Can you identify this 1980s arcade game featuring a tank?

March 10, 2011 12:09 AM

Can you identify this 1980s arcade game featuring a tank?

Scant detail but here we go:

I played it in an arcade and not on a console, I dont know it it was ever on console, I certainly never saw it outside of the arcade I played it in.
We used to call it the 'Tank Game', but maybe that was just me and my buddies.
The view in the game from from above looking down i.e. it was 2D.
You could upgrade your firepower and when you did the shells that you fired turned into red glowing shells.
At some point in the game you were faced with a train which had lots of guns on the back.
There were lots of other tanks to fight.

Thats all I can reliably remember, other details are only quarter remembered, like the terrain was green and brown and that you progress scrolled vertically mostly but at times you would have to follow a path horizontally.

I would LOVE to find a rom of this game that I can play on mame.

posted by kenaman to computers & internet (22 answers total)

Were you in a tank all the time, or did you spend some time on foot? It sounds a bit like Ikari Warriors, but in that game you only spend some of the time in a tank.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 12:57 AM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

The "Tron" video game had four different sub-games. One of them was a top-down tank battle.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:06 AM on March 10, 2011

Atari used to have a tank game which was pretty popular.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:22 AM on March 10, 2011

I did some digging around in Mobygames, and found this. Close?
posted by Senza Volto at 1:27 AM on March 10, 2011

Battlezone? Screenshots.
posted by dobbs at 1:36 AM on March 10, 2011

Thanks for the responses:

Were you in a tank all the time, or did you spend some time on foot? It sounds a bit like Ikari Warriors, but in that game you only spend some of the time in a tank.
In the tank all the time.


The "Tron" video game had four different sub-games. One of them was a top-down tank battle.
The arcade also had Tron, this is not the game I am referring to.

Atari used to have a tank game which was pretty popular.
Not it either, this game had graphics of a similar quality to something like Raiden

I did some digging around in Mobygames, and found this. Close?
Similar alright but the graphics were more polished. Also there was no flags or anything to be achieved apart from advance, kill and stay alive.


Battlezone? Screenshots.
Not this either. You viewed the action from directly above.

I appreciate all the responses.
posted by kenaman at 1:47 AM on March 10, 2011

How about Tank Force?

This gameplay video has some train-guns at about 4:45...
posted by Jinkeez at 2:00 AM on March 10, 2011

Someone asked a similar question on forums.arcade-museum.com back in 2008—the closest suggestion there seemed to have been TNK III.
posted by blueberry at 2:07 AM on March 10, 2011

How about Tank Force?

This gameplay video has some train-guns at about 4:45...
Very similar in principle, including the train, but not it - again the graphics were slightly more polished, maybe the game I am thinking of was a later version of this. It did however make me think that you could only move vertically and horizontally.
posted by kenaman at 2:12 AM on March 10, 2011

Someone asked a similar question on forums.arcade-museum.com back in 2008—the closest suggestion there seemed to have been TNK III.

It is so so close to it that I am almost inclined to call off the search. This footage of TNK II is very similar, I am going to email a buddy now and see if he can confirm it. He might not come back for a few hours so if you are following this thread its not dead yet!
posted by kenaman at 2:21 AM on March 10, 2011

I was thinking Assault (video).
posted by rhizome at 4:05 AM on March 10, 2011

I was thinking Assault (video).
Again very similar but the pentagon in the clip you linked to was not a feature of the game I am thinking of. Thanks.
posted by kenaman at 4:59 AM on March 10, 2011

There used to be an old arcade game called Tank Attack (with a green screen), and one almost exactly the same based on submarines (blue screen) I used to burn some quarters in at the county fair.
posted by timsteil at 6:05 AM on March 10, 2011

I know you said it wasn't a console game, but check out "Iron Tank"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qyutdVZYM. It's a Nintendo game, but maybe you played the "Playchoice 10" version, Nintendo's arcade machine.
posted by cosmicbandito at 6:59 AM on March 10, 2011

Was it Vindicators?
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 7:29 AM on March 10, 2011

Tank Busters or perhaps T.A.N.K.?
posted by nomisxid at 7:58 AM on March 10, 2011

What were the controls like? Two levers? One joystick? Did you turn the joystick, or just push it in various directions?
posted by talldean at 8:12 AM on March 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Not Vindicators, Tank Busters or T.A.N.K. but they look like fun games.

The controls were a joystick and buttons.
posted by kenaman at 2:10 PM on March 10, 2011

Did the joystick have a spinny handle that controlled the aim of your turret? I'm fairly certain that my local arcade had this game. Although the spiiny handle I only remember for sure being on Heavy Barrel.
posted by Four Flavors at 12:20 PM on March 11, 2011

And after watching the footage of TNKIII I'm pretty sure it was that one, or another from the series. That game clearly has the spinny handle.
posted by Four Flavors at 12:21 PM on March 11, 2011

Did the joystick have a spinny handle that controlled the aim of your turret? I'm fairly certain that my local arcade had this game. Although the spiiny handle I only remember for sure being on Heavy Barrel.

Negative on the spinny handle, my buddy has been no help to me, I will continue the search.

Thanks to everyone for helping.
posted by kenaman at 2:49 PM on March 11, 2011

Late winner: Grobda. Still love this game!
posted by First Post at 11:02 PM on March 13, 2011