From: yyz@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (donald.w.coons)
Subject: New games
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 00:13:21 GMT

Warning extremely long post about three new games, which probably has a 
million grammar and spelling errors. If you don't want to read it hit n
now. 

I went to my favorite arcade today and got a preview of three new games.
1 Bally, 1 Williams, and one from the new Alvin G. and company. I played
2 of them so here's my review.

The Bally game was called, Creature from the Black Lagoon, just like the
movie. The games sound was way down and the new Williams next to it
(Whitewater) was really loud, but the game played pretty good. Same flippers
as Fish Tales, so slap saves are almost impossible, but lots of ramps and
good animation. I did not see who designed it, but it had to be the same
crew as Party Zone, since the animation and voices were almost identical.
There is a left lane shot that lites KISS that has an amination sequence
very close to the PArty Monster, Party Animal sequence. There is also a
left ramp inside of the lane that is made for looping with a increasing 
value. I managed to get it to 64 million once. It starts at 500,000 and doubles
each time. I'm not sure if there is an upper limit, but there is definitely
a timer on it ala Cyclone. The game is set around going to the movie and
there is awards for parking the car (like an outdoor) and going to the
snackbar is achieved by hitting a center hole. This awards a random award
which in my case always seemed to be a cold pop. Combo shots  are present ala
TAF and Black Rose for hitting ramps and lanes. The center of the game is
covered in plexiglass which lits up to show a hologram of the creature
when you get multi ball. The right side also has a ramp and a lane on the
outside which returns the ball up to the top where there are 4 lanes to lit
PAID. This gives you the typical 2X, 4X, etc. Not sure if there is a video mode
but it could be a random award from the snack bar. GAme had the new pricing
scheme of 50/game and replay was 180 million.

The new Wiliams is called Whitewater it was very bright and looked like a
great game unfortunately some guy was just racking up the games on it, so
I didn't get to play it. The board is real open in the middle but has a 
upper level on the right with a third flipper this sets up a skill shot to
the whirlpool. On the left there is a ramp that goes down and back up to 
return the ball to the flipper. Anyone that has played BlackWater 100 knows
what I mean since it is almost identical, lots of plastic, etc. I was really
disappointed I didn't get to play this one because I think it was done
by a group that a guy I know belongs too (he is a developer), but I'm going
to have to give him a call to check, or hopefully I can run into him at 
Expo.

The final game was called, A.G's garage band goes on a World Tour (I'm
not kidding) and was based on a rock and roll theme. Although this game
is much better than there first effort, AG Soccer. This company has a ways
to go, although its good to see other competitors in the field. The game 
had some unique flippers that made the buttons pulsate when you start a
game, which is kind of nerving in my book. It reminded me of the old EM 
flippers that would sometimes buzz when you help them up to long, all that 
was missing were the old sparks you use to see from the coils. Flippers
were used for the video mode which consisted of you doing a drum solo by
pounding on them as fast as you can (kind of like the old Track and Field
video game). During the video mode the flippers themselves are disabled and
the buttons just control the rum playing. I would like to see the electronics
that control this feature it must be complex. Unfortunately I broke it on
my last game so the left flipper was permantly stuck up, which makes scoring
hard. This game was definitly rough the directions and programmers list was
stuck on with duct tape. Alot of tuning is necessary also, since the kicker on 
the left would sometimes send the ball careening off plastics rather than
returning up a ramp which leads to a plastic guitar. This in its self was
a rather interesting feature since it was another level a contained pins
like a pancinko (sp?) game where you could bump the game to go doen one of 
three lanes. Game also has a spinning disk like Operation Thunder at the
top of the game with a hole on the other side which starts multiball. 
Ramps are present on both the left and right side with the one on the
right trapping balls for multiball. All in all the game reminded me of
the SImpsons, kind of a cheap feel. In A.G's defence the game had flippers
made for slap saving and had the old pricing scheme of 50/75/1.00. A
friend of mine meet Joe Gottlieb a week ago so if he see's him again
he is going to tell him about the defects we saw.

I apologize for this being so long, but I figured I would let everyone know
about these games, and it beats the usually 50 questions about TAF bear
kicks, etc. Steve if you read this far all these games are at Gala North
it should be a stop for you on Wednesday. If anybody else is
going to be in Chicago for expo send me mail and I'll steer you to this
arcade if you want to check it out. 

Don Coons
dwc@wnb3b2.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball