voidrunner, followed in 1987, which abandons the grid backgrounds, and features more colorful and elaborate graphics. In 1991, Llamasoft released Super Gridrunner for the Atari ST. The first 32-bit title in the series, it added power-ups to the series for the first time, while retaining the basic elements of a single-screen shooter. This would be the last entry in the series for over a decade, during which time Jeff partnered with Atari on updates to the Tempest and Defender series. Gridrunner was revived in 2002 with Gridrunner++, a shareware downloadable title released on Llamasoft's website. Featuring retro sprite-based visuals and faster-paced gameplay on a scrolling field, it proved popular with fans. A sequel followed in 2009. Originally developed under the working titleGridrunner+++ it was released on Windows PCs as Gridrunner Revolution, after a newly introduced rotation mechanic. This version also made heavy use of Minter's "light synth" tech, with colorful, psychedelic visuals. It's also the only title in the series with a full musical soundtrack.
iOS remake
In 2011, Llamasoft released a reimagined version for iOS, simply titled Gridrunner.Eurogamer called it "the best shooter on iOS," and Touch Arcade described it as "a retro remake done right". It was later ported to Android as shareware. In 2018, Llamasoft released Minotaur Arcade Vol. 1 via Steam. It combines a new version of Gridrunner and GoatUp. This version is most closely based on the 2011 iOS version, but remade with 3D voxels, and heavily remixed and expanded.
