# Old arcade games with surprising depth **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 15, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412 "2016-06-15T12:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/41 "2016-06-17T04:43:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, I only managed it once, so it’s possible that it was a completely unrelated glitch that crashed it, but that sure seems like a logical place for a glitch to occur. And I almost certainly played a slightly different version than you (I had a very obscure model of Atari console), which might also make a difference. > > What happened to the 'pede segments on yours when you got to level 13 and beyond? On centipede, going to the 13 level would just repeat level 1 with a full centipede ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/42 "2016-06-17T04:53:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > \*\*Wizardry \*\*offered the first first-person perspective that I remember in a game. > > Then there were ways to take advantage of (or be screwed by) the 8-bit limitations of the arcade games. In \*\*Galaga \*\*you could leave one of the bugs alive at the end of the round, have him make 255+ shots, whereupon he stops shooting. Once he had stopped, kill him and the rest of the bugs won’t shoot for the rest of the game. \*\*Robotron \*\*had issues like this as well. With Galaga, would you believe that someone looked at the original code and figured out what caused the bug and it was very subtle? If I remember right, it is when the Bug fires exactly at the edge of the screen or at line 0. When this happens, the counter for the shots flags it as being invalid. Also, there is a limit of 8 shots able to be displayed at once and when the bug has fired its 8th shot right at the edge of the screen this has filled up the invalid shot counter and no more shots can be fired There is a link to the analysis on the Galaga Wikipedia page if you want more details. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/43 "2016-06-17T05:28:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Ah yes, Double Dragon was the one I meant to say. Street Fighter was more an update of Kung Fu. Wrong again.🙂 Karate Champ is what you’re thinking of. The funny thing about Karate Champ is that I think it had a better model than modern fighting games. Karate Champ was just so much more tactical with its two joystick format. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/44 "2016-06-17T12:20:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Wrong again.🙂 Karate Champ is what you’re thinking of. > > The funny thing about Karate Champ is that I think it had a better model than modern fighting games. Karate Champ was just so much more tactical with its two joystick format. Yep, don’t know where I got Kung Fu from. “Half point!” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/45 "2016-06-17T12:22:14Z")
Kung Fu is cool though, it’s the earliest game I remember with bosses to fight. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/46 "2016-06-17T12:39:25Z")
It didn’t come out until 1990, but _Rampart_ was a fantastic game, something completely different for the time. It could be considered one of, if not the first Tower Defense game, and also one of only a few real-time strategy arcade machines ever. It was nearly the only game I played at the arcade for years. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/47 "2016-06-17T18:59:03Z")
It was one of those big boxes you would sit it, and I think it had something like a yoke or wheels. Aliens would attack, and it was a tiny bit similar to “Space Invaders” in that respect, but different. Had at least 3 different levels that were totally different from each other. I seem to recall strange music, kind of like something out of “Forbidden Planet”. What was it called? I loved that game! > [@Wallaby](#): > > There were some pornograhic versions of Qix, where removing the rectangles would reveal a nekkid la-a-a-a-ady. > > I’ve heard. I loved Qix, and want this badly! > [@xizor](#): > > I obtained a shareware version of that for my PC back in the 90s. It was Asian in origin, based on the pictures revealed. Now I want it worse! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/48 "2016-06-17T19:46:11Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It didn’t come out until 1990, but _Rampart_ was a fantastic game, something completely different for the time. It could be considered one of, if not the first Tower Defense game, and also one of only a few real-time strategy arcade machines ever. It was nearly the only game I played at the arcade for years. I loved this game too and I would love to see it for Android so I can put it on my tablet. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/49 "2016-06-17T21:15:12Z")
Not different, but something about **Gatopescado** ’s post reminded me of one of my forgotten quarter burners, [Omega Race](https://www.google.com/search?q=omega+race&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS694US694&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP68yD_a_NAhUqxYMKHXO0AfsQiR4IgQE&biw=1366&bih=643). Vector graphics, you raced around trying to kill shit. I liked it as it was some pretty fast game play. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/50 "2016-06-18T00:53:37Z")
