RoadBlasters (1987 Atari Games)
Click on Marquee for KLOV listing.
The Story: RoadBlasters is another childhood favorite of mine. Acually more of a teenager-hood favorite. I remember seeing a cockpit form of this game as a kid but didn't play it too much then. As cool as it was, the classics like Pole Position and Spy Hunter were still the favorites. Now fast forward a bit to age 17. I had a job at a store called Big Lots. Yeah, you might have heard of it. Anyway right by the front door was a lonesome RoadBlasters upright game. This game would constantly tease me with the attract music every time I worked the register. So it was only natural that I was feeding this game lots of quarters during my breaks, and maybe even a few times during working hours (remember, I was 17 at the time). I got hooked on the game pretty fast. The gameplay dynamics were alot like Spy Hunter. By that I mean it's also a driving/shooting game. Even the steering wheel and selection of weapons is similar. But for whatever reason, this one held my attention a little more. I'm not sure if it was the enhanced graphics or the overall style of the game. But I sure enjoyed playing it. These kind of memories are what I will hold onto forever and they are a big part of what keeps me in the hobby of arcade game collecting.
Now lets go back to just a few years ago. I had the opportunity to score a RoadBlasters upright, just like the one I had played in my teen years. Best of all, I was getting the game for free. It had a monitor problem and it belonged to an operator who didn't know how to properly discharge a monitor. If you're not familiar with the technical hype on these old CRT's, basically all you need to know is that they can store a pretty dangerous charge (something to the tune of 20,000 volts), and this can give you a very nasty shock. Some even claim these CRT's can be deadly (literally) if you don't know how to discharge one. Not sure if I'd go that far. I've got bitten once or twice and I'm still standing, but I will say it's a nasty bite that you don't want to experience. Anyway he had a $50 price tag on the game that he was willing to waive for me if I showed him the ropes. So basically it was "monitor 101" for this guy and my reward was a blind RoadBlasters that I quickly brought back to life.
Now a short time later, An opportunity to score the Tron that I now own came along, and I ended up selling my RoadBlasters to make space and funds for it. One reason I let it go was that RoadBlasters is a fairly common and inexpensive game, so it would be the easiest one to replace if I ever wanted to. But another reason was, well, I'm not so young anymore. My leg's just aren't what they used to be and they didn't like my stance of standing on the gas pedal for long periods of time. The game has 50 level's, and my leg's would start screaming before I could even get half way there. I'll tell you, getting old just plain sucks.
Now when I say the game is easily replaceable, of course I am talking about the uprights. RoadBlasters also came in a sweet cockpit cabinet. These are a little more scarce, so much so that, until now, I had only ever seen one in person (going back to the beginning of my childhood memories here). I always thought in the back of my mind that if I ever found one, I would have to try and somehow make it mine.
The Score: Let's start this one off with an "almost" score. A fellow forum member by the name of "Hucklebuck" had lead the way to a listing for a RoadBlasters cockpit all the way in Utah. It wasn't working properly but was complete and in nice shape. On top of that, the seller had a mere $75 price tag on it. Now, I'm all the way in Missouri, there was no way any kind of roadtrip to Utah was happening. However at that price, I would have been willing to buy the game on top of the necessary shipping & packaging to get it here safe and sound. Hucklebuck went out of his way to preview the game for me and everything checks out. So I agree to purchase the game and the seller agree's to hold it while I make shipping arrangements. About a week later, I had a gameplan and called the seller again, only to learn that he just sold it to someone else. Well that's just great, not only had my time been wasted but so had Hucklebuck's. So the deal fell thru and from that point on I pretty much gave up hope of ever finding one again.
Then just a few months later, I got lucky. Well, sort of. Another one popped up, this time on Craigslist. This one also had a board problem but was also complete, just like the last one. However the big difference was this one was in Missouri, only 2 1/2 hours from me. The original asking price was twice as high, but the seller was willing to haggle and I'd only be out some gas money for this one. From what I could tell from the photo's in the listing, the game looked decent. The seller claims to be another collector (like myself) and assures me that aside from the board issue it's in good condition. We agree on $110 if I could pick it up that day.
