Tabletop Shmups!

[SPACE HARRIER]

Because I'm a retro gamer/collector (Yesss..that old shit from the eighties..) i had a bunch of those tabletop games..but no shmups..
On my shopping list are...




Are there more of these shmuptabletops released,any info would be nice

[professor ganson]

These are very cool looking. I would worry about how much space they take up, but they don't seem to be much bigger 2'X2'X2' or so.

[kong]

I had the Galaxian one when I was a kid. I used to love that thing. Long gone now though.

[crithit5000]

Heh, I want some of those table tops, too...anyone know how much they normally run nowadays?

[Ord]

I had the Galaxian and the Pac-man one as well. God thanks Space harrier for bringing back great memories.

[sffan]

I have that Galaxian, as well as the Pac-Man.

I took good care of them, so they both still work perfectly. I remember they cost $50.00 new, and they were x-mas presents for me & my bro. Actually the Galaxian is his, but I have posession of it.

My sister had the Donkey Kong, but I don't know what ever happened to that one.

[Brian]

I had Donkey Kong and Galaxian. Now, I only have the Tron tabletop left.

[captain ahar]

not a shmups, but a next door neighbor of mine had the Frogger mini-cab. that thing rocked so hard. "look at me! i am an only child and i get WHATEVER i want!" we're still friends, too.

any screens for that Zaxxon (like in-game)?

[BrianC]

I have Galaxian from Coleco and two of the Nintendo tabletops, Snoopy and Donkey Kong Junior. I also have the panorama Donkey Kong Jr. They are both the same game, but one of them was one of the first uses of the classic Nintendo D-pad. I used to have a Defender Tabletop, but I don't have it any more. It was a great port of the original, though. I also have this more recent two player Space Invaders table top game that is extremely cool.

[Super Laydock]

Heh, I want some of those table tops, too...anyone know how much they normally run nowadays?

I bought a Pac-man tabletop in mint condition for $45 last year, others seem to fetch much higher prices though...

BTW I'd love to get the Zaxxon Tabletop as well...

let the ebay bidding-wars begin!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you attended the Classic Gaming Expo 2004 show held at the San Jose Convention Center on August 19-20th, 2004, there was a glass display case with some really cool looking retro Coleco arcade tabletop games with a banner saying "Coming in 2005, retro Coleco arcade tabletop electronic games". I suppose a third-party company bought the rights to manufacture and distribute the original Coleco tabletop games but haven't heard anything about when they are supposed to come out sometime this year. Sorry I didn't take any JPEGs of the cool retro Coleco arcade tabletop games...very cool shit indeed!

Also at the CGE 2K4 show, at the auction later on Saturday night, there was a used Coleco Zaxxon handheld game that was auctioned off to the winning bidder who paid a very pretty penny for it. I can't remember how much it went for but the bidding war for it went sky high. Of course all the CGE 2K4 auction proceeds went to benefit the Special Olympics charity group. The very last auction was two bottles of Jose Curevo with some slices of lime thrown in...they fetched $124.00 U.S. dollars and everybody stayed to see the winning bidder chug it down shouting "Chug! Chug!" ^_~

Back in the early 1980's, there was this store called Arden's that had a bunch of cool electronic handheld games that you could try out before buying one. They had all the Coleco tabletop games plus a Tomy VFD (Vacuum Florescent Display) Tron game (that was $40.00 U.S. dollars brand new), and even a cool-ass Coleco Zaxxon tabletop game (that retailed at $60.00 U.S. dollars brand new back in the day). I got to play the Zaxxon tabletop game and it was bitchin' fine...although a bit too pricey for a young kid back in the early 1980's.

I recall when Tomy first came out with the three Tomytronic 3-D handheld games: Sky Attack, Planet Zeon & Auto Racing that used the same VFD technology in combination with 3-D imagery to produce some cool games. The Tomytronic handheld games made their debut at $45.00 U.S. dollars back in the day and were powered by three "AAA" batteries.

In 1984, at my local King Norman's toy store, they had a Coleco tabletop game blowout sale...all the Coleco tabletop games that retailed for $50-$60 U.S. dollars were now only $24.99! They were in brand new condition and a steal at that price. I didn't buy any though. What's so cool about the Coleco arcade tabletop games was that each game had the ability to save your high scores even if the game was turned off but the batteries were left in to retain the "high score" feature. That was very impressive technology for a handheld game back in the early 1980's. Most Coleco tabletop handhelds used four "C" batteries but the Zaxxon handheld uses four "D" batteries instead. I remember looking at the actual Zaxxon handheld manual and reading about how to play the game and tips to improve your score, etc.

In 1984, I headed down to my local Radio Shack and they had an impressive selection of portable handheld electronic games to choose from. There was this one game that caught my eyes' attention, it had a cool minature joystick and fire buttons to either side and it was in 3-D too! Upon looking inside the 3-D lenses, this shmup game used the latest in VFD technology to portray realistic terrain with surprising depth. By moving the joystick, you could manuever your fightercraft and blast away at the alien invaders while flying really close to ground or going over hills and such...all this was happening in real-time. Unfortunately, I forget what the name of this particular portable 3-D game was called but I'll never forget the awesome 3-D imagery and the advanced VFD that was used to render the graphics. This game was played from a 3rd person perspective where you'd see your fightercraft from behind and still see the breathtaking landscape. It was being sold brand new at $45.00 and I could tell that it was a Japanese designed & manufactured VFD tabletop game but with a different name slapped on it to sell to the American market.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SPACE HARRIER]

THanks !! for the great info PC ENGINE FAN X.
When I was searching the net for more info ,I have found a couple more of those shmup tabletops..


Hmmm,it,s time to dust of my VECTREX and have a couple goes on FORTRESS OF NARZOD ,BEDLAM ,SOLAR OUEST ,RIP OFF...and the best
SPACE WARS from cinematronics...

I'M off to the eighties..CHEERS

[SFKhoa]

I remember Ajax using the 'tabletop' cabinet

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

Expect to pay around $60 to $80 buck for the Galaxian mini tabletop cab.
Also, look for "Galaxy II" by Epoch. (Grey with black base). I used to own this, and I remember it was similar to Phoenix and Gorf.