Spectar (revision 3) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 44 years ago:

Spectar © 1980 Exidy.

Spectar, released by Exidy in 1980, is the follow-up of "Targ". Gameplay is apparently unchanged, you control a vehicle called Whummel into a 9x9 grid maze, chasing down, and being chased by, the alien invaders. Targs have evolved into the more dangerous Rammers, and Spectars appears more often, shooting at player's ship.

You use a 4-Way joystick to guide your vehicle in the maze, and a pushbutton to shoot at enemies. Up to 2 players can alternate in gameplay.

The most noticeable difference from his predecessors is that to complete a level you can now collect all the gems in the maze, in a "Pacman"-like game or destroy all of the Rammers (like in "Targ"). Rammers and Spectars continue to appear from flashing pods, so you cannot rest and plan your course easily, or you will be overwhelmed by the alien force.

Graphic is highly improved compared to his predecessor: The maze now has barricades that must be avoided or can be used as a shielding against the enemies, and has ten environment settings, changing from the 'square-block town' of Targ to a city, a forest, a lunar landscape and many more. The enemies too are smarter and faster, and the fact that they go on spawning from the pods makes the game a even more frenzy challenge.

TECHNICAL
Main CPU: MOS Technology M6502 (@ 705.562 Khz)
Sound Chips: Samples, DAC

Screen orientation: Horizontal
Video resolution: 248 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh: 57.00 Hz
Palette colors: 8

Players: 2
Control: 4-way joystick
Buttons: 1

TRIVIA
Released in November 1980.

'Spectar' stands for 'Special Target'.

A French version of this game is known as "Phantomas" (by Jeutel).

A bootleg is known as "Rallys".

SCORING
Run over a dot: 20 points.
Hit a targ (red ships): 10 X rack number.
Hit a spectar (green ships): 100-500 points.
Finish off rack: 1000 X rack number.

SERIES

• Targ (1980)
• Spectar (1980)

STAFF
Designed & programmed by: Manuel Campos

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

Colecovision: Unreleased prototype.

CONTRIBUTE
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