Accepted [+] [X] Road Blaster Update submitted by XtC
Road Blaster (c) 1985 Data East Corp.
Your mission is to seek out a gang of bikers who attacked and killed your wife. You are behind the wheel of a supped-up sports car, weaving in and out of traffic and other obstacles while in pursuit of the bikers.
- TECHNICAL -
This game uses a laser disc.
Film Produced by Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
- TRIVIA -
Road Blaster was released in August 1985.
The player's car makes a cameo in "Double Dragon" as soon as the garage door opens in the beginning of the game.
- STAFF -
Game Staff
Producer & Director : Yoshihisa Kishimoto (Yoshi Kishimoto)
Programmers : Shintaro Kuma
Sound Programmers : Hironobu Mohre, Masa Yoshihara
Engineers : Takatoshi Kato, Junichi Nabe
Picture Staff
Producer : Shuichi Sato, Tadao Okubo
Co-Producer : Kenkichi Matsushita
Director : Hideki Takayama
Chief key Animato r: Yoshinobu Inano
Background Design : Yoshiyuki Yamamoto
Animators : Baik Nam Yeul, Shinichi Imaguma, Shigeo Matoba, Kim Dae Jung, Kaoru Shinbo
Xerox & Paint : Yoshihiro Maeda, Yoshiaki Okada
Camera : Toshiharu Takei
Editor : Shinichi Fukumitsu
Music Director : Michael K. Nakamura
Sound Effects Editor : Kenichi Mori
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sega Mega-CD [JP] (dec.18, 1992) "Road Blaster FX [Model T-32124]"
Sega Mega-CD [EU] (1993) "Road Avenger [Model 4603-50]"
[US] Sega CD (1993) "Road Avenger [Model T-6207]"
[JP] Sega Saturn (oct.20, 1995) "Interactive Movie Action - Thunder Storm & Road Blaster [Model SLPS-00094~5]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (oct.20, 1995) "Interactive Movie Action - Thunder Storm LX-3 & Road Blaster [Model T-20701G]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX (1986) by Nippon Victor
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] [JP] (may.4, 2009)
[JP] Sharp X68000 (may.4, 2009)
* OTHERS:
Pioneer LaserActive [US] (1995) "Road Prosecutor [Model PEASU1033]"
Pioneer LaserActive [JP] (jan.25, 1995) "Road Blaster [Model PEASJ1033]"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (jan.15, 2011) "Road Blaster [Model 338399795]"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (mar.16, 2011) "Road Blaster HD [Model 418262266]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Operation Wolf Update submitted by XtC
Operation Wolf (c) 1987 Taito Corp.
Operation Wolf is a light-gun controlled shoot-em-up in which the player takes on the role of Special Forces operative 'Roy Adams' and must infiltrate and capture six heavily fortified bases, with the ultimate aim of rescuing five trapped hostages and guiding them to safety.
In order to complete each stage, the player must shoot as many enemy soldiers and vehicles as that stage requires. Enemy soldiers can throw hand grenades and knives, while enemy vehicles can shoot missiles and launch rockets. The player's ammunition and grenades are limited, but can be stocked up by shooting barrels and crates. Occasionally a high-powered machine gun power-up appears, allowing the player's gun to have unlimited ammo and an increased rate of fire for 10 seconds. Completing the 'Powder Magazine' stage fills the player's ammunition and grenade supplies to maximum.
The hostages do not appear until the 'Concentration Camp' stage. Here, the player must protect them from harm as they run to safety. During the 'Airport' stage, the player must fend off enemy attacks as the hostages run toward the open hatch of an airplane as it taxis along a runway. A bonus is awarded based on the number of hostages that successfully board the plane.
A damage bar is displayed to the right of the main play screen, this increases each time the player takes a hit. The damage bar also increases if a civilian or hostage is shot. Energy boost items randomly appear which, if shot, decrease damage by five points. In addition, the player recovers a large amount of damage after completing the Village stage, and a small amount after completing each of the others. If the damage bar fills completely or if the player runs out of ammunition and grenades, the game ends. Farm animals, in the form of chickens and pigs, will occasionally run across the screen; Shooting these will reveal bonus items such as health or ammunition.
Once the game is completed, the player is returned to the first mission, but with an increased level of difficulty. The game's six stages are:
* Communication Setup
* Jungle
* Village
* Powder Magazine
* Concentration Camp
* Airport
- TECHNICAL -
Board Number : M4300189A
Prom Stickers : B20
Main CPU : Motorola 68000, Zilog Z80 (x2) (C-chip is a z80!)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2151, OKI MSM5205 (x2)
Players : 1
Control : lightgun
Buttons : 2
- TRIVIA -
Operation Wolf was released in November 1987.
Mark Twitty holds the official record for this game with 212350 points.
A bootleg of this game is known as "Operation Bear".
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (The Ninja Warriors : G.S.M. Taito 1 - D28B0001) on June 21, 1988.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Time your grenade shots to wipe out more than one enemy vehicle at a time. It is rarely smart to use a grenade on a single vehicle. Grenades are not plentiful enough to use in this fashion.
* When the large, blond enemy soldiers (with toting large machine guns) appear in stage four (Ammo Dump), shooting them in the face will take them down quickly. Otherwise, a grenade or lots of bullets will be required. Also in stage four, keep a stream of fire going just to the right corner of the mortar behind the sandbags. You will plug the guy shooting at you early and you will not be distracted by incoming mortar fire.
* Each round cleared heals three damage points and the village round heals twenty damage points. If you are playing on a generous machine (mucho power drinks) or an easy machine and you are a great shot, you may have less than three damage points near the end of the first stage (enemy radar) or less than twenty damage points near the end of the village scene. If so, leave one helicopter alive. When it flies on screen, pump it with nine bullets. This gives you points and you can finish it with one shot if you need to. The helicopters often take just one damage point and take a long time to deliver their damage. All the while they do this, power drinks, grenades, and ammunition may show up so you can stock up before the round has to end. Blow-up the helicopter when you have three or twenty damage points depending on the round.
* On the fifth stage (Concentration Camp), you are likely to finish this round shooting foot soldiers. If you are a good shot, wait until they flash. Sometimes, the enemies do not flash or shoot. The longer you delay the end of the round, the more likely you are to have ammo, grenades, and power drinks drift into the scene.
* If you play a game that allows you to select the scene in which you fight, choose the village when you have 15-20 damage points so you can make the most of the village's healing bonus where twenty damage points will be removed. Also, do not select the ammo dump. It uses more ammo than it gives, delivers inevitable damage to you, and the three helicopters the ammo dump sends to reinforce the final round are nothing compared to the onslaught you face at the ammo dump.
- SERIES -
1. Operation Wolf (1987)
2. Operation Thunderbolt (1988)
3. Operation Wolf 3 (1994)
4. Operation Tiger (1998)
- STAFF -
Developed by East Technology.
Cast : Eigo Okajima, Katuhiko Hirano, Satoru Komiya, Toshihiro Kimura, Masaru Tamura, Naoaki Wataya
Direct of photography : Eigo Okajima
Music by : Hiroshi Tuda
Planned by : Eigo Okajima
* Design :
All characters : Masaru Tamura, Op & Ed, Saori Ohkura
Title & Capture : Saori Ohkura
1st scene : Masaru Tamura, Natuko Tanahara
2nd scene : Masaru Tamura, Natuko Tanahara, Saori Ohkura
Extra scene : Masaru Tamura
3rd scene : Naoaki Wataya
4th scene : Naoaki Wataya
Final scene : Naoaki Wataya
States : Natuko Tanahara, Saori Ohkura
Effects : Masaru Tamura, Naoaki Wataya
All mechanics : Naoaki Wataya
* Program :
Event : Katuhiko Hirano, Satoru Komiya
1st scene : Katuhiko Hirano
2nd scene : Satoru Komiya
Extra scene : Toshihiro Kimura
3rd scene : Katuhiko Hirano, Toshihiro Kimura
4th scene : Satoru Komiya
Final scene : Toshihiro Kimura
System : Katuhiko Hirano
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (mar.31, 1989) "Operation Wolf [Model TFC-OW]"
[JP] NEC PC-Engine (aug.31, 1990) "Operation Wolf [Model NAPH-1010]"
[EU] Sega Master System (1990) "Operation Wolf [Model 7039]"
[EU] Nintendo NES (1992) "Operation Wolf - Take No Prisoners"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[EU] Sony PS2 (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[KO] Sony PS2 (jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (mar.29, 2007) "Taito Memories II Gekan [Model SLPM-66713]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Atari ST (1988)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1988)
[EU] Commodore C64 (1988)
[EU] MSX (1988)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1988) : Keyboard / Joystick version
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1989) : LightGun version
[AU] Commodore Amiga (1989) "Amiga Champions"
[JP] FM Towns PC (1990) "Operation Wolf [Model HMB-126]"
[US] PC [MS DOS]
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Midnight Run - Road Fighter 2 [Model GX476] Update submitted by XtC
Midnight Run - Road Fighter 2 (c) 1995 Konami.
- TECHNICAL -
GX476
Main CPU : PPC403 (@ 32 Mhz), 68000 (@ 16 Mhz), ADSP21062 (@ 36 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) K054539 (@ 48 Khz)
Players : 2
Control : 8-way Joystick
Buttons : 3
- TRIVIA -
Midnight Run Road Fighter 2 was released in December 1995 in Japan.
- SERIES -
1. Road Fighter (1984)
2. Midnight Run - Road Fighter 2 (1995)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Sony PlayStation (nov.27, 1997) "Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2 [Model SLPM-86022]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (jan.1998) "Midnight Run - Road Fighter 2 [Model SLES-00590]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Galaxian 3 - Project Dragoon [Theater 6] Update submitted by XtC
Galaxian 3 - Project Dragoon (c) 1992 Namco.
All players man gun pods on the Starship Dragoon. Their objective to to shoot down enemies to protect the ship and their shared life meter.
- TECHNICAL -
[Theater 6]
Namco System 21 Feature Laser Disc
Players : 6 Players
Video : 2 x 110inch RGB Projectors - 18 Foot Wide Screen
Sound : 4 channel BOSE sound system
Dimensions : 5 metres wide, 4.9 metres Long, 2.4 metres High
Controls : Gun yoke type controller
- TRIVIA -
Released in December 1992 in Japan.
The version was largely based on a Japanese theme park attractions (Model GH-28 and GM-16) which debuted in 1990.
- SERIES -
1. Galaxian (1979)
2. Galaga (1981)
3. Gaplus (1984) : also known in the USA as "Galaga 3"
4. Galaga '88 (1987)
5. Galaxian 3 Theatre 6 - Project Dragoon (1990)
6. Galaxian 3 Theatre 6 J2 - Attack Of The Zolgear (1994)
7. Galaga Arrangement (1995) : part of "Namco Classics Collection Vol.1"
8. Galaga - Destination Earth (2000, GBA, PC CD-ROM and PlayStation)
9. Galaga Arrangement (2005, PSP) : part of "Namco Museum Battle Collection"
10. Galaga Remix (2007, Wii) : part of "Namco Museum Remix"
11. Galaga Legions (2008, XBLA)
12. Galaga Legions DX (2010, PSN, XBLA)
13. Galaga 3D Impact (2011, Nintendo 3DS) : part of "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions"
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sony PlayStation (Apr.1996) : Supports 4 players
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Defender Update submitted by XtC
Defender (c) 1980 Williams.
Defender is a legendary sideways-scrolling shoot-em-up - the very first of its genre - in which the aim is to pilot a laser-firing spaceship and protect humanoids stranded on the planet's surface from swarms of alien abductors.
A long-range scanner at the top of the screen shows the positions of both the humanoids and the attacking aliens. The ideal strategy is to shoot down the alien ships before they reach the humanoids. If a humanoid is captured, the alien abductor can still be destroyed, but the player must then catch the falling humanoid and return it to the safety of the planet's surface before it falls to its death.
If an alien is allowed to carry its victim to the very top of the screen, the humanoid will mutate, becoming a permanent part of the alien that captured it. This new and deadly mutation will then immediately join in the alien attack.
The challenge becomes more intense as action progresses. Fighter ships and their mines will soon join the abductors. There are also mother ships that must be destroyed; these are particularly difficult as a direct hit smashes the mother ship into a swarming mass of mini-ships that must also be wiped out. Throughout the entire mission, the player must act quickly or face possible destruction by the cosmic baiter, a fast and dangerous enemy.
Players have two escape options to use as a last resort. The first is the 'smart bomb', which destroys all on-screen enemies. The second option is 'hyperspace', which randomly teleports the player's ship to another part of the level. This is highly risky as it may place the player's ship in a position more dangerous than the one it left.
If all humanoids are successfully abducted, the planet will explode in a blinding flash and the waves remaining until the next planet is reached take place in outer space, and consist solely of destroying enemy waves.
- TECHNICAL -
Board Number : D75 (top), D71F (A)
Prom Stickers : DF
Main CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 1 Mhz)
Sound CPU : M6808 (@ 894.75 Khz)
Sound Chips : DAC
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick (vertical)
Buttons : 5
= > THRUST, FIRE, REVERSE, SMART BOMB, HYPERSPACE
- TRIVIA -
According to Defender development lead Eugene Jarvis: The game was shown at AMOA Chicago October 31, 1980 and released a week or two later on November 15, 1980.
Along with Namco's seminal "Pac-Man", Defender shares the title of 'Highest Grossing Video Game of All Time' and to date has earned more than one billion dollars. It's interesting to note that when the now-legendary shoot-em-up was first shown at a 1981 Chicago arcade machine trade show, it was deemed to be a flop due to its high level of difficulty. Arcade industry insiders confidently predicted that both Defender and Pac-Man would be commercial flops and that Namco's "Rally-X" would be the next major arcade success.
Defender's attract mode for the game was programmed in just five hours.
Defender was noted for both its superb sound and visual effects and, moreover, for its extremely demanding gameplay. This didn't, however, stop players from accumulating millions of points when playing the game. Just minutes after the opening of the AMOA - an arcade industry trade show - Eugene Jarvis and his team - Defender's creators - were burning new ROMs for the game's display due to the fact they plugged the first burn into the board BACKWARDS and fried them. Due to the intimidating controls, hardly anyone at the show played the game and there were even rumours circulating suggesting that both Pac-Man and Defender would flop and that Namco's Rally-X would be the next big hit. Not only did Defender have the highest number of controls (five buttons, in addition to a two-way joystick) but it was also the first video game to feature an artificial 'world', in that game events occurred OUTSIDE the on-screen viewing area presented to the player.
Chris Hoffman holds the official record for this game on 'Marathon' settings with 79,976,975 points on January 1, 1984.
Bill Jones holds the official record for this game on 'Tournament' settings with 543,950 points on August 15, 2008.
Some bootlegs of this game are known as "Star Trek 1981", "Defence Command", "Defense Command", "Zero" (Jeutel), and "Tornado" (Jeutel).
Defender inspired a catchy hit song by Buckner and Garcia called 'Defender' released on the 'Pac-Man Fever' album.
A Defender unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Terms of Endearment', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks' and in the 1983 movie 'Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance'.
The official video of the 1982 pop song "Herbergsvater", by Joachim Witt, begins by featuring a Defender unit and contains long scenes of Defender gameplay.
A mini Defender unit appears in the 1983 music video 'Almost Over You' by Sheena Easton.
MB (Milton Bradley) released a board game based on this video game (same name) in 1983: win the most points by using your Defender ships to protect Humanoids from waves of aliens. A set of chance cards will bring the different aliens (Bombers, Landers and Humanoids) into play. Movement is determined with a spinner. Players can move their defenders and aliens.
- UPDATES -
Defender ROM sets were distinguished by early and later editions. The early edition supported only upright cabinets. In 1981 Williams released a cocktail cabinet version which necessitated extra code to flip the video display and to support a second set of game controls. The editions had some minor differences in the game's attract mode: The early edition gave an erroneous point value of '100' for alien landers; this was corrected to '150' in the later edition. Also, the high score value for player PGD was '14185' in the early edition and '14285' in the later edition.
Early edition ROM sets :
* Defender (White Label)
* Defender (Green Label)
* Defender (Blue Label)
Later edition ROM sets :
* Defender (Red Label)
- SCORING -
Lander : 150 points.
Mutant : 150 points.
Baiter : 200 points.
Bomber : 250 points.
Pod : 1,000 points.
Swarmer : 150 points.
Completely destroying a pod with a smart bomb : 1,150, 1,300, 1,450, 1,600, 1,750, 1,900, or 2,050 points.
(The chances that a bombed pod will score 1,150, 1,300, or 1,450 points are 1/256 each.)
Getting hit by an enemy bullet : 25 points.
Saving a humanoid from a Lander : 500 points.
Depositing a humanoid into the ground : 500 points.
Humanoid landing into the ground safely on his own : 250 points.
Bonus at the end of each wave
Wave 1 : Humanoids Left X 100.
Wave 2 : Humanoids Left X 200.
Wave 3 : Humanoids Left X 300.
Wave 4 : Humanoids Left X 400.
Wave 5 and above : Humanoids Left X 500.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The enemies that initially appear in each wave are :
Wave 1 : 15 Landers
Wave 2 : 20 Landers, 3 Bombers, and 1 Pod
Wave 3 : 20 Landers, 4 Bombers, and 3 Pods
Waves 4 and up : 20 Landers, 5 Bombers, and 4 Pods
* Avoid using hyperspace unless you are about to die. Fighting off attacks, regardless of the number of enemies, will make you a better Defender player.
* Baiters can usually be overcome by hitting the reverse button twice quickly. They will fly past you and be in range for your fire power. Do NOT try to outrun them as baiters are faster than your ship.
* Swarmers are easy to defeat. You can hit reverse as soon as they fly past you and fly behind them. They cannot shoot backwards so you can blast away at will.
* Shooting a Pod will release between 1 and 7 Swarmers. The chances that it will try to release 1, 2, or 3 Swarmers is 1/256 for each. Also, the maximum number of Swarmers allowed in the game is 20. So, for example, if there are 18 Swarmers in the game and a Pod is hit, it can only release a maximum of 2 Swarmers.
* At higher levels, you will need to play God and even sacrifice some Humanoids (by killing them yourself) to preserve the rest of the planet's population. The planet is too large for you protect and you are sparing the Humanoids from a fate worst than death (mutation). Do not worry, these Humanoids reproduce quickly and overpopulation has always been a constant problem. The planet will be fully populated at the start of every fifth attack wave (configurable).
* The International Date Line : there are reverse lines for Swarmers and Mutants (AKA the 'International Date Line'). If this line is between you and the type of enemy in question, they will travel the opposite direction around the planet to get you (i.e. they won't cross this line to get to you). If a Mutant, say, is following you and you cross the Mutant reverse line (to the left of the big mountain) it will suddenly reverse direction and go around the other way. The same is true for the Swarmer reverse line (located approximately where your ship starts each wave). This doesn't affect Swarmers that you are following behind. If you're on one side of the line and a Pod is on the other and you shoot it open, the Swarmers will fly away from you and you can get in behind them immediately. The best use of these lines is where there are lots of Swarmers and/or Mutants that you don't want to hassle with. You stay near the line and go back and forth over it to keep the enemy on the other side of the planet. This is especially useful in space and waves that get really hairy.
* Freeze : you can freeze a Defender machine by picking up all ten Humanoids (on any wave, but Wave 1 is your greatest chance at success), stopping all forward motion of your ship, quieting the screen down (i.e. having no enemies moving around on it) and setting all the Humanoids straight down quickly. This seems to work better were the terrain is very close to the bottom of the screen. Everything will freeze, but you can still move your ship up and down. Thrusting will break the spell, so to speak. If you do pick a spot with shallow terrain, some Humanoids will go thru the bottom of the screen and appear suspended in mid-air near the top. This trick is good to use during marathon games when you've reached Wave 256 and need a breather.
* Some top players begin each round by shooting all the Humanoids except for one, which they pick up. The planet is too large for you protect and you are sparing the Humanoids from mutation, a fate worse than death. This keeps Mutants from developing, but it also means that the planet explodes if you lose your last Humanoid. The planet is fully repopulated at the start of every fifth attack wave (configurable). This can be considered an advanced trick.
* Due to a bug in the algorithm that computes extra lives, every scoring activity from 990,000 to 999,975 will earn one extra ship and one extra Smart Bomb. If the player suicides on something or gets shot, one ship is lost, but one ship and one smart bomb are awarded; the net effect on the number of ships is zero. Dying on hyperspace re-entry awards nothing, because this awards no points. For winning N ships from 990,000 to 999,975, the player will have to achieve N x 10000 points after passing 1,000,000 before the game's accounting balances, and ships are awarded properly at 10,000 point intervals again. For example, if a player earns 45 extra lives during this interval, he will have to score another 450,000 points before being awarded another extra life. The player gets to keep surplus ships and bombs and can have super long turns where he may bomb two to three times per wave to get out of dangerous situations.
