Radar Scope (TRS02, rev. D) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 45 years ago:

Radar Scope © 1979 Nintendo.

As captain of the Sonic Spaceport, players must defend their station against enemy spaceships called Gamma Raiders, which attack with vengeance and swiftly retreat to formation. The object of the game is to destroy 48 enemy Gamma Raiders before there is total disintegration of all the Spaceports on the player's side.

Players can counterattack with the Rapid-Fire Laser Blaster which zooms the lasers over the three-dimensional-esque field of curving vectors, while it intercepts enemies. The lower on the radar screen that you destroy a Gamma Raider, the more points will be earned. If exploding decoys damage the Sonic Spaceport, the Laser Blaster's firing speed will reduce. The Laser Blaster's "Damage Meter" will light up as damage is incurred and when fully illuminated, will weaken the Laser Blaster's offensive powers. To reverse this, the players must attack and destroy all remaining Gamma Raiders.

Players are given a wide range of flexibility in controlling the difficulty levels of the game. Extra Spaceports are awarded at 7,000, 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 points, as determined by the players. The initial number of Spaceports may also be pre-programmed at 3, 4, 5 or 6. When the required number of spaceships is destroyed, players receive an extra point bonus.

TECHNICAL
Radar Scope was available in three different dedicated cabinets. The upright cabinet was the same design used for the "Donkey Kong" series. It was red in color and had sticker side-art of a spaceship. The monitor bezel and control panel were designed to mimic the view from inside the cockpit of a spaceship. While the marquee showed an image of a blue and red 'Radar Scope' logo on a field of stars. The cocktail version came in a white-topped cabinet and was only decorated with an instruction card underneath the glass. The final version was a big environmental unit that completely enclosed the player inside (to better hear all that 'Laser Sound'). All the Radar Scope advertisements showed the environmental version. It used the same side-art as the upright, and had a 'Radar Scope' logo silk-screened on the back window. All versions used a 'Nintendo Compatible' Sanyo monitor.

Main CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz), I8035 (@ 400 Khz)
Sound Chips: Discrete circuitry

Players: 2
Control: Joystick 2-way
Buttons: 1 (FIRE)

TRIVIA
Radar Scope was released in December 1979 in Japan and was the first game that Shigeru Miyamoto worked on.

The game was outside Japan in November 1980. Unfortunately, it did not sell very well. Of the 3000 games made, roughly 2000 were converted into "Donkey Kong". This lead to two variations of Donkey Kong cabinets: the harder to find red cabinet and the traditional blue cabinet.

STAFF
Graphics by: Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

CONTRIBUTE
Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=2155&o=2