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PUBLISHER: Imagic RELEASED: 1983 PROGRAM: Rob Fulop FORMAT: Cartridge

Fathom has become one of the more popular Imagic titles over the years, and it's a game that saw a release on quite a few different game consoles and home computers from the time period. This Atari 2600 version of the game is the original release and is still widely considered to be the superior version of the game, despite the fact that many of the later releases of Fathom had more impressive visuals and sound effects. In Fathom, you take on the role of Proteus, servant to King Neptune. Your charged with rescuing King Neptune's daughter Neptina, whose being held prisoner deep within the ocean. You're given the ability to take on the forms of a dolphin and seagull in order to locate the missing pieces of King Neptune's trident, which you'll need to find in order to unlock the cage in which Neptina is being held captive. The ability to swim and fly through the air does give the game a lot of variety, and the mermaid theme of the game is also unique and creative. The visuals are a bit basic, but this is the Atari 2600 after all. This Atari 2600 release might not have all the bells and whistles found in other releases of the game, but it still holds up quite well and remains one of the most original and playable games ever released by Imagic. FUN FACT: Rob Fulop, the designer and programmer of Fathom, has often admitted that he never really liked Fathom. According to him, the game only came about as a result of a graphic of a dolphin swimming up out of the water that was created by a graphic designer at Imagic. He liked the picture, so he ended up designing a game around it, putting it together a little at a time. Unfortunately, Rob never liked the way the game played and said it just didn't feel like a 'real game' to him. Despite the epic feeling of Fathom, Rob says that the best game ideas are often the more simple designs that have a more 'real' feel to them, something he feels Fathom lacks.

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