* The trick is this: If the player wins 100+ ships between 990,000 and 1,000,000, this causes the game to start awarding extra lives right away again after turning the score over to zero. If the player wins 100 ships, the machine will have to wait 1,000,000 points to begin awarding ships again. However, since 1,000,000 is equivalent to zero, it awards them immediately at 1,010,000.
* It's possible on a real Defender machine to make the screen color inverted so that all the black space is white while you are playing. It will reset itself when you die and maybe when you use hyperspace. Smart bomb flashes are cool when it's reversed. The trick was to drop a credit in right when you die and the screen flashes white. Somehow the program gets distracted (non-masked interrupt on coin drop?) and the screen stays white.
* Defender attack waves 'roll over' at Wave 100, which is displayed, after being completed, as Wave 0. The game keeps track of the actual number of waves, even though they are not shown properly. For example, the next wave will be counted as Wave 101, even though it shows being completed as Wave 1. The game will 'roll over' again at Wave 200, which is displayed, after being completed, as Wave 0 as well.
The next 'roll over' occurs at Wave 256. Upon completion of Wave 255, the next wave is a 'blank' wave, in which no enemies appear, and the wave immediately ends after the player's ship appears on screen. This level is counted and displayed as Wave 0, and the player is awarded a bonus of humanoids left X 0 points (the bonus for this wave is always 0 points). The next is Wave 1, and the game now plays just as if the player had started a new game, except the player gets to keep his score and all of his bonus ships and smart bombs.
- SERIES -
1. Defender (1980, ARC)
2. Stargate (1981, ARC)
3. Strikeforce (1991, ARC)
4. Defender 2000 [Model J9041E] (1996, Jaguar)
- STAFF -
Staff : Eugene Jarvis (DRJ), Sam Dicker (SAM), Larry DeMar (LED), Paul Dussault (PGD), (CRB), Mike Stroll (MRS), Steve Ritchie (SSR), (TMH)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1981) "Defender [Model CX2609]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Defender [Model CX5218]"
[US] Entex Adventure Vision (1982) "Defender [Model 6075]"
[EU] Emerson Arcadia (1982) "Space Squadron"
[US] Atari XEGS
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[US] Colecovision (1983) "Defender [Model 70002]"
[US] Mattel Intellivision (1983) "Defender [Model 70252]"
[US] Sega Genesis (1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits"
[EU] Sega Mega Drive (1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model T-97126-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model T-9703H]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (apr.10, 1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SLUS-00201]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (sept.1, 1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SLES-00323]"
[US] Nintendo SNES (oct.1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SNS-AW8E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo SNES (jan.8, 1997) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SNSP-AW8P-EUR]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (june.27, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model T-9713N]"
[EU] Sega Dreamcast (jul.28, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model T-9710D-50]"
[US] Nintendo 64 (nov.14, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model NUS-NAIE-USA]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLUS-20801]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.24, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[US] Nintendo GameCube (dec.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model DOL-GAKE-USA]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLES-51927]"
[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (nov.15, 2006) : Retired in 2010
[US] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.6, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins"
[US] Sony PlayStation 3 (nov.6, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins [Model BLUS-31083]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.15, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins"
[EU] Sony PlayStation 3 (nov.15, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins [Model BLES-01768]"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 4 - Defender & Joust [Model DMG-ADJP-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (oct.1995) "Arcade Classic No. 4 - Defender & Joust [Model DMG-ADJE-USA]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy Color (mar.1999) "Arcade Hits - Joust & Defender [Model DMG-AADE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color (apr.1999) "Arcade Hits - Joust & Defender [Model DMG-AADP-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (nov.22, 2001) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits [Model AGB-AM3E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (nov.30, 2001) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits [Model AGB-AM3P-EUR]"
[US] Sony PSP (dec.13, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play [Model ULUS-10059]"
[EU] Sony PSP (feb.24, 2006) "Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play [Model ULES-00180]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Starfire"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Planet Invasion"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Offender"
[US] Atari 800 (1982) "Defender [Model CXL4025]"
[EU] BBC B (1982) by Acornsoft
[EU] Sinclair Zx-Spectrum (1982) "Orbiter [Model 1]" by Silversoft
[US] TI99/4a (1983) "Defender [Model RX8506]"
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[US] Commodore C64 (1983) "Defender [Model RX8508]"
[US] PC [Booter] (1983)
[US] Apple II (1983)
[EU] Oric-1 (1983) "Defence Force" by Tansoft
[US] Commodore VIC-20 (1983)
[EU] BBC B (1983) "Super Defender" by Acornsoft
[EU] Acorn Electron (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] Acorn Electron "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] BBC B (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] BBC B "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1984) "Starblitz" by Softek Software
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1984) "Defenda" by Interstella Software
[EU] Commodore C64 (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] Commodore C64 (1985) "Guardian II" by Hi-tech Software
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985) "Defend or Die" by Alligata
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985) "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1986) "Defenda" by Interstella Software : 128k version improved sound/graphics.
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1990) "Guardian II" by Hi-Tech Software Ltd 'UK'
[EU] Atari ST (1990) "Defender II" by ARC developments, Atari UK, limited
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1990) "Defender II" by ARC developments, Atari UK, limited
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1991) "Zeron" by Acid software
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1994) "Defender" - Shareware
[US] PC [MS Windows 3.1/DOS, CD-ROM] (1995) "Williams Arcade Classics"
[US] PC [MS Windows 95/DOS, CD-ROM] (1996) "Williams Arcade Classics"
[EU] Sam Coupe (1998) by Persona
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (aug.27, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.23, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] Tangerine Microtan 65
* OTHERS:
VFD handheld game (1982) by Entex
VFD handheld game (19??) by Gakken : the screen is a little smaller than the Entex version.
[US] Palm OS "Midway Arcade Classic"
[US] Tiger Game.com (1997) "Williams Arcade Classics [Model 71-722]"
[US] Mobile Phones (june.13, 2003) by THQ Wireless
[US] Apple App Store (feb.23, 2012) "Midway Arcade [Model 476467441]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Puzz Loop Update submitted by XtC
Puzz Loop (c) 1998 Mitchell.
Puzz Loop is a puzzle game for one or two players in which different coloured marbles continually roll down a spiral path towards a central goal line.
Players control a rotating cannon situated at the center of the spiral and must stop the line of marbles from reaching the goal by shooting matching coloured marbles into the line. If three or more marbles of the same colour are matched, they will disappear.
In addition to standard marbles, bonus marbles occasionally appear that will, for example, temporarily slow down the rate the marbles' advance, or cause all marbles of a certain colour to be destroyed. Also, providing there is a clear line of sight, unwanted marbles can be fired straight out of the play area to prevent them from adding to the advancing line.
All marbles must be destroyed to complete a level. The game is over once the marbles are pushed over the goal threshold.
- TECHNICAL -
Kaneko Super Nova System hardware
Main CPU : SH-2 (@ 28.638 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YMZ280B (@ 16.666666 Mhz)
Players: 2
Control: dial
Buttons: 2
- TRIVIA -
Puzz Loop was released in December 1998.
The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'PZL'.
- SERIES -
1. Puzz Loop (1998)
2. Puzz Loop 2 [CP-S II No. 36] (2001)
- STAFF -
Graphic designers : M-Nuts, Amamoto, SABATO
Programmers : Yoshimura, Akaishi
Sound : Maruyama, M-Nuts, A.S
Game designer : SABATO
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Nintendo Game Boy Color (nov.1999) "Ballistic [Model DMG-ALIE-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy Color (mar.3, 2000) "Puzz Loop [Model DMG-BPZJ-JPN]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (dec.31, 1999) "Ballistic [Model SLUS-00966]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (mar.16, 2000) "PuzzLoop [Model SLPS-02663]"
Nuon (jul.2000) "Ballistic"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (oct.20, 2000) "Ballistic [Model SLES-02701]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (mar.2, 2006) "Shunkan Puzz Loop [Model NTR-APLJ-JPN]"
[US] Nintendo DS (jul.5, 2006) "Magnetica [Model NTR-APLE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (jan.26, 2007) "Actionloop [Model NTR-APLP-EUR]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Vindicators Update submitted by XtC
Vindicators (c) 1988 Atari Games Corp.
As team commander of the SR-88 Strategic Battle tanks, you must face the evil invading forces of the Tangent Empire. They're invading the galaxy with 14 space stations designed to defeat your team. Turrets and highly mobile armoured tanks are constantly on patrol to protect the fortifications that Tangents have built.
With limited supplies and weapons, you must make a last stand and attempt to defeat the invaders. The most powerful weapon in your arsenal is the SR-88 Battle Tank, but their fuel supply is very volatile. You must constantly replenish its fuel by picking up fuel canisters throughout the stations' many levels.
Battle stars can be found along the way. These are vital to enhancing your tank and adding weapons. Process generators can convert the battle stars into powers and weapons while in transit between levels and stations. Only with these customized tanks can the evil Tangent Empire be conquered.
As you defeat each station, demolish its control room and take the supplies the fleeing Tangents have left behind. Proceed in their mothership to the next station for another battle.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : 136059
Main CPU : Motorola 68010 (@ 7.15909 Mhz), MOS Technology 6502 (@ 1.7895 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579 Mhz), POKEY (Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit) (@ 1.7895 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : Double 2-way joystick (vertical)
Buttons : 4
- TRIVIA -
Vindicators was released in April 1988. This was quite a year for Atari and tank games, since they also released "Assault" in 1988.
1,605 dedicated units were produced in the USA only. The selling price was $2,395. The dedicated cabinet is a real favorite among some arcade game collectors. This is probably due to its unique shape, it is shaped a lot like a tank, with tank treads holding up the bottom section of the cabinet. The top half is decorated with sticker sideart that shows scenes from the game, and these same graphics generally carry over to the control panel and the front of the machine. The control panel features four tank handle controllers.
A Vindicators dedicated cabinet can be seen in the Nickelodeon show All That (from 1997 to 2000). However, it used a fictional marquee which was made for the show.
Also, 114 conversion kits were produced in the USA only (released in February 1989). The selling price was $795.
- UPDATES -
REVISION 1 :
* Build date : OS : 08APR1988 11 :50 :08 / PG : 11APR1988 16 :34 :40
REVISION 2 :
* Build date : OS : 08APR1988 11 :50 :08 / PG : 12APR1988 14 :53 :35
REVISION 3 :
* Build date : OS : 08APR1988 11 :50 :08 / PG : 20APR1988 11 :21 :49
REVISION 4 :
* Build date : OS : 08APR1988 11 :50 :08 / PG : 26APR1988 10 :49 :46
- STAFF -
Designed & programmed by : Kelly Turner (KFT), Norm Avellar (NLA), Russel Dawe (Rusty) (RBD)
Art & animation by : Kris Moser (KEM), Susan G. McBride (SGM)
Audio by : Brad Fuller (BAF), Hal Canon (HAL)
From hiscore table: (TNK), Dave Webienson (DEW), Pat McCarthy (PMC), (REM), (MEA)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Nintendo NES (1988)
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLUS-20801]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.24, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[US] Nintendo GameCube (dec.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model DOL-GAKE-USA]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLES-51927]"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Atari Lynx: Unreleased prototype
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1988)
[US] [EU] Commodore C64 (1988)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1989)
[EU] Atari ST (1989)
[US] Commodore Amiga (1989)
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jan.1, 1999) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 2"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (aug.27, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.23, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
* Others:
[US] Tiger LCD Handheld Game (1989)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator [Cockpit model] Update submitted by XtC
Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator (c) 1982 Sega.
STAR TREK is a 1- or 2-player SEGA Color X-Y video game with computerized speech synthesis. The player finds himself the Captain of the Starship Enterprise, his mission being to rid the universe of a number of threats to the United Federation of Planets.
STAR TREK has a unique method of displaying the information vital to the game play. This method involves the separation of the CRT into three completely separate screens.
The Scanner is where the player sees a top down or plan view of local space, with the Enterprise always in the center of this screen. The Viewer is where the player sees actual apparent 3-D images, as if he were looking out the ships front window. The Status screen displays player score in addition to Shield strength, number of Photon Torpedoes, and amount of Warp energy remaining.
The game begins by introducing Klingons, Starbases and the Enterprise into the Scanner with an exciting shrink down animation sequence. The Enterprise starts with 1 to 4 Shields and Photon Torpedoes (switch selectable). By actuating the rotary knob and depressing the Thrust button the player may maneuver about the Scanner screen.
In order to destroy enemies the player may use either of two weapons : Phasers (the Fire button) or Photon Torpedoes. Each has unique properties.
* Phasers are instantaneous, can destroy only one enemy at a time, and are in unlimited energy supply.
* Photon Torpedoes require time to travel, can destroy many enemies, and are in LIMITED supply. Displayed in the Status screen, Photon Torpedo supply appears as a red bar (squares).
For high speed, the player may depress the WARP button. While this button is held down the Enterprise moves very quickly and cannot be damaged in any way by anything. A blue bar in the Status screen displays the amount of Warp energy available, and shrinks as the Warp button is held down.
The Enterprise is shrouded by an automatic Shield, which protects the Enterprise from enemy fire and collisions. The Shields are displayed in the Status screen as green line segments (a bar). Once the strength of the Shields is depleted, the ship can sustain damage. When damaged, the Enterprise looses ship functions in the following order : Shields, Photon Torpedoes, Warp Drive. If all of these are damaged, the next hit will destroy the Enterprise and end the game.
In order to repair this damage the player may choose to dock with a Starbase. Docking is accomplished by merely flying into a Starbase. The DOCKED message appears, all damage is repaired, and a Shield unit, Photon Torpedo, and some Warp time are added to the ship's supplies. Although only four of each supply unit is displayed at any one time, 255 can be collected.
The primary enemy is the Klingon Battle Cruiser, which comes in three colors :
* Red Klingon - ignores the Enterprise and sets out to destroy a Starbase, after which the Klingon turns purple.
* Purple Klingon - ignores Starbases and attempts to destroy the Enterprise by firing plasma energy balls. Purple Klingons will stop a certain distance away while attacking so as not to risk collision. After a certain period of time (depending on round), purple Klingons turn white.
* White Klingons - sometimes known as Maniac Klingons, these Klingons will move VERY QUICKLY and attempt to ram the Enterprise.
Anti-Matter Saucers appear randomly and move about the screen in a confusing fashion. These saucers can be destroyed only with Phasers. If the saucer collides with the Enterprise, it will attach itself, drain your ships Warp energy, then leave quickly.
After a number of rounds, the player advances to the Nomad round. In this sequence Nomad zips about the screen depositing dangerous mines. The mines cause chain reactions which should be avoided. Nomad can only be destroyed with Phasers. Once Nomad has delivered its total load of 30 mines, it waits for the last mine to detonate, leaves the screen, and ends the round.
Every 10,000 to 40,000 points (operator selectable) the player is awarded a bonus Shield unit, Photon Torpedo and Warp time unit. The two player game is played with players alternating with each complete round. Whenever a player is eliminated, the other player continues and finishes the game.
- TECHNICAL -
[Cockpit model]
Sega G80 Vector hardware
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz), I8035 (@ 208 Khz), I8035 (@ 400 Khz)
Sound Chips : SP0250 (@ 3.12 Mhz), Custom (@ 3.12 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Players : 2
Control : Dial (to rotate the Enterprise right and left)
Buttons : 3 (IMPULSE, PHOTON TORPEDO, WARP)
- TRIVIA -
Star Trek is Sega's vector color game that came upon the scene in 1982. It featured a screen that was broken down into three parts. It also featured pseudo-three-dimensional graphics. The game is fast paced and in addition to keeping track of all that's going on, you must also be pretty good with the controls. This is another 'sleeper' game that didn't gain a real big following.
- SCORING -
Destroying Enemies :
Klingons : 25 + (round number X 25) Points
Anti-Matter Saucer : 5,000 Points
Nomad : 30,000 Points
Starbase Bonus at the end of a round :
Used Starbase : round number X 250 Points
Un-used Starbase : round number X 1,000 Points
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, the Enterprise will be placed into the sector. You will have a 1-2 second delay so take a good look at where everything is at on your radar screen. Your first priority should always be to defend your starbase.
* Try to use your warp as little as possible. On the early waves, you can make it to your starbase and defend it without having to warp to it. On the later waves, however, you will be needing that warp to get to your starbase quickly. Also, you will also be using your warp to get away from the Klingons, especially when they go into suicide mode (turn white).
* As the game progresses, the Klingons get quicker and they maneuver faster to keep out of phaser range. When you do have a target within your phaser sight, a spinning yellow ring will outline the target. In addition to faster movement, the Klingons also fire faster so you can lose a ship very quickly in the later sectors.
* It takes 5 shots to destroy a starbase. After the Klingon bomber has achieved that objective, it will change from red to purple and become a normal Klingon fighter that will attack you. Also, you can collide with the Klingon bomber causing the loss of 1 unit of shield energy.
* After sector 20, there are random numbers of Klingon fighters in the sector. If the number is below 4, they may instantly turn white and attempt to ram your ship instead of firing on it. Before sector 20, if you take too long destroying the Klingons, they will also turn white.
* You want to, as much as possible, avoid resupplying at the starbase. If you don't resupply, you will get a much larger score then if you do resupply. Plus, if you get enough points, you will get additional things anyway. So, bottom line, use the starbase only in the most dire of circumstances.
* You will notice a blue, oval shaped ship on your radar. That is an antimatter UFO and the only thing you can destroy it with are phasers. If you notice, when you attempt to close in on it, the UFO moves away. The best way, if you can safely do it, is to move diagonally until the UFO is within your phaser range. Sometimes you get a lucky break and the sector starts with the UFO already in phaser range.
* The NOMAD sectors are probably the most difficult sectors to deal with. NOMAD rapidly moves around the sector laying mines. These mines either detonate after a certain time period or when you hit them with phaser or photon torpedo fire. Keep in mind, if there are a lot of mines packed together, they will all detonate and your ship may be in the middle of it all. The best strategy is to hopefully put up a phaser barrage at the beginning of the sector and take NOMAD out quickly. If this fails, don't move around unless your ship is in danger. NOMAD will eventually return within range. In the later sectors, NOMAD moves very quickly so you have to be very quick on the controls.
* Use your photon torpedoes sparingly since you have a limited number. If you see an enemy grouping of three or more, shoot a torpedo into the middle. Since photon torpedoes have a blast radius, you can probably take out those three ships with one shot. Again, use only on tight groupings of enemies or when desperate measures require desperate actions.
* Become very familiar with the controls since a moments hesitation could end the Enterprise's 5 year mission prematurely.
- STAFF -
Designed and programmed by : Sam Palahnuk
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1983) "Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator [Model 004-01]"
[EU] Atari 2600 (1983) "Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator [PAL] [Model 004-01]"
Atari 5200 (1982) "Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator [Model 004-02]"
Atari XEGS
[US] Colecovision (1983) "Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator"
* COMPUTERS:
Commodore C64 (1983) "Star Trek : Strategic Operations Simulator"
Commodore VIC-20
Atari 8-bit (1983) "Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator [Model 004-03]"
Tandy Color Computer (1984, "Space Wrek")
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (1983)
Apple II
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Space Duel [Model 136006] Update submitted by XtC
Space Duel (c) 1982 Atari.
Space Duel is a 1- or 2-player game with a color X-Y video display. This display, with its 3-color guns and higher voltage, has the same technology that was used in previous Atari black-and-white X-Y displays. However, the screen now displays dazzling color and unique visual effects in a spectacular multi-dimensional video display.
Space Duel offers players a choice of 4 different game versions. One player can control a fighter or a space station. Two players, playing at the same time, can control fighters or a space station. The game offers players 12 different targets (7 split when hit), and 18 different waves. At the beginning of each wave, objects enter from the screen edge. The player(s) then tries to shoot and destroy the objects. The wave ends when all the objects are destroyed.
Gameplay begins with the first wave. In the space station game, two ships appear near the center of the screen. The ships are joined together by a 'fuse'. In the fighter game, the red ship appears above the red controls. The green ship appears above the green controls. A sound is heard any time a ship appears on the screen.
A ship may fire as many as four shots on the screen at one time. However, if a ship is damaged, it may fire only one shot on the screen. Also the ship is slower to react. In space stations, a second hit to either ship destroys that ship. Then, the fuse between ships starts to burn, and the other ship explodes.
In the fighter game, players may shoot each other without losing a life. Instead, the ship blinks and disappears. After a period of time, the ship reappears in a different location. If one player loses all of his ships before the other player, his last ship returns to the screen as a damaged ship. It is possible to earn a bonus ship while damaged.
Shields protect a ship from all saucer shots and collisions. Shields wear out with time or if hit by targets. Space stations have more than twice as much shield energy as fighters.
In the first wave, spinners enter and break into two smaller pieces when shot. Each piece splits into two smaller pieces when shot again. Each of these pieces is destroyed when shot. Other targets split apart in the same manner.
