Metal Maniax (prototype) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 30 years ago:

Metal Maniax © 1994 Atari Games Corp.

Demolition derby-style game.

TECHNICAL
The game comes in a twin sit-down cabinet that is truly massive. The seats move with the action and slide around when hit. There are two speakers mounted on each seat plus the rumble sound of a subwoofer under your seat. There are speakers in the top of the cabinet giving you four points of audio, creating a 3-D surround effect. Interestingly enough, the name Carmageddon is written on the side art, but this prototype was developed quite a while before the hugely successful PC game of the same name.

The machines were linkable. There was an extra stand that went in between the linked machines (four drivers total) which had massive starter lights (like a drag racing 'Christmas tree'). These units were simply comprised of lights in a tall box moulded to the shape of the cabinets.

Game ID: 136103

TRIVIA
This prototype failed miserably in a field test due to the sluggishness of the game play. It looks really nice and plays pretty good, but the frame rate never gets above the range of 25 to 30 frames per second, and at worst, it drops down to two or three frames per second. At the time, there were sleaker, faster games out, so Atari stopped its development mainly because of player dissatisfaction. Approximately 10 machines were built, all of which were supposed to be destroyed soon after the field tests were completed.

A Metal Maniax machine was showed up at the 2003 classic arcade games show 'California Extreme', San Jose, California.

CONTRIBUTE
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