retrorussell

No prob Carl. I thought it was pretty awesome too.. I never had an arcade that nice in my neck of the woods. My arcades had dingy carpets with cig burns, and no fancy fountains out front, no music videos on multi-screens, and no light shows. But there were some pretty sweet deals for tokens (6 for a dollar, extra tokens for good grades on your report card, etc.).

I'm not good at electronics either, but fortunately my mom worked for Tektronix nearly all her life and knows a thing or two about soldering and circuit boards, so she can be bribed with lunch. You owe it to yourself to own one someday.. just save some money here and there and you could probably negotiate with someone on a more reasonable price. $300 or less is probably doable with a lot of machines out there. Another thing to remember is even if you saw that it works before it got shipped to your house, things can change during the shipping and you might need to resolder a little. I've had the horizontal get a bit messed up just during shipping, so get a soldering iron and some wick just in case. And check the Video Game Collector's webring for help/info. Yeah, it saddens me too to know that the memories of busy arcades and pizza parlors abuzz with the sounds of video game zapping/shooting/jumping noises is just that: memories. I feel your pain brotha!!! Maybe this'll give you some warm fuzzies all over again.

Wow.. never heard of Noah's Ark. Probably as disgustingly easy as Pot 'O Gold/Leprechaun. I don't think they released more than 5 games for that "Moppet Video" cabinet. The kiddie cabinet idea died a pretty quick death. Konami's "Martial Chamion" was not that good a game, but it did have some large sprites for the fighters. Sega/Coreland's "My Hero" was pretty rare, though it got a SMS release, I think. Kung-Fu Master with cartoony characters. None too special. Gremlin/Sega's "Pulsar". Decent old game where you commandeer a tank to pick up keys and open doors. Secret bonuses were picked up by shooting an enemy the same color as the key you had, or by getting the doors opened in numerical order.

If you can scrape up some money, by all means pursue this dream. Check Craiglist for arcade machines in your area (I just type up "arcade" under search) and be prepared to part with around 500 bucks, you shouldn't fork out more than that for such an old game. Then you or someone you know should have a good-sized truck to pick it up. Just remember the machine is HEAVY AS HELL. If you live upstairs forget it. And as much as it may discourage you, you'll need to learn how to solder and replace parts, and when dealing with a super high-voltage monitor, you have to be SUPER careful or the damn thing could KILL you. If that's something you can learn to live with, by all means pursue your dream. I dreamed forever of owning my own Dig Dug, not only do I have that in my bedroom but Phoenix and a Neo Geo cabinet in my living room. Time for me to buy a house and collect more!

I was never a fan of the video game/pinball hybrid. It really needed to be one or the other The only thing close to that that would work would be like Video Pinball, Gee Bee, etc. Sky Kid was pretty rare in American arcades. I saw it at some RV park near Seattle back in the late 80s, in a little game room cabin. Weird. I think it may have had Looping there, too, which was sort of rare too.

Wow. Seeing little Rimururu get her head whacked off by Rasetsumaru was pretty bold. I liked taking too long to do anything on the 2nd level of Out Of This World/Another World. A UFO slowly floats overhead until it reaches Lester, then zaps the s**t out of him.

Another cool death was seeing Jill Valentine get eaten by the Yawn (giant snake) in Resident Evil 1. Or seeing the Hunters slice off her head. Or seeing the Novistadors barf acid on Leon's face, melting it away in Resident Evil 4. Oh, and some cool ones from the Playstation's Fear Effect 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lcrudpghv0

I used to see Sprint 2 everywhere, but all the others mentioned I hadn't seen in many places. I think I saw Zarzon once at a drive-in theatre. It seemed drive-in theatres often had really hard-to-find games. Peter Pack-Rat and Road Runner were kind of rare. Irem's Red Alert was super-rare. I'm working on more and more YouTube videos of rare arcade games. I'm not usually one to self-promote but I thought some people might get a kick out of some of these rarities. http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyclimber80

Wow.. never knew you could bring the wheelbarrow down that elevator on Super Bagman. That sure makes it easier!