At the end of each wave, a bonus wave begins and a low humming sound is heard. 'BONUS LEVEL', and the number of points for that level, flash on the screen. A box appears at the screen edge and ships cannot leave that boundary. Fuzzballs, stars and saucers enter and attack the player. A fighter, when shot by the other player, either just before or during the bonus wave, will not reappear until the next wave. The bonus wave ends when all targets are destroyed, or the humming sound reaches its highest pitch.
Other targets enter as the game progresses. When the number of targets is less than the wave number, or if no splitting targets have been hit in some time, saucer enters and shoots at targets and ships. The saucer shots become more accurate as play continues. Saucers may also enter as a pair. They shoot at, but do not destroy, each other. Anything caught between them will be shot. Each time the pair goes across the screen, the distance between them increases.
A player's ship may be destroyed by a shot or collision. The game is over when all ships are destroyed.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : 136006
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) POKEY (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Player controls consist of 5 buttons for each player :
ROTATE LEFT
ROTATE RIGHT
THRUST
SHIELDS
FIRE
- TRIVIA -
The Upright model was placed on Field Test for the first time on July 31, 1981. It was officially released in February 1982.
Production run :
Space Duel Upright : 11,017 Built @ $2,095
Space Duel Cocktail : 1,019 Built @ $1,895
Space Duel is the first and only multi-player interactive vector game by Atari. When "Asteroids Deluxe" tanked, this game was taken off the shelf and released to moderate success.
A Space Duel cabinet appears on the cover of the Who's 1982 album, 'It's Hard'.
In 1982, Atari released a set of 12 collector pins including : "Missile Command", "Battle Zone", "Tempest", "Asteroids Deluxe", "Space Duel", "Centipede", "Gravitar", "Dig Dug", "Kangaroo", "Xevious", "Millipede" and "Food Fight".
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Invite Your Friend : In 2-player mode, you can shoot your partner and it will regenerate their shield. This comes in very handy!
- SERIES -
1. Asteroids (1979)
2. Asteroids Deluxe (1981)
3. Space Duel (1982)
4. Blasteroids (1988)
5. Asteroids (1998, PC, PS; 1999, GBC; 2000, Mac)
6. Asteroids Hyper 64 (1999, N64)
7. Asteroids Gunner (2011, App Store)
- STAFF -
Designed & partially programmed by: Rick Maurer (Richard Maurer)
Project resumed, changes made & game finished by: Owen Rubin (ORR), (JMR), Steve Calfee (SRC), Dave Shepperd (DES)
Hardware Engineer: John Ray
Engineering Technician: Doug Snyder
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Sony PlayStation (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (oct.18, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"
[US] Microsoft XBOX One [US] (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Nintendo DS (nov.2, 2010) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.24, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6P-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[US] Steam (mar.24, 2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
[US] Atari Flashback 2 (2005) : Atari 2600 version
[US] Nokia N-Gage (feb.2006) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. II"
[EU] Nokia N-Gage (mar.30, 2006) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. II"
[US] Atari Flashback 2+ (2010) : Atari 2600 version
Apple Store [US] (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Android Market [US] (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Shanghai II Update submitted by XtC
Shanghai II (c) 1989 Sunsoft.
Szechuan-style solitaire mahjong.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : V30 (@ 8 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2203 (@ 4 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 3
- TRIVIA -
Shanghai II was released in March 1989.
- SERIES -
1. Shanghai (1988)
2. Shanghai II (1989)
3. Super Shanghai Dragon's Eye (1992)
4. Shanghai III (1993)
5. Sanrio Shanghai (1994, Nintendo Super Famicom)
6. Shanghai - Banri no Choujou [Model 610-0374-02] (1995)
7. Shanghai - Great Moments (1995, PC [MS Windows])
8. Game no Tatsujin - The Shanghai (1995, Sony Playstation)
9. Shanghai Dynasty (1997, PC [MS Windows])
10. Shangai Matekibuyuu (1998)
11. Shanghai Pocket (1998, Nintendo Game Boy & Game Boy Color)
11. Shanghai Pocket (1999, Wonder Swan)
12. Shanghai - Second Dynasty (1999, PC [MS Windows])
13. Shanghai Mahjong (2000, PC [MS Windows])
14. Shanghai - Four Elements (2000, Sony Playstation 2)
15. Shanghai Shoryu Sairin (2000)
16. Shanghai Mini (2000, NeoGeo Pocket Color)
17. Shanghai - Sangoku Pai Tatagi (2002, Sony Playstation 2)
18. Shanghai Advance (2002, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
19. Super Shanghai 2005 (2004, Sony PlayStation 2)
20. Tsuushin Shanghai (2005, Sony PlayStation 2)
- STAFF -
Staff : M. Maeda, K. Yoshida, A. Takeuchi, M. Nomura, K. Kitazumi, K. Okumura, Sakakibara, Yoshinari, T. Shiono, S. Saitoh
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sharp X68000 (1989) "Shanghai II [Model ZH-1099]"
* HANDHELDS:
Sega Game Gear (1990) "Shanghai II [Model T-15017]"
* COMPUTERS:
PC [MS-DOS] (1990) "Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye"
NEC PC 8801 (1990)
NEC PC 9801 : by System Soft.
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Super Cobra [Model GX316] Update submitted by XtC
Super Cobra (c) 1981 Konami.
The object of the game is to invade ten SUPER COBRA defense systems of increasing difficulty and safely pick up the BOOTY.
Use the joystick to move up, down, accelerate and decelerate. Use the Laser and Bombs to destroy defenders. Hitting tanks scores Mystery Value worth 100, 200, or 300 points. Rockets, Tanks, Missiles, and UFO's may all fire at invader. Hit fuel tanks for extra fuel for CHOPPER. The Chopper uses up fuel as it flies, except in between defense levels.
At 10000 points, the player is awarded a BONUS CHOPPER.
At the end of the game, the player can continue at the defense level he left off on by depositing extra coins and pressing the discharge button on the left-hand side of the panel.
If the Booty is destroyed on the BASE level, the player may try again. When the Booty is safely recovered, a Bonus Chopper is awarded and play resumes at defense level Number 1 where the fuel is used up faster and the defenders fire more often.
SUPER COBRA Defense Level Descriptions :
* Fuel Tanks appear on every defense level.
* Tanks appear and fire on all levels except level 8 where they do not fire.
Level 1 - Player must maneuver the chopper over mountainous terrain against fast and slow firing rockets.
Level 2 - Chopper faces Arcing missiles over a mountain terrain.
Level 3 - Smart Bombs flying in groups of four over mountainous terrain. Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 4 - Single Smart Bombs over mountainous terrain. Again, Rockets appear but do not fire.
Level 5 - Chopper flies through a cavern-like terrain against Falling Mines.
Level 6 - Rapidly firing, Roving Tanks over mountainous terrain. Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 7 - Maneuver through a field of meteors which explode when hit with bombs or three times with Laser, plus a single, green, shadow meteor directly in front of Chopper which explodes when hit five times with Laser. Rockets appear but do not fire.
Level 8 - Chopper flies over mountainous terrain against rapidly firing UFO's. Tanks and Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 9 - Chopper faces arcing missiles over tall buildings.
Level 10 - Firing rockets in a Building Maze.
Base - Player must maneuver the Chopper over tall buildings against arcing missiles and rapidly firing tanks to reach the Booty and safely carry it away.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : GX316
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) General Instrument AY8910 (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2 (FIRE, BOMB)
- TRIVIA -
Super Cobra was released in March 1981 in Japan.
Super Cobra came out at the same time as "Scramble". While Scramble only went through five areas to the base, Super Cobra went through ten areas. Super Cobra also had more enemies to deal with besides the missiles such as gun batteries and sidewinder missiles. The premise, though, is the same. Penetrate the enemy defenses to make it to the base to pick up the booty. What do you have against all this defense, you have your Super Cobra of course. It will, though, require all of your skills as a pilot to be able to go the distance to get the booty. This game never gained the popularity of Scramble but it still remains a cult classic and actually seems to have had better staying power then Scramble. Perhaps the reason was because it was more of a challenge, who knows.
A Super Cobra unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'.
- SCORING -
10 points per second of flying.
Missile on ground : 30 points
Sidewinder missile on ground : 40 points
Missile in air : 50 points
Sidewinder missile in air : 60 points
Red UFO : 100 points
UFO : 100 points
Fuel tank : 50 points
Gun battery : 100, 200, or 300 points
Green fireball : 150 points
Missile in ceiling : 30 points
Missile dropping from ceiling : 50 points
Booty : 800 points
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, your helicopter will be at the left side of the screen. Keep in mind, this is a scrolling game. This means you can go no faster then the right side and no slower then the left side. You can, however, vary your speed in-between by pushing the joystick back and forth. The biggest key in getting through this game is learning how to use the joystick to speed up and slow down because you will sometimes be put into some very tight areas that will require precision joystick control. You will hit a clear area and a message will come up such as '1000 miles cleared', '2000 miles cleared', etc... until your reach the base.
1ST AREA : This is a basic introductory area. It will allow you to get used to the controls while the threat level remains relatively low. The area is a mix of both mountainous and city.
a) Learn how to vary your speed and you can drop bombs with pinpoint precision. You can only have two bombs on the screen at any one time. You will have to go close to the surface to really make a difference. The biggest threat is the missiles that rise up to meet you.
b) Fuel is a very precious commodity in this game. Don't take a chance trying to bomb a fuel tank. It's better, if you have a flat section, to take out what's under your rocket, and strafe the rest of the way. This way, you ensure you can hit the fuel tank or tanks.
c) Watch the terrain. Sometimes you may be cruising when a mountain will appear suddenly requiring quick reflexes and space you may not have.
d) You also need to watch out for ground fire from the gun batteries. They tend to fire random shots and if you aren't careful, they will hit your helicopter.
2ND AREA : This area introduces you to the sidewinder missile. These missiles are unusual in the fact that they fire at an arc and come back down again. This means your helicopter can get hit two ways. Of course, if it misses your helicopter, it tends to sometimes be helpful by taking out other ground targets such as missiles and gun batteries. The terrain is mountainous.
a) Follow the same pattern as you did in the 1st Area. This time, you need to be wary of the sidewinder missiles.
b) As always, make sure you keep a high fuel level and watch out for those gun batteries.
3RD AREA : You get to deal with the red UFO's in this area. Also, the mountains will get steeper and create ''choke points'' at the top of the screen. Of course, you will have to contend with the UFO's coming through the other side. The terrain is mountainous.
a) The red UFO's aren't too difficult to deal with. They have a tendency to stop in pairs, then come at your helicopter. Again, it's easy to shoot them down.
b) The biggest threats are the 'choke points'. You usually will arrive at the same time as a UFO to see who's first over the mountain. This will require quick reflexes.
c) Even though no missiles come up at you, the gun batteries will still harass you.
4TH AREA : This is a continuation of the 3rd Area. Except this time the area you are flying in is significantly narrowed to a point where it seems like you are going through natural caverns. Use the same methods as the 3rd Area.
5TH AREA : You will have to deal with threats both from above and below in this area. There are missiles in the ceiling of the caverns that will drop down. Although missiles aren't firing from the ground, you still have to deal with gun batteries. The terrain is mountainous and caves.
a) You will have to be real careful in this area, the missiles in the ceiling are pretty concentrated. You will have to be able to speed up and slow down on a dime to avoid them or to shoot them.
b) Don't get too close to the ground since the terrain goes from mountains to canyons very quickly.
c) As already mentioned, get fuel and avoid ground fire.
6TH AREA : The main threat in this area is the fact the gun batteries now move. That's right, they track right along with your helicopter until they hit an obstacle. They travel equally well in the canyons as well as the mountains. This makes them especially dangerous since they are firing at the same time.
a) You will have to accelerate and decelerate frequently to 'fool' the moving gun batteries.
b) When you destroy ground targets, be selective in which ones you hit because if you hit targets in the path of the moving gun batteries, you just allow them to travel farther.
7TH AREA : This area is a little trickier since you now have fireballs coming at your helicopter. In addition, there is a green fireball that likes to track your helicopter and prevent your shots from gaining any distance. It takes seven shots to take out this fireball. The terrain is mountainous.
a) You will be staying in the valleys most of the time in this area. This is a good time to shoot things up on the ground since again, the missiles won't fly up at your helicopter. Gun batteries, though, will continue to harass you.
b) Timing again is important in this area since there are hills in the valley you must cross over. Of course, the tops of these hills are exposed to the fireballs. Time it so that right after a fireball passes over a hill, accelerate and drop into the next valley. Then decelerate in preparation for the next hill.
8TH AREA : This is repeat of the 3rd area except this time you will be dealing with 'chains' of white UFO's. Use the same tactics as the 3rd Area.
9TH AREA : This is a very short city area. Just watch out for sidewinder missiles.
10TH AREA : This is the area that will get most players. The movements have to be precise in the caves or you will end up part of the wall.
a) Learn quickly when to accelerate and decelerate within the caves. Right when you come to a ledge, push the joystick all the way back and start lining up for the next cave. Accelerate quickly through it, decelerate and repeat this pattern.
b) Don't worry about running out of fuel in the caves, there are plenty of fuel tanks to top your helicopter off. Plus, you will need all that fuel for not only navigating through the caves, but also the base since it doesn't have any fuel tanks.
BASE : This is the second hardest area that gets a lot of players. You have to be very precise in your movement. You will have to deal with gun batteries firing at you while you are trying to pick up the booty.
a) You will see the KONAMI sign atop one of the buildings. Once you see this, you need to decelerate rapidly and drop down quickly to the shorter building next to the base. Once you almost clear that building, you will have to rapidly decelerate, drop down, grab the booty, and rise quickly to avoid the building on the right.
b) If you fail to grab the booty on a pass, the screen will repeat itself until you either destroy the base or run out of rockets to use on it.
Once you have completed the Base, the action goes back to the 1st Area again. Things, however, will speed up. Fuel consumption is quicker and the enemies also are faster.
- SERIES -
1. Scramble (1981)
2. Super Cobra (1981)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Casio PV-1000 (1981) "Super Cobra [Model GPA-102]"
Philips G7000 Videopac [EU]
[JP] Sony PlayStation (may.13, 1999) "Konami 80's Arcade Gallery [Model SLPM-86228]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX [EU] (1983) "Super Cobra [Model RC705]"
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1987) "Killer Cobra" by Mastertronic
Commodore Plus/4 [EU] (1987)
Sord-M5 [JP] (1981)
* OTHERS:
[JP] VFD handheld game (19??) released by Gakken : Two different body styles were released.
Arcade [EU] [AU] [KO] (nov.1998) "Konami 80's AC Special"
Arcade [JP] (nov.1998) "Konami 80's Arcade Gallery"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Road Runner Update submitted by XtC
Road Runner (c) 1986 Atari Games.
The player takes on the role of the Road Runner - from the much-loved Warner Bros. cartoon series - and must outrun and outsmart the villainous Wile E. Coyote, in this abstract side-scrolling racing game from Atari.
A variety of traps and pitfalls await the Road runner - including cannons, land mines and cliff-top drops - that must be carefully avoided or negotiated. It is possible, however, to lure Wile E. Coyote into these traps to put some valuable distance between the Road Runner and his pursuer.
Piles of birdseed are littered throughout the levels and Road Runner must eat them (by running over them) whenever possible, as missing five seed piles will cause Road Runner to feel faint and stop running, resulting in him being caught by Wile E Coyote. A 'Seed Meter' at the top of the screen indicates Road Runner's seed energy level.
Road Runner's colourful, beautifully-drawn graphics capture the spirit and humour of the legendary cartoons perfectly. The music and sound effects are also faithful to the cartoon series.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : 136040
Runs on the "Atari System 1" hardware. It was available in the Upright configuration AND as a conversion kit for Marble Madness, Peter Pack Rat or Indiana Jones.
For operators who would like to utilize prize redemption, the game is compatible with the System 1 'Vend-A-Ticket' game option.
Control: stick
Buttons: 3
- TRIVIA -
Road Runner was released in July 1986 (even if the title screen says 1985).
Road Runner, as with all Atari System 1 games, was arguably one of the most distracting games in the arcade. If not setup properly, the Road Runner game would play all the background music during the intro. The Atari System 1 speaker system had a great acoustic arrangement. Players would be immersed in a sea of sound allowing them to really get into the game play. Unfortunately for others, they could hear the same thing on the other side of the room!
Some Road Runner units were produced (757 exactly) from the factory. Most arcade owners purchased the conversion kit which was marketed and readily available from Atari at a lower price ($695) than a new system ($1895). An Atari System 1 cabinet could be converted into a different game (but only with other Atari System 1 games) in a day.
A graphically enhanced version of this game (Apparently running on "Beat Head" hardware) was planned, where each stage would have a Road Runner cartoon scene as an intermission, spooled from a laserdisc. However, although a master was produced (now in the hands of a private collector of Atari prototypes), no discs were ever pressed and it is likely that no ROMs were ever burned.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
Don't use an 8-way controller like Hot-Rod or X-Arcade with this game. You won't be able to control the Road Runner very well. Use a variable speed, jet-fighting type game joystick. This will allow you to control the variety of Road Runner speeds with precision. It makes the game much more fun and you'll get farther.
Don't go so fast that you lose Wile E. Coyote from view. He'll coming whizzing back with a vengeance. He'll attack at high speed on rocket skates and, in later levels, super sneakers.
If you stay close to Wile E. Coyote and maintain a constant speed (his arms will stick out in an effort to grab you), you can get a "Tongue Bonus" for 2000 points. The Road Runner will turn it's head around at Wile E. and stick out it's tongue twice, making that classic cartoon "Twoop twoop" sound. Pretty funny to see.
In higher levels, invisible paint buckets will appear. You need to get to them and paint yourself before Wile E. Coyote does. If you manage to paint yourself with the invisible paint, Wile E. Coyote will lose sight of you, stand and look around with a "?" above his head. Also funny to see.
On the levels where Wile E. coyote has acquired a portable helicopter and is dropping dynamite onto the Road Runner from above, keep running forward while constantly moving the Road Runner diagonally up and down (on some levels, you need to be watchful for land mines); this makes it much more difficult for the Coyote to target you accurately.
- STAFF -
Producer : Norm Avellar, Greg Rivera
Director : Mike Hally
Backgrounds : Sam Comstock, Mark West
Animation : Susan G. McBride
Audio by : Hal Canon, Earl Vickers
Location Tech : Rob Rowe
Support : Jack Aknin, Mike Albaugh, Brad Fuller, Pat McCarthy, Rich Moore, Don Paauw
Special Thanks to: Ed Logg, Cris Drobny, Gary Stempler, Dennis Harper, Synthia Petroka, David Pettigrew (Dave Pettigrew)
Team leader : John Ray
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Atari 2600 (1989) "Road Runner [Model CX2663]"
Nintendo Famicom (1989)
* COMPUTERS:
Commodore C64 (1987)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
Amstrad CPC (1987)
Atari ST (1987) "Road Runner [Model 538593]"
IBM PC
Amstrad CPC [FR] (1990, "10 Jeux Spectaculaires")
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Road Riot 4WD Update submitted by XtC
Road Riot 4WD (c) 1991 Atari Games Corp.
- TECHNICAL -
Atari G42 hardware
Game ID : 136089
Main CPU : Motorola 68000 (@ 14.31818 Mhz), MOS Technology 6502 (@ 1.7895 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579 Mhz), OKI6295 (@ 9.037 Khz)
Players : 1
Control : stick
Buttons : 3
- TRIVIA -
Road Riot 4WD was released in June 1991. 900 units were produced in the USA and 300 in Ireland. The selling price was $7995 at its time of release.
- SERIES -
1. Road Riot 4WD (1991)
2. Road Riot's Revenge Rally (1994)
- STAFF -
Project leader / Game designer / Graphics : Mark Stephen Pierce (MSP)
Software design & implementation : Dennis Harper (DDH), David S. Akers (DSA)
Hardware engineer : Sam Lee (SL)
Controls : Milt Loper
Expert technician : Farrokh Khodadadi (FRK)
Video imaging : Rob Rowe
Hardware supervisor : Pat McCarthy
Music and video : Don Diekneite
Animation : Sean Murphy
Marketing manager : Linda Benzler (LB)
Nu/Omega / Team director : John Ray
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Nintendo Super NES (1992) "Road Riot 4WD [Model SNS-RR-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo Super NES (1992) "Road Riot 4WD [Model SNSP-RR-EUR]"
Atari Lynx : Unreleased prototype.
Sega Mega Drive : Unreleased prototype.
- SOURCES -
Game's manual.
Game's picture.
Game's ROMs.
Game's screenshots.
See goodies section.
Accepted [+] [X] Mega Twins [B-Board 89624B-3] Update submitted by XtC
Mega Twins (c) 1990 Capcom Company, Limited.
Export release. Game developed in Japan. For more information about the game itself, see the original Japanese release entry; "Chiki Chiki Boys [B-Board 89625B-1]".
