Saboteur 6/9/83

 

This version of Saboteur falls inbetween the earliest known version and the 'middle' version.  As such it shares many features from both versions (early version graphics, but middle version gameplay).  Notice how the name on the EPROM is Sabotage?  Could this be an early name for the game?

 One of the biggest differences in this version is the the pair of numbers on the third board have been replaced by a strange pulsating shape.  The board plays the same way, except now the shape will change color when it takes damage (going from orange to gray) and will eventually be destroyed (although the explosion is not shown in this version).

The flow of the game is still different from the final version.  If you succeed at the goal on the current stage, you will skip the rest.  This was finally changed in the 9/2/83 version and made the game play much better.

 

Differences
There is no rocket launch at the start of the game
There is no copyright message
The game starts automatically
There are no game variations
The difficulty switches have no function
There is only one difficulty level
The Master Robot is colored very differently
The Gorfons use the same graphics as the 'Tiny Thieves' from Raiders of the Lost Ark
There are no instructions at the bottom of the screens telling you what to do.
Hotot's death sound is different
The sound of your bonus points being added up is different
There is no sound effect for when the blue robots add a piece to the rocket or when a Gorfon steals one.
The lightning bolts you shoot on the second board are yellow instead of green.
The boarder surrounding the second board is a yellow instead of light green.
The word BONUS is not displayed as your bonus points are added up at the end of each level.
Your firing rate is slower
The Yar from Yar's Revenge is missing
The 'shape' on the third level is different
The shape will change color as it takes damage, going from orange to gray
The shape does not blow up after taking fatal damage
The difficulty ramping is much easier in this version.  For example the Master Robots bullets don't start reflecting back until level 5 instead of level 2 and the side bullets don't show up until level 9!
The random colored bars in the "score box" at the bottom of the screen extend the full length of the box and overlap the score.
The scoring is different.  Blue Robots are worth 7 points instead of 23, The Master Robot is worth 7 points instead of 57, and letting a Gorfon (thief) successfully steal a rocket piece is not worth anything.  Shooting Gorfons is also worth 7 points instead on 0.
The background on the rocket launch screen and third stage are a lighter blue
Hotot is a gray-blue color instead of gray-silver
The rocket pieces on the second stage are yellow
The colors on the first stage are a different shade of purple

 

Those are some funky looking aliens

 

The Master Robot still has the rainbow wig...

 

The shape is looking slightly different

 

Tiny thieves!

 

 

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