First color video game: Car Polo, Exidy 1977

The Wunderland in NE Portland had a lot of cabaret games, including Missile Command, Dig Dug, Pac Man and Centipede. I remember Leprechaun as "Pot O' Gold" in some cabinets by Game Plan, and as Laprechaun by Tong, in the kiddie cabinet. They both sucked hard because it was way too easy. I saw Stern's "Rescue" at a Pietro's Pizza back when pizza from major chains was REALLY good. Kicker was fairly rare. I was/am rather good at that game. Played it quite a bit at Tigard Fred Meyer's. I remember Baby Pac-Man, and how bad it was. Namco did well to keep their hands off that one. Mr. Do's Wild Ride was pretty rare. I did not like how they took out some of the staples of the Mr. Do series (letter monsters, no weapon whatsoever, and the concept was just stupid) but at least they still had the free credit diamond and the letters collected for the extra life. Saw it only once, at the Oregon coast. Universal's Zero Hour, not a very good shooter from what I recall. I think I found that at some Vancouver, WA grocery store. Exidy's FAX, Hard Hat, and Pepper II. Weird title for the latter, as there was no Pepper one!

I barely remember TX-1 and the 3-screen display. I have Macross on MAME and it is a great shooter. I've seen VS. Goonies at a few places but liked the NES Goonies II better. VS. Super Mario Bros. is a good degree harder than the NES version. I was hoping to find a screenshot of Earth Friend, but no luck so far. Never heard of it, I bet it was neat for its time. I saw Ms. Pac-Man Plus once. Nothing really special, just different mazes and I think the fruits could float through walls. (Video) Eight Ball by Century Electronics. Don't think I played it but I saw it at a couple places. My favorite pool game would come out 4 years or so later (Side Pocket). Konami's laserdisc game "Badlands". Funny deaths in this western-themed game!

I hadn't heard of Demon until recently. The Rock-Ola games I remember playing were Fantasy, Eyes, Nibbler, Pioneer Balloon and Jump Bug (my fave Rock-Ola game by a mile). The other Rock-Ola games I only heard about through klov.com. I remember seeing Sky Raider by Atari at a theater somewhere near Renton, WA in about 1981 (the game was 3 years old). Simply a black-and-white vertical shooter where you just shoot targets while the timer ticks down, and try to score enough for the timer to reset. Nintendo's Arm Wrestling was also rare; it was just like Punch-Out!! except with arm wrestlers. Sega's Bank Panic was rare but very fun. You were a sheriff/deputy at a bank, shooting outlaws coming in to rob the place, and trying not to hit customers depositing money. You got to mind 3 doors at once. You had to get cash flow through every one of I believe 20 doors. I saw some lame-ass complete rip-offs where a company stole the game from another company and renamed it. Aseroids was changed to Meteor, and Star Castle was changed to Fort Cosmos. Kellogg Bowl in Milwaukie, OR had some weird games back in the day.

Oh. No worries. Well, if you want some more ideas from that specific era, I could probably come up with some more songs. Like: Night Owls-Little River Band Don't Do Me Like That-Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Edge Of Seventeen-Stevie Nicks Brass In Pocket-Pretenders Physical-Olivia Newton John Get Down On It-Kool & The Gang Harden My Heart-Quarterflash Hope I didn't repeat any. When you say the "classic" era of arcades, many could argue that it was still classic past 1983. Yes, the arcade business in general began to suffer due to the home consoles getting more attention, but there were still a lot of great games being released in the arcade. Marble Madness, Kung Fu Master, just to name a couple. Just a thought.

I think you're getting off track with the songs listed above which were released after 1983. So? They still put up a good atmosphere for gaming. It's not all about the year in which they were released.

