Can anyone help me identify a couple of arcade games?
July 10, 2013 6:52 PM Subscribe
I spent a lot of time in arcades growing up, and I remember the names of most of the games I enjoyed, but there are two the names of which I have forgotten. This was during the late 80s/early 90s; I was living in Italy at the time, and the games must have been imported. I don't recall perfectly, but I'm guessing the graphics were at least as good as the home consoles which were out around that time. No photos: I'll try to describe them. Help a guy out?
One game was a two-player action game set in the wild west. Pretty sure player one was a cowboy with a blue hat; player two a native American "Indian" wearing red. You could move them across the bottom of the screen,take cover behind things, and dive and roll, if I remember right. I think the joystick also controlled a targeting reticle that moved across the screen to shoot at enemies. One of the bosses was a giant snake. (Each level might have been a fixed scene; I don't remember if the players advanced forward through each level as waves of enemies were cleared out.) For some reason I think this game might have been made by Konami.
The other game was in the style of Pac-Man, only much more sophisticated in terms of graphics. You took control of a futuristic wheeled vehicle with laser cannons as you cleared the labyrinth of pellets. I don't remember why you needed the lasers, except that every once in a while you had to fight a giant insect which took up a big part of the screen. It was completely odd and striking and I feel like it would be extremely fun and fulfilling to track this game down and beat it. This one might have not have been a US-made game, because I think I remember not being able to read the on-screen text.
I've checked a lot of the images on the International Arcade Museum with no luck. I kind of feel like these games might be lost classics, on par with Golden Axe and Final Fight and the like. Anyway, if anyone out there has even a guess, I'd love to hear it.
One game was a two-player action game set in the wild west. Pretty sure player one was a cowboy with a blue hat; player two a native American "Indian" wearing red. You could move them across the bottom of the screen,take cover behind things, and dive and roll, if I remember right. I think the joystick also controlled a targeting reticle that moved across the screen to shoot at enemies. One of the bosses was a giant snake. (Each level might have been a fixed scene; I don't remember if the players advanced forward through each level as waves of enemies were cleared out.) For some reason I think this game might have been made by Konami.
The other game was in the style of Pac-Man, only much more sophisticated in terms of graphics. You took control of a futuristic wheeled vehicle with laser cannons as you cleared the labyrinth of pellets. I don't remember why you needed the lasers, except that every once in a while you had to fight a giant insect which took up a big part of the screen. It was completely odd and striking and I feel like it would be extremely fun and fulfilling to track this game down and beat it. This one might have not have been a US-made game, because I think I remember not being able to read the on-screen text.
I've checked a lot of the images on the International Arcade Museum with no luck. I kind of feel like these games might be lost classics, on par with Golden Axe and Final Fight and the like. Anyway, if anyone out there has even a guess, I'd love to hear it.
Best answer: I think the first is Blood Brothers.
posted by mkultra at 7:20 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mkultra at 7:20 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Blood Brothers looks promising. The closest thing Konami made is Ironhorse, it seems. Unless maybe it's Sunset Riders.
posted by JHarris at 7:28 PM on July 10, 2013
posted by JHarris at 7:28 PM on July 10, 2013
Best answer: Found the first one, it's Raimais! Made by Taito in 1988. Wikipedia.
posted by JHarris at 7:44 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 7:44 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
The cowboy one made me think of Sunset Riders. (YT).
posted by synecdoche at 7:48 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by synecdoche at 7:48 PM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
I mean, I found the second one. That's the one that's Raimais.
posted by JHarris at 7:53 PM on July 10, 2013
posted by JHarris at 7:53 PM on July 10, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks everyone (especially JHarris and mk)! I have been trying to figure out what the names of those games were for a long, long time. It's pretty amazing, after so long, to get the answer on askmefi after just one night. Very cool.
Here's a giant robotic bug from Raimais.
And here's a cowboy fighting a giant snake.
posted by millions at 7:11 PM on July 11, 2013
Here's a giant robotic bug from Raimais.
And here's a cowboy fighting a giant snake.
posted by millions at 7:11 PM on July 11, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JHarris at 7:15 PM on July 10, 2013