Funai's Interstellar Zangus -- 1985 arcade LD shmup title...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Does any of the old timer shmuppers here remember an old Universal arcade Laserdisc-based shmup title that came out in Japan in either 1983 or 1984 (I forget the name of it)?

I was able to play this cool mystery title Universal Co. Ltd. (the same fine folks who produced the classic "Mr. Do" arcade game series) produced arcade shmup at my local arcade back in 1987-1988 and haven't seen it since then... ^_~

"It has a cool eye-catchy anime opening intro...a cute robot is inside this boy's bedroom and pulls out a drafting sheet. The robot starts to draw a spaceship -- that same drawing of the spaceship comes to life (meaning the player, you, control it during the actual gaming session). The closest other arcade shmup title that would resemble this mystery Universal Laserdisc arcade shmup title is Funai Co. Ltd's 1983 arcade Laserdisc shmup title "Interstellar" -- awesome shmup title for it's time..... ^_~

Interstellar did get a USA arcade distribution and it wasn't until 1984, that I was able to play it at my local Chuck E. Cheese's joint...I was blown away by the cool computer generated background effects -- considered state-of-the-art at the back in 1983-1984, especially for Laserdisc-based arcade game titles. ^_~

FYI: Universal Co. Ltd, also, produced another classic Laserdisc arcade title by the name of "Super Don Quiote" (which has one of the smallest Japanese ball-top styled arcade joysticks I've ever seen)...I wasn't very good at that arcade game title though...it appeared in the USA arcades back in 1984. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

Nice topic!

http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/gam ... versal.asp

I'm pretty sure it has to be one of those games (my bets are on Space Dracula and maybe Time Slip...)

[DEL]

ASTRON BELT

MACH 3

SPACE ACE & DRAGON's LAIR

Super Don Quiote rings a lot of bells but I'm not sure if I saw it.
Interstellar...? Maybe I played it...again I'm not sure. It was a long time ago.


Regs, DEL

[Ed Oscuro]

Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were distributed by Cinematronics. I don't think Universal had anything to do with them. I thought that was the case for the others as well.

Astron Belt was by Bally Midway.

Super Don Quixote is a Dragon's Lair clone, essentially.

M.A.C.H. 3 was released. Not to be confused with Firefox (the Clint Eastwood movie turned into a laserdisc game). It also doesn't fit the description - it seems to look more like After Burner II to me.

The only games on that list I think sound thematically close at all are Space Dracula and Time Slip (but for some reason I'm thinking "Ninja Hayate in Space and Time Gal with...uhh...slippage" for those).

[DEL]

Ed wrote;

Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were distributed by Cinematronics. I don't think Universal had anything to do with them. I thought that was the case for the others as well.

Yes I wasn't concentrating on Universal, just mentioning the few Laser Disc games I played in my early teens.
Astron Belt looked and sounded nice, but I'm not sure if it had any playability at all .

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were distributed by Cinematronics. I don't think Universal had anything to do with them. I thought that was the case for the others as well.

Astron Belt was by Bally Midway.

Super Don Quixote is a Dragon's Lair clone, essentially.

M.A.C.H. 3 was released. Not to be confused with Firefox (the Clint Eastwood movie turned into a laserdisc game). It also doesn't fit the description - it seems to look more like After Burner II to me.

The only games on that list I think sound thematically close at all are Space Dracula and Time Slip (but for some reason I'm thinking "Ninja Hayate in Space and Time Gal with...uhh...slippage" for those).

For Ed Oscuro,

Thanks for the two possible Universal Laserdisc title of "Time Slip" & "Space Dracula"...I'd have to say it was possibly "Space Dracula" since it had shmup elements in it and was regarded as a Laserdisc shmup like Funai's Interstellar arcade shmup. ^_~

I didn't even know that Funai Co. Ltd. was working on a sequel to it's 1983 Laserdisc arcade shmup title, Interstellar, by the name of "Interstellar Zangus" that was supposed to be slated for a 1984 arcade release in both Japan and the USA. Unfortunately, the Great Arcade Game Crash of 1984 occured and all those wonderful prototype Laserdisc games that were in pre-production were lost or cancelled. And "Interstellar Zangus" was another one of those arcade Laserdisc shmup title casualities back in the day. ^_~

http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/gam ... ai/iz1.jpg

Thanks to everyone's responses...they're helpful. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

After looking at Funai's Interstellar Zangus arcade flyer with the anime characters -- I'm convinced that the arcade Laserdisc game prototype was not a Universal Co. Ltd. produced game but a Funai "Interstellar Zangus" upright because I remember thinking, the first letter of this rare Japanese arcade Laserdisc shmup game started with either an "S" or a "Z".

