Bowling Alley - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 46 years ago:

4 Player Bowling Alley © 1978 Midway.

An old black and white bowling game for up to 4 players. The players must use the trackball to guide a bowling ball towards the ten pins in order to knock them down. At the start of the game the players must choose between 'regulation' and 'flash' modes.

The text 'NOW BOWLING' will appear above the number of the player who is currently taking his turn (instead of only 'BOWLER'), and there is also a single button to switch between straight and hook shots - however, if your ball goes off the top of the screen, the text of 'FOUL SHOOT AGAIN' will appear and you will have to take your turn again. The fifth and tenth frames are also referred to as 'beer frames' by the game, and just like in real bowling, whoever has the highest score at the end of the game will get declared the winner; the perfect score (for 'regulation' mode) is 300, while in the time-based 'flash' score mode, the perfect score is 7500.

TECHNICAL
Upright cabinet
Midway Model No. 730

Cabinet dimensions: 72.5inch high x 28.5inch deep x 38.5inch wide

Main CPU: Intel 8080 (@ 1.9968 Mhz)
Discrete circuitry

Screen orientation: Vertical
Video resolution: 224 x 280 pixels
Screen refresh: 60.00 Hz
Palette colors: 2

Players: 4
Control: trackball
Buttons: 2

TRIVIA
4 Player Bowling Alley was released in April 1979.

Also released as a Cocktail Table model: "4 Player Bowling Alley [Cocktail Table model]".

One of Midway's myriad bowling games, this was the first that featured the popular 'Flash' variation with its timing-based scoring scheme. To support this, an external display was used to highlight the appropriate section of the score scheme.

CONTRIBUTE
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