- TECHNICAL -
Runs on the "CP System" hardware.
B-Board ID: 89624B-3
- TRIVIA -
These Export versions are censored: the kidnapped bikini girls in the later levels don't appear.
- PORTS -
Ports for the Commodore C64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC were advertised, but were never published.
* CONSOLES:
[EU] Sega Mega Drive (1992) "Chiki Chiki Boys [Model 1075-50]"
Sega Mega Drive [BR] (1992) "Chiki Chiki Boys" by Tec Toy
Sega Mega Drive [AU] (1992) "Chiki Chiki Boys"
[US] Sega Genesis (1993) "Chiki Chiki Boys [Model 1075]"
Sega Mega Drive [KO] (1993) by Samsung
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.24, 2006) "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.24, 2006) "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 [Model SLUS-21473]"
Sony PlayStation 2 [AU] (apr.11, 2007) "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 [Model SLES-54561]"
[EU] Sony PS2 (apr.13, 2007) "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 [Model SLES-54561]"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Sony PSP (mar.22, 2006) "Capcom Classics Collection Remixed [Model ULUS-10097]"
[EU] Sony PSP (jul.21, 2006) "Capcom Classics Collection Remixed [Model ULES-00347]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Atari ST (1991)
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1991)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Megaphoenix Update submitted by XtC
Megaphoenix (c) 1991 Dinamic.
The metallic birds attacks again. With then fly the Megaphoenix, giant winged ships loaded with deadly proton eggs. No longer you are defenseless : yous shield of force is complemented by lateral guns and a frontal turboblaster... but you still need the experience of of the best pilot in the galaxy.
- TECHNICAL -
Amiga Hardware
CPU : Motorola M68000
Graphics : TMS 34010
Sound : Zilog Z80 Zilog
- TRIVIA -
According to Victor Ruiz, one of the founders of Dinamic, and José Antonio Martín, a musician also from Dinamic, coinciding with the fading of the 8 bits, Dinamic and Inder agreed to commercialize Dinamic titles for arcade machines. The agreement was of a revenue share nature , and the work began after an advance / investment contributed by Inder to Dinamic.
The three titles chosen were After the War, Hammerboy and Mega Phoenix.
Approximately 1000 plates were made for the initial 3 titles. The three titles were put into exploitation tests by Inder in various parts of the country, unfortunately these tests returned very bad collection results and the project was finally canceled.
- STAFF -
Programmer : Fernando Jimenez Villa
- PORTS -
* COMPUTERS:
Atari ST (1991)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1991) "Megaphoenix [Model SPE 910002]"
Amstrad CPC (1991)
Commodore C64 (1991)
MSX (1991)
Commodore Amiga (1991)
PC [MS-DOS] (1992)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROMs.
Accepted [+] [X] Mad Dog McCree Update submitted by XtC
Mad Dog McCree (c) 1990 American Laser Games.
Mad Dog has taken over the town, locked up the sheriff in jail, and kidnapped the Mayor and his daughter. You must make your way across town to get clues, while taking out anyone that gets in your way. Get to Mad Dog's hide-out to save the Mayor and his daughter!
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Motorola 68000
Sound Chips : (2x) Custom
Palette colors : 4097
Players : 1
Buttons : 3
- TRIVIA -
Mad Dog McCree was released in December 1990.
Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
You can hold the light gun upside down and your ammunition will automatically refill itself every time you fire a round (rather than the "correct" way of tilting the gun down to the ground to reload, which leaves you vulnerable for a brief period of time).
- SERIES -
1. Mad Dog McCree (1990)
2. Mad Dog II - The Lost Gold (1992)
3. Last Bounty Hunter (1994)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sega CD (1993) "Mad Dog McCree [Model T-111015]"
Panasonic 3DO (1994)
Phillips CD-I (1994) "Mad Dog McCree [Model 810 0212]"
Sony PlayStation 2
Microsoft XBOX
Nintendo Wii (2009)
Nintendo 3DS [eShop] (oct.18, 2012)
* COMPUTERS:
PC [MS-DOS, CD-ROM] (1993)
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM]
MAC OS 10.1 (1994)
* OTHERS:
Philips CD-i (1994)
Home DVD Player (2001)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Space Invaders [Model 739] Update submitted by XtC
Space Invaders (c) 1978 Midway Mfg. Co.
Export version manufactured by Midway under license from Taito. For more information about the game itself, please see the original Taito upright model entry; "Space Invaders".
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : 739
[Upright model]
Buttons : 3 (LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE)
(The US upright model had no joystick)
- TRIVIA -
Space Invaders was released by Midway Manufacturing, under license by Taito, in October 1978 in the USA.
The Space Invaders phenomenon stunned many conservative adults of the time who were convinced that video-games soured the minds of their youngsters. Residents of Mesquite, Texas, pushed the issue all the way to the Supreme Court in their efforts to ban the illicit machines from their Bible-belt community. A number of reported incidents of juvenile crime began to surface shortly after the game's release, adding to its 'controversy'. A girl was caught stealing $5,000 from her parents and gangs of youths were reported to have robbed grocery stores just so they would have money to play the game.
Of the reported 350,000 units produced world wide, about 65,000 units were produced in the U.S. alone.
Technology journalist Jason Whittaker credited the game's success to ending the video game crash of 1977, which had earlier been caused by Pong clones flooding the market, and beginning the golden age of video arcade games. According to The Observer, the home console versions were popular and encouraged users to learn programming; many who later became industry leaders.
Space Invaders inspired a catchy hit song by 'Uncle Vic' called 'Space Invaders' released over the spring to summer-time period of 1980. The Pretenders also released an instrumental song called 'Space Invaders' on their debut album in 1980.
A Space Invaders unit appears in the 1980 movie 'Midnight Madness', in the 1982 movie 'Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again', in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks', in the 1984 movie 'The Iceman', in the 1991 movie 'Terminator 2 - Judgment Day', and in the 1998 sitcom 'That 70's Show'; Season 4, Episode 8 (Donna's Story).
An upright unit of the Midway release of Space Invaders appears in the ZZ Top music video, 'Legs'.
- SERIES -
1. Space Invaders (1978, ARC)
2. Space Invaders Deluxe (1979, ARC)
3. Space Invaders II (1980, ARC)
4. Return of the Invaders (1985, ARC)
5. Super Space Invaders '91 (1990, ARC)
6. Space Invaders DX (1994, ARC)
7. Space Invaders '95 - Attack of the Lunar Loonies (1995, ARC)
8. Space Invaders (1999, PS)
9. Space Invaders 25th Silver Anniversary (2003, ARC)
10. Space Invaders Revolution (2005, DS)
11. Space Invaders Evolution (2005, PSP)
12. Space Invaders Extreme (2008, DS/PSP)
13. Space Invaders Extreme 2 (2009, DS)
14. Space Invaders Frenzy (2017, ARC)
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released in Japan, please see the Taito upright model entry.
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1980) "Space Invaders [Model CX2632]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Space Invaders [Model CX5204]"
Atari XEGS
[BR] DynaVision (198?)
[US] ColecoVision (aug.9, 2003) "Space Invaders Collection"
[EU] Sony PS2 (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] Sony PS2 (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLUS-21122]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[KO] Sony PS2 (jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
* HANDHELDS:
[AU] Nintendo Game Boy (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-AUS]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-NOE]"
[UK] Nintendo Game Boy (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (oct.1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-USA]"
[EU] Sony PSP (oct.6, 2006) "Taito Legends Power-Up [Model ULES-00473]"
[US] Sony PSP (may.17, 2007) "Taito Legends Power-Up [Model ULUS-10208]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Exidy Sorcerer (1978) "Invaders"
[EU] Microtan 65 (1980) "Space Invasion"
[US] TI99/4a (1981) "TI Invaders [Model PHM 3053]" by Texas Instruments
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1981) "Space Assault"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1981) "Color Space Invaders"
[US] Commodore Vic 20 "Avenger"
[US] Commodore C64 (1982) "Avenger [Model C-64 621]"
[EU] Commodore C64 (1982) "Avenger"
[EU] BBC B (1982) "Super Invaders" by Acornsoft
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1982) "Spectral Invaders" by Bug-Byte
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1982) "Space Raiders" by Sinclair Research
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1982) "Invaders" by Artic Computing (UK)
[EU] Oric (1983) "Oric Invaders" by Arcadia Software
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1985) "Super Vaders"
[EU] [US] Commodore C64 (1987) "Arcade Classics"
[US] Tandy Color Computer 3 (1988) "Space Intruders" : wave 9 is similar to wave 5 of "Phoenix".
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1988) "Amoeba Invaders" : included in the cover disk that came with the ST/Amiga Format Magazine (nov.1988, Issue number 5).
[EU] Atari ST (1989)
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1993) "Invaders" by Design Design Software (UK) : published exclusively on magazine covertape, appeared on side A of covertape "Your Sinclair issue 85: Christmas Collection 2".
PC [MS-DOS] (1997) "Champ Invaders" - CHAMProgramming
VTech Laser-VZ [AU] "Vz Invaders"
[US] Apple II "Apple Invader"
[EU] PC [MS Windows] (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] PC [MS Windows] (nov.10, 2005) "Taito Legends"
* OTHERS:
[US] LED handheld game (1980) black version by Entex
[US] LED handheld game (1981) grey version by Entex
[US] LCD handheld game (1982) by Tiger Electronics
[US] LCD handheld game with calculator (1982) by Tiger Electronics
[US] LCD handheld game (1984) by Tiger Electronics with larger display
[EU] LCD handheld game (1999) by Systema
[US] Arcade Legends : Space Invaders TV Game (2004) by Radica Games
[US] Mobile Phones (2007) "3D Space Invaders"
[US] Mobile Phones (2007) "Space Invaders Trilogy"
[US] Atari Flashback 4 (nov.13, 2012) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 5 (oct.1, 2014) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 6 (sept.15, 2015) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 7 (oct.1, 2016) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 8 (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 8 Gold Edition (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
- SOURCES -
Game's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Hammer Boy Update submitted by XtC
Hammer Boy (c) 1991 Dinamic.
Have hammer, will travel! With only your trusty mallet to help you, you must repel all the attackers from your western fort, pirate ship, castle and space station!
- TECHNICAL -
Amiga Hardware
CPU : Motorola M68000
Graphics : TMS 34010
Sound : Zilog Z80 Zilog
- TRIVIA -
According to Victor Ruiz, one of the founders of Dinamic, and José Antonio Martín, a musician also from Dinamic, coinciding with the fading of the 8 bits, Dinamic and Inder agreed to commercialize Dinamic titles for arcade machines. The agreement was of a revenue share nature , and the work began after an advance / investment contributed by Inder to Dinamic.
The three titles chosen were After the War, Hammerboy and Mega Phoenix.
Approximately 1000 plates were made for the initial 3 titles. The three titles were put into exploitation tests by Inder in various parts of the country, unfortunately these tests returned very bad collection results and the project was finally canceled.
- STAFF -
Programmer : Teddy Ruiz, Marcos Jouron Berzosa
- PORTS -
* COMPUTERS:
Atari ST (1990)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1991) "Hammer Boy [Model 2DI 052]"
Amstrad CPC (1991) "Hammer Boy [Model 3 DI-052]"
Commodore C64
MSX (1991)
Commodore Amiga (1992) : Prism Leisure, budget re-release.
PC (1991)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROMs.
Accepted [+] [X] Decathlete [Model 610-0373-15] Update submitted by XtC
Decathlete (c) 1995 Sega.
A 3-D sports simulator.
- TECHNICAL -
Runs on the "ST-V [Sega Titan Video Game System]" hardware.
Cartridge ID: 610-0373-15
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 6
- TRIVIA -
Even if titlescreen says 1995, Decathlete was released in April 1996 in Japan.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Shot-put and Discus Throw : By pushing the START button you can choose the direction of the wind. The wind blows to where the air-balloon is pointing.
* 100-Meters Dash : When the players are introduced press Right, Left and the button you use in other sports for selecting the angle. In this way the player will roll and go faster.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sega Saturn [US] (1996) "Decathlete [Model 81115]"
Sega Saturn [JP] (1996) "DecAthlete [Model GS-9096]"
Sega Saturn [JP] (1997) "DecAthlete for SegaNet [Model GS-7110]"
Sega Saturn [JP] (1997) "DecAthlete [Satakore] [Model GS-9150]"
Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 15 : Decathlete Collection")
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Bubble Bobble Update submitted by XtC
Bubble Bobble (c) 1986 Taito Corp.
One or two players take on the role of Bub and Bob, two cute dinosaurs who must battle through 100 platform-packed single screen levels to rescue their girlfriends. Bub and Bob are armed only with the ability to blow bubbles, in which the game's many enemies can be trapped and killed. The bubbles can also be used as temporary platforms, to help the dinosaurs reach previously inaccessible areas of a level.
Any trapped enemies who are not killed quickly enough will turn red and escape their bubble prison. These angry enemies are much faster than before, making them harder to kill. Enemies also become angry if players are taking too long to complete a level. Defeated enemies are turned into bonus fruit items that can be collected for points.
On many levels, bubbles containing fire, water or a lightning bolt appear. These can be burst by players to release their contents and destroy enemies. The fire bubble drops flames down onto the nearest platform, killing any enemies it hits. The lightning bubble sends a lightning bolt horizontally across the screen, its direction dictated by whichever side of the bubble the player hits to burst it. The water bubble releases a torrent of water that will quickly flow down the platforms to the bottom of the screen. Any enemies caught in the flow are killed.
Bubbles containing letters also appear. The aim is to collect the letters needed to spell the word E.X.T.E.N.D. which earns players an extra life.
The game's simple-yet-involving game-play saw Bubble Bobble become an instant classic. Its two-player co-operative mode, coupled with the incredible amount of hidden secrets and potential for strategic play - unheard of in the platform genre - would set the standard by which all other platform games were judged.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : (2x) Zilog Z80 (@ 6 Mhz), Zilog Z80 (@ 3 Mhz), M6801 (@ 1 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2203 (@ 3 Mhz), YM3526 (@ 3 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 2-Way Joystick
Buttons : 2
=> [1] Bubble, [2] Jump
- TRIVIA -
Bubble Bobble was released in August 1986.
This was one of the first games to feature multiple endings.
The title of this game, Bubble Bobble, is a cross between the words 'bubble' and the name of the heroes : Bub and Bob.
The enemies are named (Round number of initial appearance applies to 'Normal' mode. For information on 'Super' mode, please see the Romstar (US version) entry, Updates section :
'Zen-Chan' [aka 'Bubble Buster', 'Benzo'] - First appears in Round 1
'Mighta' [aka 'Stoner', 'Boris'] - First appears in Round 6
'Monsta' [aka 'Beluga', 'Blubba'] - First appears in Round 10
'PulPul' [aka 'Hullaballoon', 'Boaboa'] - First appears in Round 20
'Banebou' [aka 'Coiley', 'Bonnie-bo'] - First appears in Round 30
'Hidegonsu' [aka 'Incendo'] - First appears in round 40
'Drunk' [aka 'Willy Whistle', 'Bonner'] - First appears in Round 50
'Invader' [aka 'Super Socket'] - First appears in Round 60
'Super Drunk' [aka 'Grumple Gromit'] - the boss character whom Bub and Bob fight in the final round
'Skel-Monsta' [aka 'Baron Von Blubba'] - Appears when you take too much time in a round
'Rascal' [aka 'Rubblen'] - Appears when you linger too long in a secret room
The data code contains unused graphics of a full set of slot machine icons. These aren't used anywhere, there's no palette that fits them, and they wouldn't really fit anywhere either.
In 1996, Taito announced that they lost the original source code program to Bubble Bobble following a reorganization - when it came to the recent ports and sequels, they had to work from program disassembly, playing the game and (mainly) the various home computer ports.
The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'H.!', but go to the Tips and Tricks section for more information about 'SEX' :-)
Olly Cotton holds the official record for this game with 6,060,730 points on February 23, 2011.
Some bootlegs of this game are known as "Bobble Bobble" and "Super Bobble Bobble".
Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Taito Game Music - 28XA-110) on January 25, 1987.
NES cover band The Advantage cover two songs from Bubble Bobble on their self-titled debut album released on April 6, 2004.
- SCORING -
Bursting a bubble : 10 points.
Killing one monster : 1,000 points.
Killing two monsters at once : 2,000 points.
Killing three monsters at once : 4,000 points.
Points double for each extra monster killed at any one time.
Normal Fruit : 700 points.
Bonus Score Items (popcorn, burger etc) : 500 - 4,000 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Bubble Bobble is a game heavily relying on game-play and precise technique rather than graphics, and it features a series of special techniques and tricks a player can perform to maximize his or her score, make some rounds of the game easier or faster to finish or just to be able to survive or even finish a round. Some of these techniques have special nicknames, which may differ from player to player and from country to country.
'Kissing monsters' or just kissing means killing a monster by blowing a bubble at almost contact distance : the monster will be instantly bubbled and the bubble will be instantly popped, giving the visual effect of the player killing a monster with a 'kiss'. Some players flip their joysticks in the opposite direction after pressing the bubble buttons, giving more chances of an 'instant pop' and changing flight direction for the dead monster. This technique is useful in stages where monsters move too fast, bubbles last for too short of a time or it's otherwise hard to bubble them normally. Of course good timing is required for this technique to work.
'Riding bubbles' means keeping the jump button pressed when dropping on a bubble: if done correctly, instead of popping the bubble, your dragon will instead jump on it, possibly continuously, enabling him to 'ride' bubbles in order to reach otherwise unreachable areas. Some stages can't be finished without this technique.
'Climbing' is a step up from riding bubbles. It means standing at half a bubble distance from a wall, jumping and blowing a bubble almost simultaneously, jumping up from that bubble and blowing another bubble and so on. This is necessary if the air current pushes down bubbles but you need to climb up. Having the rapid-bubbling power-up (the yellow candy) makes climbing a lot easier, especially if you got the running shoes already.
'Bubbling oneself through' means 'riding a bubble' through the opening at the top of a stage or even just through the ceiling of a stage in order to appear at the lower part, like some flying monsters can do. This technique is required to finish some stages or to get unstuck from some places, or just to save time.
'Blowing against the wall' means blowing bubbles against wall at contact distance : the bubbles will pop immediately thus giving the player 10 points per bubble pop. This can be used to either increase a player's score, or to set a player's score to a specific amount, in order to do other tricks.
'Two equal digits' means using the 'blowing against the wall' technique or other score-adjusting techniques in order to make the two penultimate (100s and 10s places) digits of at least one player equal, e.g., 456770, before the last enemy bubble is burst. If done correctly and the score is not modified when this occurs, then all remaining non-special bubbles on screen will be turned to 700-point bonuses, whose appearance depends on the digit picked. E.g., 7 gives Chocolate Ice Creams, 3 gives Hamburgers, and so on.
Note : This trick is easier to do with two players (one player adjusts his score and the other bursts the bubbles), but it can also be done with only one player, although calculating exactly how much (and if) one's score will be modified when bursting the last enemy bubbles can be extremely complex, if not unpredictable, especially if there are very large and clustered bubble bunches.
Note : Rounds with numbers ending with 5 and 0 up to and including level 50 generate bonuses from bubbles automatically, though, and some rounds (including round 1) do it by default.
Internal Counters : An interesting (and exploitable) part of bubble bobble is that powerups are not entirely random. As with the two-digit trick, many internal counters in this game decide which special powers are available for collection. For example, rapid bubble shooting (a sweet in yellow wrapping), fast moving bubbles (a blue sweet), or fast moving bubbles (a blue sweet) appear shortly after either Bub or Bob jumps 51 times, pops 51 bubbles, or blows 51 bubbles. Also, running around a lot causes the speed powerup (red shoe) to appear. Keeping this is mind, it is possible to gain all power-ups with relative ease. Although there are many more counters that control various aspects of the game, one of particular interest is the letters forming the word EXTEND. Getting all 7 letters will end the current level and award the player with an extra life 'NICE 1P!' - these letters have a greater chance of appearing when more enemies are defeated simultaneously. Also, gathering three of the same letter causes candy canes to appear which in turn lead to a special big item at the end of the level!
* Unlimited Run And Rapid Fire : At the main title screen, press Left, Jump, Left, 1P, Left, Fire, Left, 1P. If this is done correctly there will be a message in the bottom left corner of the title screen a red POWER UP!.
* Original Bubble Bobble : At the title screen, press Shoot, Jump, Shoot, Jump, Shoot, Jump, Right, 1P. It will say at the bottom of screen ORIGINAL GAME. The game will give the PORTALS in some screens, if you can get in them you will get LOADS of diamonds.
