234 replies to this topic

[Wasteland]

My friend Kevin had venture when I played it I was hooked. I sucked first few tries at this game but then I got the hang of it and I got better then my friend   . I believe the year was 2000 2001 or 2002 one of those, tho I'm quite sure 2001. For the arcade coin version I was at a roller skating rink my mom normally took me my brother and sister to with a few friends but I wasn't a good roller skater so I my mom gave me some coins and id play that most of the time I highly doubt that arcade machine is still there today since I moved away years ago. Wish I could see that thing one more time.

Edited by Wasteland, Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:43 PM.

[retrorussell]

Next game:
MAKE TRAX, 1981 Williams/Kural Samno

At first appearance this game seemed like a cheap knock-off of Pac-Man, but the enemy (2 goldfish!) was smart enough to make things challenging.  One of the better Pac-Man knockoffs (though I liked Lock 'N Chase better).  I first saw this, I think, at either Electric Castle's Wunderland in NE Portland or Chuck E. Cheese in either Beaverton or Vancouver.  

This game was also called Crush Roller (usually licensed to Exidy) and as Magic Brush.

[NE146]

Venture.. I'm a pure arcade rat but I've never ever seen a real life Venture cabinet in any arcade ever. It just wasn't around in my part of the world I guess.

Crush Roller (I never saw a Make Trax). That crap was everywhere. I think the first time I saw it was on a cocktail form at a bowling alley.

[retrorussell]

Next game: WARRIOR, 1979 Vectorbeam

I first saw this, I believe, at Malibu Gran Prix in Tigard, OR.. this wasn't nearly as popular as other games at the time (Video Pinball, Asteroids, Galaxian).  I think I also saw this at the Electric Palace in Beaverton Mall.  I guess it's the first one-on-one fighting game.  Just 2 knights fighting with swords on a high stairwell, with deadly pits surrounding you.

[4Ks]

retrorussell, on Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:54 AM, said:

Next game:
MAKE TRAX, 1981 Williams/Kural Samno

At first appearance this game seemed like a cheap knock-off of Pac-Man, but the enemy (2 goldfish!) was smart enough to make things challenging.  One of the better Pac-Man knockoffs (though I liked Lock 'N Chase better).  I first saw this, I think, at either Electric Castle's Wunderland in NE Portland or Chuck E. Cheese in either Beaverton or Vancouver.  

This game was also called Crush Roller (usually licensed to Exidy) and as Magic Brush.

Funny, I always thought Crush Roller was just a Neo Geo Pocket Color game.

[retrorussell]

Yeah, the original Crush Roller apparently got an upgrade.  I'll have to check out the Neo Pocket one.

[yuppicide]

The first time I ever saw this was right now. Looks interesting.

retrorussell, on Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:36 AM, said:

Next game: WARRIOR, 1979 Vectorbeam

I first saw this, I believe, at Malibu Gran Prix in Tigard, OR.. this wasn't nearly as popular as other games at the time (Video Pinball, Asteroids, Galaxian). I think I also saw this at the Electric Palace in Beaverton Mall. I guess it's the first one-on-one fighting game. Just 2 knights fighting with swords on a high stairwell, with deadly pits surrounding you.

[DaveD]

Cool topic. I like that the titles are a little bit more obscure although it makes it that much more difficult to remember.

Mappy. Aladdin's Castle in Southridge mall. Must've been shortly after it came out. If I remember correctly Aladdin's Castle was owned by Midway, who rebranded a bunch of classic Namco titles for the US. So there was never a shortage of Namco games here. It was a very dark and crowded arcade. Mappy might have gone completely unnoticed since it was crammed in tightly next to a couple other games including Wizard of Wor. Thanks to it's unique soundtrack being cranked up loud, you couldn't help but notice this game.

Bagman. Not really sure where/when I saw this first. I don't recall playing it very much if at all. I may have just watched others play. I'm going to guess and say it was Showbiz Pizza sometime around 1982.

Venture. Honestly I think the first expose I had to this was the Coleco port for the 2600. I vaguely remember playing this one at Aladdin's Castle in the mall too.

