Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Pop Culture»Toys & Games
    Toys & Games 2 Mins Read

    Canyon Bomber

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Part of the beauty of early arcade games was the preponderance of “truth in advertising”. What you read was what you got. So when Atari released a game called Canyon Bomber, there was no doubt what it was about.

    For some never-explained reason a large canyon had been filled with numbered balls, and for another never-explained reason, you had to clear it out.

    The fun part was, you got to use bombs.

    You had no control over the blimps and biplanes (only one at a time, thankfully) that flew over the canyon at random speeds. Your only job was to drop bombs, because, well – that’s what canyon bombers do.

    Using the bomb release button (the only control at your disposal), you released your ordnance at just the right time to take out the numbered balls below, earning the number of points labelled on the ball for a hit.

    Since the speed varied, you had to be a pretty good judge of physics to avoid missing the target completely. You were only allowed a limited number of misses – set anywhere from 3 to 6 by the operator – so accuracy was everything.

    Canyon Bomber allowed either one or two player action. In the two-player version, the first player’s white aircraft entered from the left side, while the second player’s black aircraft came in from the right (and no, you couldn’t bomb each other, as hard as you tried).

    Once a canyon was cleared, assuming you made it that far without wasting all your misses, another one would appear to take its place. Such was the lonely life of the canyon bomber—another day, another ditch filled with numbered balls . . .

    Related Posts

    • Computer Space
      Computer Space
      The history of coin-operated video arcade games began not with…
    • Tron
      Tron
      It came as no surprise that Tron hit the arcades…
    • Tank
      Tank
      Into a world of Pong clones rolled a pair of…
    • Pong
      Pong
      The first successful computer game was a video version of…
    • Odyssey
      Odyssey
      Before there was Atari, before there was even Pong, there…
    • Time Pilot
      Time Pilot
      The star of 1982’s Time Pilot was a time-hopping military…
    • Xevious
      Xevious
      A classic vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up Namco arcade game (distributed by Atari),…
    • Gun Fight
      Gun Fight
      Released in 1975, Gun Fight was the first arcade game…

    Arcade games
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleBazaar
    Next Article Time Pilot

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest
      1 9 8 5 – 1 9 8 7 (UK) 13 x 30 minute episodes This […]
    • Death Journey (1976)
      Fearful that their star witness might be murdered, two attorneys […]
    • Stargate SG-1
      1 9 9 7 – 2 0 0 7 (USA) 213 x 45 minute episodes In this […]
    • Beast of Hollow Mountain, The (1956)
      Set in Mexico, The Beast of Hollow Mountain is for the most part […]
    • Teenage Head
      Friends from an Ontario (Canada) high school formed Teenage Head […]
    • My Two Wives
      1 9 9 2 – 1 9 9 3 (Australia) 13 x 25 minute episodes […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.