Death World

One of the least-known, most enigmatic of Harmony Entertainment's titles, Death World was supposed to be a launch game—alongside Packed Man and Gorilla Barrel Jumper—for the ambitious HarmonaVision, a next-generation console that was years ahead of its time.

Unfortunately, cost-overruns and delays plagued the HarmoaVision and, when it finally debuted in late 1983 it sold essentially no units. Launching a new console after the original Atari-fueled market had crashed was hard enough, but the advanced graphics and  ahead-of-its-time AI capabilities of the HarmonaVision drove its price north of $1500, a fortune in 1983 dollars.  The HarmonaVision was only listed in the 1983 Sears Wish Book and was pulled from shelves shortly after.

When the HarmonaVision flopped, Death World died with it. It's not clear if the game was ever sold separately from the console, but their fates were interlinked.  Rumor has it that most of the games and consoles were buried, unsold, in a landfill somewhere in Ohio.

I was able to get a cartridge of Death World and was able to extract Level One from the ROM. It's unknown what the other levels might hold, as everyone involved in the game's original development has either passed (RIP) or won't talk.

The story of Level One seems straightforward. You are an unnamed adventurer walking through the woods. Avoid obstacles, collect cats. You make friends along the way. The ending is strange.  Makes a person want  to know what would happen in level two.