So now I found myself faced with the same dilemma I had when I let my upright RoadBlasters go. Just like then, something was going to have to go to make room and funds for this game. I decided to see if my friend Jeremy from The Basement Arcade would be interested in my Rush the Rock. He already had one, but something was telling me he might be interested in a second game. That way he can link up for some good two player racing action. I've been to his place many times now and will likely continue to be a regular guest, so I figured at least this way I know where the game is and I can still play it from time to time. I called him up, offered a fair price as well as delivery that same evening. He was on board with the idea and the deal was made. Great, now I can finally claim my RoadBlasters. I called the seller again, made sure we still had a deal and found myself on another road trip.
Upon arrival I quickly begin to notice this trip turning out exactly like my Tron pickup. That one was worse than the seller had mentioned, but this one was much, much worse than that. That's the problem with roadtrips, I have to take the seller's word on the condition. I don't drive hundred's of miles just to "check it out" and then think it over. When that much time and gas money comes into play, you better believe I'm taking another game home. This one had horrible water damage, the worst I have ever seen. Not only that, but the laminate had started to peel, making it brittle, cracked and flat out broken in several places. In my opinion, this game was almost begging for euthanization. But there was a small level of potential for it, and besides, I not only drove all this way but I also just agreed to sell a good game to a good friend in order to make room for this heap of a cabinet. At that point I wasnt going to argue. I paid the seller, we got it loaded and I ended up taking on quite a project.
The Service: Believe it or not, the first real chore for this game was just getting it in my house. My prior experience with driving games is that they usually come apart, making it easier to transport them in tight spaces. This game however was one great big and seven foot long heavy beast of a cabinet. Even with a strong neighbor's help. it was a nightmare. Once we finally got it inside my first order of business was to evaulate the water damage and find out what it was going to take to restore this game, or at least make it respectable again. Here's just a sample of what I was looking at:
Now lets go back to just a few years ago. I had the opportunity to score a RoadBlasters upright, just like the one I had played in my teen years. Best of all, I was getting the game for free. It had a monitor problem and it belonged to an operator who didn't know how to properly discharge a monitor. If you're not familiar with the technical hype on these old CRT's, basically all you need to know is that they can store a pretty dangerous charge (something to the tune of 20,000 volts), and this can give you a very nasty shock. Some even claim these CRT's can be deadly (literally) if you don't know how to discharge one. Not sure if I'd go that far. I've got bitten once or twice and I'm still standing, but I will say it's a nasty bite that you don't want to experience. Anyway he had a $50 price tag on the game that he was willing to waive for me if I showed him the ropes. So basically it was "monitor 101" for this guy and my reward was a blind RoadBlasters that I quickly brought back to life.
Now a short time later, An opportunity to score the Tron that I now own came along, and I ended up selling my RoadBlasters to make space and funds for it. One reason I let it go was that RoadBlasters is a fairly common and inexpensive game, so it would be the easiest one to replace if I ever wanted to. But another reason was, well, I'm not so young anymore. My leg's just aren't what they used to be and they didn't like my stance of standing on the gas pedal for long periods of time. The game has 50 level's, and my leg's would start screaming before I could even get half way there. I'll tell you, getting old just plain sucks.
Now when I say the game is easily replaceable, of course I am talking about the uprights. RoadBlasters also came in a sweet cockpit cabinet. These are a little more scarce, so much so that, until now, I had only ever seen one in person (going back to the beginning of my childhood memories here). I always thought in the back of my mind that if I ever found one, I would have to try and somehow make it mine.
The Score: Let's start this one off with an "almost" score. A fellow forum member by the name of "Hucklebuck" had lead the way to a listing for a RoadBlasters cockpit all the way in Utah. It wasn't working properly but was complete and in nice shape. On top of that, the seller had a mere $75 price tag on it. Now, I'm all the way in Missouri, there was no way any kind of roadtrip to Utah was happening. However at that price, I would have been willing to buy the game on top of the necessary shipping & packaging to get it here safe and sound. Hucklebuck went out of his way to preview the game for me and everything checks out. So I agree to purchase the game and the seller agree's to hold it while I make shipping arrangements. About a week later, I had a gameplan and called the seller again, only to learn that he just sold it to someone else. Well that's just great, not only had my time been wasted but so had Hucklebuck's. So the deal fell thru and from that point on I pretty much gave up hope of ever finding one again.