* The 'Super Bubble Bobble' Code : this will change the Bubble Bobble logo in 'Super Bubble Bobble' and the game will change under several points of view : different platform colors, different order for monster appearances... The code that must be entered at the title screen to access Super Bubble Bobble is displayed at the end of the credits after you beat the game in 2 players, normal mode. The message is coded, but it hints you to enter the secret room in level 20 to get the key for decoding. If you do so, you enter the secret room, on the base of which there is an inscription. The first line is the coding of the alphabet, the other lines are coded advices to beat the final boss. The decoded 'secret message' is : SJBLRJSR (Start - Jump - Bubble - Left - Right - Jump - Start - Right)
The decoded advices in the secret rooms are :
Room in level 20 : IF YOU WANT TO BECOME THE OLD FIGURE, USE THE POWER OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP, AND FIGHT WITH ME! (hint to play in two player mode to defeat the final boss and see the real ending)
Room in level 30 : I ENCLOSE THESE MAGICAL MEDICINE HERE, BECAUSE THOSE ARE MY WORST FEARS... (hint to use the lighting bubble to beat the boss)
Room in level 40 : IF YOU WANT TO GET BACK YOUR LOVE OF TRUTH, YOU MUST HELP EACH OTHER UNTIL THE LAST... (hint to end the game in two player mode to see the real endings)
A little more trivia on Super Bubble Bobble : If you beat the game in Super mode, two players, you will discover that the final boss is your mother and father that were controlled by some unknown evil. By defeating the boss you free them and your girlfriends, and are reverted back to your original human form (the one you play "Rainbow Island" with).
* Secret Tombs : Make it to level 20 without dying and a door appears -- it leads to a 'secret tomb', a level full of diamonds. There are secret tombs at levels 20 and 30, also. Make it to level 50 without dying and a strange, bee-hive-shaped door appears; enter it and you warp to level 70. DON'T kill the Drunks on level 50, or the door disappears; bubble them and wait! Btw, with two players, only one of the players must survive unharmed to get the secret door.
* Paffing A Skel : Skel, also known as 'Baron Von Blubba', is that nasty white monster that comes after you when you've taken too long; with two players, two Skels will appear. If one player is killed by HIS Skel, then he can collide with his partner's Skel 'WHILE HE IS STILL FLICKERING'. If the player's icon is still flickering, the other player's Skel will disappear (poof!), with no harm to the once-slain character.
* Full Ending Sequence : Beat the game with two players in Super mode and you'll get the full end sequence.
* High Score Codes : after getting a high score, enter your initials as :
'SEX' - Pitch fork-flying cakes/vegetables/etc across the screen, turn enemies into 6k diamonds.
'TAK' - Octopus-turns bubbles into X's at end of level.
'STR' - Flamingo-turns bubbles into smiling turds at end of level.
'KTT' - Beer-turns bubbles into pizzas at end of level, what a perfect match !!!
'...' - Knife-flying cakes/vegetables/etc across the screen, turn enemies into 6k diamonds.
'I.F', 'MTJ', 'NSO', 'KIM', 'YSH' - Coke can-flying sunflowers across the screen, turn enemies into 6k diamonds.
* A full map is viewable here: www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=articles&num=14
- SERIES -
1. Bubble Bobble (1986, Arcade)
2. Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987, Arcade)
3. Parasol Stars - The Story of Bubble Bobble III [Model TP03017] (1991, PC-Engine)
4. Bubble Bobble Part 2 (1993, Famicom)
5. Bubble Bobble II (1994, Arcade)
6. Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III (1996, Arcade)
7. Rainbow Islands - Putty's Party (2000, Wonderswan)
8. Bubble Bobble Revolution (2005, DS)
9. New Rainbow Islands (2005, DS)
10. Bubble Bobble Evolution (2006, PSP)
11. Bubble Bobble Double Shot (2007, DS)
12. Rainbow Islands Towering Adventure! (2009, WiiWare)
13. Bubble Bobble Plus! (2009, WiiWare)
14. Bubble Bobble Neo! (2009, XBLA)
- STAFF -
Game design & Character : Fukio Mitsuji (MTJ)
Software programmers : Ichiro Fujisue (ICH), Nishiyori (NSO)
Sound creator : Tadashi Kimijima (KIM)
Instruction : Yoshida (YSH)
Hardware : Fujimoto (KTU), Seigo Sakamoto (SAK)
- PORTS -
NOTE: These are only non-US ports. For a list ports released in the US, please see the Romstar (US version) entry.
* CONSOLES:
Nintendo Famicom Disk System [JP] (oct.30, 1987) "Bubble Bobble [Model TFD-BUB]"
Sega Mark III/Master System [JP] (jul.2, 1988) "Final Bubble Bobble [Model G-1362]"
[EU] Nintendo NES [AU] (1990) "Bubble Bobble [Model NES-B2]"
[EU] Sega Master System (1992) "Bubble Bobble [Model 7077]"
Sega Master System [BR] (1994) "Dragon Maze"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1996) "Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands [Model T-8131H-50]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (1996) "Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands [Model SLES-00448]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jul.28, 2005) "Taito Memories Joukan [Model SLPM-66057]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[EU] Sony PS2 (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[KO] Sony PS2 (jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
[JP] Sony PS4 [PSN] (jan.29, 2016) "Arcade Archives - Bubble Bobble [Model CUSA-03711]"
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [EU] [AU] (apr.1, 2016) "Arcade Archives - Bubble Bobble [Model CUSA-03943]"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1991) "Bubble Bobble [Model DMG-B2-NOE]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (dec.7, 1990) "Bubble Bobble [Model DMG-B2A]"
[JP] Nintendo GBA (jul.25, 2002) "Bubble Bobble - Old & New [Model AGB-A2BJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (mar.14, 2003) "Bubble Bobble - Old & New [Model AGB-AONP-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Commodore C64 (1987)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
[EU] Atari ST (1987)
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1987)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1987) : released by Firebird; re-released by Ocean in 1988.
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1988) "Les Défis de Taito"
Amstrad CPC [EU] (1988) "Taito Coin-Op Hits"
MSX [Tape] [JP] (1988)
MSX2 [Disk] [JP]
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1989)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (199?) "Les Monuments D'Arcade"
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1990) "Le Monde des Merveilles"
Amstrad CPC [JP] (1991) "Addicted To Fun - Rainbow Collection"
FM Towns PC [JP] (1993)
PC [MS-DOS, CD-ROM] [EU] (sept.30, 1996) "Bubble Bobble featuring Rainbow Islands"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge [Upright model] Update submitted by XtC
Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge [Upright model] (c) 1989 Jaleco.
A Driving game.
- TRIVIA -
Released in December 1989.
Also released as "Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge [Sitdown model]".
- SERIES -
1. Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge [Sitdown model] (1989)
2. Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge [Upright model] (1989)
2. Big Run - The Supreme 4WD Challenge - 13e Rallye (1991, Nintendo Super Famicom)
- PORTS -
* COMPUTERS:
Atari ST (1992)
Commodore Amiga (1992)
- SOURCES -
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Asteroids Deluxe Update submitted by XtC
Asteroids Deluxe (c) 1981 Atari, Incorporated.
Asteroids Deluxe is a 1 or 2-player game with an X-Y or vector-generator monitor. The game depicts a third-person view of a player's spaceship battling to destroy asteroids, flying saucers and enemy ships or 'death stars' (shaped like clusters of triangles). When hit, the asteroids and death stars will break into progressively smaller pieces.
Players can put up an octagon-shaped 'shield' to temporarily protect their spaceship. However, this shield wears out with use.
Large asteroids appear and drift in from the outer edges of the display. By pressing the ROTATE LEFT and ROTATE RIGHT pushbuttons on the control panel, the player may aim a spaceship toward any of the asteroids. The player uses the FIRE pushbutton to shoot at the asteroids and other objects.
When shot, each large asteroid divides into two medium-sized asteroids, and the game adds 20 points to the player's score. Medium-sized asteroids, when shot, divide into two small-sized asteroids, and the game awards 50 points to the player. When shot the smallest asteroid disappears and the game adds 100 points to the player's score.
In addition to asteroids, the players can score points for shooting the various enemy ships. When hit, the large ships ('death stars' shaped like hexagons) score 50 points and break into three diamond shapes. The medium-sized enemy or diamond, when hit, grants the player 100 points and breaks into two small triangular pieces. These small pieces disappear when the player hits them, and the score increases by 200 points.
At any time during game play, a flying saucer may appear from either side of the display. The game awards players 200 points for shooting a large saucer and 1,000 points for a small saucer (the latter is a smaller target for players, though not any faster moving than the large one. It also shoots more accurately).
The player's objective in the game is to shoot and destroy as many asteroids, saucers, and enemy ships as possible before all his or her spaceships are destroyed. A ship is destroyed if an asteroid, saucer or enemy ship smashes into it, or if a flying saucer shoots it. To prevent losing a ship, the player may press the THRUST pushbutton to move out of the path of an oncoming object.
As an emergency maneuver, a player can press the Shields button. An octagon will then appear around the player's ship as protection from all enemies. For challenge the shield power lasts only about 10 seconds, but the power is renewed with each ship. The amount of shielding power available is shown by the brightness of the octagon (dim means almost exhausted power).
- CAST OF CHARACTERS -
Spaceship - This is you, the player. You can rotate 360 degrees, fire bullets, thrust forward in any direction, and use the shields if you feel you are in danger.
Large Asteroid - These are the large rocks that fill the screen at the beginning of each stage. Hitting one with a bullet will break it apart in to two Medium Asteroids.
Medium Asteroid - Slightly smaller than Large Asteroids, but faster moving, shooting one of these will result in two Small Asteroids.
Small Asteroid - These are the smallest and fastest rocks on the screen. If a bullet hits one of these, it will vaporize.
Hexagon - This addition to Asteroids appears when the stage is nearly free of rocks. It floats in one direction until it is shot.
Diamond - When the Hexagon is shot it breaks up in to three separate diamonds. These begin to track and slowly follow you.
Triangle - When a Diamond is shot it breaks up in to two separate triangles. These will move very quickly and zero in on you if you don't destroy them fast enough.
Large Saucer - Large flying saucers appear on the screen from time to time, randomly firing shots around the screen. Approximately one out of every four shots will be aimed directly at your ship. They will also target Hexagons if any are on the screen at the same time.
Small Saucer - The small saucers are deadlier than the large variety. They are much more precise with their shots, and are more likely to kill you. Eliminate them quickly or get out of their range.
- TECHNICAL -
This particular machine was released in three different formats; an upright, a cabaret, and a cocktail, with the upright being the most common, and the cabaret being the least common. All three versions were nearly pin compatible with an original "Asteroids" board-set, only a few wires had to be swapped.
* The upright was a rather interesting looking design that actually bulged out toward the player from the control panel on up. Atari went all out with the side-art on this one, it completely covers the sides from the floor to the top of the machine (it is a scene of a ship in an asteroid field, similar to the one on "Asteroids", but more detailed). The control panel layout is a little more subdued than the red, white, and blue monstrosity on the original "Asteroids". Just a dark surface, a few instructions, and some buttons (this title, like the original, did not use a joystick, although it plays well with one).
* The cocktail version was almost identical in appearance to the original "Asteroids" cocktail (and just about every other Atari cocktail). It was black and woodgrain, with only a minimum of ornamentation behind the glass.
* The cabaret version (a cabaret is a mini upright that is less than five feet tall), is an ugly little creature, with woodgrain sides and a black front. The nameplate is down low on the machine near the coin mechs (which makes the game hard to identify at first).
* Upright dimensions : 71in. (180.34cm) high x 26,75in. (67.95cm) wide x 25.25in. (64.14cm) deep. Weight : 313 lbs (140.85 kg). Monitor : 19in. QuadraScan.
* Cabaret dimensions : 54.25in. (137.79cm) high x 20,44in. (51.91cm) wide x 23.75in. (60.32cm) deep. Weight : 193 lbs (86.85 kg). Monitor : 15in. QuadraScan.
* Cocktail dimensions : adjustable from 21.5in. to 27in. high x 32in. (80.5cm) wide x 24in. (60cm) deep. Weight : 164 lbs (73.8 kg). Monitor : 15in. Quadrascan.
Game ID : 0351xx
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Discrete, POKEY (Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 256 x 231 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 32768
Players : 2
Buttons : 5
=> LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE, THRUST, SHIELD
- TRIVIA -
Asteroids Deluxe was released in March 1981, selling at an MSRP of $2095 (Upright). Approximately 22,300 units were produced (exactly 18142 uprights).
The original "Asteroids" proved to be wildly popular, but there was one problem. The game was simply too easy for expert players (many people could play for hours on a single quarter). So Atari decided to make a more difficult sequel, Asteroids Deluxe. They succeeded a little too well, and had to scale the difficulty back after their initial version proved to be too difficult for the average player. This game was created out of modified "Asteroids" code. At the same time this game was being produced, "Space Duel" was in the works, but was shelved as Asteroids Deluxe was green-lighted for production. Despite its similarities to the hugely popular original, Asteroids Deluxe was a commercial flop and Atari later released "Space Duel" to moderate success.
Asteroids Deluxe features modified game-play intentionally designed to challenge players who had mastered the original "Asteroids" :
1) The addition of new ships. When hit, the large ships ('death stars' shaped like hexagons) break into three diamond shapes. The medium-sized enemy or diamond, when hit, breaks into two small triangular pieces. These small pieces disappear when the player hits them. The diamond and triangular ships pursue the player's ship until killed.
2) The small and large UFO's have been improved :
a) Their shots now 'wrap-around' the screen. This means that a shot fired off the right or left side will re-enter the screen on the left or right side.
b) The accuracy of the large UFO's shots have been improved. Now every one out of four shots are aimed at the player's spaceship. If there are no other targets, all shots go toward the player's spaceship.
3) The player's ship was redesigned to include two side fins and a narrower body, keeping the overall ship dimensions identical to the original game. The ship has the same maximum velocity as in "Asteroids", but can accelerate twice as fast.
4) The high score now 'rolls over' at 999,999 points instead of 99,999 points.
5) A graphic overlay has been added to give the game more of a feeling of depth. It also makes it slightly harder to see the vector graphics.
6) The hyperspace button has been replaced by a shield. The shield lasts 10-12 seconds per spaceship and cannot be recharged.
7) Firing is now automatic, holding down the fire button will release a maximum of four shots (on screen) at a time.
Although the attract screen claims a 1980 copyright, the game was officially introduced in March of 1981. The front glass on the upright was originally square with the cabinet - this produced an unpleasant 'glare' on the screen. Atari later released a 'glare reduction kit' which provided an angled glass frontage to be fitted onto the cabinet thereby reducing the glare. Once applied, the kit enclosed the speaker which resulted in deeper base tones.
John McAllister hold the official record for this game with 3,333,360 points set February 12, 2009.
An Asteroids Deluxe unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Tron', in the 1982 movie 'The Thing' and in the 1984 movie 'Night of the Comet'.
An Asteroids Deluxe upright cabinet appears in the Judas Priest music video 'Freewheel Burning'.
In 1982, Atari released a set of 12 collector pins including : "Missile Command", "Battle Zone", "Tempest", "Asteroids Deluxe", "Space Duel", "Centipede", "Gravitar", "Dig Dug", "Kangaroo", "Xevious", "Millipede" and "Food Fight".
- UPDATES -
There are two versions of the software; the original release proved to be so difficult that Atari released a revised version that had easier game-play. This new version was originally introduced in Europe and is often referred to as the 'European Version'. Determining the version can be discerned by noting the first appearance of a 'death star' - in the original version this is near the end of the second wave; in the revised version it appears near the end of the first wave and moves much more slowly.
- SCORING -
Large Asteroids : 20 points
Medium Asteroids : 50 points
Small Asteroids : 100 points
'Death Star' (Hexagon Shaped Ship) aka 'Snowflake' : 50 points
Diamond Shaped Ship : 100 points
Triangular Shaped Ship : 200 points
Large Saucer : 200 points
Small Saucer : 1,000 points
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, your spaceship will be in the middle of the screen with four large asteroids heading toward your ship. After all the rocks are destroyed, the next round begins. The number of initial large asteroids depends on the round number :
Round 1 : 4
Round 2 : 5
Round 3 : 6
Round 4 : 7
Round 5 : 8
Round 6 and up : 9
Your job is to blast those rocks, however, when you blast them, they break up into two medium rocks. Blasting a medium rock gives you two small rocks. Note : There is an exception to this rule. The game program only allows 24 asteroids on the screen at any one time. If the screen already contains 24 asteroids of any size, then when you shoot a large asteroid it breaks up into only one medium asteroid, and when you shoot a medium asteroid it breaks up into only one small asteroid. You can completely destroy a large asteroid with only three shots instead of seven when the screen is filled up like this.
In addition, you have to contend with large and small saucers and the 'death stars'. On the first couple of screens, you can sit in the middle and blast rocks. Be aware that a saucer will enter which will cause you to move lest you be hit by its shots. In addition :
1) You can have four shots on the screen at any one time. This is useful for when you are blasting rocks at close range. You can pretty much drill them to dust.
2) Your shots 'wrap around' the screen. This means any shot that goes past the edge of the screen will reappear on the opposite side traveling the same direction. The saucers also have 'wrap around' shots.
* After 10,000 points, the small saucer becomes a permanent part of the game. You can no longer sit in one place since the small saucer is able to track your ship and take you out with the first or second shot.
* Your shields have a maximum life expectancy of 17 seconds. Each collision with a rock takes away about six seconds of shield time. Once your shield runs down, it can not be recharged. In other words : use your shields as little as possible.
* Although there is danger from the rocks and saucers, you can also be a danger to yourself. Use the thrust carefully or you will find yourself careening out of control on the screen. Some players get really good, however, moving around and shooting.
* For those desired high scores, you can use the hunting trick. It goes something like this :
1) After 10,000 points, the small saucers appear. They are worth 1,000 points apiece. First, blast every rock until you have one small rock left.
2) Go sit in the upper left or right corner of the game screen.
3) If the small saucer appears from the side you are on, then you can blast it before it gets off a shot. If it appears on the opposite side, use the shot 'wrap around' to take care of it. Some people have done this for hours on end and racked up scores in the millions. Of course, it takes a long time at 1,000 points a pop.
4) Also keep in mind that the small saucer can wrap shots so you may have to move out of danger.
5) Unlike in "Asteroids", the small saucers fire a greater number of shots so hunting is more of a challenge.
6) After 60,000 points, the accuracy of both UFO's goes up dramatically.
* The 'death stars' make their appearance in either the first or second wave :
1) It appears on the screen just lazily floating around. It can only be broken open by laser fire (yours or the saucer's).
2) Once open, the pieces pursue the player. Hitting one of the diamond-shaped pieces breaks it into two triangular pieces.
3) The best way to defeat this enemy is to accelerate forward, then turn quickly while shooting. This causes you to fly backwards while shooting at the pieces.
- SERIES -
1. Asteroids (1979)
2. Asteroids Deluxe (1981)
3. Space Duel (1982)
4. Blasteroids (1988)
5. Asteroids (1998, PC, PS; 1999, GBC; 2000, Mac)
6. Asteroids Hyper 64 (1999, N64)
7. Asteroids Gunner (2011, App Store)
- STAFF -
Programmed by: Dave Shepperd
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Sony PlayStation (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (jul.2, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition [Model T-15130N]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (nov.28, 2007)
[US] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (nov.1,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Sony PSP (dec.19, 2007) "Atari Classics Evolved [Model ULUS-10325]"
[AU] Sony PSP (mar.7, 2008) "Atari Classics Evolved"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.8, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.2 [Model NTR-BR7E-USA]"
[EU] Blaze Evercade (2021) "Atari Arcade 1"
* COMPUTERS:
BBC Micro Model B [EU] (1984) : Atarisoft
[EU] Atari ST (1987)
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (apr.4, 1998) "Atari Arcade Hits 2"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2000) "Atari Arcade Hits 2"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.9, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.14, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[US] Steam (mar.24,2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
[US] Mobile Phones (sept.7, 2004)
[US] Atari Flashback 2 (2005)
[US] Nokia N-Gage (feb.2006) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. II"
[EU] Nokia N-Gage (mar.30, 2006) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. II"
[US] Atari Flashback 2+ (2010) : Atari 2600 version
[US] Windows Mobile (feb.23, 2011) "Game Room - Asteroids Deluxe"
[US] Apple Store (2012) "Atari Greatest Hits"
[US] Google Play (2012) "Atari Greatest Hits"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Popeye [Model TPP2-UP] Update submitted by XtC
Popeye (c) 1982 Nintendo.
Popeye is a platform game featuring characters from the famous King Features Syndicate cartoon show of the same name. The aim of the game is to rescue Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl. This is achieved by catching a set number of objects thrown down by Olive from the top of the screen; such as hearts, letters and musical notes. Popeye is constantly pursued in his quest by love rival, Brutus (originally known as Bluto). Popeye must either run away from Brutus or grab some spinach and punch him off the screen (he will, of course, return).
