Game of the Day - Warlords

MAME version

Warlords is a great old Atari game that plays like breakout.  You have a paddle and have to defend your castle against incoming fireballs.  The fireballs increase in speed and number as the round goes on.  Your castle chips away some with each hit you take and if a fireball hits the colored section inside your castle, you're dead.  Up to four can play and the computer plays all the castles that humans aren't manning.  The computer can play very well and be hard to beat.  It's also fun to decide whether to play cooperatively (take out the computer castles first) with other human players or against them.

One great feature is that you can use the button to catch an incoming fireball and then move around your castle and release it in another direction (aim it).  To add to the drama, when you are holding the fireball to aim it (you can hold the button indefinitely), the fire coming of the ball damages your own castle, so you can't hold it too long.

Plays best with a spinner, but fun with a joystick (best if analog), joypad, arrow keys or trackball.