Snow White

Name:	Snow White
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-26107
Programmers:	Greg Easter (Programmer) & Mimi Nyden (Graphics)
Year:	1982
Released?	No
Notes:	Two different versions exist

Once thought to have never even been started, a prototype for Snow White turned up on Ebay back in 1999 but with a massive reserve price.  Even though the bids (which were in excess of $1,500) never met the reserve, the prototype was sold to an individual afterwards and eventually archived.  While the game may not be 100% complete, it gives us a glimpse at what Atari had in mind for their next Disney title.  Your task is to guide the Seven Dwarfs through the enchanted forest as they search for Prince Charming who must save Snow White from the evil queen. 

The first thing you'll notice about Snow White are the excellent graphics on the title screen.  The Old English lettering is well done, considering how blocky the 2600's graphics usually are.  The next screen shows how many dwarves you have in reserve, and how close the Queen with the poisoned apple is to Snow White.  Since there are seven dwarves in the movie, you get seven attempts to save Snow White (but seriously, would you really trust Dopey to rescue Snow White?).  The timer at the top of the screen, which shows the Evil Queen slowly advancing towards Snow White with the poisoned apple, is very similar to the one used in Dukes of Hazzard with Boss Hog and Daisy Duke.  If the Queen reaches Snow White the game is over.  After your dwarf marches off, you are taken to the mine scene.

The Mine

Your quest to save Snow White starts out in the Dwarf's diamond mine.  You see a nice large-scale representation of your dwarf marching through a 3D looking mine.  The mine walls may just blue blocks, but the lanterns are nicely rendered, and 3D effect is really well done.  Every now and then you'll see little sparkling dots (diamonds), which you can collect to use against the bat on the next screen.  You can collect up to 12 diamonds (shown in the upper right corner), but to exit the mine you must collect a red diamond (red dot).  If your playing the game in hard mode (difficulty A) there are small obstacles you must avoid in the mine and rocks will drop from the ceiling.  The collision detection is a bit wonky as sometimes your dwarf won't collect the diamond even though he's right next to it.  This may mean that the diamond must touch your dwarf's hand which bobs up and down.  Either way, after you collect the red diamond you are taken to the river screen.

The River

This level is rather buggy but playable.  On this screen you see a river running along the bottom with a log moving back and forth and a bat which will randomly teleport about.  Your dwarf can only move on the banks of the river which are represented by three brown blobs.  Your goal is to get to the bank on the far right side of the river, this is accomplished by jumping and riding on the log.  If your dwarf falls into the river he'll drown and you'll lose a life (dwarves don't swim I guess).  If your playing the game in hard mode (difficulty A) the raven will attempt to drop 'raven dust' on dwarf causing him to fall into the river.  You can scare the raven away with the diamonds you collecting in the mine by pressing the fire button as the dust is dropping.  If you press the button before the raven drops the dust and nothing will happen.

As previously mentioned, this screen has a bug in it that affects the log.  Many times when you attempt to jump on the log you'll end up in the river instead.  There's no sure fire fix for this bug, but there are a few things you can do to help turn the odds in your favor.  First, always jump on the center of the log for the sides of it seem to be buggy.  Second, try and jump from the center of the bank.  While it's still possible to make the jump from the left or right side, your odds seem to be best from the center.  Once you're on the log try not to move around, there seems to be a bug which can cause you to fall off the log if you move around too much.

Once you make it to the right bank, you'll move into the evil forest.

The Evil Forest

This is the third and final screen in the game.  On this screen evil trees will move in and out from the sides of the screen attempting to grab your dwarf.  If the trees touch your dwarf, you'll loose a life and go back to the mine screen.  The goal of this screen to to find the correct path out of the evil forest which is represented by a small white line which randomly appears at the bottom of the screen.  Touching this line is rather hard, and it may take a few minutes until you succeed.  If your playing in hard mode, the raven will again attempt to drop dust on you again as it did at the river.  Once again you can use the diamonds you collect to stop the dust after they're dropped.

If you successfully find the path out of the evil forest the Evil Queen will be chased off by Prince Charming and you'll be rewarded with a victory screen showing the dwarves dancing around while some cool music plays.  If the various screens seem a little disjointed there's a reason for that.  According to Greg only the first screen was part of his original idea:

"The first scene with the dwarf running through the mine actually was my idea, but the other two scenes were pure marketing.  The second scene they stole from the Frogger arcade game. The final scene in the game, which is supposed to be the Magic Forest, is completely abstract.  As one programmer put it, 'So this dwarf just runs along in the forest until he accidentally steps on a nail?'  Which is about what it looks like.  I knew it was ridiculous when I was writing the code, but I didn't care because I considered myself a hired gun."

Snow White was ultimately canceled due to managerial indecision.  The marketing managers couldn't make up their minds on what kind of game they wanted and were changing their minds daily (so much so Greg started calling it 'Snow White and the Seven Versions').  One of the more outlandish ideas was to change the game to a non-action title based around the magic mirror (how exactly this would have worked is unknown).  Eventually the first version was scrapped and a completely different version was created which only featured one type of level (a scrolling mine) instead of the three different styles of the original.  This second version seems to have pleased marketing more than the first and was considered for release but Atari ultimately cancelled their children's line up before this could happen.  Greg eventually decided to shelve Snow White until management could make up their minds, and went to work on another 2600 game called Mark of the Mole (which also went unreleased).

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