Then just a few months later, I got lucky. Well, sort of. Another one popped up, this time on Craigslist. This one also had a board problem but was also complete, just like the last one. However the big difference was this one was in Missouri, only 2 1/2 hours from me. The original asking price was twice as high, but the seller was willing to haggle and I'd only be out some gas money for this one. From what I could tell from the photo's in the listing, the game looked decent. The seller claims to be another collector (like myself) and assures me that aside from the board issue it's in good condition. We agree on $110 if I could pick it up that day.
So now I found myself faced with the same dilemma I had when I let my upright RoadBlasters go. Just like then, something was going to have to go to make room and funds for this game. I decided to see if my friend Jeremy from The Basement Arcade would be interested in my Rush the Rock. He already had one, but something was telling me he might be interested in a second game. That way he can link up for some good two player racing action. I've been to his place many times now and will likely continue to be a regular guest, so I figured at least this way I know where the game is and I can still play it from time to time. I called him up, offered a fair price as well as delivery that same evening. He was on board with the idea and the deal was made. Great, now I can finally claim my RoadBlasters. I called the seller again, made sure we still had a deal and found myself on another road trip.
Upon arrival I quickly begin to notice this trip turning out exactly like my Tron pickup. That one was worse than the seller had mentioned, but this one was much, much worse than that. That's the problem with roadtrips, I have to take the seller's word on the condition. I don't drive hundred's of miles just to "check it out" and then think it over. When that much time and gas money comes into play, you better believe I'm taking another game home. This one had horrible water damage, the worst I have ever seen. Not only that, but the laminate had started to peel, making it brittle, cracked and flat out broken in several places. In my opinion, this game was almost begging for euthanization. But there was a small level of potential for it, and besides, I not only drove all this way but I also just agreed to sell a good game to a good friend in order to make room for this heap of a cabinet. At that point I wasnt going to argue. I paid the seller, we got it loaded and I ended up taking on quite a project.
The Service: Believe it or not, the first real chore for this game was just getting it in my house. My prior experience with driving games is that they usually come apart, making it easier to transport them in tight spaces. This game however was one great big and seven foot long heavy beast of a cabinet. Even with a strong neighbor's help. it was a nightmare. Once we finally got it inside my first order of business was to evaulate the water damage and find out what it was going to take to restore this game, or at least make it respectable again. Here's just a sample of what I was looking at:
I also reflected on the hard time we just went thru getting this game inside. So I decided that not only was this one getting a facelift, I was going to somehow make this a two-piece cabinet. So I got started by cutting the whole game in half, literally...
I then focused my efforts on tearing down the back half, as it had the most damage. When that was done I was left with what I would describe as "a naked base"...
Looking at this, the creative juices started to flow. I quickly began thinking that a simple bucket seat on a platform woudn't be a bad idea for this project. It would certainly be much cheaper, easier and less time consuming than if I were to somehow recreate all of the original lumber and piece it back together. From a techincal standpoint, the only part of the game on the back half (aside from the seat) was the coin door. At this point, that's an unneeded piece of hardware, as I always have my game's set on free play anyway. The only part I would need from it would be the test switch, which I could easily relocate to the front of the cabinet.
