<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
is	O
a	O
horizontally	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
developed	O
by	O
Epyx	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Atari	O
Corporation	O
in	O
1989	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
and	O
Europe	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
Lynx	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmed	O
by	O
Todd	B-Application
's	I-Application
Adventures	I-Application
in	I-Application
Slime	I-Application
World	I-Application
author	O
Peter	O
Engelbrite	O
,	O
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
began	O
its	O
development	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
functional	O
Lynx	B-General_Concept
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
received	O
positive	O
reception	O
from	O
critics	O
after	O
its	O
initial	O
release	O
,	O
with	O
praise	O
towards	O
the	O
presentation	O
,	O
originality	O
and	O
gameplay	O
but	O
the	O
sound	O
department	O
received	O
criticism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
updated	O
conversion	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
was	O
planned	O
but	O
never	O
went	O
into	O
full	O
production	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
internal	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
is	O
a	O
horizontally	O
scrolling	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
game	O
where	O
the	O
player	O
take	O
control	O
of	O
an	O
unnamed	O
space	O
fighter	O
craft	O
across	O
51	O
non-linear	O
levels	O
(	O
"	O
universes	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
main	O
objective	O
being	O
finding	O
and	O
defeating	O
the	O
evil	O
spider	O
Zendocon	O
by	O
passing	O
through	O
teleportation	O
gates	O
to	O
do	O
so	O
,	O
while	O
battling	O
against	O
an	O
assortment	O
of	O
Zendocon	O
's	O
army	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
was	O
written	O
by	O
Peter	O
Engelbrite	O
when	O
he	O
worked	O
at	O
Epyx	O
as	O
games	O
developer	O
and	O
programmer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
also	O
worked	O
on	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
conversion	O
of	O
other	O
titles	O
from	O
the	O
company	O
such	O
as	O
California	B-Device
Games	I-Device
,	O
Summer	B-Application
Games	I-Application
and	O
Winter	B-Device
Games	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
online	O
interview	O
with	O
website	O
The	O
Atari	O
Times	O
,	O
Engelbrite	O
recounted	O
about	O
the	O
development	O
process	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
project	O
began	O
before	O
functional	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
Lynx	I-General_Concept
hardware	O
existed	O
and	O
wrote	O
an	O
emulator	B-Application
of	O
the	O
console	O
on	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
8-bit	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
,	O
setting	O
up	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
graphical	O
data	O
structures	O
but	O
displaying	O
the	O
sprites	O
as	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
text	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
during	O
development	O
,	O
an	O
early	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
Lynx	B-General_Concept
capable	O
of	O
displaying	O
raster	B-Algorithm
graphics	I-Algorithm
was	O
made	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
running	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
on	O
actual	O
hardware	O
,	O
albeit	O
at	O
a	O
slow	O
frame	O
rate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electronic	O
Gaming	O
Monthly	O
also	O
revealed	O
that	O
other	O
members	O
were	O
involved	O
in	O
its	O
production	O
,	O
among	O
them	O
being	O
Lynx	B-General_Concept
co-inventor	O
R	O
.	O
J	O
.	O
Mical	O
,	O
although	O
their	O
roles	O
were	O
not	O
specified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
launch	O
titles	O
during	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Lynx	B-General_Concept
in	O
1989	O
along	O
with	O
California	B-Device
Games	I-Device
,	O
Blue	B-Application
Lightning	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Electrocop	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
garnered	O
positive	O
reception	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
review	O
for	O
STart	O
,	O
Clayton	O
Walnum	O
called	O
the	O
game	O
"	O
the	O
obligatory	O
,	O
horizontally-scrolling	O
,	O
outer-space	O
shoot-em-up	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
said	O
it	O
would	O
only	O
appeal	O
to	O
fans	O
of	O
the	O
genre	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
limited	O
depth	O
and	O
weak	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Lynx	B-General_Concept
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1993	O
,	O
Atari	O
Corp	O
.	O
requested	O
several	O
Epyx	O
titles	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
be	O
converted	O
and	O
release	O
to	O
the	O
then-upcoming	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
,	O
with	O
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
among	O
the	O
list	O
of	O
selected	O
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
initial	O
discontinuation	O
of	O
Protector	O
on	O
Jaguar	B-Device
in	O
1995	O
,	O
Atari	O
suggested	O
to	O
use	O
its	O
engine	O
in	O
a	O
proposed	O
update	O
of	O
Gates	B-Application
of	I-Application
Zendocon	I-Application
for	O
the	O
system	O
but	O
Christopher	O
Weaver	O
,	O
then-president	O
of	O
Bethesda	O
Softworks	O
,	O
was	O
not	O
interested	O
and	O
no	O
actual	O
development	O
started	O
on	O
this	O
version	O
due	O
to	O
this	O
decision	O
.	O
</s>