Pong taught me how to steal quarters out of my parents vacation piggy bank … coat hanger wire was the secret … ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/51 "2016-06-18T03:37:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Not different, but something about **Gatopescado** ’s post reminded me of one of my forgotten quarter burners, [Omega Race](https://www.google.com/search?q=omega+race&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS694US694&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP68yD_a_NAhUqxYMKHXO0AfsQiR4IgQE&biw=1366&bih=643). Vector graphics, you raced around trying to kill shit. I liked it as it was some pretty fast game play. I remember that! The sit-down version of it, anyway. I was lousy at it, but I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Methyl_Ethyl_Death)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/52 "2016-06-18T19:39:35Z")
[quote=“Gatopescado, post:47, topic:757412”] It was one of those big boxes you would sit it, and I think it had something like a yoke or wheels. Aliens would attack, and it was a tiny bit similar to “Space Invaders” in that respect, but different. Had at least 3 different levels that were totally different from each other. I seem to recall strange music, kind of like something out of “Forbidden Planet”. What was it called? I loved that game! Was it GORF? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/53 "2016-06-19T17:59:17Z")
While simple, I learned a lot about situational awareness and task management from **Tapper**. Being fast was good, but planning and adapting in real time was better. Not an arcade title, but I would nominate the Commodore 64 version of **Dino Eggs**. I still play it all the time on an emulator. What I find interesting is that the game isn’t very fast. Your character moves fairly slowly. Timing and planning ahead count for a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/54 "2016-06-19T19:33:09Z")
Not GORF. I searched for about an hour the other day and couldn’t come up with it. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/55 "2016-06-20T03:50:27Z")
Xevious. One of the original vertical scrollers. Great graphics for its time. Interesting backstory involving ancient pre-human civilization on Earth that left Earth only to later plan on invading it with assistance from the ancient supercomputer GAMP which they created back when they lived there. Secret targets that could be uncovered by dropping a bomb at specific locations (e.g. flags that upon flying over gave you an extra life). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/56 "2016-06-20T16:24:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Not GORF. I searched for about an hour the other day and couldn’t come up with it. Phoenix? Also called Falcons on the Apple II. [http://www.arcade-museum.com/game\_detail.php?game\_id=9004](http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9004) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/57 "2016-06-20T16:50:55Z")
Just saying it because it hasn’t been mentioned, but… TRON? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/58 "2016-06-20T18:47:36Z")
[Rip Off](https://www.google.com/search?q=omega+race&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS694US694&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP68yD_a_NAhUqxYMKHXO0AfsQiR4IgQE&biw=1366&bih=643#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=RIp+off+arcade+game), a Vecor Graphics game which gave me heart attacks from the stress it could induce, actually had one of the first Artifical Intelligences’ in a video game. The enemies had to make a choice of which triangle to try and drag off the screen. It was crude, but was one of the first of its kind. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/59 "2016-06-21T03:29:19Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Just saying it because it hasn’t been mentioned, but… TRON? It was mentioned in post 15. ---
**Author:** ![Mann\_Slaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Mann\_Slaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mann_Slaughter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412/60 "2016-06-21T06:44:16Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > There were some pornograhic versions of Qix, where removing the rectangles would reveal a nekkid la-a-a-a-ady. > > I’ve heard. Are you talking about "Miss World '96 Nude? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjm5I8rgJ9k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjm5I8rgJ9k) Spoilered for blurred nekkid la-a-a-a-ady parts. I guess I considered it “deep” because even after having it on MAME in my classic gaming pc for years I still haven’t figured out how to keep the women’s pictures from changing to stomach-turning demons. :o -Slaughter [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-arcade-games-with-surprising-depth/757412.md?page=4)