So I decided to try and hunt down a bucket seat. I began to remember Jeremy telling me about a "Speed Racer" game that a friend of his had parted out awhile back. I knew nothing of that game but thought there might have been a chance he might still have a seat laying around from it. So I called Jeremy, explained my idea and asked whether he might know if the seats were still around. Jeremy came right back with another idea that turned out even better. A couple years ago, Jeremy had picked up a Sega Rally Championship. It's one big bohemith of a game, but along with it, he got a ton of parts from a second game. Among them, a spare bucket seat. It was scratched up but was functional. It also turned out to have a red & dark gray color scheme, pretty close to the RoadBlasters scheme. That was good enough for me. I asked for a price tag and was told "just come get it". Nice. It's great to have friend's like Jeremy in this hobby. Here's what the seat looked like when I brought it home:
So I decided to try and hunt down a bucket seat. I began to remember Jeremy telling me about a "Speed Racer" game that a friend of his had parted out awhile back. I knew nothing of that game but thought there might have been a chance he might still have a seat laying around from it. So I called Jeremy, explained my idea and asked whether he might know if the seats were still around. Jeremy came right back with another idea that turned out even better. A couple years ago, Jeremy had picked up a Sega Rally Championship. It's one big bohemith of a game, but along with it, he got a ton of parts from a second game. Among them, a spare bucket seat. It was scratched up but was functional. It also turned out to have a red & dark gray color scheme, pretty close to the RoadBlasters scheme. That was good enough for me. I asked for a price tag and was told "just come get it". Nice. It's great to have friend's like Jeremy in this hobby. Here's what the seat looked like when I brought it home:
As you can probably tell, it sit's too low. No problem. I cut a simple box frame out of 2x4's and a piece of plywood. I also shaved about 10 inches from the base, as I would no longer need all that real estate for this custom job. After that I sanded down all the lumber and applied a few coats of black paint...
Then I cut new side & rear panels for the base, sanded those down, applied a light coat of paint and started putting the pieces together. Now the back half was really coming along...
The front half of the game also got some new lumber, mainly the top and the back door. The rest of it was salvageable, it just needed touch-up work and a good cleaning. It's far from perfect, but that's ok. I like my games with a little "character" anyway.
As I mentioned before, there was a board issue with this game. Most of the graphics on screen were missing. All you could see was some text and blocky colors...
As I mentioned before, there was a board issue with this game. Most of the graphics on screen were missing. All you could see was some text and blocky colors...
The issue turned out to be a few bad eproms. I was fortunate to find a good price on an untested daughter board from an upright. The hardware is different, but the needed eprom's were compatible. That's all it took to resurrect the game.
There were several other technical issues I found. The monitor had a focus drift. On top of that, the tube was burned pretty badly. I could have fixed this monitor, but since I have good spare monitor's laying around, I decided replacing it was a better alternative. Heres the original K7000 on the left. I replaced it with the G07 you see on the right...
There were several other technical issues I found. The monitor had a focus drift. On top of that, the tube was burned pretty badly. I could have fixed this monitor, but since I have good spare monitor's laying around, I decided replacing it was a better alternative. Heres the original K7000 on the left. I replaced it with the G07 you see on the right...
The other repairs were relatively minor. The gas pedal was acting flaky, so it got a new potentiometer. The steering wheel got some new bushings and new microswitches for the thumb buttons.
Now that the front and back halves were complete, it was time to mate them once again. I added new casters to the bottom of both halves and mated them using bolts, t-nuts and a thick piece of sheet metal with a step tread attached. It's a close match to the black matting already mounted on the floor of the game. So now if I need to take the game apart, I just remove 3 bolts and seperate the two halves.
Now that the front and back halves were complete, it was time to mate them once again. I added new casters to the bottom of both halves and mated them using bolts, t-nuts and a thick piece of sheet metal with a step tread attached. It's a close match to the black matting already mounted on the floor of the game. So now if I need to take the game apart, I just remove 3 bolts and seperate the two halves.
The custom touches didn't end there. I took an image of a marquee from an upright game and then had it shrunk down & printed on a bumper sticker. Upon arrival I applied it to the back seat. Now it's really starting to look like RoadBlasters. I also added some 36" red LED light strips to both sides of the game...
Last but no least, I saved the original back panel from the game. This is the panel that has the full artwork. It too was water damaged and needed some touch up work. I shaved all the cancer from it and touched it up the best I could. While there's no place on the game to mount it, it's still a nice piece of artwork to keep with the game. So I have it mounted on the wall next to the game. It looks good...
Whew... this was quite a project. And in the end, I still don't have a cockpit, but I do have a cool custom sit down version of this game. Now I can finally stop the hunt, enjoy the finished product and finally get some good solid gameplay from this beast. Now I just have to make it to rally 50 and I win a free T-Shirt, WOOHOO!