Make Trax. Flipper's arcade in it's "new" location. I always like the maze games and I thought this was a unique twist on it. Simple enough to get right in and play but had enough extras to keep you guessing and think there was some replay value. I still like this game and I still have a rough time getting past the second screen. Also the contrast between the pinkish paint and the light color maze can be difficult for me to see at times. Sometimes I neglect to paint a small corner and don't see it until it's too late.

Warrior. This was during a summertime family camping trip to the Wisconsin Dells. I think it was 1982 again and it was a big arcade on the main tourist strip. I remember it was pretty crowded and as I recall the entire front of the building opened (like a big garage door or something) which made the games look like they were right on the street. I remember thinking it looked like a very cool game and thought it was only a matter of time before I'd start seeing it at my local arcades and just about everywhere else. Not so much.

[retrorussell]

I suppose I should probably post a pic with each game from here on out.
WARRIOR

Edited by retrorussell, Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:35 PM.

[ericwierson]

retrorussell, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:35 PM, said:

I suppose I should probably post a pic with each game from here on out.
WARRIOR

Wow, Russ I had never even heard of Warrior. I t looks awesome though. Any video links for this one?

[retrorussell]

I was going to make a YouTube of WARRIOR but I can't get the color background to show up.  No sound either, I believe.

[retrorussell]

Here we go:

Edited by retrorussell, Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:26 PM.

[Crazy Climber]

retrorussell, on Mon Jun 7, 2010 9:06 PM, said:

New one for this week:

Bagman, 1982 Valadon Automation/Stern

I'm pretty sure I first saw this at the Avalaon Theater in SE Portland.. I had just got done seeing an incredibly boring film called "Timerider".  I needed to get some sort of positive out of the day by playing a lot of Bagman and Rally-X.  This was either in 1982 or 1983, making me 11 or 12.

Okay, I'm back in junior high and our school is having a "lock in" at the YMCA for our last day of the year. Well, the teachers tell our parents we don't need ANY money so DO NOT bring any. Well, we get there and what do I see...a row of classic arcade games. Grrrr....   It would seem money is needed now and I don't have any because my teachers went out of there way to tell are parents not to let us bring any. Me and my friends were bummed. We just sat there for a few minutes and then realized it was time to move on. Well, I still had a blast. Running around the halls, trying to steal a kiss or two from the girls and having a great ol time in the days before Beer was required for that to happen I am waiting for my Dad to pick me up and I see someone playing Bagman Turns out they were on free play all night, me and my friends were just to dumb to figure it out. In my defense though it was pretty rare to see games on free play in the 80's when they were still capable of making good money. That is the first time I saw Bagman, all I did was see it though, didn't get to play it.

[ericwierson]

retrorussell, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:25 PM, said:

Here we go:

Thanks for the vid. Damn I love the graphics. Reminds me of many games. Sure wish I could have played this one in the arcades I used to haunt.

[Crazy Climber]

ericwierson, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:46 PM, said:

retrorussell, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:25 PM, said:

Here we go:

Thanks for the vid. Damn I love the graphics. Reminds me of many games. Sure wish I could have played this one in the arcades I used to haunt.

I think this game had a pretty small production run if I'm not mistaken. I personally have never played one, never even heard of it until a few years ago.

[Crazy Climber]

BTW - I have nothing to add for Warrior and Venture, I still have never seen either of those in person, just internet pics.

[retrorussell]

Crazy Climber, on Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:35 AM, said:

BTW - I have nothing to add for Warrior and Venture, I still have never seen either of those in person, just internet pics.

No big.  Not everyone is going to know these games.. they're a tad on the obscure side, and they're really old, too!

[H.E.R.O.]

Venture I saw and played at the Time Out Arcade, Sunrise Mall, Massapequa NY. It was gone pretty quick and only played it once. Played the hell out of it on Colecovision, though.

Warrior...never saw it, never played it.

[Crazy Climber]

retrorussell, on Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:40 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:35 AM, said:

BTW - I have nothing to add for Warrior and Venture, I still have never seen either of those in person, just internet pics.

