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M.A.C.H. 3 | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Mylstar Electronics |
Publisher(s) | |
Designer(s) | Chris Brewer |
Programmer(s) | Chris Brewer Fred Darmstadt Dave Pfeiffer |
Artist(s) | Jeff Lee Clay Lacey |
Composer(s) | David Thiel Craig Beirwaltes |
Platform(s) | Arcade |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Shoot 'em up |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Arcade system | Mylstar Video Disc Graphics System |
M.A.C.H. 3 is a shoot 'em up LaserDisc video game developed by Gottlieb and released for US arcades in 1983 under their Mylstar brand. The player controls a high-speed fighter aircraft in one of two missions: either a "Fighter Raid" seen flying forward at low altitude or "Bombing Run" seen in a top-down mode. Video backgrounds from the LaserDisc are overlaid by computer graphics. The title is both a reference to Mach number and is an acronym for "Military Air Command Hunter". It was released in Japan by Taito.
The primary programmers and game designers were Chris Brewer and Fred Darmstadt. [4] The overlaid graphics of the fighter were by Gottlieb's video graphics artist, Jeff Lee. Hardware enabling the graphics overlay on top of the background video was designed by David Pfeiffer. Clay Lacy shot the jet footage.
In the United States, M.A.C.H. 3 reached the number-one position on RePlay magazine's "Player's Choice" upright arcade cabinet earnings chart in January 1984. [5] On Play Meter's "National Play Meter" polls, it was the top-grossing laserdisc game in August [6] and October 1984. [7] It was listed by AMOA among the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1984. [8]
In Japan, Game Machine listed M.A.C.H. 3 on their March 15, 1984 issue as being the second most-successful upright arcade unit of the month. [9]
Pole Position is an arcade racing simulation video game released by Namco in 1982 and licensed to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution, running on the Namco Pole Position arcade system board. It is considered one of the most important titles from the golden age of arcade video games. Pole Position was an evolution of Namco's earlier arcade racing electro-mechanical games, notably F-1 (1976), whose designer Sho Osugi worked on the development of Pole Position.
Q*bert is an arcade video game developed and published for the North American market by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a 2D action game with puzzle elements that uses isometric graphics to create a pseudo-3D effect. The objective of each level in the game is to change every cube in a pyramid to a target color by making Q*bert, the on-screen character, hop on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. Players use a joystick to control the character.
Track & Field, also known as Hyper Olympic in Japan and Europe, is a 1983 Olympic-themed sports video game developed by Konami for arcades. The Japanese release sported an official license for the 1984 Summer Olympics. In Europe, the game was initially released under the Japanese title Hyper Olympic in 1983, before re-releasing under the US title Track & Field in early 1984.
Gauntlet is a 1985 fantasy-themed hack-and-slash arcade game developed and released by Atari Games. It is noted as being one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games. The core design of Gauntlet comes from 1983 Atari 8-bit dungeon crawl game Dandy, which resulted in a threat of legal action. It also bears striking similarities to the action-adventure maze game Time Bandit (1983).
The Nintendo VS. System is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversions from the Famicom and NES, some heavily altered for the arcade format, and some debuted on the VS. System before on the Famicom or NES. The system focuses on two-player cooperative play. It was released in three different configurations: upright VS. UniSystem cabinets, upright VS. DualSystem cabinets, and sit-down VS. DualSystem cabinets. Games are on pluggable circuit boards, allowing for each side to have a different game.
Punch-Out!! is an arcade boxing video game by Nintendo, developed in 1983 and released in February 1984. It was the first in a series of successful Punch-Out!! games.
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, known as Zoom 909 in Japan, is a pseudo-3D rail shooter video game released in arcades by Sega in 1982. The game is a forward-scrolling rail shooter where the player controls a spaceship in a third-person perspective, adapting the three-dimensional perspective of Sega's earlier racing game Turbo (1981) for the space shoot 'em up genre. It used the Buck Rogers license, referencing the space battles, though Buck himself is never seen.
Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter video game designed by Mike Hally and released in arcades in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, Star Wars has been included on lists of the greatest video games of all time.
X-Men (エックス・メン) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game produced and released by Konami for arcades in 1992, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The character designs of the characters in the game are based on the 1989 cartoon X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. In the game, up to six players control the X-Men to defeat their archenemy Magneto. The six-player version of the game utilizes two screens housed in a deluxe cabinet. It was one of the top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1992 in the United States, while the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) nominated it for the "most innovative new technology" award.
Virtua Racing, or V.R. for short, is a Formula One racing video game developed by Sega AM2 and released for arcades in 1992. Virtua Racing was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D graphics platform under development, the "Model 1". The results were so encouraging that Virtua Racing was fully developed into a standalone arcade title.
1993 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, Mortal Kombat II, Secret of Mana, and Super Street Fighter II, along with new titles such as Disney's Aladdin, Doom, FIFA International Soccer, Gunstar Heroes, NBA Jam, Ridge Racer, Samurai Shodown, Star Fox and Virtua Fighter.
1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600. Additional game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.
1979 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Space Invaders Part II and Super Speed Race, along with new titles such as Asteroids, Football, Galaxian, Head On, Heiankyo Alien, Monaco GP, Sheriff and Warrior. For the second year in a row, the highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders and the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System.
An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.
Firefox is a 1984 shoot 'em up arcade video game based on the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. It was produced in 1984 as Atari, Inc.'s only LaserDisc video game. Like Atari's first-person Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, Firefox came as both an upright and sit down cabinet with a yoke style controller.
Astron Belt (アストロンベルト) is a LaserDisc video game in the form of a third-person, space combat rail shooter, released in arcades in 1983 by Sega in Japan, and licensed to Bally Midway for release in North America. Developed in 1982, it was the first major arcade laserdisc video game. The game combines full-motion video (FMV) footage from the laserdisc with real-time 2D graphics. The arcade game was available in both upright and cockpit arcade cabinets, with the latter having illuminated buttons on the control panel, a larger 25" monitor, and a force feedback vibrating seat.
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Star Rider is a racing LaserDisc video game developed by Computer Creations and Williams Electronics, and released for arcades in 1983. The object of the game is to win a futuristic motorcycle race that takes place in surrealistic settings. The tracks themselves and the background graphics are video played from a laserdisc, and are of higher quality than possible with real-time computer graphics at the time. The foreground graphics and racers are superimposed on the video. Star Rider has a rear view mirror—possibly the first racing game with one —which warns of opponents approaching from behind.
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