Were Pac-man and Pole Position fads of their time?

[+GoldLeader]

4 minutes ago, zzip said:

I found it!   It was TX-1,  and released by Atari in 1984.   It had 3 screens, so it was was quite a large arcade cabinet, so Arcades that had it made a big deal of it:  

 

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10004

 

I'm glad you solved the mystery!

 

I vaguely recalled something along the lines of what you were talking about, but I wouldn't have figured it out...

[zzip]

1 minute ago, GoldLeader said:

 

I'm glad you solved the mystery!

 

I vaguely recalled something along the lines of what you were talking about, but I wouldn't have figured it out...

Yeah, at the time it seemed positioned like "The next Pole Position",  but it never really took off.   Probably because it was large and expensive and hard to recoup the costs.

[Mr SQL]

Pole Position and Pacman are timeless classic games, there was a merchandizing fad to market everything around the game characters.

[Leeroy ST]

56 minutes ago, zzip said:

I found it!   It was TX-1,  and released by Atari in 1984.   It had 3 screens, so it was was quite a large arcade cabinet, so Arcades that had it made a big deal of it:  

 

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10004

I had considered that but it was made by a japanese developer in 83 so I didn't think it was what you were looking for. I guess Atari got the license late because I didn't know they got the rights to it,

Edited September 1, 2020 by Leeroy ST

[Leeroy ST]

1 hour ago, Torr said:

 

I had SO much Q*Bert merchandise as a kid (that is all gone now).

 

YET, I never played or seen a Q*Bert video game (I'm from the sticks remember) until I got the red label re-release by Atari for my birthday in 1989!!!

That was cool. To FINALLY have the actual game. Thank goodness it lived up to the hype.

 

I too never heard of Q*Bert's Qubes untill I found AtariAge

I only saw Qubes twice back in the 80's and that was at a mall arcade that was near were we were vacationing, and one time at some Pizza place and the latter is the only time I played it and thought it sucked.

[+GoldenWheels]

3 hours ago, Leeroy ST said:

it was eclipsed by the core style was imitated. Look at Hang-on or Roadblasters, the objectives are different but the format for the actual driving or racing is basically the same. It's one of the reasons I find Roadblasters near unplayable because the track is too narrow and you don't have much free control over the car.

Hang-On being one of my fav arcade racers, I find it hard to criticize. Pure racing fun to me (put lots of time in on the SMS version).

 

I was never a Roadblasters guy...never felt it was a good racer or a good combat game. Honestly never really felt like the car and track felt connected in that one.

[+Mockduck]

1 hour ago, GoldLeader said:

...

 

For the record,  I remember the cartoon fondly, if only because Dungeons & Dragons came on next...So during Pole Position;  I was relaxing,  the paper route was done, bathroom breaks were finished,...I'd be getting my doughnuts or cereal ready for D & D...Pole Position was like the opening act, before the big event...

That was the best! Saturday Morning Supercade into the D&D cartoon was so freaking huge for me. Wow both Qbert and Pole Position were truly truly awful cartoons in hindsight.

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Mockduck

[Lost Dragon]

13 hours ago, GoldenWheels said:

Hang-On being one of my fav arcade racers, I find it hard to criticize. Pure racing fun to me (put lots of time in on the SMS version).

 

I was never a Roadblasters guy...never felt it was a good racer or a good combat game. Honestly never really felt like the car and track felt connected in that one.

Another title that falls between 2 stools. 

 

I put some hours in on the Lynx and MD versions, foolishly bought the C64 version. 

 

But found it had aged badly when it appeared on Retro Compilations. 

 

[Cynicaster]

3 hours ago, Lost Dragon said:

Another title that falls between 2 stools. 

 

I put some hours in on the Lynx and MD versions, foolishly bought the C64 version. 

 

But found it had aged badly when it appeared on Retro Compilations. 

 

 

I have a copy of Roadblasters on Lynx that I got with the system as part of a lot.  I have put a few hours into it trying to like it, but the game just feels pretty uninspired and dull.  I wondered if it was just a bad port but then a few years ago I played an original cabinet at Galloping Ghost and it turns out the Lynx port is pretty decent; it's just that the game is a dud. 

 

 

[Lost Dragon]

36 minutes ago, Cynicaster said:

 

I have a copy of Roadblasters on Lynx that I got with the system as part of a lot.  I have put a few hours into it trying to like it, but the game just feels pretty uninspired and dull.  I wondered if it was just a bad port but then a few years ago I played an original cabinet at Galloping Ghost and it turns out the Lynx port is pretty decent; it's just that the game is a dud. 

 

 

I'd put the Lynx version, just behind the Genesis version, lower resolution causes the game some issues, try the Amiga or ST versions for a wasted opportunity on the 16-bit systems 😂

 

But the game itself just hasn't aged that well i find. 

[Leeroy ST]

7 hours ago, Lost Dragon said:

I'd put the Lynx version, just behind the Genesis version, lower resolution causes the game some issues, try the Amiga or ST versions for a wasted opportunity on the 16-bit systems 😂

 

But the game itself just hasn't aged that well i find. 

I mean it's a graphical showcase on the Lynx but its concept doesn't seem suited a a Pole Position track format. Maybe if it was something more like a 2D Raytracers that would have worked.

 

I find Stun Runner the more fun graphically impressive Lynx game.