Vert Arcade Games Which Aren't Shmups

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Is there anywhere there's a list of non-shmup arcade games that are played on a vertical monitor? I've tried MameDB and that doesn't seem to have that option searchable. I'm looking for either a list of games, or maybe just good game recommendations in general, mainly out of curiosity. The only one I can think of is Arkanoid at this point!

[Fudoh]

Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to start with the most obvious ones. In the early 80s *A LOT* of games were running vertically.

[Shepardus]

If run 'n guns count as non-shmups, the arcade version of Contra is vertically oriented.

[emphatic]

Good read: http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 9&p=228248

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Cool info. Was there a design reason behind more older games games being made for vert orientation? Was it basically a trend and modern games basically weren't vert unless they were shmups or something? I don't know my history at all about arcades so this is all neat to me.

[Specineff]

I think Mr. Do!, Dig Dug, Ladybug, Mappy and Frogger are vertical, too.

[KAI]

Sound Voltex

[Kino]

.

[Ruldra]

Good read: http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 9&p=228248

Someone there mentioned Gaiapolis, completely forgot about that one. Pretty good brawler, but I wonder if it's possible to 1cc it without resorting to grinding levels on stage 5 (pretty much an exploit). I tried playing normally but enemies eventually become too strong for you.

There's also that one game where you go down a river on a tube. I remember zlk was offering a bounty to whoever managed to 1cc it.

[Leandro]

There's also that one game where you go down a river on a tube. I remember zlk was offering a bounty to whoever managed to 1cc it.

Toobin' !

[Udderdude]

Was there a design reason behind more older games games being made for vert orientation?

If I had a guess, lack of hardware scrolling meant moving horizontally wasn't as useful and didn't give as much space as moving vertically.

Of course, it doesn't mean it's impossible to make a good single screen horizontal game .. just more difficult.

[Ed Oscuro]

I wonder - isn't there a shmup-like filter in MAME? You already can filter by screen type in most any good front-end, but I'm not sure you can combine or subtract filters. Even without this, though, you can look through basically every vertical game and just ignore the shmups.

Devestators is fun, by the way.

Was there a design reason behind more older games games being made for vert orientation?

If I had a guess, lack of hardware scrolling meant moving horizontally wasn't as useful and didn't give as much space as moving vertically.

Of course, it doesn't mean it's impossible to make a good single screen horizontal game .. just more difficult.

Well, turn a vertical scroller on its side, and you have the typical sidescrolling motion. Scrolling on a horizontal screen, per pixel, would require more tiles (with scrolling at the same rate per-pixel, and the same resolution) - if you were doing a "vertizontal" type game.

I think this has more to do with the aesthetics suggested by each type of orientation. The landscape orientation is a more natural field of view, and that suggests more detailed, larger representations of the same size objects. In contrast, Devastators seeks to have a more detailed background with perspective, so portrait mode makes for more space in the distance, while the sides aren't so important.

[EmperorIng]

Tower of Druaga and Legend of Valkryie are displayed on vertical monitors, the latter being a rather handy recommendation to boot.

[BrianC]

Jr. Pac-Man arcade uses a vertical monitor, but scrolls horizontally. Jr. Pac-Man Atari 2600 is horizontally oriented, but scrolls vertically.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Williams' sequel to the original Joust was none other than aptly titled "Joust 2" which was a PCB conversion kit (complete with full-sized backlit marquee) that required a vertical oriented cab to play it on. I do recall playing it at the local Cal's R-Cade based out of Modesto, CA back in the mid-1980s. From what I recall, it was released in limited numbers for arcades stateside.

Super Pinball Action is another vertically oriented game as well (except that it tates upside down rather than right side up when powered up on a candy cab setup).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

Williams' sequel to the original Joust was none other than aptly titled "Joust 2" which was a PCB conversion kit (complete with full-sized backlit marquee) that required a vertical oriented cab to play it on. I do recall playing it at the local Cal's R-Cade based out of Modesto, CA back in the mid-1980s. From what I recall, it was released in limited numbers for arcades stateside.

I actually played Joust 2 on a real cab at a couple of places. One at Videotopia when it was at Maryland Sciene Center and another at Hershey Park. I also played it in one of the Midway Arcade Treasures collections. I wasn't too impressed by what I have played, though. It is more cluttered than the original and not as much fun to play.

[DJ Incompetent]

http://www.klov.net/search/

[Imhotep]

Wiz and Cosmo Police Galivan, great games.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Was there a design reason behind more older games games being made for vert orientation?

The cabs would occupy less floor in the arcades.

[MR_Soren]

Was there a design reason behind more older games games being made for vert orientation?

The cabs would occupy less floor in the arcades.

Yeah, I came in here to say that. A big part of the appeal of video games for arcade operators is that they took up much less space than pinball machines. Vertical monitors allowed even smaller footprints for arcade operators trying to maximize their income per square foot.

Centipede, Millipede, Ikari Warriors, Time Soldiers, Heavy Barrel, Arkanoid, burgertime, Qix, just to name a few vertical non-shmups. (or maybe the 'pedes are shmups?)

[BrianC]

Centipede, Millipede, Ikari Warriors, Time Soldiers, Heavy Barrel, Arkanoid, burgertime, Qix, just to name a few vertical non-shmups. (or maybe the 'pedes are shmups?)

Super Qix and Volfied are also vertical.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Pooyan's another vertical oriented arcade game that was a staple at FECs like Chuck E. Cheese's & the like back in the early 1980s.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Obiwanshinobi]

Assault (a shooting game, though), but I found the PSX port playable enough without putting the TV on its side (if you can handle 2D GTA or Micro Machines, controlling Assault like that shouldn't give you trouble).
More off-topic, what was the (I think) Seibu Kaihatsu horizontal shmup on a vertical screen (like the arcade Contra)?