Lost In Translation/Wacko

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This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.


Wacko
Wacko marquee.
No screen shot.
Wacko control panel.
Manufacturer Bally Midway
Released 1982
Control
Method
(2x) 4-way Joystick
Trackball
Main CPU Z80 (@ 2.496 MHz)
Z80 (@ 2.000 MHz)
Sound CPU Stereo
(2x) AY-3-8910A (@ 2.000 MHz)
Video
Details
Raster (Horizontal)
512 x 480 pixels
30.00 Hz
64 Palette colours
Screens 1
ROM Info 14 ROMs
94,240 bytes (92.03 KiB)
MAME ID wacko

About The Game

Wacko is an arcade video game.

A colourful single screen shooter, with excellent graphics for the time. You manoeuvre 'Kapt'n Krooz'r' around the screen in his spaceship. The terrain is an orange moon scene, various cartoonish monsters dot the landscape. You must blast the monsters in pairs to make them vanish. Later levels introduce even more complex rules as to what can be shot. You control your ship with the trackball, while using the joystick to aim and shoot. The controls feel natural with a little practice, but the game quickly becomes very difficult on the higher levels.

Trivia

The game originally had a wizard shooting at cute animals but Bally/Midway execs thought it was too cute and needed an edge. Monsters were designed by Scott and put in instead, plus Bally/Midway also called him at the last minute to replace the wizard with the little green alien from Kozmik Kooz'r. The slanted cabinet was an idea by Marvin Glass which required the trackballs to be installed upside down to work properly.

This title takes the prize for having the strangest dedicated cabinet ever made The Wacko cabinet is sloped, both the control panel, and the marquee are set at an angle. The right side of each being about three inches lower than the left side. This means that the joystick and trackball are both at an angle. This is the only machine ever made to feature a sloped control panel (a distinction which it will probably keep for a long time).

A Wacko machine was shown at the 2003 classic arcade games show 'California Extreme' in San Jose, California.

Staff

Designed & Programmed By
Steve Meyer
Graphics By
Scott Morrison

Cabinet and Artwork

Ports

Consoles
Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")
Nintendo GameCube (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")
Computers
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2006, "Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition")


The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.