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

[retrorussell]

Next:

The classic CENTIPEDE (1980/81 Atari).

Classic fixed-screen shooter, but with freedom of movement along the bottom 1/3 of the screen.  Rotate the trakball to move a cannon and fire upwards at the titular creature, plus spiders, fleas, scorpions and the mushrooms that litter the playfield.  The centipede breaks up into smaller (and faster) pieces when shot, and descends upon the player.  It moves back up towards the top of the bottom 1/3 and back down again.  A full centipede plunges down quickly at the player if it touches a mushroom a scorpion made contact with ("poisoned" mushroom), and a delay in destroying the last few segments or so causes more to spawn.  Holding down the fire button causes rapid fire (though still just one shot at a time) and bonus points are given after a death for each mushroom shot and not destroyed.

I'm thinking I first saw this at Malibu Gran Prix when it was new.  The extra life noise (at 10,000 points) is recognizable as one of the most famous arcade sound effects of all time!

 

[+wongojack]

What is interesting is that it is actually very hard to remember when I first saw Missile Command and Centipede since they are so common.  The real date and time is probably some moment that has long been forgotten among a pile of other childhood memories.

[+Cafeman]

Centipede was everywhere. I probably first saw it at a mall arcade in Johnstown PA. Or it could have been the Showbiz Pizza Palace arcade which I do remember playing Centipede there.  I think the first bonus life was awarded at 12k or higher there. Not 10k.  I was never very good at this game so it could be a real quarter-sucker if I kept playing it. 

 

I saw pictures of Kangaroo but didn't see an actual machine until it had been out a while. The arcade scene had started to dry up  I think. We stopped at a CoGo's or 7 Eleven, and it was in the little side arcade room. I died quickly.  But I played it on 5200 a lot more.  Not a favorite of mine at all. 

[+GoldLeader]

I think of Centipede as very Iconic!  I think the sound effects are Amazing!  Pretty sure I first saw it at Time Out in our mall;  I saw someone else playing it and was transfixed by it...Then in college some friends of mine had a Centipede cabinet in their house.  I think they said they were "storing it for a friend"...Played it a few times in between the drinking beer, loud punk rock and metal, and fake wrestling/fighting over dumb arguments haha...

[retrorussell]

I'm gonna throw out a couple more real quick:

 

The immortal DONKEY KONG! (1981 Nintendo Of America)

I am stymied as to where I first saw this game.. usually I have a picture-perfect memory of this sort of thing.

It was probably at Malibu Gran Prix or something where I first saw it.. maybe at an Oregon coast arcade.. just drawing a blank!

 

The cabinet was a re-used RADARSCOPE cabinet, a game that really bombed in the US.  This cabinet would be re-used for most Nintendo arcade games in the 80s.

 

Also:

DAZZLER (1982, Century Electronics/CVS)

Odd hybrid of DONKEY KONG and TURTLES (an old Konami game).  You control a guy simply known as "O.H." or "Our Hero", trying to rescue his gorilla friend while avoiding vultures.  The game consisted of 2 scenarios: the odd-numbered ones featured a maze with multiple doors at the top and bottom.  Entering a door would either equip you with a banana to feed the gorilla (which simultaneously appeared in another door) or in a couple instances, would release an extra vulture into the playfield.  You can drop snakes to occupy the vultures for a while.  Bonus items can be collected before feeding the gorilla.

 

The even-numbered scenarios featured a Donkey Kong-like structure where the gorilla awaits your rescue at the top-right, while you jump over daunting gaps and watch out for falling vulture eggs being dropped (they look like cupcakes.. is it supposed to be vulture sh*t?).  Controls for the Century Electronics games were typically bad and this is no exception, and the music/sfx seems seriously broken at times.  Despite this, the game is otherwise kind of fun and inventive.  Or at least I find it to be so.  

 

I first saw this at an old IGA grocery store a few miles from where I currently live.  I'd seen it at multiple other places BITD.  Has a Tuni Electronics logo on the cabinet.

 

[schuwalker]

First time I saw Donkey Kong was at a Zayre department store. They had this little nook by the food court area where they had this, Asteroids and a Armor Attack. Eventually they expanded the food court and the games moved to the front of the cash register area.

 

Can't say I'm the biggest Donkey Kong fan out there - I'm the weirdo that prefers Jr.

 

I never heard of Dazzler before...

Edited May 3, 2020 by schuwalker

[slab0meat]

I've never heard of Dazzler.

 

My grandparents lived in North Arlington, NJ with their backyard next to a bowling alley parking lot.  You'd walk out their back door, take a few steps, walk up some some concrete steps, where they basically had a raised garden... the fence at the top of these steps had a locked gate, and upon unlocking it, you were in the back part of the parking lot.  Walk around to the front, they had their few games spread out in the usual spots.  This bowling alley is where I first saw several games, Donkey Kong included.  It was awesome.

