Maybe I'll remember if I put another quarter in
April 27, 2018 6:02 AM
Help me try to remember the arcade cabinet I played in the 90s; A sci-fi shooter where you controlled a flying "car".
It was a non-articulated sit-in game. It was a 1st-person behind-the-vehicle tunnel-shooter. You controlled some sort of silvery flying vehicle that was car-like. The main control input was a military-style control stick with a trigger and possible a thumb button. I can't remember if it had pedals or a hand throttle for speed but I think it was pedals.
I don't think there was much in the way of a story. I can't remember if there were bosses at the end of each level.
The levels were mostly sci-fi cityscapes at night. I think after each level you could choose a leg of a branching path by steering your ship left or right, or up or down. I think maybe the type of level you took affected you vehicle in some ways, possibly transforming into a flying silver angel robot if you took a high path up in to the air.
Some details I do distinctly remember was that your vehicle flew. With a dead stick it just flew in the center of the level. Some levels were tunnels and if you nosed forward your vehicle would contacts the bottom of the tunnel and you could see small cylindrical rollers come out under your vehicle. If you pulled back you would fly up and scrape the roof of the tunnel but it wouldn't hurt you, it would just make sparks. Some levels were over canals or in sewers and your vehicle would leave roostertails behind it on the water.
You fought waves of enemies often arraigned in lines coming at you and they were ususally one-hit-kills for you. Your vehicle shot large, fast-moving energy balls, but I think sometimes they would change into round, flat energy discs.
In my memory, the color pallet seemed pretty limited to silvers, greys, blues, whites, and blacks.
It was a non-articulated sit-in game. It was a 1st-person behind-the-vehicle tunnel-shooter. You controlled some sort of silvery flying vehicle that was car-like. The main control input was a military-style control stick with a trigger and possible a thumb button. I can't remember if it had pedals or a hand throttle for speed but I think it was pedals.
I don't think there was much in the way of a story. I can't remember if there were bosses at the end of each level.
The levels were mostly sci-fi cityscapes at night. I think after each level you could choose a leg of a branching path by steering your ship left or right, or up or down. I think maybe the type of level you took affected you vehicle in some ways, possibly transforming into a flying silver angel robot if you took a high path up in to the air.
Some details I do distinctly remember was that your vehicle flew. With a dead stick it just flew in the center of the level. Some levels were tunnels and if you nosed forward your vehicle would contacts the bottom of the tunnel and you could see small cylindrical rollers come out under your vehicle. If you pulled back you would fly up and scrape the roof of the tunnel but it wouldn't hurt you, it would just make sparks. Some levels were over canals or in sewers and your vehicle would leave roostertails behind it on the water.
You fought waves of enemies often arraigned in lines coming at you and they were ususally one-hit-kills for you. Your vehicle shot large, fast-moving energy balls, but I think sometimes they would change into round, flat energy discs.
In my memory, the color pallet seemed pretty limited to silvers, greys, blues, whites, and blacks.
I do remember S.T.U.N. Runner and I did love it also but that's not the one I'm thinking of unfortunately. S.T.U.N. Runner sat right next to the target game at my arcade! The one I'm looking for was what we would call sprite-based graphics today.
posted by glonous keming at 9:02 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by glonous keming at 9:02 AM on April 27, 2018
I took a look through all of the old Sega X/Y-board games (stuff like space harrier, outrun, and galaxy force that faked 3d with 2d sprites) and the closest i got was AB Cop
Maybe it was a taito game?
posted by Oktober at 11:58 AM on April 27, 2018
Maybe it was a taito game?
posted by Oktober at 11:58 AM on April 27, 2018
Sounds almost exactly like Night Striker Here's a page with a picture of the sit-down cabinet.
posted by subocoyne at 3:17 PM on April 27, 2018
posted by subocoyne at 3:17 PM on April 27, 2018
YES THAT IS IT! Night Striker! And it WAS a Taito game!
Thank you all for your assistance!
I inexplicably, suddenly, thought of this game last night when I was in bed trying to drift off to sleep. Now I can rest easily.
posted by glonous keming at 3:37 PM on April 27, 2018
Thank you all for your assistance!
I inexplicably, suddenly, thought of this game last night when I was in bed trying to drift off to sleep. Now I can rest easily.
posted by glonous keming at 3:37 PM on April 27, 2018
Happy to help. I found the game in the list of chase view driving games supported by MAME, just in case anyone thought I had an encyclopedic knowledge of arcade games in my head.
posted by subocoyne at 4:23 PM on April 27, 2018
posted by subocoyne at 4:23 PM on April 27, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ufez Jones at 6:59 AM on April 27, 2018