Memories of where and when you first played/saw this game

[retrorussell]

I don't recall seeing either back in the day-- I may have seen Sprint 8 but I would have been way too young.  Was that the one, or was it Indy 800, that was in the movie Bustin' Loose?

[Loafer]

I don't think I've seen Bustin' Loose since I saw it at a drive-in, so don't remember the game at all.

[zzip]

I remember seeing the Atari football game, but I can't remember where exactly.

The 70s era of B&W arcade games are a bit of a blur to me.   I remember my Pizza Hut had Space Invaders, and the local mall had Lunar Lander, Space Wars, Canyon Bomber and a number of other games.   But I think at the time I was more into Star Wars action figures and Lego, and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to videogames until Pac-Man came out

[retrorussell]

Next:

EXPRESS RAIDER/WESTERN EXPRESS (1986, Data East)

 

Rather fun game with elements of Kung Fu Master for much of the game.  Move a thief in the Old West over many trains/cars, beating up enemies and watching for overhead beams that'll knock you off the train.  Other moments involve you shooting enemies in train cars while on horseback.

 

I first saw this at Malibu Grand Prix.  I would DIE laughing if I beat the stage (reached the last car), stood there in pose with money bags and got nailed by an overhead beam (didn't kill me, but still made a 'thwack' sound)!

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by retrorussell

[Zoyous]

13 hours ago, retrorussell said:

Next:

EXPRESS RAIDER/WESTERN EXPRESS (1986, Data East)

Wow, I've never even heard of this game before now. It looks really cool!

[retrorussell]

3 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Wow, I've never even heard of this game before now. It looks really cool!

Character movement is a little blah but it's pretty fun.  I played this right when I saw it at Malibu Gran Prix and enjoyed it very much.  

 

[retrorussell]

Next: 
TURTLES, 1981 Konami/Stern

 

Maze game in which you steer a turtle that has to avoid Beetle cars and collect baby turtles and bring them to homes that appear.  You retrieve the babies from ? blocks (preceding SMB by a good 4 years) and depositing them in a house icon that appears somewhere in the maze.  Extra Beetles can appear from the ? blocks, and you can drop bombs to stun them for a short while.  Very tough, with annoyingly stiff controls.  I first saw this probably at the Wunderland nickel arcade in NE Portland.  It was one of the first machines to your left as you walked in the place.

[retrorussell]

^ Well, it appears that marquee shows the insect beetles, but other marquees showed VW Beetles (including the ones I'm more familiar with).  In the screenshot they look more like insect beetles.

[+wongojack]

Never seen a Turtles.  I honestly didn't know about Turtles at all until I discovered it within the O2 library post internet.  Then of course I went and played it in MAME only to find out that the O2 version is pretty great.

[retrorussell]

2 hours ago, wongojack said:

Never seen a Turtles.  I honestly didn't know about Turtles at all until I discovered it within the O2 library post internet.  Then of course I went and played it in MAME only to find out that the O2 version is pretty great.

From what I hear that is definitely one of the Odyssey 2's best titles.

I never got to play that system much-- apart from a little KC Munchkin at a Sears display.

 

Next game:

The inimitable BURGER TIME!

1982 Data East/Bally/Midway

This was a big surprise as to how well it was received.  I thought it sounded like a really dumb concept.  My friends were describing the gameplay and I thought they were on dope.

Then I gave it a try and.. well, I can completely understand the popularity.  It was definitely one of Data East's biggest hits, and created for their DECO Cassette System cabinets as well as (more often seen) the Bally/Midway licensed cabinets.  The sound effects, the music, the fairly predictable AI of the enemies, the great gameplay..  I really like this game!  The Intellivision and Colecovision ports are really, really impressive.

I saw both the DECO Cassette cabinet and the Bally/Midway cabinet.  I think I first saw it at an arcade in SE Portland in the B/M cab.  The DECO cabinet one maybe at a nickel arcade.

[zzip]

I can't remember if I first saw Burgertime in a store running on Intellivision or in an arcade.

[retrorussell]

Next:

MONSTER BASH (1982, Sega)

This one was a great idea for me-- fight against classic monsters (or 2 of them, anyway)!  Face Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and "Chameleon Man" and their minions.  You can't destroy the bosses themselves with your regular "zapper" projectiles (though you can slow them down); instead you must touch a sword glowing with power from the sun.  Sounds really weird but it's kind of a cool platform and ladder-climbing game, with the 3rd stage a more overhead action-type.  A dark cloud comes to cover the sun and knock out the power to the sword.  Lighting up candles may restore its juice.  The edges of the floors have "drop zones" where you can fall down as many floors as you like, and warp doors that transport you elsewhere.  The third stage has colored spaces where you can change the maze layout by walking over them.  Once you have the power of the sword you must fire it at the boss, which will try to get away from you.  Don't miss with your shot!  Cool sound effects/music.  I'd love for this to be updated with more classic monsters!  Created for Sega's "Convert-A-Game" cabinets, which also housed ELIMINATOR, 005, ZEKTOR, TAC/SCAN, etc.

I first saw this at a nickel arcade in NE Portland called "Wunderland" (there are many still around).

[+frankodragon]

I never played Monster Bash but some say it looks like the precursor to Ghost House on Master System which I did play a few times.