 

[retrorussell]

I guess I didn't do this one yet:

FANTASY (1981 SNK/Rock-Ola)

Weird multi-stage game where you control a guy in either a hot air balloon or on foot trying to save his girlfriend from natives/pirates/birds/etc.  Certainly playable.  Has weird/annoying voice samples and some questionable hit detection (that works in your favor on occasion).  Created by SNK and licensed to Rock-Ola in the US.  Has samples of the hit song "Funkytown"!  I believe I first saw this at Malibu Gran Prix.  The sample of "Heeeeeeelp!"/"Help Meeeeee!" was annoying and mocked by me and my friends (and was basically re-created decades later by Ashley in Resident Evil 4).

 

[retrorussell]

Here's a weird one to ponder over:

NINJA BASEBALL BAT MAN (1993, Irem)

If you ever dreamed of a beat-em-up (like Final Fight) with all baseball-related items, characters, etc., then this is your dream come true!  TOTALLY weird, out-of-left field (perhaps literally) game.  I only saw this once but certainly not back in the day.  This was at a retro arcade in SE Portland called "QuarterWorld".  My brother and I beat this.  Weird and hilarious!  I love when after you beat the final boss he pleads "Please forgive me!" and you smack his butt into the stratosphere with your bat anyway!

[Max_Chatsworth]

I've never seen that one.  Nor the previous one "Fantasy"

Edited May 21, 2020 by Max_Chatsworth

[retrorussell]

Next:

ASTRO INVADER (1980, Leijac (later Konami)/Stern)

 

Also known as KAMIKAZE or ZYGON in Japan, in which it was released in late 1979.  Fairly cool unique game in which you steer a ship left and right at the bottom of the screen and blast falling invaders that drop from several columns, when the columns are full of invaders and can't hold any more (a mother ship releases more).  An invader that splats on the ground releases a wide blast radius that can take out your ship from afar.  On occasion another ship will descend slowly from the far left, far right or the middle.  You CANNOT let it land or you die, so shoot it.  Original idea that made you try to keep at least some of the columns from filling up too much within your general vicinity so a blast radius can't reach you, and it even has a "count your shots" scheme for higher scoring similar to Space Invaders.

 

I first saw this actually in 1981, I think.  It was at the Joy Theater lobby in Tigard OR.  I saw the stupid movie SUPER FUZZ with my friends for a 10th birthday party for one of them.

 

[retrorussell]

One I don't think I did yet:

FOOD FIGHT (1983 General Computing Corp./Atari)

I think the title screen says 1982 but really it was released in arcades in 1983.  This was one of 2 games created by GCC as part of a lawsuit settlement with Atari (for ripping off Missile Command with Super Missile Attack); the other was QUANTUM.  I like this one much better.  Steer the rambunctious kid with the very large head "Charley Chuck" around the screen, picking up piles of food to throw at the 4 chefs that try to catch or similarly splat Charley.  Holes that open up in the floor must also be avoided.  The goal is to reach the ice cream cone on the other side of the screen.  You can select a higher stage to start on, and if you encounter a very close call when collecting the cone you may be treated to an Instant Replay of that stage with cool music!  Neat game with a special joystick that allows for movement in ALL directions.  Losing a life (apart from falling in a hole) gets poor Charley splattered with all the remaining food.  Great sound effects.  Interesting cabinet with a bigger side panel to accommodate Charley's pie in his hand.

 

I first saw this right after its release at a very small arcade in a strip mall in my old suburb of Garden Home around Portland OR.  It was called "Pac-Pals".  It didn't last long.

 

[Zoyous]

I've heard of Food Fight, but I don't think I ever saw it back in the day. That cabinet is sharp, I like how the side panels are extended around the artwork.

[slab0meat]

I, sadly, cannot remember where I first saw Food Fight.

 

But that has always been one of my favorites.  Great game!

 

[CreeB]

Pac-Man, at our local arcade in Brooklyn in about 1980. People were lining up just to play it. It was a sensation.

 

Here's a more obscure one: New York! New York! I played this one at one of the arcades in New York (I forget its name) and I thought it was pretty cool there was an arcade game based on my city.

 

Hmm... Major Havoc I first saw at a Chuck E. Cheese's.

 

Star Wars at my local arcade.

 

Vanguard probably at Chuck E. Cheese's again.

[zzip]

Missile Command - first time was when my friend got it for the 2600, didn't even know it was an arcade game at that point.

 

Crazy Climber - I saw this in an arcade at an amusement park-  forget the park name, it no longer exists.

 

Donkey Kong + Centipede - These were everywhere, can't remember my first time

 

Kangaroo + Food Fight - I think I read about these in Electronic Games magazine before I ever saw them in real life.  They were never that common in my area.

 

[retrorussell]

9 hours ago, CreeB said:

 

 

Here's a more obscure one: New York! New York! I played this one at one of the arcades in New York (I forget its name) and I thought it was pretty cool there was an arcade game based on my city.

 

 

I covered that one a while back; I have never seen it in the wild.  It was changed in Japan to include a statue of Captain Harlock from the anime ARCADIA OF MY YOUTH!

[CreeB]

12 hours ago, retrorussell said:

I covered that one a while back; I have never seen it in the wild.  It was changed in Japan to include a statue of Captain Harlock from the anime ARCADIA OF MY YOUTH!