I now remember correctly how the opening anime intro went for Funai's "Interstellar Zangus":

A little boy (the same one on the Zangus arcade flyer) is inside his bedroom and these three little worker guys (the same ones shown on the Zangus arcade flyer) appear in the boy's bedroom doorway and enter. All three little guys get on top of a drafting table (that has a piece of drafting paper on it) that is placed inside the boy's bedroom. One guy draws a spaceship on the drafting paper and the camera zooms on it as it slowly morphs into the actual ship that the player plays in the game. There are some various Zangus demonstration stages shown with the same cool "wire-frame" trademarked CGI backgrounds compiled to FMV scenery...still quite a sight to behold. ^_~

I remember thinking that this Zangus game reminded me of the earlier LD game of Interstellar and the similairaties of them both. ^_~

It's been said that Interstellar Zangus was supposedly released in Japan back in 1985 and I was able to try it out a couple of times at my local arcade back in either 1987 or 1988. Really obscure arcade Laserdisc shmup title indeed! Unfortunately, I haven't played it since then...and it hasn't shown up at the California Extreme show either -- I'd have to say that Zangus upright was a rare Laserdisc cabinet prototype -- my question is:

What was a rare proto Zangus cabinet doing in the USA back in '87 or '88? (Perhaps it was on loan or something -- really one of the great arcade LD mystery titles to ponder about...) ^_~

Here's the link to the "Interstellar Zangus" arcade flyer in greater detail:

http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyer&id=2558&image=1

And here's the actual Interstellar Zangus arcade cabinet marquee

http://www.arcade-history.com/pages/pop ... g=7974.png

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

I remember playing Firefox which was a LD arcade game, it had clips from the Clint Eastwood movie and played very similar to Atari's Star Wars game from the same era.

I think thats another one that got lost in time somewhere.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I remember playing Firefox which was a LD arcade game, it had clips from the Clint Eastwood movie and played very similar to Atari's Star Wars game from the same era.

I think thats another one that got lost in time somewhere.

For neorichie1971,

I definitely remember Atari Games/Time Warner's 1984 "Firefox" LD arcade game -- when it first came out at my local "Tilt!" arcade hangout, they charged everyone 75 cent per credit...the cool thing about this particular Firefox upright cabinet was it had a built-in stereo headphone jack for your stereo headphones (assuming that you brought them with you, of course) and there was a handy volume control knob right next to headphone jack as well. ^_~

The Firefox LD arcade game was dedicated to Don Osbourne -- he died during production of the Firefox game -- so it's a fitting tribute to him.....

The really cool thing about this Firefox cabinet was that it used the same controls setup like that of the earlier Atari Games cabinet upright of Star Wars -- a full-color vector-based wireframe arcade game... ^_~

Many of the real-time 1st person-perspective aerial shots shown in the Firefox LD game were taken from the extensive film footage of the movie of the same name -- a Lear jet was used to film those cool aerial shots + specially built minature diorama sets for the narrow mountain passageway EFX shot scene as well..... ^_~

One could choose from the 3,000 miles, 6,000 miles, 9,000 miles and "Unlimited" (which required an "extra" credit to choose that "locked option") journey selection upon inserting the proper credits for a Firefox LD gaming session..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Fighter17]

Speaking of LD games, Data East's Cobra Command and Road Blaster (Road Avenger) are my famous LD games!

[Strider77]

I heard there was a macross LD game released in japan...

I've always been curious if I actually got my hands on one of those LDs from a cabinet if it would play on my LD player. Not play as in play the game but just watch the video.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I heard there was a macross LD game released in japan...

I've always been curious if I actually got my hands on one of those LDs from a cabinet if it would play on my LD player. Not play as in play the game but just watch the video.

Yes, it would work...I saw an Atari Games arcade Firefox LD playing on a 9" Sony RGB monitor at the World of Atari '98 Expo in Las Vegas-- looked razor sharp! ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[louisg]

I remember playing Firefox which was a LD arcade game, it had clips from the Clint Eastwood movie and played very similar to Atari's Star Wars game from the same era.

I think thats another one that got lost in time somewhere.

Holy cow, that was one of my favorites as a little kid! Think I played Interstellar too, though it's hard to remember.