Should any of Olive Oyl's items fail to be caught, they will fall into the water at the bottom of the screen. Popeye will then have only a few seconds to retrieve the object or a life is lost. Several other Popeye characters also make an appearance in the game; namely Wimpy, Swee'Pea, the Sea Hag, and her vulture Bernard. The game's three levels are the dock scene, the street scene and the shipboard scene. These repeat with increasing difficulty.
- TECHNICAL -
Most Popeye machines were upright cabinets, but cocktails were also available. The upright was in the standard Nintendo cabinet, the same one used in "Donkey Kong", "Donkey Kong Jr.", "Radar Scope", "Donkey Kong 3", and "Sky Skipper". Almost all other Nintendo titles used alternate versions of this same cabinet. "Mario Bros." was wider, "Punch-Out!!" was taller, etc., but they were still nearly identical. A dedicated Popeye machine will be blue, although you will sometimes see them in different colors (non-blue Popeyes are conversion cabinets).
Model No. TPP2-UP
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : General Instrument AY8910 (@ 2 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (PUNCH)
- TRIVIA -
Popeye was released in December 1982 in Japan.
Licensed to Atari for distribution in Ireland and Great Britain.
* Popeye From Strip To Screen:
Popeye the Sailor, one of the most enduring characters in animation history, began not in motion pictures but in E.C. 'Elzie' Segar's 'Thimble Theater' comic strip. Born in Illinois, Segar began cartooning in Chicago in 1914. Graduating to his own strip for the Chicago American, Segar was then hired in 1919 by Hearst's New York Evening Journal to create the syndicated 'Thimble Theater' strip. 'Thimble Theater' depicted the adventures of Ham Gravy, his girlfriend Olive Oyl and her brother Castor. The venture was a success, expanding to an additional Sunday color page in 1924. Segar's comic strip used complex, rambling and frequently eerie narratives that attracted a devoted following, but it lacked strong central characters. In the 'Thimble Theater' of January 17, 1929, Ham and Castor decided to hire a crew to sail in search of the legendary Whiffle Hen. Walking up to a grizzled one-eyed mariner on a dock, Castor asked him, "Are you a sailor?" "`Ja think I'm a cowboy?" came the reply, introducing Popeye to readers.
* Move Over, Ham Gravy:
Over a period of months, Popeye developed from a supporting character to the central figure in the hunt for the Whiffle Hen. When Segar finally brought the narrative to a close and tried to retire the sailor, outraged fans contacted the Hearst syndicate demanding more adventures with Popeye. Segar obliged them : the sailor replaced Ham as Olive's love interest, Castor Oyl was reduced to infrequent appearances, and the strip was renamed 'Thimble Theater, Starring Popeye'.
The early 1930s was a period of keen competition among American animation studios for market share. Central to the business strategy of most studios was the development of cartoon 'stars' whose popularity would ensure bookings by major theater chains. Disney followed the success of Mickey Mouse by developing new characters like Donald Duck and Goofy up from supporting roles in Mickey Mouse cartoons. Similar strategies were tried at Warner Bros., where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck evolved from secondary roles in films starring other animated characters. One of the earliest examples of this took place at the Fleischer Studios, Inc. in New York, where the unpopular starring canine character Bimbo was matched up with a girlfriend in Dizzy Dishes (1930). The girlfriend eventually developed into Betty Boop, the studio's major character. With the popularity of Betty Boop at a peak in 1932, brothers Max and Dave Fleischer decided to introduce a new film series which would include another character to grow into a star. Fleischer rival Van Beuren Corporation had already signed an agreement to bring Otto Soglow's strip 'The Little King' to the screen. Max Fleischer, who was a great fan of Segar's strip, approached Hearst's King Features Syndicate for the right to use Popeye. The two companies signed an agreement on November 17, 1932.
* Betty introduces Popeye to the Big Screen:
The production of the first Popeye film took place in secrecy. Veteran animator Roland Crandall was given space apart from the rest of the studio. There, he single-handedly animated the entire cartoon, aided only by the inclusion of some Shamus Culhane animation recycled from the earlier Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (1932). The results were so satisfying that even before the film was released, the Fleischers and King Features amended the agreement granting the studio the right to produce and release animated cartoons featuring Popeye for a five year period.
Crandall's film 'Betty Boop Presents Popeye The Sailor' opened in the summer of 1933 as part of the 'Betty Boop' series. After a prologue in which newspapers herald the sailor's film debut, and Popeye sings 'I'm Popeye the Sailor Man', the film featured what was to be the standard 'Popeye' series plot, re-enacted with variations by the Fleischers for the next decade. Olive waits for Popeye to disembark from his ship at the dock. Bluto follows the couple to a fairground, where the two sailors compete for Olive's attentions through feats of strength. Bluto abducts Olive and ties her to a train track. As the locomotive approaches, Popeye and Bluto fight. Popeye defeats Bluto, and, through the magical powers of spinach, is able to stop the train and save Olive Oyl. Here, we see the essential difference between the Segar and Fleischer sense of narrative. Segar reveled in picaresque plots that coursed in unexpected directions for up to two years, exploring every novel twist and nuance of narrative. In anticipation of post-modernism, the very concept of plot was old-fashioned to the Fleischers. Hackneyed and ritualized story conventions were torn apart, recombined in odd juxtapositions, and satirized in endless variations.
The Fleischer Popeye cartoons were an instant success. "It might have been just a fluke, a lucky break, that the Segar characters fit the Fleischer style so well", recalls former Popeye animator Myron Waldman. "The animation of Olive Oyl in the mid-1930s was perfect. It fit her. The character had no elbows and the most prominent knees. When she spoke, the voice fit too. This was character. That's what made her so good".
* Step Aside, Mickey:
Segar's characters were not the only things consistent with the Fleischer style. Both Segar and the Fleischer staff shared a fondness for a poetically improvisational language. When Popeye's original voice artist, William 'Red Pepper Sam' Costello, left after the first few pictures, he was replaced by a studio in-between named Jack Mercer. Much of the dialogs of the Popeye cartoons was post-synched with little attention to synchronized mouth action. Mercer, Mae Questel (Olive's voice, except for the 1938-41 period, when Margie Hines was the voice artist) and William Penell or Gus Wickie, who voiced Bluto, often ad-libbed dialogs during recording sessions, particularly Popeye's 'asides' and pun-filled conversations. Added to this was a progressive softening and increased complexity of Popeye's character, paralleling changes in the strip. Popeye cartoons became the Fleischers' leading attraction. By 1938, Popeye replaced Mickey Mouse as the most popular cartoon character in America.
The Fleischers rummaged through the Segar strip for supporting characters. Bluto, the animated series' antagonist, was a minor character in the Segar strip, appearing only in 1933's 'The Eighth Sea'. Longer-lived strip characters that joined Popeye on the screen included hamburger maven J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Eugene the Jeep and Poopdeck Pappy. While in the comic strip, Popeye gained his great strength from rubbing the Whiffle Hen, the Fleischers added the gimmick of Popeye's power being largely dependent on the ingestion of spinach. Farmers in America's self-styled 'spinach capital' of Crystal City, Texas set up a statue of Popeye in gratitude for the publicity.
As early as 1935, the Fleischers sought backing for a feature-length animated film from their distributor Paramount. Paramount refused to risk money on a feature. In an attempt to persuade the company that longer animated films could be profitable, Max Fleischer initiated the production of three two-reel color 'specials' starring Popeye, beginning with 'Popeye The Sailor Meets Sinbad The Sailor' (1936). Although these 'specials' were often billed over their accompanying feature, Paramount still refused to back the animated feature.
Conditions changed after the success of Disney's 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' (1937) and the Fleischers received money for the eighty minute Gulliver's Travels. According to some sources, the film was originally to have Popeye in the role of Gulliver, but the idea was scrapped early in the planning stages. Perhaps this was unwise. According to internal Paramount correspondence, the Popeye shorts were far more profitable to Paramount than Disney's films were to his distributor, RKO. The sailor's box-office appeal might have helped the Fleischer features. Gulliver's Travels (1938) and the company's next feature, Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941), bombed, leading to the failure of Fleischer Studios, Inc.
* Post-Fleischer Popeye:
The successor company, Famous Studios, continued with the production of Popeye cartoons. Many of these were remakes of earlier Fleischer films. Much of the supporting cast of the Fleischer versions were replaced by new characters, such as identical nephews Pip-Eye, Peep-Eye, Poop-Eye and Pup-Eye. A redesign of the major characters included white U.S. Navy uniforms for Bluto and Popeye (in keeping with their war-time service in the armed forces), and more comely fashions for Olive. Upgraded technology, including the introduction of color to the series in 1943 with Her Honor The Mare and 3-D in Popeye The Ace Of Space (1953), tried to rejuvenate the series. None of these strategies were able to breathe much life into the films. Spooky Swabs (1957) brought theatrical release of Popeye films to a close.
The success of the black and white Popeye cartoons on television in the 1950s inspired several revivals of the series by such talents as Gene Deitch, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Jack Kinney, and Hanna-Barbera. Hampered by limited budgets and rushed production schedules, none of these came close to the Fleischer or Famous theatrical versions. The less said about Robert Altman's live-action feature with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall as Popeye and Olive Oyl, the better. What has endured are the original qualities of the Segar and Fleischer works. In fact, Segar's strips have been reissued by Nostalgia Press and the Smithsonian Press. The earlier Fleischer films, which shared the shabby urban or surreal exotic locations and working-class orientation of the Segar originals, retain a vitality and charm that still appeal to a large group of devoted fans today.
* Bluto/Brutus issue:
Bluto's name was changed to Brutus after the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957. It was wrongly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleisher Studios cartoon, owned the rights to the name Bluto. (King Features owned the name all along as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip.) However, with poor research, they couldn't realize this, and renamed him Brutus to avoid copyright problems. "Brutus" appeared in the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons (with his physical appearance changed, making him obese rather than muscular), but he is again "Bluto" (and back to his original muscular physique) in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Popeye series and the 1980 live-action Popeye movie, as well as the 1987 Popeye and Son series also by Hanna-Barbera. The character was named Bluto in the 2004 movie "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy". Nintendo used the name "Brutus" for the character in this arcade game.
- UPDATES -
REVISION D (used on most Popeye machines):
* Dock scene has a black background.
* Default high score is 32,600.
* First nickname on the default high score table is GET.
* Spinach can only be used once per round, and it is not restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the dock scene can only be used to go down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 40,000, 60,000, 80,000, or None. The default is 40,000, meaning you get an extra life at 40,000 points.
REVISION F (designed especially for novice players):
* Dock scene has a colored background.
* Default high score is smaller than on Revision D : 25,600.
* First nickname on the default high score table is KAC.
* Spinach is restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the dock scene can be used to go up or down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, or None, with 20,000 as the default.
BOOTLEG:
* No copyright in bootleg set 1 (the copyright is present in bootleg sets 2 and 3).
- SCORING -
Collecting a heart, note, or letter on the...
1st floor: 50 points(1)
2nd floor: 100 points(1)
3rd floor: 300 points(1)
4th floor: 500 points(1)
Punching the punch-bag: 30 points
Punching a bottle: 100 points
Punching a skull: 100 points
Punching Bernard: 1,000 points
Using Spinach power to knock Brutus into the water : 3,000 points
Dropping the bucket on Brutus' head when he's on the...
1st floor: 4,000 points
2nd floor: 2,000 points
3rd floor: 1,000 points
Hitting Swee'Pea's platform from below : 500 points(1)
NOTE: The Punch button is not required to punch Brutus or Bernard when Popeye has Spinach power.
(1) denotes values that are doubled if Popeye has Spinach power.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A Display Glitch : On the street scene, you can stand at the point on the edge where you 'wraparound' and if you punch a bottle in the right spot, it'll erase part of the 'THRU' sign. This can be done on both sides.
* ROUND 1 - Dock Scene:
1) On this scene, Olive Oyl stands at the top of the screen and throw hearts (24 of them, one at a time) down to the bottom, hoping that Popeye will catch them all. If a heart reaches the bottom of the screen, you will have about 10 seconds to pick it up before it breaks, costing you one life. Try to catch the hearts as high as possible, since they decrease in value as they get closer to the bottom.
2) When Brutus harasses you, cross the edge of the screen from left to right and wait for him to stop directly underneath the bucket. Hit the punching bag at this point and the bucket will fall onto his head, rendering him helpless for a while. This will score you points based on which floor Brutus is on when you hit him (see Scoring above) and give you some time to catch a few more hearts.
3) Like in the cartoons, Popeye becomes stronger after eating Spinach. A can of Spinach moves between the second and third floors of the screen and you can have Popeye eat it by punching the can. Afterwards, Popeye will turn red and become stronger than Brutus for about 10 seconds (shorter in later levels). If you can punch Brutus during this time (you do not need to use the Punch button), he falls into the water, temporarily knocking him out, and you will be awarded 3,000 points.
4) Brutus will eventually recover so make good use of this time by catching as many falling hearts as possible. They don't move, and they are worth twice as much when Popeye is under the influence of Spinach, so catching some of the higher hearts can really help your score. And since extra lives are only awarded at a very high score (40,000 points by default on most machines, and 20,000 points by default on Revision F machines; see Updates above), you should be as greedy as possible.
5) Spinach can only be used once per level, and it is never restored after you lose a life (except in Revision F, see Updates above). Do not use it too soon. Collect about two thirds of the total number of hearts, and have as many hearts fill the air as possible before getting the Spinach.
6) If you want to risk getting 4,000 points instead of 2,000, do not use the punching bag immediately. Wait until you have knocked out Brutus using Spinach power, and position Popeye to the punching bag. After Brutus comes out of the sea, he will move underneath the bucket on the bottom floor. With some practice and timing you should be able to drop the bucket onto his head for 4,000 points. NOTE : Touching Brutus while the bucket is on his head is not fatal. But be careful, because after the bucket comes off he can easily knock out Popeye.
7) To make up for his lumbering slowness, Brutus is capable of throwing beer bottles at Popeye. You should try to force him to throw bottles as often as possible (four at a time) instead of avoiding them, so you can score extra points.
8) The Sea Hag also throws bottles, except she only throws one at a time. The Sea Hag materializes on the edge of the screen for a moment, chucks a bottle, and disappears. She can also be on both sides of the screen at once. So if you are caught between two Sea Hags or between Brutus and the Sea Hag, you will have to be quick on the joystick and the Punch button to survive.
* ROUND 2 - Street Scene:
This scene is much like the dock scene, except Olive Oyl is now dropping musical notes (16 of them, one at a time). The major difference is the layout, with Wimpy on the plank in the lower left corner. If Popeye jumps off the second floor, he will be catapulted up to the third floor. With some careful timing, you can even make Popeye leap all the way up to the fourth floor, where Swee'Pea is waiting on a balloon platform. Touching the bottom of Swee'Pea's platform will score 500 points (1,000 points while under the influence of Spinach).
* ROUND 3 - Shipboard Scene:
1) The setting for this scene is a ship, with a sliding platform on the top floor. The scene opens with Bernard, the Sea Hag's pet vulture, carrying Olive Oyl to the mast at the top. This intro is only shown the first time you play the shipboard scene.
2) To start the round, you should be able to slide Popeye across the moving platform on the fourth floor several times, catching the letters H-E-L-P that Olive Oyl is dropping from directly above.
3) Every time Popeye catches a letter, one step is added to a ladder which goes up to Olive Oyl. When the ladder is finished, Olive Oyl is rescued. This is the most difficult scene because a total of 24 letters are needed to complete the ladder and save Olive Oyl. Bernard will constantly appear from the left side of the screen. While sliding back and forth across the platform, you should try to punch Bernard as many times as possible, to score 1,000 points per punch.
4) After Popeye has rescued Olive Oyl on the shipboard scene, there will be an intermission that will have Popeye's face while "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man" plays followed by Popeye blowing his pipe and going "Toot! Toot!". Afterwards, the game begins again from the dock scene with increased difficulty.
On all three scenes, Brutus can reach from underneath or bend down from higher floors to lower ones. Be careful that you are not directly above or below him when he does this.
When the game restarts from the dock scene with increased difficulty, the Sea Hag will start throwing down deadly bouncing skulls from the edges of the screen that must be punched when they are bouncing upward. You must also make sure that there are no skulls directly above Popeye, since they drop down a floor or two and hit him on the head. The Sea Hag only throws skulls on the dock and street scenes, not on the shipboard scene.
Continue to avoid Brutus, Bernard, the beer bottles, and the skulls, and keep catching whatever Olive Oyl throws down.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[FR] Philips G7000 Videopac (1982)
[US] Atari 2600 (1983)
[US] Atari 5200 (1983)
[BR] Philips Odyssey² (1983)
[US] ColecoVision (1983)
[US] Intellivision (1983)
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (jul.15, 1983) "Popeye [Model HVC-PP]"
[EU] Nintendo NES (sept.1, 1986) "Popeye [Model NES-PP]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Atari 8-bit (1983)
[EU] Commodore C64 (1984)
[US] TI-99/4A (1984)
* OTHERS:
[US] Mobile [Java ME] (2008)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Radikal Bikers Update submitted by XtC
Radikal Bikers (c) 1998 Gaelco.
Radikal Bikers is an abstract racing game set in the Mediterranean, in which players take on the role of a pizza delivery driver. The goal is to deliver pizza before the rival delivery driver and before the timer expires. Each player-character rides an Italian scooter as they navigate through heavy traffic and tight, twisting roads.
The game has three selectable locations and difficulty levels, appropriately represented as increasingly spicy pizzas: Margherita (easy, set in Milan), Capricciosa (medium, set in Rome) and Diabola (hard, set in Naples). Each location features four races and if players beat four races in a level, they will progress to the next stage for free. The urban setting allows for interaction with many different elements: cars, vans, windows, fences, people, etc.
Each circuit has many shortcuts and alternate routes, and to further aid the players, numerous power-ups can be picked up:
* Power Kick - Indicated by the bomb, allows players to blow up cars by kicking them for bonus points.
* Turbo - Indicated by the letter T, gives a temporary speed boost (incompatible with Power Kick).
* Extra Points - Indicated by the $, awards a bonus of 3000 points.
* Extra Time - Indicated by an hourglass, award 1 extra second of time.
* The Joker - Indicated by the ? gives a random power-up or extra points.
The four selectable player-characters are:
* Carlo - From "Paolo's Maniak Pizza".
* Gino - From "Frenzy Mario Pizza".
* Nina - From "Paolo's Maniak Pizza".
* Sofia - From "Frenzy Mario Pizza".
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Motorola 68EC020 (@ 25 Mhz), TMS32031 (@ 50 Mhz)
Sound CPU : ADSP2115 (@ 16 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (4x) DMA-driven (@ 16 Mhz)
Players : 1
- TRIVIA -
Released in March 1998.
Licensed to SNK for Japanese sales.
The main characters use a scooter from 'Italjet', a very famous Italian manufacturer now defunct (in 2001), which is also very well known in Spain. The model used in the game is similar to the 'Dragster' model.
- STAFF -
Product Manager: Josep Quingles
Game Designer: Xavi Arrebola G.
Scenary: Toni Lopez, Francesc Fradera
Character: Toni Rodríguez
Animation: Manuel Matamoros
Program: Enric Vives, Diego Campos
Music: Joan Sanmarti
Artistic Adviser: Elisa Anechina
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[EU] Sony PlayStation (1999) "Radikal Bikers [Model SLES-01943]"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color : Release cancelled, only a prototype cartridge exists.
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Game's screenshots.
Official website: http://www.gaelco.es/pages/juegos/radikal.htm
Accepted [+] [X] Baseball [Model HVC-BA] Update submitted by XtC
ベースボール (c) 1983 Nintendo.
(Baseball)
A baseball game. Players pick from a list of teams. The game-play can be very frustrating because infielders may not pick up a ball at their feet since they are waiting for another player to come over and pick it up.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID: HVC-BA
- TRIVIA -
Base Ball was released on December 07, 1983 in Japan.
Export release:
Released in North America as "Base Ball [Model NES-BA-USA]". It has different speed unit (mile per hour), top and bottom halves of innings are written in English, teams' letters are different (A, C, D, P, R and Y) and was published by Nintendo of America with 1984 copyright year.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The computer (AI) is very tough to defeat, but if you practice it and play for a while, you'll be able to beat them.
* Try not to run around the bases too often. The controls are really bad actually and sometimes respond too late, resulting in an Out for you. When you reach the base, stay there.
* The 4th batter is usually your strongest hitter.
* Hit right/left while the ball is in the air to curve the ball accordingly. You can even curve the ball right AND left in one throw.
* All the teams possess the same abilities, so it doesn't matter which team you choose either in 1- or 2-player games.
- STAFF -
Executive Producer: Hiroshi Yamauchi
Producer: Masayuki Uemura
Director: Kenji Miki
Design: Tadashi Sugiyama
Sound: Yukio Kaneoka
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Famicom Disk System (1986) "Baseball [Model FMC-BAS]"
[JP] Nintendo GameCube (2001) "Animal Crossing" as an unlockable Bonus game.
