My port of the classic Biplanes of Intellivision's Triple Action, which my brother and I loved to play as kids in the 80s.

It's a thrilling dogfight -- biplane style! Watch out for the control tower...don't get lost in the clouds. But most of all, watch out for that blood thirsty baron with a leather cap!

© 1981 Mattel Electronics Design and Programming: Rich O'Keefe Art: Jerrol Richardson Production: APh Technological Consulting Release: 10/15/1981

The Objective: Score 15 points first, by shooting down your opponent's plane or the ascending balloon...and by not crashing your own plane!

Strategy: Keep your plane flying under control to get more shots at the balloon when it goes up..use cloud cover and aerial skill to outmaneuver your opponent during "dogfights".

How to Play: Choose one of these options, then press ENTER: 1 Short-range bullets 2 Long-range bullets

• Take off by pressing either LOWER Action Button AND the top edge of the Direction Disc.

• Don't make your plane climb too fast, or you'll stall and crash. If you start to lose altitude, press bottom of Disc to head nose down -- so you can gain speed and stability.

• To fire at the ascending balloon or your opponent's plane, aim at the target and press either TOP Action Button.

• You can do loops, dive, even fly upside down -- as long as you maintain enough "air-speed" to have flying control. Use the cloud cover and daredevil flying to force your opponent into making mistakes!

• The game is over when one plane scores 15 points.

More hours were spent in the programming cubicles playing Biplanes than any other Intellivision game. Although it's one of the simplest, many programmers felt it was the most challenging and fun of the two-person games. The first time you deliberately stall, go into a free fall, then pull out with a backward loop at the last second to blast your opponent at pointblank range is a joy!

So many hours were wasted on Biplanes, that when a memo was circulated April 1, 1982, ordering Triple Action deleted from programmers' hard disks, Biplanes-addict Steve Montero (Night Stalker) didn't argue; sheepishly, he erased it, only later discovering that the memo was an April Fool's hoax.

In Biplanes, although the game ends when one player reaches 15 points, bullets in the air at that point are allowed to score. It's possible, therefore, to have a game with a 15-15 tie, or to win with 16 points.

Bug: In Biplanes, horizontal-flying bullets headed directly at the narrow spot on the upper half of the tower sometimes fly right through it, as if the tower wasn't there.

• The objective of Biplanes is to score 15 points by shooting down the balloon or the enemy's biplane.
• Before the game begins, players can choose between short-range and long-range shots.