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"Ultimate Vectrex Game Archive"
--- ORIGINAL RELEASES ---
1982, VT3301, 4Ki Arcade Version Designed/Coded by Tim Skelly Vectrex Version Coded by Duncan Muirhead

About:

This is the Vectrex port of Tim Skelly's classic cat-and-mouse artillery game for one player, or two players cooperating. Each player controls a jeep that drives around, fires, and ambushes one or more tanks bent on his destruction. A tank is immobilized after one shot, but continues to fire, and is destroyed with the second shot. In addition, a helicopter flies overhead, trying to pick off each player.

Extra: BaronVR asked fellow game fanatic Brian Deuel, at his messageboard, about Armor Attack history and he promptly emailed the original programmer, Tim Skelly. Mr. Skelly's reply is here. Check it out! You won't be sorry you did. Brian's arcade history page is here. Thanks Brian and Tim!

Also, Keith Smith has offered a sneak look at the as-yet-unpublished Cinematronics chapter of his Arcade game history book, based largely on interviews with Tim Skelly. The portion concerning Armor Attack is here.

Clickable Scans:

Box Front	Instructions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 .txt file	Box Back
Actual Screenshot (B/W pic by James Carter, overlay added later)	Emulator Screenshots	Printable Overlay
	Cartridge

Box, overlay, and instruction scans courtesy of Chris Salomon
with permissions from Cyberpunks.

Game Binary: Contained in everygam.zip (351Ki)

Game Source Code: Not Yet Available

.WAV Sound Clip: armor_wav.zip (209Ki)

Arcade Version Scans: Arcade Originals Ad Gallery

Tips/Cheats/Easter Eggs/Bugs/Version Info:

1. If you crank the brightness all the way up, you are able to see the helicopter's position as soon as you hear it (even though it is off the screen). (Gregg Woodcock)

2. There are corners that you can drive into and shoot the tanks/helicopter with very little chance of being hit. (BaronVR)

3. If you drive fast and weave back and forth, it's possible to avoid the tanks' attack. You should be able to run circles around a tank in lower
levels without it hitting you. (Brett Walach)

4. A fun trick you'll learn without even trying is that if you drive between two tanks, you can have them fire and kill each other. (BaronVR)

High Scores:

1. 1,170,100 - David Steiner
2. 750,000+ - Bart Vialpando
3. 431,300 - Michael Crane
4. 130,800 - James Carter (highest verified)
4. 50,500 - BaronVR

High scores are unofficial, unverified, and may reflect cheats used or emulator advantages. For verified scores visit The Official Vectrex High Score Page