[retrorussell]

Next:

ALPINE SKI (1982, Taito)

Highly unusual for the time to have an arcade game of winter sports.  Laudable effort in which you move a skier (overhead view) through the course in time, collecting point values between trees and near frozen puddles.  Reach the end of the course in time and try to avoid slamming into trees (memorable flipping of the skier and falling face-first into the snow).  A ski jump is also briefly played.  

 

I saw this first at an arcade in Tigard, OR called "Astrocade".  It was not there terribly long, probably just a couple years or so.  It was in the parking lot of Canterbury Square and was very small.  I also saw 005, Zaxxon and Xevious for the first time there.

[7800Knight]

Not familiar with Alpine Ski...at least this skiing game doesn't have a yeti chasing you down.

 

Burgertime is my favorite arcade game.  I swear that I found it at an arcade somewhere in New York City ages ago but it was broken at the time.  I've played mainly the home ports.

 

 

SUPER PAC-MAN (1982, Bally Midway)

 

I first encountered this one in the wild at Chinatown Fair, a video arcade in Manhattan's Chinatown in New York City.  I loved Pac-Man and this game was even more fun to play.  The addition of the keys to open doors as well as the "Super Pellet" made this a welcome twist on the Pac-Man formula.

 

This is my fav of the Pac-Man title and I own the 7800 homebrew version.

[retrorussell]

Super Pac-Man I enjoyed a lot; it is much easier than any other Pac-Man game.

That I first saw at either an expensive diner next to a golf course called "Stockpot" in Tigard, OR or any one of the arcades I frequented back in the day.

I was able to do quite well at this until I got to the point I couldn't remember which keys opened which doors, and the Super Pac power was too brief.

 

When Namco was working on Super Pac-Man it was supposed to be the first sequel to Pac-Man, but Bally/Midway didn't want to wait for them to finish.  So when they caught wind of General Computer Corp.'s "Crazy Otto" they contacted them to make a full-fledged sequel.  Namco gave their blessing.

Edited October 31, 2020 by retrorussell

[+frankodragon]

I remember playing the arcade Super Pac-Man somewhere.  It could of been at a Showtime Pizza place or at the old-school Chuck E. Cheese arcades back in the 80's perhaps.  

[retrorussell]

KING & BALLOON (1980, Namco/Game Plan Inc.)

Strange little Galaxian knockoff (Namco made that too) with some early digitized speech.  Defend your king (wandering below you left and right) as you fire at invading hot air balloons trying to swipe your king and carry him off.  That is the only way to lose a life; you otherwise get infinite lives.  Sometimes the balloons merge into one giant balloon-- this is when you want to shoot them multiple times to get some decent points (otherwise you can't score much).  The king warbles "Help!  Help!" when carried away and "Bye Bye!" when he's gone.

 

I saw this only once in the wild at FUNLAND, an Oregon coast arcade in Seaside.  The arcade is still there and now has a pizza restaurant inside.  Back in the day it had a ton of old-style Skeeball machines (with wooden balls, 9 for a dime!), the old "roll the rubber balls into the holes" kind of games and a shooting gallery.

[schuwalker]

I played Taito Alpine Ski at lobby in a Perry Drug store in the early '80s. Very addictive gameplay! It's one of the Taito game cabinets I actually own in my collection. For those in the know, there's another variation of Alpine Ski called Water Ski. I'm still not sure if the latter made it to the states.

 

 

 

[7800Knight]

I saw King and Balloon out in rural Virginia years ago; some department store had it along with a Crystal Castle machine.  I didn't play it myself but watched some older guy in ripped jeans and a red bandana play it.  It was indeed like Galaxian and Space Invaders.

[+wongojack]

I just discovered King and Balloon thanks to the excellent, recent Colecovision port.  Never heard of it before about a month ago.

[retrorussell]

Wow, that IS a great CV port!  A bonus round too!

[+GoldLeader]

Super Pac Man (Sounds political...groan)...Was my favorite in the arcades too and the only Pac man game I felt halfway decent at.   I'm guessing I played it at Time Out in our mall and Le Mans...I will also add that they kept this game around much longer than many other games, before replacing it with something newer...

[retrorussell]

Next:

PANDORA'S PALACE (1984 Konami/Interlogic)

Fun little Donkey Kong knockoff where you try to guide a man in ancient Rome (with toga and olive wreath) to the bottom-right of the screen.  Various skulls, gargoyles and stone heads menace him as he also contends with collapsing platforms, spring platforms, Greek fire, etc.  Collecting grapes turns him into a centurion and lets him jump on and squish enemies (they otherwise knock you backwards, often into fire or off a ledge).

I saw this first at a 7-11 where I'd meet a friend from school.  I had to ride my bike quite a ways!  I later saw one at a nickel arcade, and those were the only places I saw it.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 11/10/2020 at 9:19 PM, retrorussell said:

Next:

PANDORA'S PALACE (1984 Konami/Interlogic)

 

A much underrated game.  The one and only place I ever saw this was at a burger stand (now the Basecamp Dinette) in Burbank, CA that usually had three or four games crammed into its interior.  Pandora's Palace was sitting next to Roc 'N' Rope (another underrated Konami platformer), with the laserdisc game Galaxy Ranger rounding out the lineup.