Genetic Drift

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Name: Genetic Drift
Programmer(s): Scott Schram
Publisher: Brøderbund Software
Year: 1981

Description:

Genetic Drift is one of those weird and creative games that could only come from the early 80s. Made by Scott Schram for Broderbund in 1981, it's basically a shoot 'em up with a really bizarre sci-fi twist that involves mutating hostile aliens into television sets. Yeah, you read that right.

The setup is pretty unique. You're stuck in the center of the screen, surrounded by genetic mutations coming at you from all four directions. These mutants are constantly throwing "deadly genetic information" at you, which you have to shoot down before it hits you. If you get hit, you lose a life, and if you lose all three lives, you actually mutate into a TV set yourself, which is a pretty dark game over screen.

Here's where it gets interesting: when you shoot the enemies, they don't just disappear like in most games. Instead, they mutate into harmless television sets. The goal is to turn all the mutants in each direction into TVs. But then things get complicated because the TV-mutants start firing hearts at you. Right-side-up hearts are good, but upside-down hearts will kill you. And if you accidentally shoot a good heart, all the mutants in that direction change back to their dangerous forms.

The concept is honestly pretty brilliant, even if it's totally bonkers. The manual even jokes that after "extensive research on California teenagers," they figured that what humanity would need most in the future is television sets. That's some quality 80s humor right there.

Scott Schram actually quit his job to make this game, originally calling it "Photon Base" before Broderbund changed the name. The gameplay can get really frustrating, especially on higher levels when you get "whirling hunks of critical mass" that take multiple hits to destroy.

Genetic Drift is definitely an arcade game for people who like fast-paced action and don't mind some seriously weird concepts. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely memorable.