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Best arcade games with vector graphics?


Mr. Brow

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Lately, I've been interested in vector graphics displays -- what are your favorites?  

 

I'm especially interested in the way the designers make use of the vector display.  I recently stumbled upon a more obscure example called Warrior (1979).  The game itself seems to play really awkwardly (in MAME, anyway), but the graphics are surprisingly sophisticated.  Apparently, they used motion capture to animate realistic sword-fighting movements.  I traced the points in higher resolution to get a better sense for how the joints were connected -- there are quite a few of them!

 

Warrior_demo.gif.16a7e23934e79b526820861c1ceb221d.gif

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Of course Battlezone and Star Wars come to mind, but the one that I continue to play from time to time these days is Omega Race.

 

I haven't seen Warrior before... it looks quite ambitious! The top-down view and bladed weapon reminds me of The Bilestoad for the Apple II (Marc Goodman, 1982, Datamost).

Edited by Zoyous
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To this day my number one vector graphics game is Asteroids.  The sound and glow of the ships thrust against the black background, hooked me from day one.  I tend to like the earlier games like Lunar Lander (amazing deep base) and Star Castle.  IIRC, the colors for Star Castle come from an overlay, I haven't come across a cabinet in quite some time.

 

Of course I do like and play Battlezone, Tempest and Star Wars.  Lets face it, vector graphics games are all pretty cool. 

 

I really need to purchase a Vectrex. ?

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Warrior was a rare machine, I doubt many had seen one back in 1980.  You do need the background art to play, otherwise you'll fall in a hole.  Is it not a two player only game as well.  It definitely deserves a closer look, the animation is special.

 

Gravitar is another one I hadn't heard of until mame.  One of my favourites as it reminds me of Asteroids.  Gravitar is hard.  Tempest and Lunar Lander are also among my favourites.

 

Battlezone deserves to be mentioned because of the wireframe 3D graphics, along with Red Baron.  Of the two, Battlezone had the better gameplay.  With the processors of the day, this type if 3D graphics could only be done with vector displays.

Edited by mr_me
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1 hour ago, mr_me said:

Warrior was a rare machine, I doubt many had seen one back in 1980.  You do need the background art to play, otherwise you'll fall in a hole.  Is it not a two player only game as well.  It definitely deserves a closer look, the animation is special.

 

Gravitar is another one I hadn't heard of until mame.  One of my favourites as it reminds me of Asteroids.  Gravitar is hard.  Tempest and Lunar Lander are also among my favourites.

 

Battlezone deserves to be mentioned because of the wireframe 3D graphics, along with Red Baron.  Of the two, Battlezone had the better gameplay.  With the processors of the day, this type if 3D graphics could only be done with vector displays.

There was a 3D game on the C64 (and some other 8-bit systems) called Cholo… it used vectors but on raster based systems. This game was remade on PC many years ago for free. Even so the original did not even come out until 1986... Of course wireframe graphics look way better with pure vectors or at least at high resolutions. 

 

http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/cyberpunk-games/cholo/

Edited by DragonGrafx-16
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Black Widow and Major Havoc are pretty cool.  Never really got into Tempest, but it has started to grow on me in the last year or so. 

 

For me, the most fun vector games aren't necessarily the most visually impressive.  For whatever reason, the vector games that seem to "last" for me and keep me coming back are the Asteroids-style games.  Asteroids and Deluxe, Space Duel, Omega Race, etc.  There's a really cool one called Eliminator that's kind of like Star Castle, but the "base" flies around the screen and the vectors are in color.  Plus, it had a 4-player version, which would have been really cool. 

 

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 10:53 AM, Flojomojo said:

Star Wars all day long. I'm astounded that I haven't tired of it yet. 

I'm kind of astounded as well.  :)

 

I know it's a widely revered game, but I just don't get it myself.  And I say that as a life-long Star Wars fan who loved the '83 arcade game as a kid.  When I play the game now all I see is a dull on-rails shooter with a weird controller and nostalgic sounds.  

 

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1 hour ago, Cynicaster said:

There's a really cool one called Eliminator that's kind of like Star Castle, but the "base" flies around the screen and the vectors are in color. 

 

Never seen one in the wild BITD or in recent years. Started playing this in MAME a few weeks ago and it's pretty cool but difficult.

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On 1/25/2020 at 10:28 AM, schuwalker said:

The Sega vectors are really underrated.

Tac scan and Zektor are some of my favorites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I played Zektor recently for no other reason than I was starting from the bottom of the alphabet in MAME.  I was really pleased with the gameplay.  Kind of a cross between Star Castle and Asteroids with a little Space Fury thrown in.

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4 hours ago, VectorGamer said:

Never seen one in the wild BITD or in recent years. Started playing this in MAME a few weeks ago and it's pretty cool but difficult.

 

Yes, it's a tough game for sure. 

 

I saw an upright Eliminator cabinet at The Arcade in Brighton, MI a few years ago but it wasn't running.  That's the only one I've ever seen. 

 

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Cynicaster said:

 

Yes, it's a tough game for sure. 

 

I saw an upright Eliminator cabinet at The Arcade in Brighton, MI a few years ago but it wasn't running.  That's the only one I've ever seen. 

 

 

 

 

Well I had to look it up on Aurcade. There are 4 out there in the wild that is known about.

 

http://aurcade.com/games/view.aspx?id=279

Edited by VectorGamer
dyslexia
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Asteroids Deluxe, Omega Race, Red Baron, and Star Castle!    I know that's 4 but you should have seen the list before!  

 

Only a few times in the wild did I ever see Black Widow or Gravitar...I only saw Tac Scan, Cosmic Chasm, and Major Havok once each.  Our arcade had Rip Off, Star Castle and Armor Attack, and a store near my house had Star Hawk and Asteroids among other games...They still have Asteroids in a barcade downtown and they just lost their sit down Red Baron (which I assume is broken)...They're replacing old games with stuff like Space Invaders Frenzy which is unfortunate;  I mean it's OK, just nothing special like the actual old games...

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