Cube Quest
Cube Quest is a shoot 'em up arcade laserdisc game by American company Simutrek released in 1983. It was primarily designed and programmed by Paul Allen Newell, who previously wrote some Atari 2600 games. It was introduced at Tokyo's Amusement Machine Show in September 1983 and then the AMOA show the following month, before releasing in North America in December 1983. The game combines real-time 3D polygon graphics with laserdisc-streamed, animated backgrounds.
Gameplay
The objective of the game is to guide a spaceship through the Cubic World to reach the Treasure of Mytha located at the opposite extreme of the player's origin. Each cube edge leads to one of 54 uniquely themed corridors where a wave of enemies must be dispatched in a tube shooter style gameplay sequence. Destroy the Dewellers of the Dark, up to 1000 points, maneuver the spaceship to avoid the obstacle and destroy the Guardian Cubes, up to 5000 points. Finally, after reaching the Treasure of Mytha, receive a reward befitting the Master of the Cube Quest. After that, the game starts over again.Development
The game's developer Simutrek was founded by former Atari and Exidy executive Noah Anglin. Paul Allen Newell was responsible for the design and programming. The laserdisc backgrounds were produced by Robert Abel and Associates. Ken Nordine voiced the introductory narration. The game was planned to be released for the Vectrex, but was cancelled when the console went off the market.Paul Allen Newell was influenced by the computer animations of John Whitney and Jim Blinn, and arcade video games|early 1980s arcade game]s such as Pac-Man, Tempest, Centipede and Defender. The game's CGI backgrounds were later used in Beyond the Mind's Eye.