Sky Jinks
1982 video game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sky Jinks is a vertically scrolling, air racing-themed video game developed by Bob Whitehead for the Atari 2600[2] and published by Activision in 1982.
| Sky Jinks | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer | Activision |
| Publisher | Activision |
| Programmer | Bob Whitehead[1] |
| Platform | Atari 2600 |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode | Single-player |
Gameplay
In Sky Jinks, the player pilots a low-flying Seversky XP-41[3] airplane through a time trial. To complete a game level, the player must bank around a prescribed number of pylons (left for blue and right for red). The XP-41 can bank left and right, as well as accelerate and decelerate. Flying into a pylon (which counts), tree, or hot air balloon slows down the plane.
The game has four courses: Polo Grounds, Aero Race, Love Field, and Speedy Meadows. There is also a pseudo-randomly-generated course called Thompson Tourney.[3]
Legacy
In the mid-1980s, social psychologist Roy Baumeister used the game in his psychological research into performance anxiety.[4]
Activision anthologized Sky Jinks in the PlayStation title A Collection of Activision Classic Games for the Atari 2600 (1998) and in the multi-platform collection Activision Anthology (2002).
See also
- List of Atari 2600 games
- List of Activision games: 1980–1999
- Skiing (1980), a similar skiing game written by Bob Whitehead for Activision