Planet of the Apes

published by 20th Century Fox in 1983-04-13, running on Atari 2600 VCS

This game has not passed the prototype stage.

type: action/reflex
genre: Science Fiction
series: Planet of the Apes
setting: Future
perspective: bird's-eye
player options: single player

other: Prototype
languages: eng

Technical specs

display: raster

Editor note

The prototype cartridge of this game was found in a box labeled 'Alligator People'. In addition, the cartridge itself was labeled 'Alligator People'. It was thought to be an early version of the game because it seem to have nothing to do with the Alligator People movie. Then years later someone found a prototype cartridge labeled 'Planet of the Apes' that contained a game nearly identical to Alligator People. It was realized that the Alligator People prototype was actually Planet of the Apes. The programmers at Fox had reused a case without relabeled it. Reusing prototype Atari cases is not that unusual. Perhaps they had stuck a hand written label on it that had since fallen off. I myself own a 'Mario Bros.' prototype that appearers to have at least 2 labels on top of the original. The Planet of the Apes prototype is believed to be complete and ready for production. The version mislabeled 'Alligator People' is thought to be '95%' complete.

And in 2002, someone found an actual "The Alligator People" prototype based on the movie and programmed by a different author and nothing like this Planet of the Apes game.