Ten fun facts about Cosmic Ark

Fact 1
It is believed to be the first-ever console game sequel.

Fact 2
The objective is to gather specimens from different planets aboard a cosmic ark, which contains the survivors from the city of Atlantis.

Fact 3
Cosmic Ark does not provide a set number of lives.

Fact 4
The player's ark starts with 40 fuel units, which are lost with each meteor strike or shot fired, and gained by destroying a meteor or capturing a life form.

Fact 5
Capturing both life forms from a planet before the warning klaxon will top off fuel reserves. If the ark runs out of energy, the next hit it takes will end the game.

Fact 6
Like its predecessor, Atlantis, Cosmic Ark ends with the destruction of the Ark but the smaller shuttle ship escaping. However, a sequel was never made to address this.

Fact 7
There are two versions of Cosmic Ark.

Fact 8
This game is historically notable in part because the starfield effect uses a hardware bug in the Atari 2600.

Fact 9
In the first stage, the player must fend off meteor showers from all four sides of the screen by pushing the joystick to fire in the desired direction.

Fact 10
The second stage requires the player to pilot a shuttle to a planet and use its tractor beam to pick up life forms.

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