Warlords

Warlords is an arcade game released by Atari in 1980. A version was also released for the Atari 2600 console in 1981. It features the use of paddle controllers instead of joysticks. The 2600 version of Warlords is often cited as one of the more popular Atari 2600 titles by classic video gamers, and was voted the 25th greatest video game in the 100th issue of Game Informer (Aug 2001 issue).

A port of this game, including a new "remix" version, is included in Retro Atari Classics for the Nintendo DS. It featured multiplayer play through wireless. The game was released on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade on May 28, 2008, featuring a new special HD mode and Xbox Live Vision Camera support.

The game resembles a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong (an early Atari arcade game) in the sense that not only could up to four players play the game at the same time, but also the "forts" in the four corners of the screen were brick walls that could be broken with a flaming ball. Warlords used spinner controllers for player control, and came in both an upright two-player version and a four-player cocktail version. The upright version uses a black and white monitor, and reflects the game image onto a mirror, with a backdrop of castles, giving the game a 3D feel. The upright version only supports up to two simultaneous players, which move through the levels as a team. The cocktail version is in color, and supports 1-4 players. 3-4 player games are free-for-alls, and the game ends as soon as one player wins. 1-2 player games play identical to the upright version.