International Arcade Museum® - Killer List of Videogames®
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Museum of the Game® International Arcade Museum® - Killer List of Videogames® |
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Asteroids Deluxe
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Name: Asteroids Deluxe Developer: Atari Year: 1980 Type: Videogame Class: Wide Release
Game Specific: Asteroids Deluxe Pinout Settings: Asteroids Deluxe Dipswitch Settings Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Sound: Unamplified Mono (requires one-channel amp)
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Asteroids Deluxe DescriptionPilot a spaceship equipped with shields and auto-fire as you blast through level after level of rotating asteroids. UFOs and multi-segmented Killer Satellites take chase, searching for an opportunity to destroy your ship.Asteroids Deluxe was produced by Atari in 1980. Atari released 139 different machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1972. Other machines made by Atari during the time period Asteroids Deluxe was produced include Red Baron, Missile Command, Battlezone, Monte Carlo, Centipede, Atari Soccer, Hercules, Superman, Atari Baseball, and Asteroids. Asteroids Deluxe - KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.73 (21 votes)
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. Log in to rate this game! Cabinet Style Weights and Measures
Game IntroductionAsteroids Deluxe features modified gameplay intentionally designed to challenge players who had mastered the original Asteroids. Hyperspace was replaced with a new option called "shields", which creates a protective barrier around the players' ship. This barrier is only effective when the button is depressed and held unlike hyperspace, and depletes with use also unlike hyperspace. The players' ship was redesigned to include two side fins and a narrower body, keeping the overall ship dimensions identical to the original game. The ship has the same maximum velocity as in Asteroids, but can accelerate twice as fast. Firing is automatic, holding down the fire button will release a maximum of four shots on screen at a time. The asteroids themselves rotate as they travel about the screen. Firing accuracy of the two saucers was improved, and the saucers shoot both "wrap-around" shots and shoot immediately upon entering the screen both features designed to discourage UFO hunting. Atari added extra challenge to the game by introducing the "Killer Satellite" or "Hexagon", a snowflake-like object which breaks into three ship-chasing "Diamonds" once hit. Each diamond in turn can break into two "Sharks" or "Wedges" they resemble the dorsal fin of a shark which also pursue the players' ship. Overall a much more difficult game than the original Asteroids.MiscellaneousThere are two versions of the software. The original release proved to be so difficult that Atari released a revised version that had easier game play. This new version was originally introduced in Europe and is often referred to as the "European Version". Determining which version you are playing can be discerned by noting when the first appearance of a Killer Satellite occurs - in the original version this is near the end of the second wave, in the revised version it will appear near the end of the first wave and moves much more slowly. Dave Sheppard was the designer. VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Asteroids Deluxe CensusThere are 12,007 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,523 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 161,736 machines (6,804 unique titles).Very Common - There are approximately 800 known instances of this machine presumably owned by our current and past members. More are likely owned by non-members. 306 of these machines are owned by our active Asteroids Deluxe collectors. And of these, 293 are original dedicated machines, 1 is a conversion in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 12 are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired. For Sale - There are 10 active VAPS members with Asteroids Deluxe machines for sale. There is one active VAPS member with an extra Asteroids Deluxe circuit board for sale. Wanted - Popular - There are 20 active VAPS members currently looking for Asteroids Deluxe. This game ranks a 91 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records. This game ranks a 50 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often wanted, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.
TechnicalThe wiring harness for this game is very similar to that of the original Asteroids machine. Converting from one board to the other is a matter of swapping three pairs of pins 12 and N 13 and P 15 and S.TriviaAlthough the attract screen claims a 1980 copyright, the game was officially introduced in March of 1981. The front glass on the upright was originaly square with the cabinet. This produced a glare on the screen. Atari later released a "glare reduction kit" which retro fit an angled glass into the cabinet that reduced glare. Once applied, the kit enclosed the speaker which resulted in deeper base tones.Legacy
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eBay ListingsClick to search eBay for Asteroids Deluxe Videogame machines and related items.Click to search eBay for Atari for machines and parts. Check out the IAM/KLOV report of the hottest coin-op machine auctions, powered by Ace.com.
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