Video Game Vintage Title: Tutankham

Tutankham

Tutankham is a 1982 arcade game developed by Konami and released by Stern in the US. The game was originally titled Tutankhamen, but it was discovered that the full name could not fit on the arcade cabinet, so the title was shortened.

Tutankham Gameplay

Tutankham is a combination of maze and shoot 'em up. Taking on the role of an explorer grave robbing Tutankhamun's tomb, the player is chased by creatures such as asps, vultures, parrots, bats, dragons, and even curses, all that kill the player on contact. The explorer can fight back by firing lasers at the creatures, but he can only cover the left and right directions. The player is also endowed with a single screen-clearing bomb ("Flash Bomber") per level or life. Finally, each level has warp zones that teleport the player around the level, which enemies cannot use.

To progress, the player must grab keys to open locked doors throughout the levels, searching for the large exit door; optional treasures can be grabbed for bonus points. Each level features a timer; when it reaches zero the explorer can no longer fire lasers, and once a level is cleared the remaining time is converted to bonus points.