Prize T-shirt from VINDICATORS

[gw_girl]

I recently scored Atari VINDICATORS. It is an upright machine from 1988 and is supposedly pretty rare down here in Australia.

There is a contest level where you can win a t-shirt. Wondering if anyone has ever owned/ seen the T-shirt.

[Albert]

I don't believe I've actually ever played Vindicators. Is the contest actually mentioned in the game itself? What are the details of the contest?

 

..Al

[gw_girl]

In Vindicators, you are a tank and you go round blowing up other tanks and objects whilst collecting as many stars as you can. With the stars, you can customize your tank.

There's around 15 levels and 3 of them are "contest levels" where you can find the flashing "contest star". With that & 9 normal stars, you can play the contest.

I haven't got through the actual contest bit yet so I guess I dont deserve a t-shirt anyway.

The contest ended in Oct or Nov in 1988, according to the demo mode.

[Daevyd Jae]

Yes I won the T-shirt in the arcade. The game made you complete the contest level in 30 seconds. It played just like any of the other levels; get the key and escape through the open door at the top. If you completed it the game would display a code, and you would send that to Atari along with some personal info (like name and address) and your T-shirt size. You'd get a white T-shirt with the game on it.

Guy on YouTube posted a vid on how it looks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6dfPGbJTKU

[mr.bill]

I currently own a vindicators.  I also owned a vindicators 2. Vindicators 2 was a kit atari sold to convert gauntlet cabs.  You bought an upgrade and changed some chips to your gauntlet board and added a daughter card. I believe it ran on the same security chip used for empire strikes back. The problem with vindicators 2 is that its a stripped down version of vindicators. It has 10 levels vs the normal 14.

 

As for the t-shirt, I dont think I have ever seen one. I believe a friend of mine probably has the art files to make them, but I doubt there would be a market to print them.

[RJ]

You can play Vindicators nowadays on Midway Arcade Treasures 1. It's one of the reasons I bought it.

[mr.bill]

On 10/1/2021 at 2:04 PM, RJ said:

You can play Vindicators nowadays on Midway Arcade Treasures 1. It's one of the reasons I bought it.

how does it play on I assume a d pad? The bad thing about owning a vindicators is the controls are poorly designed. buttons break as well as the centering springs.

[RJ]

You can configure/customize its (& all the MAT1 games') controls, so ideally (on PS2 which I have) you'd use the 2 sticks (each operates a tread) & I use R1 to shoot & R2 for special weapon IIRR. I don't rotate the turret; I can whip my tank around pretty fast while in reverse to dodge shots & I never buy the turret rotation upgrade.

 

I had a homemade cab with an X-Arcade Dualstick, & I configured controls to move the tank w/ one stick. Same with Assault.

 

[schuwalker]

On 10/1/2021 at 4:16 AM, mr.bill said:

I currently own a vindicators.  I also owned a vindicators 2. Vindicators 2 was a kit atari sold to convert gauntlet cabs.  You bought an upgrade and changed some chips to your gauntlet board and added a daughter card. I believe it ran on the same security chip used for empire strikes back. The problem with vindicators 2 is that its a stripped down version of vindicators. It has 10 levels vs the normal 14.

 

As for the t-shirt, I dont think I have ever seen one. I believe a friend of mine probably has the art files to make them, but I doubt there would be a market to print them.

I never knew Vindicators II was kit. Always assumed it was a rom upgrade for new items and levels to existing cabs... Dumb choice on Atari's part to only offer a striped down version of the first game. Was Atari Vindicators that big of a seller? I remember these can be had for a couple hundred bucks even in the early '90s at auctions. That cab always seemed like a beast to move.

 

Interesting decision on Atari's part to license Assault which came out the same year. Even though I prefer Vindicators (love the audio), I bet it quickly became an afterthought  once Assault debuted.

[mr.bill]

Vindicators was a kelly turner game. I dont know why they decided to use gauntlet cabs. Maybe atari made too many or were hoping to sell kits for a cab that ran its course. They also did crime fighters kit for the cab. Maybe he developed vindicators on gauntlet hardware. it seems odd that they decided to make so few kits and for it to go on that board.  gauntlet is a full size board with a small audio amp board. Vindicators is a small board with an expanded sound board.

 

actually moving one is very easy. Its very balanced from the back and the sides due to its shape and added weight in the base.  It does take a tiny bit more room than a normal cab. My gripe with it is the base is wider than the head, so when you strap it in a bunch of cabs, you need to do it last. The worst part of vinidicators is the controls. the fire buttons are always broken and the centering springs. but once you rebuild the controller, its fine.

Edited October 13, 2021 by mr.bill