More.. All Night Long-Lionel Richie Late In The Evening-Paul Simon Lido Shuffle-Boz Scaggs Take Your Time (Do It Right)-S.O.S. Band Sir Duke-Stevie Wonder Boogie Oogie Oogie-Taste Of Honey I Can't Go For That-Hall & Oates The Final Countdown-Europe Call Me, Rapture-Blondie Crazy On You-Heart Karn Evil 9-Emerson, Lake & Palmer Reeling In The Years-Steely Dan Smooth-Rob Thomas & Santana Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac We Built This City-Jefferson Starship Take On Me-A-ha Those Shoes, Heartache Tonight, Hotel California-Eagles Sad Songs Say So Much-Elton John Rock Me Amadeus-Falco Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through-Meat Loaf Bicycle Race, Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen December 1963-Four Seasons Only Time Will Tell, Heat Of The Moment-Asia Iron Man, War Pigs, Paranoid-Black Sabbath Lonely Is The Night, In The Dark, My Kinda Lover, Everybody Wants You-Billy Squier

I remember nearly wetting myself with laughter the first time I saw the Lizard King smack me on the head. Durrh!!! I have Metal Slug X in my Neo cabinet, and I also love the fat death, and when you turn into a zombie. Seeing Space Ace get eaten by Giant Evil Space Ace's disembodied head was funny. Seeing Dr. Salvador or the Bella Sisters lop my head off with a chainsaw in Resident Evil 4 was stunning. Or Super Dr. Salvador do the same with his dual chainsaw (must be seen to believe!). Also in Resident Evil 4, getting stabbed in the face, then in the groin by the Garradors' claws is very nasty. And getting chopped in half by the U3 monster ("It", as referred to by Saddler) is yucky.

Heh.. these are cool too. From the arcade game "BloodStorm".

I never thought they'd show a child die in a video game, until "Heart Of Darkness" came out for Playstation. Boy, does this kid bite the dust in lots of ways.

Even though my main objective in a game is to beat it, a very close second objective is to see myself die!!! Well, it's going to happen somewhere along the line, so I might as well see what all cool ways I can snuff it. One of my favorite death games was Tomb Raider, where I would often jump off the highest peak/cliff I could find and derive utter satisfaction from hearing Lara Croft scream her lungs out until her body met stone floor (or better yet, lava or spikes). Yes, I'm sick, but I laugh at it because I KNOW IT'S ONLY A GAME. I would also kill her in her own house (an optional practice stage) by running towards the balcony and diving off, crushing my body on crates as Lara's voice was instructing me on some control exercises. Needless to say, the lesson ended early. What cool deaths/death scenes do you have to share?

Recently played Dazzler and made a YouTube video of it. An old Turtles/Donkey Kong hybrid.

I was merely explaining my terminology as to what "screen" meant, not offering tips. How far do you get with your strategy? I prefer to work on one screen at a time due to the timer issue. I have the most trouble with the 2nd screen than the others due to the waiting for the elevator and the fact is has the most bags of the 3 screens. The first screen is pretty basic (I like using the wheelbarrow to knock down the guards as they climb up the ladder) and on the 3rd screen the guards almost never get off at the top floor, use that to your advantage (but that stupid minecart will nail you even if you're inside the elevator, how is that possible?).

We are talking about the original Bagman, but I doubt anyone would be averse to discussing Super Bagman. The MAME rom of Bagman is the actual arcade program emulated perfectly, so there is no difference. When I say "screen" I simply mean the one part of the mine you are in. When you collect all the visible bags of gold you move to the next "screen". Once the three "screens" are completed you proceed to the next "level". Bagman had three "screens" per level while Super Bagman had five.

First continually scrolling vertical game: Sky Raider, Atari 1978

"How's my hair?"--Marge, The Simpsons "Speed Up." "Option." "Beam."--Power Up Icons when shot, Phelios "Spinning Ground Kick!"--Chun Li "Yoga Fire!"--Dhalsim "Tiger uppercut!"--Sagat "Sonic Boom!"--Guile, Street Fighter II "Bury me with my money!"--First boss, Sunset Riders "Shell shock!"--When your turtle dies, "Duh.. who put the lights out?" -- when you fall into a manhole, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "RAGE!!!"--Announcer, Primal Rage "Engage!"--Announcer, Time Killers "Wheeee go!"--Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move "Drop It!" "Thank you for your cooperation."--Robocop