Need the name of a coin-op video game...

[AJ Dual]

I'm hoping someone remembers this, I'm trying to find the name and/or publisher of a coin-op video game from the late 80's. It may have been called "BOTS" or "B.O.T.S.", but Googling is coming up empty handed.

Essentially it was a 3D polygon rendered Battlemech/walking robot type game. You had different rockets and weapons, and there was an arena-like battlefield with other robots/mechs, other things like buildings or gun-towers you could blow up. And when you did destroy something, it would have a 3D score spinning in space where the destroyed object was.

It was also cool because you could blow up an enemy bot's legs, and it would tilt and fall over with a rather realistic looking acceleration and not explode until it struck the ground. All pretty cool effects for around 1987 or so.

It's also noticeable because it appears briefly in U2's "Even Better Than The Real Thing" video, which came out from their '92 Achtung Baby album and "Zoo TV" Tour. http://www.mtv.com/videos/u2/10279/even-better-than-the-real-thing.jhtml

If you actually care to watch the video, it appears 2/3rds of the way through where they do the four split screens of random video.



Does anybody remember the name of this coin-op videogame? I only was able to play it for a few days at a church festival, and I never saw it again. I'm obsessed.   

[AJ Dual]

Never mind...

it was http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6985 B.O.T.S.S. from Jaelco. :rolleyes:

That extra fricking "S"... stupid literal Google.

[Thor]

The video game I really liked was a Star Wars arcade game in the early 80s (83-84). I haven't been able to find that one.

[Harold Tuttle]

http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=b.o.t.s.s.-battle-of-the-solar-system&page=detail&id=160

[freakazoid]

Since the original OP found his answer, and since we are on the topic of old video games about robots. I have been searching for a game that I am almost 100% positive I played on the SNES, super nintendo. It was 2D. You could pick which robot you wanted to play as, each one had something special about it. The one robot I specifically remember playing as was like a spider, and it could shoot a web that caused the person you where playing against to get stuck. I think you played only 1 on 1 and it was like a side scroller, you could do duel screen and play against a 2nd player. You could also get out of your robot and there would be other robots lying around and if you found one you could get in it.

[Rudy Kohn]

Freakazoid,

You're thinking of Metal Warriors.

Rudy

[AJ Dual]

The video game I really liked was a Star Wars arcade game in the early 80s (83-84). I haven't been able to find that one.

The wire-frame vector graphic version, where you fly through the trench, and you mainly just steer the crosshairs over things? That's out there as a MAME ROM.

I even found the MAME ROM for B.O.T.S.S. but the latest release of MAME does not support all the memory and processor functions. I am an I.T. geek by trade, but I'm pretty much all support and infrastructure side, I'm no coder, so it's not as if I can do anything to make it work on my end.

I can actually get the game to boot, and I can even get into the cool maintenence mode by setting MAME's virtual "dip switches" that would have been on one of the original upright coin-op's hardware boards, and see stuff like coin deposits/audits and average time play statistics to figure out if the difficulty level was too easy, so the owner/renter could make more money.. 

But alas, it freezes hard right after the first splash screen. And the game seems to be too rare, too little known to find any troubleshooting on it as of yet. 

Anyone else a MAME junkie who might know where some answers are?

[freakazoid]

You're thinking of Metal Warriors.

I freaking love you man. You have absolutely no idea how much this has made me happy. Did a quick search to see if this was it and found this vid, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNQ6Qf7krKI&feature=related It even has the spider robot I was thinking about. The entire time of watching it I was just a giddy as a school girl.

[Rudy Kohn]

Yeah, I knew it when you described it because I have the same good memories of playing it when I was a kid (I rented it).

Unfortunately, banged-up copies on Ebay run $40-60... so I haven't gotten around to buying it yet.
It was a sweet game, though.  Glad I could help. 

I remember that Star Wars game, too.  But the Star Wars game I really remember fondly is Tie Fighter.  In a world of dogfighting games where your plane can take a bunch of hits before suddenly and catastrophically exploding, a game where taking one hit and still managing to stay in the air was considered fortunate was a welcome breath of fresh air.

[RaspberrySurprise]

The video game I really liked was a Star Wars arcade game in the early 80s (83-84). I haven't been able to find that one.

I remember playing that at the laundromat as a kid.
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/25183/Star+Wars+-+The+Arcade+Game.html
This is the computer version of it, they also have links to the Commodore 64 and Amiga versions.

[detritus]

But the Star Wars game I really remember fondly is Tie Fighter.

God, that and X-wing were my two of my personal favorites back in HS.  and I wish i could either find a way to play them again or that LucasArts would bring out something new in that vein (fat chance)

[bedlamite]

The video game I really liked was a Star Wars arcade game in the early 80s (83-84). I haven't been able to find that one.

I had that game years ago when I had a 386DX with the hi-speed/low-speed button on it. It played close to the arcade game on low speed, but when someone pushed the button, it doubled in speed. The towers weren't impossible at 2x speed, but nobody survived the trench.