Background

Programmed by John Russell, Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes was released in 1983 and manufactured by Fox Video Games, Inc. It was a single player action game. Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes was made available for the Atari 2600, as well as the 800 and 400 models, and the Commodore VIC-20

Commodore VIC-20

The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET...

. Upon its release in 1983, the game cost roughly $30. Written along the back of the box reads "Perhaps it was a form of protest against bottled Ketchup, or maybe they were provoked by acid rain." However they came into awareness, tomatoes have become killers that cannot be destroyed by mankind's weapons. The tomatoes can only be trapped by building brick walls, which enclose the vengeful tomatoes before they are given a chance to take over the world.

It is believed that title and the concept of this game are inspired by the cult movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 comedy film directed by John De Bello and starring David Miller. The film is a spoof of B movies. Made on a budget of less than US$100,000, the story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity. Writing credits were...

.

Gameplay

The tomatoes fire missiles at the player who controls the "tomato sprayer", which moves around the screen. By dodging the missiles, the player aims to shoot down bricks that move along the top of the screen. After successfully hitting the bricks, the player is able to build walls, which upon sealing will destroy the tomatoes and the tomato plants. Upon building the third wall, the level is completed and the player receives bonus points.

Points are awarded for destroying tomatoes and building walls, and range from 5 to 3000. There are eight levels of increasing difficulty, where several types of tomatoes are introduced incrementally as well as growing in size. There are also four separate types of user selected difficulty options that include changing the speed of the tomatoes and the number of sprayers available.

Controls

By moving the joystick, the player controls the "tomato sprayer". The joystick button is used to release and capture the colored bricks.

Marketing

During Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII was an American football game played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the strike-shortened 1982 regular season...

 in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, Fox staged a publicity stunt for the game. Two people dressed as giant tomatoes were seated near the endzone, and spent the game picketing with signs that read "Beefsteak Tomatoes Demand Revenge". Fox's vice-president of marketing said of the stunt "the idea was to pique the public's interest and establish a kind of mascot for the game." The tomato "models" received a positive response from the surrounding crowd although one, named Jane Forelle, mentioned that some fans had tried to squeeze her, which she disapproved of.

Reception

The name Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes has been called whimsical, and one of the "best new game names" at the 1983 Winter Consumer Electronics Show.

The Video Game Critic

The Video Game Critic

The Video Game Critic is a website focused on video-game reviews and run by David Mrozek. It was established in 1999, and is known for featuring comprehensive reviews on many early gaming platforms.-History:...

gave Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes a B+, calling it "fun" and having "an unorthodox style of play that's oddly captivating". It also went on to say that the game was "very challenging and entertaining". Schwartz and Dykman of Allgame

Allgame

Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....

said that you had "better think twice before eating another tomato".