Telco's 1983 Mr. TNT
Gameplay
An interesting twist on the maze game. You start each screen in a grid-like maze consisting of overlapping "fuses." Passing over a pathway burns away that part of the fuse making it impossible for you to backtrack. Each round also begins with several "sparks" that close in on your location and also burn away the maze pathways. A level is completed either when all of the spinning items littered throughout the maze are collected or when all the enemy sparks are burned-out by eliminating the paths they are on. Similarly you can easily find yourself being eliminated by heading down a dead-end path or missing a crucial turn.
Missing Ingredient
The graphics (like many of the games of the day) are rather crude but surprisingly they serve their purpose well. Their simple, easily recognizable shapes actually enhance the split-second gameplay. But the graphic limitations do contribute to the main missing ingredient: a larger playfield. Either through the use of a scrolling playfield (with overhead radar to indicate your location) or higher resolution graphics, the excellent gameplay could have been preserved without the almost constant frustration of missing a turn because you weren't quick enough with the controller. Maybe even slowing the gameplay down a little would have allowed for more reaction time and less frustration. But then again that would have been contrary to the goal of collecting as many quarters in as short a time as possible. Although because of it's simple and solid gameplay mechanics Mr. TNT might make an interesting candidate for a modern, graphical update.

Thanks to Jeffrey Carl at ServInt for providing the space for CinemArcade

NEWS | ARCADE '84 | MOVIES | POSTERS | DESKTOPS | WHATEVER | CONTACT

All content © Dave Dries unless otherwise stated