Tower Defense - anything like it on Atari 2600, Intellivision or Colecovision?

[+cvga]

We were playing some Bloons on the iPad today and it got me wondering if there's anything like it on a retro system, especially the Atari 2600, Intellivision or Colecovision. I can't think of any. What do you think is closest, maybe an ancestor to that type of game?

[jhd]

 

It is much more of an action than a strategy game, but the only thing that comes to mind is Atlantis. 

 

  

Edited January 17, 2022 by jhd

[Mikebloke]

Some games like Atlantis, defender, missile defence and even space Invaders are suggested as precursors as they involve defending things. 

 

The first true tower defence is probably rampart that had a c64, lynx, game boy and nes/master system port. That is probably as 'low down' as it goes. 

 

I think anti tower defence games like gain ground and commando are a lot more common. I don't think systems this early had the processing power or at least the know how for churning out all those numbers. Wondering if it could be possible though if bullets arent represented? 

[CapitanClassic]

The Wikipedia definition of Tower Defense seems accurate, but the history section is anything but.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_defense

 

Quote

Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive structures on or along their path of attack.^[1] This typically means building a variety of different structures that serve to automatically block, impede, attack or destroy enemies. Tower defense is seen as a subgenre of real-time strategy video games, due to its real-time origins,^[2][3] even though many modern tower defense games include aspects of turn-based strategy. Strategic choice and positioning of defensive elements is an essential strategy of the genre.

The first time I remember hearing the term Tower Defense, was in reference to a Warcraft III mod. Almost all the other historical game references are missing one of the key elements.

 

• Real Time Strategy 
• Place Defense Structures
• Waves of Attacking Enemies

The only hope for a TD game on one of these older systems is of someone decided to create a demake homebrew of one of the popular games in the genre. I cannot think of one for the systems listed above though.

[Goochman]

Castle Defender on the 8bit is alot of fun: