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Tail Gunner Tail Gunner - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

Tail Gunner - Cabinet - Video Game Marquee

Description

You are the Tailgunner of a large starship shooting at fighters closing in on the ship from the rear. The fighters can be blocked with the use of a shield. When ten fighters have passed, the game ends.

Tail Gunner was produced by Cinematronics in 1979.

Cinematronics released 33 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1976. Cinematronics was based in United States.

Other machines made by Cinematronics during the time period Tail Gunner was produced include: Space Wars, Starhawk, Embargo, Flipper Ball, Sundance, Armor Attack, Rip Off, Star Castle, and Boxing Bugs

Specs

Name Tail Gunner
Developer Cinematronics (United States)
Year 1979
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 10012
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Monitor
  • Orientation: Horizontal
  • Type: Vector
  • Color: Black and White with a Color Overlay
Conversion Class Cinematronics B&W Vector
# Simultaneous Players 1
# Maximum Players 1
Game Play Single
Control Panel Layout Single Player Ambidextrous
Controls
  • Joystick: Analog
  • Buttons: 2 - Fire|Shield
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles
  • Upright/Standard
Control Panel Tail Gunner Control Panel Image

Game Play

The player views space as though looking out from the rear of a spaceship. Waves of enemies approach from the distance and they must be destroyed before they reach the player's ship.

The wave format is similar to the behavior of the pirate tanks in Rip Off, in that the first few waves have only two slow moving ships, but later waves have three which move faster and more erratically with each successive wave. The player has three Shield charges which are used to bounce the approaching enemies away from the player's ship if they get too close.

Tail Gunner KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 4.01 (3 votes)

Fun Factor: 3.92

Overall Like 4.33
Fun (Social) 0.33
Fun (Solo) 2.33
Collector Desire 4.33

Technical Rating: 4.08

Gameplay 4.67
Graphics 4.00
Originality 4.33
Sound/Music 3.33

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

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Images

Cabinet Information

This game was released in both standup and cockpitstyle cabinets.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Tail Gunner Census

There are 15,189 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,634 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,424 machines (6,978 unique titles).

Common - There are 21 known instances of this machine owned by Tail Gunner collectors who are active members. Of these, 18 of them are original dedicated machines. 3 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Tail Gunner machine for sale.

Wanted - Popular - There are 13 active VAPS members currently looking for Tail Gunner.

This game ranks a 6 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 25 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Legacy

  1. Tail Gunner
  2. Tail Gunner II

Manuals

Foto-Finder® (Books)

  1. The Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 70; Color photo Price guide: No
  2. Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 70; Color photo

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Tail Gunner Videogame machines and related items.

Click to search eBay for Cinematronics for machines and parts.

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TOP WATCHED LISTINGS FOR: Tail Gunner

Ebay Compatible Application

Tail Gunner CinemaTronics Arcade Video Game Manual

Auction ends in: 45 minutes, 56 seconds

FixedPrice
$24.99

Exidy Tail Gunner 2 Video Arcade Game Instruction Manual

Auction ends in: 6 days, 1 hour

FixedPrice
$14.95

Tail Gunner 2 Video Arcade Machine Flyer Original Exidy Brochure

Auction ends in: 1 month, 11 hours

FixedPrice
$15.00

1980 Exidy TAIL GUNNER 2 video game operator's manual

Auction ends in: 1 day, 5 hours

FixedPrice
$40.00

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