Off the Wall (Sente) (10/16/84)

Released in 1984 from Bally/Sente, Off the Wall is a two-player tennis sports game presented on SAC-I hardware. Players use dials to control their characters and volley against each other across a distinctly stylized court. The visuals utilize a palette of over one thousand colors within a resolution of 256 x 240 pixels for a vibrant, if modest by today’s standards, display. The game features a horizontal screen orientation and is driven by a Motorola M6809 processor alongside a Zilog Z80 handling the sound effects produced by CEM3394 chips. Programmer Michael Samis brought to life an original concept from Nolan Bushnell, with screen art contributions from Mark McPhee, Gary Johnson, and Roger Hector, and sounds created by Jesse Osborne and Gary Levenberg. A high score of 38,919 points was achieved by Anthony Felt and serves as a benchmark for those seeking to master Off the Wall’s straightforward but engaging gameplay.