Stocker (3/19/85)

Arcade Video game published 41 years ago:

Stocker - Drive all the way from coast to coast! (c) 1984 Bally Sente.

- TECHNICAL -

Bally / Sente SAC-I hardware

Main CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 1.25 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips: (6x) CEM3394 (@ 4 Mhz)

Screen orientation: Horizontal
Video resolution: 256 x 240 pixels
Screen refresh: 60.00 Hz
Palette colors: 1024

Players: 1
Control: steering wheel with unlimited range, high/low gear shift
Buttons: 0

- TRIVIA -

The title screen shows copyright 1984, but it's unknown if this was the proper release year. The only rom in MAME shows the date 3/19/85 (written in mm-dd-yy format). The March 1985 date doesn't tell if this was the release or latest build date.

The flyer's back page tells multiple lies: Stocker's race isn't driven through any city (woods and open fields are true), 'each player' is a total lie (the game is single player only), there's no gas pedal (the car accelerates automatically), the gearbox has only 'high' and 'low' gears (not a 4-speed gear shift!), there are no traffic jams, and the bikers aren't riding in a convoy or a gang.

The states included in this game are: Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

A Stocker unit appears in the 1986 movie 'The Color of Money'.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* You'll not be racing against any competitor; the CPU drivers you encounter just after beginning the game aren't your opponents. This means there's no fight for the 1st place.
* There's an unknown road labeled as '?' in Florida. Don't go there.
* When you see a gas station, turn there and go back onto the road. Missing a gas station will shorten your game significantly.
* The 'normal' game over (from dip switches) is after you collect 5 tickets awarded by the police.
* You can swim the car through the waters with no risk of drowning, but don't use this technique slowing the car down. Taking shortcuts on the grass, desert or snow isn't better. Don't drive through any buildings even if it doesn't damage the player's car.

- STAFF -

Game designer: Dennis Koble
Art: Gary Johnson
Sound: Jesse Osborne
Additional support: Gary Levenberg, Bil Maher
Additional codes: Lee Actor, Rich Adam

- PORTS -

* COMPUTERS:
Commodore C64 (1988)
PC [MS DOS] (1988, Capcom USA)

- CONTRIBUTE -

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