| Panasonic and Quasar. This system game Subroc a truly
stunning 3-D effect, making the game the showstopper of the season. Unfortunately,
Subroc's uniqueness stopped there. Its game play differed little from that of Sea
Wolf, the Bally classic. Another key coin-op development and a big plus for most game
players was the trend towards simpler controls. We can thank Pac-Man for this.
It made manufacturers realize that not all players were able to handle the complex
set of controls such as those in games like Defender, with it's joystick and five buttons.
Suddenly, games only featured one joystick began to arrive in the arcades.
More often than not, they came equipped with a joystick and a button (Donkey Kong) or two
(Tempest). So when Space Duel came along with a |
|
While Bally Midway's Tron (left) never generated the cult following that was
anticipated, Sega's Zaxxon added startling new dimension to outer space battle. |
|
| complicated five-button control panel the great majority of
players passed it by. Robotron, on the other hand, didn't suffer at all with its
novel double-joystick approach. In |
any case, Robotron still proved to be too tough for me to
handle-I just couldn't get the hang of it, and so it quickly vanished from my arcade
itinerary. |
Apart from game trends and refinement, the arrival of Tron
drew the biggest media splash, owing to the hype showered on its cinematic companion.
With its |
|
|