No big.  Not everyone is going to know these games.. they're a tad on the obscure side, and they're really old, too!

maybe a more mainstream one next...?

[retrorussell]

[quote name='Crazy Climber' date='Sun Jul 18, 2010  6:20 PM' timestamp='1279495202' post='2053609']
[quote name='retrorussell' date='Sun Jul 18, 2010  2:40 PM' timestamp='1279482036' post='2053460']
[quote name='Crazy Climber' date='Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:35 AM' timestamp='1279470903' post='2053342']

No big.  Not everyone is going to know these games.. they're a tad on the obscure side, and they're really old, too!
[/quote]
maybe a more mainstream one next...?
[/quote]
Maybe.. how about..
PENGO, 1982 SEGA

First saw this, I believe, at a very short-lived arcade in the Garden Home area (just north of Tigard and between Beaverton and Portland) called "Pac-Pals".  It was right around then, too, that there was a cereal I used to love called "Halfsies" that had a contest you could enter to try to win a free upright cabinet of either Pengo or Super Zaxxon.

[H.E.R.O.]

Pengo I first saw at my father's friend's convenience store. I forget the year. I think I tried it once and moved on.

[Crazy Climber]

Yes, I remember the first time I saw Pengo. It was a smaller local arcade by my parents house (actually really close to my current house, too bad they have been closed for 20+ years ) It was tucked away in the corner and never worked, just sat there, looking sad with an out of order sign taped to the monitor. I always felt bad for it, especially being a fan or penguins in general, at that age I am sure I would have loved it. One day it disapeared and never came back...much like the arcade. I eventually got to play it elsewhere many years later but it was well past it's prime at that point, and even though I was much older, I can still appreiciate dated technology

[Chuck D. Head]

retrorussell, on Mon May 31, 2010 3:29 AM, said:

Hey all.
Just thought it might be interesting to take one game a week, and test everyone's memory as to where they first saw it/played it/had the best memories of it.  Maybe one game every Monday?  Starting today, obviously.  I'll throw out the first game, and people can suggest others as the week progresses:

Mappy (1983), Bally/Midway (licensed by Namco)

I believe I first saw this one at Wunderland in NE Portland on 103rd and Halsey.. HUGE nickel arcade.  There's many locations but this was the biggest one I remember.  I couldn't really get into it that much at the time but got to appreciate it a little bit more as I got older.  I was 12 at the time and would get dropped off by my stepmom for a couple hours.  I would go through about 3 bucks worth of nickels per visit.. I remember once on my birthday she made me pay for my cousin (bitch!) and I didn't have any play money left for myself.  The guy at the desk was surprised to hear that I didn't have enough money for games for myself, and he gave me a dollar's worth.  Nice guy!

I saw it at the same Wunderland, one time. I didn't play it, as I was there watching mine and other peoples kids kids and needed to keep an eye on where they were going as it's not the best neighborhood after dark. Next time we went back it was gone. The video games seem to be less and less every trip to Wunderland, with ticket-spewing junk in their place. Sigh.    Morgan

[Chuck D. Head]

ericwierson, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:46 PM, said:

retrorussell, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:25 PM, said:

Here we go:

Thanks for the vid. Damn I love the graphics. Reminds me of many games. Sure wish I could have played this one in the arcades I used to haunt.

Eric, Don't know how old you are; I have been trying to find anyone who remembers the "Cream n' Machine" arcade that was in Salmon Creek back in the day. The day being like, '82-'87.   Morgan

[ericwierson]

Chuck D. Head, on Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:19 AM, said:

ericwierson, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:46 PM, said:

retrorussell, on Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:25 PM, said:

Here we go:

Thanks for the vid. Damn I love the graphics. Reminds me of many games. Sure wish I could have played this one in the arcades I used to haunt.

Eric, Don't know how old you are; I have been trying to find anyone who remembers the "Cream n' Machine" arcade that was in Salmon Creek back in the day. The day being like, '82-'87.   Morgan

No, I never heard of that one. Russel might know it though.

Edited by ericwierson, Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:53 PM.