Worm War I , released for the Atari 2600 in 1982 , is an action-packed game where giant worms attack the city of Teriyaki, and it's up to the player to protect it. The player controls a tank at the bottom of the screen, which can move left or right while constantly moving forward. The speed of the tank can be adjusted by pushing up or down on the joystick.
The game requires the player to shoot worms that are moving back and forth across the screen without touching the tank. Additionally, blocks in the tank's path must be destroyed, while fuel pagodas should be collected to provide power to the tank. The twist is that when the tank reaches the far left or right of the screen, it becomes invulnerable to worm attacks but loses its ability to shoot.
In the game's two-player mode, players can choose between cooperative and competitive gameplay. In co-op mode, both tanks share points and fuel, so refuelling one tank refuels them both. In competitive mode, each player has their own score and fuel count, and they compete against each other to shoot down enemies and collect fuel pagodas.