Astrosmash - Meteor (1981)(Mattel) - Intellivision - Shooter, Arcade

Astrosmash was originally conceived when a game called Meteor!, an Asteroids clone, did not fill up the ROM space of an entire cartridge. The extra space was used to create a variation of the game called Avalanche! The Meteor! game was cancelled at the last minute, due to concerns that it was too similar to Asteroids. Programmer John Sohl programmed a "branch" around the opening-screen menu, leading directly to the Avalanche! variation, retitled Astrosmash. The games were compatible, since they were designed together, and used the same sprites and sound effects. In rare instances, if the console's reset button is pressed rapidly, an error can occur, resulting in the game starting in the original Meteor! format. Mattel released the game for the Atari 2600. Renamed Astroblast, it has faster play than the Intellivision original.