Plaque Attack

While most games took an average six to nine months to complete, programmer Steve Cartwright finished Plaque Attack in two months! He admits the game is similar to Megamania (by Activision). "Basically, I took a lot of code from Megamania and reworked it," said Cartwright.

There was a botched marketing plan that included a lousy TV commercial for Plaque Attack. "It came right at the end of the wave of 2600 games and, in fact, I think it was never even shown on TV because it was so bad. The commercial was supposed to be a 30-second spot that had the tooth fairy show up in a boy's bedroom and promote the game. They spent more time trying to explain why the tooth fairy was in his room (as well as doing away with any moral implications), than talking about the game itself!" The game still went to market, but it was not as popular as other games in the Activision library.

In the game, you control the tube of toothpaste, which eventually gets smaller and runs out as you shoot globs of toothpaste at the attacking items. There are eight waves of attacking foods.

Megamania is more fun in my opinion. In some ways Plaque Attack borrows the "protection" element of gameplay in Missile Command (by Atari). You've got to protect your teeth or they will turn yellow and eventually decay.

A company called DSD/Camelot also developed a rivaling game called Tooth Protectors for Johnson & Johnson. This game was only available through mail order.

Back in the 1980s, Activision used to give out embroidered game club patches if you got a high score, took a picture of your TV screen, and mailed it to them. Here is the high score to shoot for:

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