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002) e-Reader Series
Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console] (2007)
* OTHERS:
[JP] Arcade "Vs. Baseball" (1984)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Rockman - The Power Battle [B-Board 91634B-2] Update submitted by XtC
Rockman - The Power Battle (c) 1995 Capcom.
Have you ever pictured a Rockman game that allows to skip all the platform elements and just grapple against the bosses? That's pretty much the main idea in this game! Choose from Rockman, Protoman or Bass and battle against classic bosses in the series. Features great 2-D graphics, solid control, and a nice use of strategy (since the right order of weapons will rid you of specific enemies in no time!).
- TECHNICAL -
Runs on the "CP System" hardware.
B-Board #: 91634B-2
Players: Up to 2
Control per player: 8-way joystick
Buttons per player: 3
- TRIVIA -
Rockman was released in September 1995 in the Japanese arcades. It was known there as the 32th video game made for this system.
The game is known outside Japan as "Mega Man - The Power Battle". Here are some known export releases:
"Mega Man - The Power Battle [B-Board 91634B-2]" (Asia)
"Mega Man - The Power Battle [B-Board 91635B-2]" (USA)
It was re-released on the new Capcom system (CPS-2) the same year as "Rockman - The Power Battle [Green Board]".
Sony Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Rockman - The Power Battle : Arcade Gametrack - SRCL-3451) on December 1, 1995.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Easter Egg : sometimes when you fight Shade Man, the background music is a version of the theme song from the Makaimura series. This seems to happen at random.
- SERIES -
1. Rockman - The Power battle [CP-S No. 32] (1995)
2. Rockman 2 - The Power fighters [CP-S II No. 17] (1996)
- STAFF -
Planners : Ohko 25th, Zanzo, (^_^")
Programmers : Teruaki Hirokado, Giu Chan, Marh, Ohi
Object designers : K. Tokunaga, Top Joy, You-Tenkozow, Sensei, Takep, Eizi Murabayashi, Delta, Jun Ikawa, Jon, Tanida, Dja, Koga. M, Zephyr Sakuno
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Color [JP] (jul.6, 2000; "Rockman - Battle & Fighters [Model NEOP00940]")
[JP] Sony PS2 (aug.5, 2004; "Rockman Power Battle Fighters Model SLPM-62491]")
* OTHERS:
Arcade (1995) "Rockman - The Power Battle [Green Board]" : CPS-2 version of "Rockman - The Power Battle [CP-S No. 32]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Puckman [Upright model] Update submitted by XtC
Puckman (c) 1980 Namco.
Puckman is the seminal and hugely influential arcade game in which the player guides the legendary Puckman around a single-screen maze eating dots. Puckman is constantly pursued in his task by four colored ghosts. Each ghost has its own unique personality and behavioural patterns and a single touch from any of the ghosts results in Puckman losing a life. When all of Puckman's lives are lost, the game is over.
Power pills are situated in each corner of the rectangular maze and eating one of these makes Puckman temporarily invincible; the four ghosts also change to dark blue in color and can now be eaten by Puckman. But watch out...a flashing blue ghost indicates that the power pill is about to wear off and the ghosts are about to transform back to their former selves again. Once Puckman eats a blue ghost, this 'skinned' ghost then becomes visible as a pair of eyes only, will return to the ghost pen in the middle of the maze, regenerate into its former self, and return to the maze to continue its pursuit of Puckman.
Each maze contains 240 dots and 4 power pills, and all must be eaten to complete the level; whereupon the entire sequence begins again with an increased level of difficulty (the action increases in speed and power pills decrease in effectiveness).
Twice in every level, a bonus fruit or prize item will temporarily appear in the middle of the maze below the ghost pen. Puckman can eat these bonus items to receive extra points. Also, there is an escape tunnel on each side of the maze that Puckman can use to escape any ghosts that are currently closing in on him. The ghosts can also use the tunnel, but take longer to pass through it than Puckman, making escape a little easier.
Between certain rounds, funny intermissions will be played featuring Puckman and the ghosts in funny situations. Three intermissions are present:
1) The red ghost chases Puckman across the screen and off the side. Then he re-appears running in the opposite direction, having turned blue, followed by a giant Puckman! This intermission is played after Round 2.
2) The red ghost is again chasing Puckman, but this time he rips his red sheet on a nail on the ground, and we can see his pink body under the sheet! This intermission is played after Round 5.
3) The red ghost chases Puckman across the screen once more, this time with his sheet sewn. They disappear at the left side and then the ghost reappears coming back the opposite direction. This time he is bare and drags his sheet behind him. This intermission is played after Rounds 9, 13 and 17.
No intermission is present between rounds after the 18th one.
- TECHNICAL -
The original Namco Puckman Upright model came in a white cabinet that may look familiar to most gamers. This cabinet is the same 'swoopy' design used for Pac-Man and Galaxian. The only actual design difference was the coin door. The Japanese version had a tall coin door with a single coin mech, while the U.S. version, Pac-Man, had a fat coin door with two coin mechs installed. However, the graphics on the Japanese machine were completely different from those of the U.S. machine. The marquee had the 'Puckman' logo off to the right-hand side at an angle, and showed a scene with half a dozen cartoon Puckmen eating power pellets, with a few ghosts lingering off to the side. The monitor bezel was largely red and was of a circular design and had many Puckmen lounging around the perimeter of the circle. The control panel continued the reddish graphics and had instructions in Japanese, along with a yellow ball-top 4-Way joystick and Start buttons for each player. The sideart was a large circular sticker that advertised the game's name, and had many cartoon Puckmen in action around the edges of the circle, with the word Namco displayed prominently at the bottom. The cabinet was finished off with yellow t-molding on the edges.
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Namco 3-channel WSG
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
- TRIVIA -
The game was first introduced to the Japanese arcade market on May 22, 1980 and caught the hearts and imaginations of the public like no other game before it, and few since. It is still regarded as the hallmark of the 'golden age' of video games and an icon of 1980's popular culture.
The game was originally known in Japan as Puckman, but due to the West's predilection with changing words to vulgarities by scratching part of the word off (in this case, changing the word 'Puck' to something rather less socially acceptable by scratching off part of the letter 'P'), the name was changed to Pac-Man for its release to the American arcade market in October 1980. The name 'Pac-Man' comes from the Japanese slang term 'paku-paku', which describes the motion of the mouth opening and closing during eating and translates to English as 'to eat'.
Export releases:
[US] "Pac-Man [Model 932]"
Toru Iwatani, author and designer of Puckman: "Puckman's character is difficult to explain even to the Japanese -- he is an innocent character. He hasn't been educated to discern between good and evil. He acts more like a small child than a grown-up person. Think of him as a child learning in the course of his daily activities. If someone tells him guns are evil, he would be the type to rush out and eat guns. But he would most probably eat any gun, even the pistols of policemen who need them."
Puckman was, quite literally, conceived at lunchtime. Iwatani, then in his mid 20s, was very hungry and ordered himself a pizza for lunch. He took one slice, and, looking at the rest of the pizza, Puckman was born. However, in later years, Iwatini has suggested the shape was based on the Japanese character 'kuchi', meaning mouth. He rounded off this shape, and created the classic shape. The game took 1 1/2 years to complete and had five people on its team. Puckman is the greatest selling arcade game of all time and is arguably also the world's most recognized video-game character of all time. It had its own cartoon, lunch box, board game, stickers and hundreds of other products. This was largely due to Puckman being the first truly distinctive video-game 'character', and it changed the face of video games forever. Puckman was the first video game to be as equally popular to women as it was with men.
* A place in video game history: "Pac-Man is the most universally known arcade game," said Chris Lindsey, director of the National Video Game and Coin-Op Museum in St. Louis. "Everybody knows about Pac-Man. And, I've noticed, almost everybody can play Pac-Man pretty well. Pac-Man makes just about the best use of the joystick one can imagine. It's so intuitive that it puts other games to shame in terms of how easy it is for a person to walk up, stick a quarter in the machine, and start doing something meaningful. At the time, Pac-Man introduced a completely unique style of game play and was also highly identifiable in terms of its music. With Pac-Man, everything was there. The video game industry needs another game that captures the public's heart like Pac-Man, and so far, no one has been able to come up with it."
* The great 25-cent escape: "People expect to see Pac-Man when they come into the museum, and without fail, when they see it, they want to play it," Lindsey said. "People remember spending hours and hours at Pac-Man. They like to see how good they are now when they play it. And I would say that, perhaps more than any other game, the same playing skills still apply. Perhaps it's because of the intuitive game play. You don't have to memorize the behavior of a wide array of enemies as you do with some other games. You just have to remember that when the ghosts turn blue, you only have seconds, until they start seriously blinking, to go and get them. And Pac-Man is a little looser in its style of game play - more open. For instance, you can kill time in the lower left hand corner until you see an opening between the ghosts, and you can strategize a bit more: You can play with the tunnels, you can play with the position of the ghosts in relation to the energizers. Even people who haven't played in years remember those strategies."
After all these years, the challenge of Pac-Man still remains.
"You can also get into some really fun jams, when you've got a ghost on your tail and you have to make a decision about whether you're going to go left, or right, or straight at the next junction, which is in .03 seconds," Lindsey said. "It gets to be pretty tense, especially when those ghosts start moving really fast and the energizers aren't lasting as long. Pac-Man can be a real heart-thumping game."
After the 255th level, Puckman/Pac-Man presents the player with the infamous 'split-screen' level, where the left-half of the screen is normal, but the right-half of the screen is garbled with a mess of letters, numbers, symbols and other graphics. This level cannot be completed because there are not enough dots on screen to be eaten! This is the result of a bug in the routine drawing the fruits at the bottom of the screen, according to the round number. Indeed, the code works as follows:
1) it increases the last round number by one;
2) it checks if the result is smaller than 8 (in this case, you still would not have enough fruits to fill the line and some blank space must be drawn);
3) it checks if the result is larger than 19 (in this case, it has only to draw keys);
4) finally, it fills the bottom bar with the correct fruits.
In particular, if the round number is smaller than 8, the game draws as many fruits as the previous round number. This produces an undesirable effect right after the 255th level.
Indeed, 256 = 255+1 becomes 00 for the CPU (which expects to use the last 2 hexadecimal digits only, and 256 = 100 in hex)!
Therefore, the game thinks to be in one of the first 7 levels (because 0 is smaller than 7), but it tries to draw 255 fruits (because the last round number was 255). Of course, there is no space for that many fruits to be displayed and the game starts to draw garbage on the main screen.
Fixing the original code (either through a cheat in emulation, or hacking the roms on the PCB) would results in a 256th level identical to the first one (cherries will appear) but harder, since ghosts will behave as they do in levels beyond the 19th.
The alien spaceship 'Galaxian' makes an appearance as the prize in the 9th and 10th boards.
Note : Excluding bootlegs, there are 23 different name/nickname combinations for the ghosts in Puckman/Pac-Man (29 including 'Sue' from 'Ms. Pac-Man', 'Tim' from 'Jr. Pac-Man', 'Common' and 'Grey Common' from the Japanese version of 'Pac-Mania', and 'Funky' and 'Spunky' from the American version of 'Pac-Mania').
'Galaxian' boards will run in Pac-Man machines, but the sound pinout is different, so the pinout at the connector would have to be modified. To fire, one would have to press UP on the joystick.
Billy Mitchell, Rick Fothergill, Chris Ayra, Tim Balderramos and Donald Hayes all hold the official record for this game on 'Regular (TGTS)' settings with a perfect score of 3,333,360 points on July 3, 1999, July 31, 1999, February 16, 2000, December 4, 2004 and July 21, 2005, respectively.
Chris Ayra holds the official record for the fastest time to get a perfect game on 'Regular' settings with 3:42:05 on April 2, 2002.
Ron Corcoran holds the official record for this game on 'Speedup' settings with 1,321,020 points on May 13, 2001.
- UPDATES -
The attract mode's title sequence introduces the ghosts with name/nickname combinations displayed on the upper half of the screen.
The default name/nickname combinations for the ghosts in the original Japanese version are :
Oikake - "Akabei" (translation: Chaser - "Red Guy") (red ghost)
Machibuse - "Pinky" (translation: Ambusher - "Pink Guy") (pink ghost)
Kimagure - "Aosuke" (translation: Fickle - "Blue Guy") (cyan ghost)
Otoboke - "Guzuta" (translation: Stupid - "Slow Guy") (orange ghost)
The Japanese version also has a DIP switch for alternate name/nickname combinations for the ghosts. These alternate names are :
Urchin - "Macky" (red ghost)
Romp - "Micky" (pink ghost)
Stylist - "Mucky" (cyan ghost)
Crybaby - "Mocky" (orange ghost)
The name/nickname combinations for the ghosts in the North American version are :
Shadow - "Blinky" (red ghost)
Speedy - "Pinky" (pink ghost)
Bashful - "Inky" (cyan ghost)
Pokey - "Clyde" (orange ghost)
Unlike the Japanese version, the American version has no DIP switch for alternate ghost names.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
In a later revision ("Japan Set 2" in Mame):
* At the top of the title screen, instead of 'Nickname', it says 'Ghost'.
* The 'Press Start' screen displays 1981 as the year of release, instead of 1980.
- SCORING -
Dot : 10 points.
Power pill (energizer) : 50 points.
Ghosts : 200, 400, 800, 1,600 points.
Cherry : 100 points.
Strawberry : 300 points.
Peach : 500 points.
Apple : 700 points.
Pineapple : 1,000 points.
Galaxian : 2,000 points.
Bell : 3,000 points.
Key : 5,000 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The number of lives Puckman starts with depends on the 'Lives' dip switch setting (1, 2, 3, or 5; the default is 3).
* An extra life is awarded based on the 'Extra Lives' dip switch setting (10,000, 15,000, 20,000, or None; the default is 10,000).
* Fruits appear twice on each board. The first fruit appears after Puckman has eaten 70 dots; the second fruit appears once there are only 70 dots remaining in the maze.
* At the beginning of a round, the ghosts won't immediately pursue Puckman. Use this time the best as you can.
* Puckman can turn corners faster than the ghosts can, so turning many corners can help you escape ghosts.
* The tunnel allows Puckman and the ghosts to instantly travel from one side of the maze to the other. While traveling through the tunnel, Puckman moves at normal speed, but the ghosts' speed is reduced in half. This provides Puckman with a good opportunity to put some distance between him and the ghosts, but be careful not to get trapped by another ghost entering the opposite side.
* Stall Puckman from entering the tunnel and then, just before the ghosts reach him, send him through the tunnel. By attracting the ghosts to one side of the screen, you reduce Puckman's chances of meeting them when he emerges on the other side of the screen.
* If you hold the joystick in a direction that is blocked by a wall, Puckman will turn in that direction as soon as he reaches a passage leading in that direction. Remember this to turn corners as fast as you can.
* Remember that eating dots will slow Puckman down a little bit: avoid parts of the maze in which you've not been yet if you are trying to escape ghosts!
* Try not to eat power pills until the ghosts are near. The longer Puckman waits, the closer the ghosts get, and the easier it is for Puckman to eat them once they have turned blue.
* Mind that, as the levels increases, the ghost speed increases as well!
* In later rounds, you're not going to be able to eat ghosts after eating a power pill, because the vulnerability time decreases to zero. This is when you need to learn how to avoid the ghosts understanding their movement and their moving patterns!
* Right above the ghost pen, there are two paths leading upward to the upper part of the maze. The ghosts never travel upward through these holes while they're in their normal forms; they only do while they're blue after Puckman has eaten a power pill. Indeed, they only exit the area around the ghost pen from the sides or the bottom. These are not completely safe corners, since ghosts can travel downward through them, anyway they often represents a safe passage to flee from ghosts pursuing you around the ghost pen.
* Ghosts' Movements : First of all, remember that ghosts are not always following you! Their movements follow two distinct phases: one in which they avoid Puckman and one in which they hunt him down. In the former phase, each ghost patrols his personal corner of the maze. In the latter one, they will try to find Puckman, following their personal 'behavior':
1) The red ghost tends to patrol the top-right corner of the maze and he follows Puckman always trying to minimize their respective distance.
2) The pink ghost tends to patrol the top-left corner of the maze and he follows Puckman trying to reach a position slightly in front of Puckman, in the direction he's moving.
3) The cyan ghost tends to patrol the bottom-right corner of the maze and he has the most complicated AI since he moves towards a point determined by both Puckman's position and the red ghost's position.
4) The orange ghost tends to patrol the bottom-left corner of the maze and he only tries to be close to Puckman, without hunting him directly.
Ghosts alternate these two different behaviors (hiding and hunting) a few times in each round, then they start to pursue Puckman restlessly until all the dots are eaten, or they manage to catch him.
Additionally, as soon as a certain number of dots has been cleared from the maze (this number decreases as the levels pass), the red ghost's speed will increase and he won't stop to search for Puckman anymore.
- SERIES -
1. Puckman (1980, ARC)
2. Super Pac-Man (1982, ARC)
3. Pac & Pal (1983, ARC)
4. Pac-Land (1984, ARC)
5. Pac-Mania (1987, ARC)
6. Hello! Pac-Man [Model SHVC-PN-JPN] (1994, Super Famicom, Mega Drive)
7. Pac-In-Time [Model SHVC-APTJ-JPN] (1994, Super Famicom; 1995, Game Boy)
8. Pac-Man Arrangement (1996, ARC) : part of "Namco Classics Collection Vol.2"
9. Pac-Man World [Model SLPS-02345] (1999, PS)
10. Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness [Model SLPS-03000] (2000, PS)
11. Pac-Man World 2 [Model SLPS-25141] (2002, PS2, PC)
12. Pac-Man Arrangement (2005, PSP) : part of "Namco Museum [Model ULJS-00012]"
13. Pac 'n Roll [Model NTR-APNJ-JPN] (2005, DS)
14. Pac-Pix [Model NTR-APCJ-JPN] (2005, DS)
15. Pac-Man Arrangement Plus (2006, PSP) : part of "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
16. Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007, XBLA)
17. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (2010, XBLA, PSN)
18. Pac-Man Party [Model RVL-SP7J-JPN] (2010, Wii)
19. Pac-Man Battle Royale (2011, ARC)
20. Pac-Man Tilt (2011, 3DS) : part of "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions [Model CTR-APGJ-JPN]"
21. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ (2013, XBLA, PSN)
22. Pac-World (2014, 3DS, Wii U, PS3)
23. Pac-World 2 (2014, 3DS, Wii U, PS3)
- STAFF -
Designed by : Toru Iwatani
Programmed by : Hideyuki Mokajima
Music & Sound by : Toshio Kai
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released in North America, please see the Midway Pac-Man (North American version) upright entry.
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (nov.2, 1984) "Pac-Man [Model NPM-4500]"
[EU] Nintendo NES (1990)
[AU] Nintendo NES (1990)
[JP] Nintendo Famicom Disk (may.18, 1990) "Pac-Man [Model NDS-PAC]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (nov.22, 1995) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SLPS-00107]"
[AU] Sony PlayStation (1996) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SCES-00243]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (aug.1996) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SCES-00243]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jan.26, 2006) "Namco Museum Arcade Hits! [Model SLPS-25590]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (mar.24, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] Sony PS2 (mar.31, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model SLES-53957]"
[EU] Nintendo GameCube (may.5, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model DOL-G5NP-EUR]"
[EU] [JP] [AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (aug.9, 2006)
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.3, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 3 (jan.29, 2009) "Namco Museum.comm [Model NPJB-00012]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation 3 (apr.1, 2010) "Namco Museum Essentials [Model NPEB-00104]"
[AU] Sony PlayStation 3 (apr.1, 2010) "Namco Museum Essentials"
[KO] [EU] [AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (feb.26, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[EU] [AU] Sony PlayStation 3 [PSN] (feb.26, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum [Model NPEB-01892]"
[KO] Sony PlayStation 3 [PSN] (feb.26, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (june.25, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 3 [PSN] (june.25, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[EU] [AU] [JP] Microsoft XBOX One [XBOX Store] (apr.20, 2016) "Arcade Game Series - Pac-Man"
[EU] [AU] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (apr.20, 2016) "Arcade Game Series - Pac-Man [Model CUSA-03862]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (apr.20, 2016) "Arcade Game Series - Pac-Man [Model CUSA-03670]"
* HANDHELDS:
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (nov.16, 1990) "Pac-Man [Model DMG-PCA]"
[JP] Sega Game Gear (jan.29, 1991) "Pac-Man [Model T-14017]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1991) "Pac-Man [Model DMG-PC-NOE]"
[AU] Nintendo Game Boy (1991) "Pac-Man [Model DMG-PC-AUS]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999) "Pac-Man - Special Colour Edition [Model DMG-AACP-EUR]"
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Color (aug.26, 1999) "Pac-Man [Model NEOP00550]"
[EU] SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Color (oct.1, 1999) "Pac-Man [Model NEOP0055]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (dec.7, 2001) "Pac-Man Collection [Model AGB-APCP]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (jan.11, 2002) "Pac-Man Collection [Model AGB-APCJ-JPN]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.24, 2005) "Namco Museum [Model ULJS-00012]"
[KO] Sony PSP (may.2, 2005) "Namco Museum [Model ULJS-45005]"
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (mar.31, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model AGB-B5NP-EUR]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (oct.11, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.29, 2008) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMP-EUR]"
[JP] Nintendo 3DS (june.23, 2011) "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions [Model CTR-APGJ-JPN]"
[AU] Nintendo 3DS (aug.25, 2011) "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions [Model CTR-APGP-AUS]"
[EU] Nintendo 3DS (aug.26, 2011) "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions [Model CTR-APGP-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
Exidy Sorcerer (1981) "Chomp"
[EU] BBC B (1982) by Acornsoft : Renamed "Snapper" after Acornsoft was sued.
