The Arcade Game
The coin-op game Cloak & Dagger, was programmed by Russell 'Rusty' Dawe and released by Atari in 1983. Originally called Agent X, the name was changed to Cloak & Dagger shortly before the game was released to tie into the movie (a handful of Agent X prototypes exist). You control Agent X (Jack Flack), who must infiltrate the hideout of the evil Dr. Boom and recover the secret plans he has stolen. Agent X must progress through a series of 32 floors to find Dr. Boom's hidden lair and destroy his underground bomb factory.
Each floor of the hideout contains a series of conveyer belts. Riding along the conveyer belts are bombs, which come in two colors, green and red. Green bombs are not active and can be picked up for points, however red active bombs are deadly to the touch. Green bombs turn into red bombs after they pass though the bomb-arming device, so Agent X must be careful near these. Also on the conveyer belts are mystery boxes and map pieces. Mystery boxes have a random power up in them (bonus points, speed up, slow down, or an extra life), while map pieces (one each level) show Agent X the way through the land mine field (more on this later).
At the center of each of the rooms is a giant bomb. After a set period of time, the fuse of the bomb will light, slowly burning until the bomb detonates. When the bomb blows, Agent X only has a second or two get out of the room before he is killed. Agent X can light the bomb himself for big bonus points, but doing so is risky.
Every four levels Agent X will come to a mine field. Mine fields look like large empty rooms, except that they are filled with invisible land mines. The land mines are only reveled when Agent X is standing right next to them. There are only a few safe paths through the mine field, and one will be shown if Agent X has collected all the pieces of the map on the previous three levels. If a piece of the map was missed, the path through the mine field will only be partially shown.
Each level also contains a number hazards that can kill Agent X. Robot guards roam the levels and will shoot at Agent X if they detect him. Likewise, giant eyeballs found in the caverns will shoot a deadly death ray at Agent X if he gets too close (this ray also destroys Agent X's shots). Forklifts, which move bombs from one conveyer belt to another, roam the level and will reflect Agent X's shots back at him (nothing worse than killing yourself). Box crushers and acid pits also make Agent X's journey a hazardous one.
Once Agent X makes his way to the bottom of the factory (on level 33), he must grab the secret plans, and confront the evil Dr. Boom himself. After grabbing the secret plans (and killing Dr. Boom), Agent X must make his way back up through the factory to the surface and escape. However now each level contains a new enemy called a node monster, which emanate from the giant hole in each level where the bomb exploded. Also perusing Agent X to the surface is the Super Guard. The Super Guard is a lightning fast robot which appears after a short period of time. The Super Guard is indestructible and must be avoided at all costs. Once Agent X has made it to the surface you will be treated with a glimpse at the top secret plans.
