Play Meter

Issue: 1981 July 01 - Vol 7 Num 12

snooou's
nemesis
cuts iammlna
Coin Sensor Model 102 promises
game operators "no more service
calls " said the manufacturer,
Inno'vat i've Systems Inc . of
Muskogee, Oklahoma. Like the
Model 100 (for jukeboxes), the 102
electronically rejects tokens, slugs,
and foreign coins, while it accepts
bent or mutilated U.S . coins. ·
Model 102 units are available for
games produced by At~ri, Midway,
Bally , Williams , Gottheb, Ste.rn,
Taito, Exidy, and Cinematromcs.
Cutting out coin jam problems, the
102 accepts coins three times fa~t~r
than an unfitted machine, but 1t IS
anti-fish, anti-string, and anti-yo-yo,
said the manufacturer.
The solid state coin sensor carries
a one-year warranty.
For more information, contact
Innovative Systems, P.O. Box 1288,
Muskogee, Oklahoma 74401.
...
64
Game Plan's
Sharll Attaclt
In a new video game twist , Game
Plan inc . has introduced a sit-down
gam~ where the player is the "bad
guy." Its name is Shark Attack, and
the player is the shark . Ken
Anderson, Game Plan's director of
marketing said the new gam~
represents "a fantastic new profit
experience for operators a~d
locations alike. It is a two-player, Sit-
down video duel between shark and
divers that turns video competition
into a spectator sport. "
It's shark versus waves of divers
on a realistic 19" color monitor with
seawater background color. Divers
appear in squadrons of four, they
talk to each other, audio heartbeats
race, and excruciating screams of
pain are heard as shark devours
divers.
A special feature of the game is
personal involvement of the players.
In one mode, high scoring player
initials his score; It r:emains unt1l lO
players beat it. There is a bonus after
shark eliminates 7 squadrons. Other
features include increased challenge
with player. ability, adjustability to
one or two coins, option of 3, 4, or 5
sharks per game, adjustable legs,
and service door access to all
electrical components.
This' game is produced by Ga~e
Plari, Inc. under license from Pac1hc
Novelty Manufacturing, Inc .
Atari recently announced th e
releas'e of Red Baron, a realistic
flying simulation game that puts the
player at the controls of a WWI
biplane, searching the skies for the
enemy.
.
The horizon shifts and tilts as the
player m'aneuvers the )oysti ~k
control while three dimensional h11ls
and vaileys sweep by below. First,
the re are the enemy biplanes
roaming the sky. Then there are the
ground targets: tanks, pyramids,
buildings, all of which make good
targets for strafing runs. Game
challenge mounts when the enemy
planes begin firing back at the player.
If the guns overheat, there is no
protecting the player's plane from
being shot out of the sky.
Special features included on Red
Baron are Atari's Special .Joijgh Score
Table which display the seven best
playe;s' scores and initials during the
attract mode and which retains the
top three sc~res in memory even if
the powe r is off . The . gam ~
automatically adjusts game time to
the level of player skill in a given
location. The averaga game time is
also displayed in self-test.
.
F r ank Balloti z , vice presi -
dent/ marketing, said: "The flig~t
simulation is so realistic on th1s
game, that the player w.ill be
convinced he's in the cockp1t of a
fighting biplane."
PLAY METER, Jul y 1, 1981
rdarous
moon
Another new video game has been
announced by Game Plan, Inc.-
called Killer Comet, and features an
attact mode that spawns monsters,
bombs, spacepods, laser beams, and
more.
Killer Comet is produced by
Game Plan under license by Centuri,
Inc.
The game's big surprise is the
Killer Comet. Once the game is coin-
activated, this goes into action and
attacks the player from any and all
directions. Lots of movement and
colorful display on the upright color
monitor serve to attract continuous
play.
Popular features of the game are
the optional left and right hand
controls. Once the game is opera-
tional, player chooses from four or
five spacepods to attract the mon-
sters. The challenge is to keep space -
pods from being eaten by monsters,
bombed, or hit by the Killer Comet.
Two players can play using
different colored spacepods. The
monsters in different colors and
sizes drifting in from the top of the
screen as bombs start rainjng down.
The monster attack in waves of 25 ;
the spacepod must be maneuvered
by the player to get good shots at
them. Joystick controls permit the
player to fly the s pacepod in
simulated gra v ity- fre e space
conditions. If the spacepods are
endangered, the player can activate the
Hyperspace button causing the
spacepod to disappear and then
reappear at an undisclosed location.
If it lands on a monster or a bomb, it's
destroyed.
A player can fire his energy-laser
beams straight up, right, or left .
Shots can be made simultaneously,
but not continuously. When a beam
strikes a monster or bomb, it
explodes with bright fl ash and audio
blast.
PLAY METER , july 1, 1981
zarzon
aooears
T aito America has recently released
Zarzon to the video game i~dustry.
The evil that is Zarzon manifests
itself in a seemingly endless variety of
forms and shapes.
Players man their rocketships
against waves of UFOs, rockets, and
a giant meteor-then take to the
assault in tanks against deadly space
spiders and an all-out dragonfly
invasion of terror. Attack patterns
change unexpectedly and become
increasingly more dangerous and
intense.
"If the player can defeat Zarzon
and ailS waves of different enemies,"
said Jack Mittel, president of Taito,
"he will earn another chance to chal-
lenge the game and a quick-paced at-
tack will begin again at Phase I. This
unique feature is a special draw for
the skillful player who wants to test
his ability and be rewarded for his
efforts.
~
Zarzon is currently available in a
one or two player upright and in
Taito's Trimline model.
65

Download Page 63: PDF File | Image

Download Page 64 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.