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4,676 Videogames: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Manufacturers | Top 100 Videogames | See All 18,124 International Arcade Museum coin-operated listings
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Gorf
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4,676 Videogames: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Manufacturers | Top 100 Videogames | See All 18,124 International Arcade Museum coin-operated listings
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Manufacturer:
Midway Manufacturing Co.
Year: 1981 Class: Wide Release Genre: Shooter Type: Videogame Monitor:
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1 Maximum number of Players: 2 Gameplay: Alternating Control Panel Layout: Single Player Controls:
Sound: Unamplified Mono (requires one-channel amp) |
 Photo contributed by: Joshua Glover
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Gorf DescriptionThe player controls a spaceship that must blast its way through five missions, each a different challenge. The game features a pistol grip joystick and robotic speech synthesis that heckles the player during gameplay.Cabinet InformationIn addition to the standard sideart and marquee, IGorfI also has a lit, bottom decorative header, much like a marquee. This is located below the control panel. Unfortunately, the control panel was metal with screened on paint which tends to wear off.PTo the right of the screen, the players Space Rank is displayed by a bulb that lights up the appropriate box. As well, the area directly above the screen in backlit. Gorf has a total of five light bulbs for the marquee, and six for the rank display.PThe instructions and graphics on the control panel are not your typical control panel overlay. Instead, they are printed directly onto the metal of the panel. The result is that the graphics will erode and wear with use.Cheats, Tricks, Bugs, and Easter EggsOn the Astro Battles screen, the last two invaders can be slowed down to a crawl if you fire like crazy. On the Laser Attack screen, if you shoot all the enemy ships except for the laser shooters, you can sit forever on the far left hand side of the screen.Game IntroductionThe player's goal is to defeat the Gorfian Empire in five separate missions. The first mission is like Space Invaders. The second mission pits the player against two squads of diving ships, each squad has a special ship that fires long laser beams. The third mission is like Galaxian. The fourth mission has the player fight a number of enemies that spiral toward the player shooting fireballs. The fifth mission has the player fight the Gorfian Flagship. The Flagship's shields must first be battered down, then the player must hit the Flagship in a tiny exhaust port in order to destroy it. The game then continues by sending the player through the missions again, which are harder than before. Each time the player destroys the Flagship, the player advances in rank. Starting out as a Space Cadet, the player moves on to Space Captain, Space Colonel, Space General, Space Warrior, and finally Space Avenger. The player's spaceship is equipped with a Quark Laser. This allows the player to cancel a poorly aimed shot and fire another shot. Game allowed player to start with double the amount of normal ships with the deposit of two credits instead of one.Game PlayGameplay is pseudo-alternating. Gameplay alternates when a player has successfully completed a mission. Play is then transferred to other player. If player does not complete mission, player continues playing until mission is completed or out of ships.MiscellaneousThis game was designed by Jay Fenton.VAPS Arcade CensusThere are 6,978 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 4,014 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 65,113 machines (3,796 unique titles).Very Common - There are 193 known instances of this machine owned by Gorf collectors who are members. Of these, 183 of them are original dedicated machines, and 10 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired. For Sale - There are 5 VAPS members with Gorf machines for sale. VAPS members are totally independent of VAPS and the International Arcade Museum, and we are unable to recommend, endorce, or guarantee any person or company selling games or game parts. Wanted - Popular - There are 16 VAPS members currently looking for Gorf. There is one VAPS member looking for a Gorf circuit board set. This game ranks a 80 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records. This game ranks a 41 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often wanted, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.
TechnicalOnly the game logic and RAMROM boards are specific to IGorfI. The pattern board, cpu board, and RAM boards can be swapped out with other similar games, such as IWizard Of WorI.P As bulbs burn out, only replace them with low wattage replacements. A wise move may be to replace them with flourescent lights that have standard bulb sockets. Flourescent lights will last longer which makes bulb changes less frequent, produce less heat which causes less damage to the marquees, and consumes less electricity which lowers you energy bill.TriviaGorf was such a popular game that it was ported to most of the home console systems and personal computers of the time. One note about these ports was that the third Galaxian mission was removed due to licensing difficulties. Rather than being Frog backwards, GORF is actually an acronym for Galactic Orbiting Robot Force according to an early flyer.Manuals
Foto-Finder™ (books)
Contribute Links
eBay ListingsClick to search eBay for Gorf Videogame machines and related items.Click to search eBay for machines and parts made by Midway Manufacturing Co. . Check out the IAM/KLOV report of the hottest coin-op machines on eBay, powered by Ace.com.
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