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[JP] Sharp X-1 (1983)
[EU] Sharp MZ-80K Pacman
[JP] Fujitsu FM-7 (1984)
[EU] Acorn Electron (1984) "Snapper"
[JP] MSX (1984)
[EU] MSX (1984)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985)
[EU] Thomson TO8 (1986) "Compilation Contacthoms"
Atari ST (1986) "Spook - Mighty Munchers"
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1988)
[JP] PC9801 (nov.13, 1992) by Wiz
[JP] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.9, 1998) "Namco History Vol.3"
[AU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (mar.27, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (may.19, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[AU] PC [Online] (feb.25, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[EU] Steam (feb.25, 2014) "Pac-Man Museum"
[JP] PC [Online] (apr.20, 2016) "Arcade Game Series - Pac-Man"
* OTHERS:
[JP] Arcade (1996) "Namco Classics Collection Vol.2"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Pac-Man Help file from Microsoft Return of Arcade.
All In Color For a Quarter - Keith Smith
Mark Longridge, Scott Lawrence and Don Hodges webpages, for the analysis of the 256th level bug.
Accepted [+] [X] Pong Update submitted by XtC
Pong (c) 1972 Atari, Incorporated.
Pong is a basic simulation of the racket sport of table tennis. A small square representing a ping pong ball travels across the screen in a linear trajectory. If the square strikes the perimeter of the playing field, or one of the simulated paddles, the square ricochets based on the angle of the impact.
Game play consists of players moving their respective paddles vertically to defend their scoring zones. Players score one point by maneuvering the square past their opponent's paddle.
Atari coin-op version of Pong can only be played with two players with each player controlling a paddle.
- TECHNICAL -
The arcade PONG hardware was developed using 66 TTL logic chip. The home version had an integrated chip replacing most of these logic chips in 1974.
Screen Orientation: Horizontal
Video Resolution: 858 x 525 Pixels
Screen Refresh: 29.97 Hz
Palette Colors: Nothing
Players: 2
- TRIVIA -
On June 27, 1972, Mr. Nolan K. Bushnell and Mr. Ted Dabney start their own game company, named 'Syzygy' (means 'the sun, moon and earth in total eclipse'). But at this time, 'Syzygy' was already used by a roof-tiling company and finally, the name was changed to 'Atari' (a word equivalent to the term 'check' used in the Japanese strategy board game 'Go', Bushnell was an avid Go player) and give it the 'FUJI'-symbol (from the Japan's largest mountain 'Fujijama') as its logo.
Pong is the first Atari game. It was released on November 29, 1972, selling at an MSRP of $700.
In September 1972, a prototype was tested on top of a barrel as the first commercial coin-operated machine in a tavern in Sunnyvale, CA called "Andy Capp's'. Within two weeks, Mr. Bill Gattis, the tavern manager, called Atari's Mr. Al Alcorn and reported that the machine was in need of repair. When examined, Alcorn discovered that the coin mechanism had been literally stuffed with quarters. Pong became an instant success and it created the arcade video game industry. The video game revolution had begun...
According to Curt Vendel and Marty Goldberg's "Atari Inc.: Business Is Fun" regarding the original Pong: Because of the cost concerns, the timing chip that Al (Alcorn) had to use to control what scan lines the paddle was drawn across couldn't handle the full range of the screen. It actually left a small gap at the top of the screen. However as Nolan (Bushnell) and Ted (Dabney) played it during the design process, everyone realized that problem actually enhanced the game play. If two players were that good, the small hole would provide a break in the stalemate if a player could direct the ball through it. Rather than fix it by going a more expensive route, it was decided the bug would stay. The experience led Al to the mantra, "If you can't fix it, call it a feature."
A Pong unit appears in the 1974 movie 'The Parallax View' and in the 1975 movie 'Rancho Deluxe'.
The player versus machine/computer feature was not supported with coin-op versions of Atari Pong. The player versus machine/computer feature did eventually appear in several different versions of coin-op pong clone games after the coin-op version of Atari Pong was released.
The two Paddles and pong ball appear on the 2012 animation movie "Wreck-It Ralph" from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- SCORING -
Cab operator can adjust the slide switch on an Atari Pong PCB to set winning score to either be 11 points or 15 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
The instructions for this game consist of three lines:
Deposit quarter.
Ball will serve automatically.
Avoid missing ball for high score.
- SERIES -
1. Pong (1972)
2. Pong Doubles (1973)
3. Quadra Pong (1974)
4. Super Pong (1974)
5. Pong - The Next Level (1999, PC CD-ROM, Sony PS and Game Boy Color)
- STAFF -
Designed & Engineered by: Alan Alcorn, Nolan Bushnell
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Atari 2600
[US] (oct.1977) "Video Olympics [Model CX2621]"
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
[US] (1996) "Arcade Classics [Model MK-1715]"
[EU] (1996) "Arcade Classics [Model 1715-50]"
Sony PlayStation
[US] (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[EU] (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
Sega Dreamcast
[US] (jul.2, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition [Model T-15130N]"
Tapwave Zodiac
[US] (2004) "Atari Retro"
Microsoft XBOX
[US] (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[EU] (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[JP] (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
Sony PS2
[US] (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
Sony PlayStation 4
[US] (oct.18, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"
Microsoft XBOX One
[US] [EU] (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"
* HANDHELDS:
Sega Game Gear
[US] (1996) "Arcade Classics"
Nintendo DS
[UK] (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-UKV]"
[EU] (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-EUR]"
[US] (mar.16, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-USA]"
[JP] (june.30, 2005) "Atarimix Happy 10 Games [Model NTR-ATAJ-JPN]"
[AU] (nov.2007) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-AUS]"
[US] (nov.2, 2010) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"
[EU] (feb.24, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6P-EUR]"
Nintendo Game Boy Advance
[US] (aug.21, 2005) "3 Games in One! Yars' Revenge - Asteroids - Pong [Model AGB-B64E-USA]"
[EU] (sept.23, 2005) "3 Games in One! Yars' Revenge - Asteroids - Pong [Model AGB-B64P]"
Sony PSP
[US] (dec.19, 2007) "Atari Classics Evolved [Model ULUS-10325]"
[AU] (mar.7, 2008) "Atari Classics Evolved"
* COMPUTERS:
Tandy Color Computer 3
[US] (1987) "Ponk"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM]
[EU] (1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] (jul.13, 1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] (jul.9, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[EU] (dec.14, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[US] (jan.1, 2003) "Atari Retro"
[US] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[EU] (june.17, 2005) "Atari Arcade Hits 1 [Replay]"
Steam
[US] (mar.24, 2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
[US] Magnavox (1972) "Odyssey [Model ITL 200]"
[US] Universal Research (1973) "Video Action [Model VA-I]"
[UK] Videomaster (1974) "Home T.V. Game [Model VM577]"
[US] Executive Games (1975) "Television Tennis [Model 035]"
[US] First Dimension (1975) "Video Sports [Model FD-3000W]"
[US] Magnavox (1975) "Odyssey 100"
[US] Magnavox (1975) "Odyssey 200"
[US] Sears (1975) "Tele-Games Pong [Model 25796]"
[US] Universal Research (1975) "Video Action [Model VA-II]"
[UK] Videomaster (1975) "Olympic Home T.V. Game [Model VM3-D]"
[EU] Videomaster (1975) "Rally Home T.V. Game [Model VM4]"
[US] Allied's (1976) "Name of the Game [Model A-100]"
[US] Allied's (1976) "Name of the Game II [Model A-300]"
[CA] Canadian Tire (1976) "Video Sports [Model 84-6072]"
[US] Coleco (1976) "Telstar [Model 6040]"
[US] Coleco (1976) "Telstar Classic [Model 6045]"
[US] Atari (1976) "Pong [Model C-100]"
[UK] Binatone (1976) "TV Gaming Unit [Model 01-4990]"
[FR] Pizon Bros. (1976) "Visiomatic 101"
[FR] Pizon Bros. (1976) "Visiomat 11"
[US] Entex (1976) "Gameroom Tele-Pong"
[US] First Dimension (1976) "Video Sports [Model 76]"
[US] First Dimension (1976) "Video Sports [Model 76C]"
[US] GHP (1976) "Wonder Wizard - Television Sports Games [Model 7702]"
[US] Lloyds (1976) "TV-Sports 801"
[US] Magnavox (1976) "Odyssey 300"
[US] Magnavox (1976) "Odyssey 400"
[US] Magnavox (1976) "Odyssey 500"
[US] MECCA (1976) "TV Game [Model EP 460]"
[DE] Mestron (1976) "Fernseh Spiel [Model TVG 2006]"
[US] Montgomery-Ward (1976) "Telstar Video World of Sports"
[US] National Semiconductor (1976) "Adversary"
[FR] Occitane (1976) "OC4"
[FR] Occitane (1976) "Occitel"
[AU] Packel Instrument (1976) "TV Sport"
[UK] Prinztronic Tournament Colour Programmable 2000 (1976)
[US] Radio Shack (1976) "Electronic TV Scoreboard [Model 60-3061]"
[US] MSC (1976) "Ricochet [Model MT1A]"
[US] Ridgewood (1976) "GAMATIC 7600"
[US] Dyn (1976) "Paddle IV"
[US] Sears (1976) "Tele-Games Super Pong [Model 99736]"
[US] Sears (1976) "Tele-Games Super Pong IV [Model 99737]"
[US] Sears (1976) "Tele-Games Hockey-Pong [Model 99721]"
[US] Sears Hockey-Tennis (1976) : contains 4 games.
[EU] Superlectron TV Challenger (1976) : contains 3 games.
[US] Tele-Match Concert Hall IV (1976) : contains 4 games.
[US] Tele-Match 4 (1976) : contains 4 games.
[NL] Television Gaming Unit (1976) : conrains 2 games.
[US] Unisonic Sportsman - Tournament 101 (1976) : contains 4 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 100 (1976) : contains 4 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 150 (1976) : contains 6 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 200 (1976) : contains 4 games.
[US] Universal Research (1976) "Video Action [Model VA-III]"
[US] Universal Research (1976) "Video Action Indy 500 [Model S-100]" : contains 3 games.
[DE] Universum TV Multi-Spiel (1976) : contains 6 or 4 games.
[US] Venture Electronics Video Sports (1976) : contains 4, 5, or 8 games.
[UK] Videomaster Superscore (1976) : contains 6 games.
[US] Windsor TV Game (1976) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Academy Video Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] APF Match (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] APF TV FUN (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] APF Sportsarama (1977) : contains 8 games.
[FR] Asaflex Video Sports (1977) : contains 4 or 6 games.
[US] Atari (1977) "Ultra Pong [Model C-402S]" : contains 16 or 32 games.
[US] Atari Video Pinball (1977) : contains 7 games.
[EU] Audiosonic Home's TV Set (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Binatone Colour TV Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Binatone TV-Master MK 6 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Binatone TV Master MK IV (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Binatone TV-TRON (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Bingo TVG 203 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Bingo Video Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Blaupunkt TV-Action (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Boots Audio (1977) : conrains 4 games.
[US] Coleco (1977) "Telstar Ranger [Model 6046]" : contains 6 games.
[US] Coleco (1977) "Telstar Alpha [Model 6030]" : contains 4 games.
[US] Coleco (1977) "Telstar Colormatic [Model 6130]" : contains 4 games.
[US] Coleco (1977) "Telstar Regent [Model 6036]" : contains 4 games.
[EU] Commodore T.V. Game (1977) : contains 8 games.
[US] Concept 2000 Spectrum 6 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Concept 2000 TV +4 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Conic Video Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Continental Edison (1977) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Creatronic Bi.Bip 4 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Creatronic Bi.Bip 8 (1977) : contains 8 games.
[US] Dayya Marume 2000 (1977) : contains 8 games.
[DE] DDR TV-Spiele (1977) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Decca Sports TV Game (1977) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Derby Master (1977) : contains 3 games.
[US] Digitek TV Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] E&P 4 Electronic TV Sport Games (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Electrophonic Pro-Sports (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Enterprex Color Home Video Game (1977) : contains 4 or 8 games.
[UK] Grandstand Match of the Day 2000 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Grandstand Adman (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Gulliver Triple Challenge (1977) : contains 3 games.
[FR] Hanimex Jeu-Tele Electronique (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Hanimex TV Scoreboard (1977) : contains 8 games.
[FR] Hit-Go (1977) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Hometronics Telecourt (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Honeybell Video Sports color (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Intel Super-Telesport (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Intel TV Sport (1977) : contains 4 or 6 games.
[DE] Interton Club Exclusiv 2000 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[EU] Interton Video 2400 (1977) : contains 5 games.
[EU] Interton Video 2501 (1977) : contains 3 games.
[EU] Interton Video 2800 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[EU] Interton Video 3000 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[EU] Interton Video 3001 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[FR] ITMC 6 Jeux (1977) : contains 6 games.
[UK] ITT / Ideal Color Tele-Match Cassette (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Korting Tele-Multi-Play (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] K-Mart S Four Thousand (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] K-Mart S Eight Thousand (1977) : contains 8 games.
[US] Magnavox (1977) "Odyssey 2000" : contains 3 games.
[US] Magnavox (1977) "Odyssey 3000" : contains 4 games.
[US] Magnavox (1977) "Odyssey 4000" : contains 8 games.
[FR] Markint 4a (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Markint 6 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Markint Tele-Sports (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Markint TV Sports (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Match Spectrum 6 (1977) : contains 3 games.
[DE] MBO Tele-Ball V (1977) : contains 6 games.
[JP] Nintendo (1977) "Color TV-Game 6 [Model CTG-6S]" : contains 6 games.
[JP] Nintendo (1977) "Color TV-Game 6 [Model CTG-6V]" : contains 6 games.
[JP] Sharp (1977) "Color TV-Game [Model XG-106V]" : contains 6 games.
[EU] Novex Colour Video Sports Game (1977) : contains 3 games.
[FR] Société occitane d'électronique (1977) "Match Robot" : contains 4 games.
[EU] OPL Optim Sport (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Palladium Tele-Match 4000 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[EU] Philips Odyssey 2001 (1977) : contains 3 games.
[EU] Philips Tele-Spiel Las Vegas (1977) : contains 4, 6 or 8 games.
[FR] Pizon-Bross Visiomat 11 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Poppy Tele-Spiel (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Prinztronic Tournament II Deluxe (1977) : contains 6 games.
Radofin Electronic TV Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
Radofin Tele-Sports (1977) : contains 4 games.
Radofin Tele-Sports Mini (1977) : contains 4 games.
Radofin SC Eight Thousand (1977) : contains 8 games.
[US] Ricochet Electronic Super Pro (1977) : contains 5 games.
[US] Roberts Rally IV (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Roberts Rally X (1977) : contains 8 games.
[US] Roberts Sportrama 8 (1977) : contains 8 games.
[FR] Samdo (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Santron Home T.V. Game (1977) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Sanwa Tele-Spiel (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Sears (1977) "Tele-Games Hockey-Tennis II [Model 99733]" : contains 4 games.
[US] Sears (1977) "Tele-Games Hockey-Tennis III [Model 99734]" : contains 4 games.
[US] Sears (1977) "Tele-Games Super Pong IV [Model 99789]" : contains 10 (5x2) games.
[US] Sears (1977) "Tele-Games Pong Sports II [Model 99707]" : contains 16 games.
[US] Sears (1977) "Tele-Games Pong Sports IV [Model 99708]" : contains 32 games.
[FR] SEB Telescore (1977) : contains 4 or 6 games.
[DE] Sennheiser TV Game (1977) : contains 6 games.
[EU] Sheen Video Sport (1977) : contains 4 games.
[EU] Sheen Colour Video Sport (1977) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Sonesta Hide-Away TV Game (1977) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Sportel (1977) : contains 3 games.
[FR] Sportron (1977) : contains 4 or 6 games
[FR] Starex (1977) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Superlectron Fernsehspiel (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Syrelec Videosport 2 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Thomson Jeu Video (1977) : contains 5 games.
[EU] Tandy TV Scoreboard (1977) : contains 4 or 10 games.
[US] TCR Video Sport (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Tele-Match Television Computer Game (1977) : contains 5 games.
[UK] Teleng Colourstars (1977) : contains 6 games.
[AU] Tempest Video Game (1977) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Unimex Mark V-C (1977) : contains 6 games.
[US] Unisonic Olympian 2600 (1977) : contains 10 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 1000 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 2000 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[US] Unisonic Tournament 2501 (1977) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Universum Color Multi-Spiel (1977) : contains 4 or 10 games.
[DE] Universum Tele-Sports (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Univox (1977) : contains 4 games.
[EU] Video 4000-EX (1977) : contains 4 games.
[FR] Video Stellar (1977) : contains 5 games.
[EU] Videomaster Colourscore (1977) : contains 3 games.
[UK] Videomaster Colourshot (1977) : contains 3 games.
[UK] Videomaster Visionscore (1977) : contains 3 games.
[UK] Videomaster Strika 2 (1977) : contains 4 games.
[US] Windtronics Video Game (1977) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Binatone TV-Master MK 8 (1978) : contains 8 games.
[UK] Binatone TV-Master MK 10 (1978) : contains 10 games.
[UK] Binatone Colour TV Game 4 Plus 2 (1978) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Coleco Telstar Colortron (1978) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Coleco Telstar Marksman (1978) : contains 6 games.
[US] Granada (1978) "Colorsport VIII [Model CS 1818]"
[DE] Grunding Tele-Spiel 1 (1978)
[US] Harvard Mini Color TV Game (1978) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Intercord TV Games (1978) : contains 4 games.
[EU] ITT / Ideal Color Tele-Match Cassette 2 (1978) : contains 8 games.
[FR] Klervox Jeu TV (1978) : contains 6 games.
[DE] Match Color (1978) : contains 10 games.
[DE] MBO Tele-Ball VIII (1978) : contains 8 games.
[US] Olympos Electronic Gamatic 7706 (1978) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Société occitane d'électronique "OC 5000" : by contains 6 games.
[EU] Philips Odyssey 2100 (1978) : contains 23 games.
[IT] Polistil Video Games (1978) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Poppy Tv-Game Fernseh Spiel (1978) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Prinztronic Tournament Mini (1978) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Prinztronic Videosport (1978) : contains 6 games.
[FR] RIL Robot (1978) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Saft-Leclanch TV 8 Sports (1978) : contains 8 games.
[US] Sands Color TV Game (1978) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Scomark 4 Sports Tele (1978) : contains 4 games.
[US] Sinoca T.V. Game (1978) : contains 4 games.
[DE] TV 18 Spannende Videospiele (1978) : contains 18 games.
[UK] Grandstand Sports Centre (1979) : contains 10 games.
[EU] Hanimex Electronic TV Game (1979) : contains 4 games.
[EU] ITT / Ideal Tele-Match Cassette (1979) : contains 10 games.
[UK] Videomaster Colourscore 2 (1979) : contains 6 games.
[JP] TV-Games (197?) [Model KTC-7700]
Radofin Colour TV Game (1981) : contains 10 games.
[FR] Univox Tele-Sports 6 (1981) : contains 6 games.
[EU] Audiosonic Color TV Game (1982) : contains 4 games.
[DE] Poppy Color Video Game (1982) : contains 6 games.
[FR] Rollet Robot (1982) : contains 6 games.
[UK] Bentley Compu-Vision (1983) : contains 4 games.
[US] DMS Tele-Action (1983) : contains 4 games.
[UK] Ingersoll mini TV Game (1983) : contains 4 games.
Arcade (1993) "Mortal Kombat II" : hidden game
[US] Mobile phone (2003) : Motorola T720
[US] Atari 10 in 1 TV Game (2002) by Jakk's Pacific
[US] Atari Paddle TV Game (2004) by Jakk's Pacific
[US] Atari Flashback 2 (2005)
[US] Nokia N-Gage (2006) "Atari Masterpieces Volume 2"
Apple Store (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Android Market (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
[US] Atari Flashback 2+ (feb.22, 2010)
- SOURCES -
Game's manual.
Game's pictures.
Game's ROMs.
Game's screenshots.
See goodies section.