Yes! I know about Harlock. I've never seen the Japanese version in action, though.

[retrorussell]

 

[+GoldLeader]

Food Fight -  I saw it in the arcade, thought it was a Blast!

 

When the arcade (I think it was Le Mans) sold some games to make room for more, my friend bought Food Fight.  I'm pretty sure at this point I had a Defender cab in my room, and my friend wanted to trade for that.  I believe I ended up sweetening the deal with some more money, but he threw in a mini TV also.  I got the Food Fight, and this little handheld TV that had a big antenna coming off of it, but more importantly it had inputs,  which I was able to access after buying some Radio Shack adapters.  I remember blowing everyone's mind by hooking my ColecoVision up to this little TV (I'd guess a little over 2 inch diagonal)...I think with a game in color on that little screen, so we saw a glimpse of the future,  at least 2 years before the Game Boy or Game Gear came out...

 

Anyhow, I owned that Food Fight for years, sometimes having it in a local pizza place, and an auction's game room, sometimes setting it so the player could select any level (even Level 250 with a ton of extra guys!) and I only sold it when I really needed cash about 3 years ago...

[Zoyous]

11 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

Anyhow, I owned that Food Fight for years, sometimes having it in a local pizza place, and an auction's game room, sometimes setting it so the player could select any level (even Level 250 with a ton of extra guys!) and I only sold it when I really needed cash about 3 years ago...

Wow! Did you have to do any major maintenance on it over the years?

[schuwalker]

On 6/17/2020 at 10:21 PM, GoldLeader said:

Food Fight -  I saw it in the arcade, thought it was a Blast!

 

When the arcade (I think it was Le Mans) sold some games to make room for more, my friend bought Food Fight.  I'm pretty sure at this point I had a Defender cab in my room, and my friend wanted to trade for that.  I believe I ended up sweetening the deal with some more money, but he threw in a mini TV also.  I got the Food Fight, and this little handheld TV that had a big antenna coming off of it, but more importantly it had inputs,  which I was able to access after buying some Radio Shack adapters.  I remember blowing everyone's mind by hooking my ColecoVision up to this little TV (I'd guess a little over 2 inch diagonal)...I think with a game in color on that little screen, so we saw a glimpse of the future,  at least 2 years before the Game Boy or Game Gear came out...

 

Anyhow, I owned that Food Fight for years, sometimes having it in a local pizza place, and an auction's game room, sometimes setting it so the player could select any level (even Level 250 with a ton of extra guys!) and I only sold it when I really needed cash about 3 years ago...

The little hole in the wall arcade in my small town had a Food Fight in the mid '80s. Really fun game but I was terrible at it.

 

My buddy acquired that same cab from that op. years laters. At one stage of life it was a Ghosts n Goblins and then converted again to a Taito Crime City. Cab is in decent shape artwork-wise. Sucks you had to sell yours... it can fetch some serious coin nowadays. I believe all the artwork has been redone (marquee, bezel and sideart) but to my knowledge the big missing component is that unique joystick. (Your jaw would drop if you know how much $$$$'s that that latter item goes for.)

[xabin]

I forgot what it was, but my boyfriend and I remember going to an antique store outside of town and finding a really old wooden pinball game. My boyfriend got to play it, and I think they were charging $150-$250 for it. I think it may have been a Flip Flop pinball game, I can't remember, now. But it was the oldest pinball game we've ever seen.

[+GoldLeader]

On 6/18/2020 at 8:53 AM, Zoyous said:

Wow! Did you have to do any major maintenance on it over the years?

Actually no.  There was a slightly messed up piece of the cab itself that had been bondoed (if ya can believe it), but that was only a couple of inches or so of real estate.  At the time I sold it, it needed the rubber doughnut shaped gasket at the center of that 360 degree joystick, which made it center itself.  The original had cracked and decayed,  I assume that would be an easy fix if the part could be had.  (Trying to remember it all here...) about the last 20+ years of its life were spent in a room at my dad's house and it was never really played at that point, but it worked fine if you turned it on except for the joystick not centering.

 

PS  I sold it for 6 times what I paid for it!

[Loafer]

Multiplayer games always tend to stick in your memories more than the average game.

 

Atari Football - 4 players:

 

I remember playing it at the Aylmer Mall (I think that's what it was called!) in Aylmer Quebec back when I was 15, in 1979!   I've found a few youtube videos of it but always only two players but let me tell you, the gameplay was fun but the thrash talking was out there, especially when playing with 4 other guys. Terrific game, terrific memories of it too.  I've always wondered if this was one of the earlier expensive games considering the 4 trackballs. 

 

 

 

Sprint 8 - 8 players:

 

Cost wise, probably blew away the $ per unit of Atari Football as I can't image the cost of this monstrosity back on release.  I mean take a look, 8 steering wheels!!!  I played that one a few years after its release, back in 81 at the Gamesroom beside Nates Restaurant on Rideau Street on Ottawa Canada.  I couldn't believe it the size of it and the fun factor when we managed to have enough people wanting to race!

 

I doubt overall nothing can cover a single machine cost of GLoc R-360 but it must have been quite an investment back in the late 70's!