Reviews:
Reviewer: Brett Walach 06/11/2000 Rating: 8.75
Gameplay: 9 Armor Attack is one of my favorite games to play because it just really feels good when you're playing it. Specifically, I love the smooth driving action of the jeep. You can tool around the bombed out city with amazing agility. I find it quite fun to do circles and figure 8's around the tanks laughing because they are so slow. When you drive the jeep, it feels as though you truly are on a mission of sorts. You must visualize in your head the bombed out city to really see what I mean. Actually, years of watching the A-Team TV series when I was younger have severely impacted my liking of this game (More on this under SOUND). The only reason this category didn't get a perfect 10 is because I feel that the scenery in the game could have changed more often. A different city every 5 levels would have made this game sweet! Vector Graphics: 8 The tanks are plenty realistic from their motion to the way they smash up when you blast 'em with a missile or two. The fire and smoke that appears after you hit the tank makes for an even more realistic experience. The jeep looks OK, but I think it could have had more detail. The helicopter is what takes the cake though. This bird chops away through the imaginary smoky air created by all of the tanks previously destroyed, seeking revenge for its comrades. It floats like a butterfly, and sometimes stings like a bee. Not if I can help it though... Chopper Chump, you're going down! As I said before though, the scenery lacked change throughout the game, which brings down this category's score. Sound: 10 The sound in Armor Attack is what makes the game, period. Without the sounds that have been developed for this game, it just would be as fun to play. I've always said that sound is what makes any game great. Some things can be left to your imagination, but not sound. Sound gets you into the game. So anyway, when you start up the game, the A-Team theme song plays...j/k. Seriously though, the opening music is fantastic which brings back memories of the A-Team TV series. If you need a refresher, check out The A-Team Theme Song 1983 ( a_team.mp3, 2.97Mi ).When the game starts out, you appear in the center of the screen...waiting...Then the sound of tanks in the distance puts fear into you. Two sounds make the tanks feel distinctively real, an engine noise, and a tank tread squeak. It's so good that I love to shut them down...two missiles from my fully equipped jeep and they're demolished. No one can deny the evil presence of the Choppers when you hear that Chh, Chh, Chh, Chh, Chh... overhead. They swarm overhead like vultures waiting to pounce...what a great sound. One thing I can't figure out though is why the chopper sound is playing when there are no choppers, this can sometimes get annoying. The only thing I wish were present is some noise from the jeep when it cruises around. The missile sound blasting out of the jeep and destroying a tank or a chopper is a great thrill, but some added effect to the jeep tooling around would make for a great enhancement on the whole experience. Nevertheless, this game gets a perfect 10 on the way of sound...it really draws you in. Addictiveness: 8 It's fun to rack up high scores on this game, and just fun to play overall (for all of the reasons mentioned above). If I had a bunch of Vectrex Consoles to set up with only one game, this would be one of them since it is so much fun to play. I'm constantly drawn back to this game because it never gets old to me. I think you just have to have the right imagination because every time you play Armor Attack, it can be a whole new mission. You can employ several different strategies to attack the enemy, and each new strategy opens the door for different scores, and different levels of fun.
Reviewer: Rob Mitchell Rating: 4
It's your jeep versus enemy tanks and a helicopter! They are coming to get you...and they know where you are! All you have is a jeep and an armor piercing weapon with unlimited firepower. In this rubble of a town, the enemy assault begins from all directions. The tanks creep up on you and begin firing ... you fire back to attempt to knock them out of commission...first by knocking the treads off their wheels and rendering them motionless, and secondly by knocking out the turret gun! It is a fast paced game. While you fire at one tank, another may try to fire at your backside. If you survive the tanks, then they dispatch the assault helicopter to take you out by any means necessary. It fires at you and drops bombs on you! But if you get it first, then you advance to the next round of assault by tanks. It is about survival! In the two player game, a friend in a separate jeep helps you defend the rubble of a town. The overlay illustrates how brutalized the town has already become. The gameplay of Armor Attack gets redundant really fast ... which limits how often I return to play this game. The artificial intelligence of the tanks isn't the best so the enemy isn't as formidable as I wish. Personally I prefer Atari 2600 Combat any day over Armor Attack because there is nothing like playing against a friend. An intelligent opponent is always preferable. On a scale of 1-10: I give Armor Attack a 4. Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 11-JUN-00
Reviewer: Bart Vialpando Rating: 8
Even though Armor Attack for the Vectrex doesn't actually match Armor Attack in the arcades, it's fun to play by yourself, but it's a better game if you have a partner to play with. It's probably one of the best Vectrex games I have. The graphics are simplified over the arcade version, but the sound quality is awesome, and the playability is awesome. That's why I'd give the overall game an "8." Unlike the original there's a way to cheat and hide. You can still die, but it's harder. When you play by yourself it gets kind of dull, but if you play the game 2-player, and your not hiding, it's awesome. I'd recommend that people try not to hide and take advantage of the game's flaw and instead take chances, and then the game is great. But, the thing is, if in the 2 player game you guys cheat and, in the right place, get right on top of each other, then you're pretty much invincible. If both of you guys get into that one special corner, and you're right on top of one another, the guy on top, he's the one that's vulnerable. It's almost like they have to kill the top guy and then the bottom guy can finish them off. And it's so rare that the tanks would round the corner and shoot that perfect shot. Once you get into that certain rut, the game can go on forever until you're fatigued. And while the helicopter is more tricky than the tanks, the thing is that if you're hiding in the corner, the helicopter, if you leave it around long enough, will help kill all the tanks for you. There is one special corner where the helicopter can't get you, I don't remember which one. I, in 2-player cheat formation, remember playing the game for 4 or 5 hours straight, up until the point where we just got tired of it, but I don't remember what the end score was, probably over 750,000. When you're cheating, you can go all day...
Reviewer: BaronVR Rating: 7
For the most part, my opinions of Armor Attack are based on my experiences with the arcade version (getting my ass kicked). They are also based on my experiences playing the Vectrex version 2-player with my best friend soon after he first got his unit. Hence, it's only been recently that I've spent any real solo time with the home port. While the classic qualities and vector appeal carry over, it is also apparent that it's not the equal of the arcade version. First, the tanks are so stupid as the game begins, I almost feel like a bully picking them off--those poor guys, sent to the front with almost no training, left to learn the art of driving a tank by trail and error, right in the midst of combat...kinda makes you ponder the institution of war and the irony of...oops, sorry...I digress... thankfully, as you press forward into the later stages, the tanks doddle around less and less and things start to get challenging. The helicopter in this port, however, does retain much of the wiliness of the arcade's helicopter. It's shot is fair in the beginning and deadly later on. It's movement does hint that there's some intelligence on board as it stalks you around the playfield. It's definitely my favorite element in the game. While there isn't a great deal of variation, and the tanks never get too intelligent, there is always 'game 2', which eliminates the drawn outlines of the buildings and leaves one always fearful that he may be more exposed than he thinks. Throw into that the inherent fun of a 2 player cooperation game and the game ultimately lifts itself up to earn the right to be called the only true port of one of the great arcade games of all time. Gameplay: 8 Graphics: 7 Sound: 9 Addictiveness: 8
Reviewer: B. Pacula Rating: 7
A top-view maze game that nicely brings the horrors of war to the 9" Vectrex screen. You get to drive a jeep around and blow stuff up real good -- mostly tanks and helicopters. Well, actually, only tanks and helicopters. That's all you get to do. Drive around and blow up tanks and helicopters. It's fun, though. The graphics are swell, particularly the helicopter. It just needs more variety.