Super Locomotive

Super Locomotive is a side-scrolling train arcade video game developed by Sega and released in 1982.

Super Locomotive
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Sega
Designer(s)Fukumura Mizunaga
Programmer(s)Fukumura Mizunaga[1]
Composer(s)Yukihiro Takahashi
Platform(s)Arcade
ReleaseDecember 1982[1]
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Up to 2 players, alternating turns
CabinetStandard and cocktail
Arcade systemSega Z80
DisplayHorizontal

Gameplay

The objective of the game is to guide a train from one station to next. Along the route, the player must avoid obstacles such as other trains, planes, red signals, trucks crossing intersections, and guide the train along multiple routes by changing tracks en route. The player is armed with a steam fire bullet for destroying airborne targets, and a temporary force field which protects the train for a limited period of time. The use of the bullets and shields rapidly deplete an energy bar which must be maintained between levels by picking up oil items en route. Upon completion of a level, a bonus stage is played which involves the train attempting to shoot as many airborne enemies within a finite time period. The bonus awarded is dependent upon the number of enemies destroyed. The game then resumes on more challenging levels.

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack features a chiptune rendition of Yellow Magic Orchestra's synthpop hit "Rydeen" (1979) playing throughout the main gameplay.[2]

The same tune later appeared in several personal computer games, including Rabbit Software's Trooper Truck (1983) and Superior Software's Stryker's Run (1986), and as the Ocean Software loader theme for Daley Thompson's Decathlon (1984).

Reception

Computer and Video Games magazine reviewed the game in its September 1983 issue. They said it is an "enjoyable romp" with "a good setting" and "a marvelous rousing tune that adds immediately to the action."[3]

Legacy

The game was reported to have a very limited production run with only 35 PCB boards printed. Of those, most remained in Japan, with the remainder exported to Sega Europe and all sold to UK customers. This means that the game was not natively present in either mainland Europe or the US.

In the UK, one of these rare machines was sited in a small arcade in a wooden building next to a small funfair in the seaside town of Morecambe. The arcade and funfair shut down in the 1980s and the site is now a car park, behind the Johnny's Fun Factory arcade.

While no official conversions of the game exist, the 1984 computer game Loco is heavily inspired by Super Locomotive.

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References
  1. "Super Locomotive arcade video game pcb by SEGA Enterprises, Ltd. (1982)". Arcade-history.com. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. Super Locomotive at the Killer List of Videogames
  3. "Super Locomotive arcade game review". Solvalou.com. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
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