(Arcade) Battlezone

[@eddiebear60]

My high score was 6,522,000. Played for 6 straight hours before the arcade owner unplugged the game and kicked me out. I could anticipate the buzz bombs and shoot as they landed on the ground. My tank shot would catch them in mid-turn. The key with the super tanks is to drive toward them, keeping them to the edge of center - keep turning your tank slightly as you approach them. They could never get a good shooting angle. Then you bump them as you're side by side, pull back quickly, turn and shoot. This strategy was used in the arcade game with two handles and good pivoting capability. I couldn't get the hang of it with the PC version.

[@Sprakk33]

+eddiebear60 I remember hearing a rumor that you could eventually make it to the volcano in the background, it doesn't appear to get any closer though

[@WUZLE]

+eddiebear60 You have highlighted the safe and painfully boring way to play. A more exciting way is to drive toward the supertank and swivel past it once it's fired, killing it with an accurate shot as your gun goes past. Of course, if it happens to hit something just behind you, it will fire again unexpectedly quickly and kill you. The most I got with riskier play was 2.544 million, which was still enough to get what he called Battlezone Ankles. I too liked to hit the buzz bombs on the way down, but my favorite thing was trying to hit distant supertanks as they whizzed along the horizon crossways to me.

[@eddiebear60]

And don't go chasing after the saucers when the super tanks are close by or the buzz bombs are on their way. If they are directly in your line of fire, then shoot and move. If they happen to cross your line of fire when you're on the move, take your shot and keep moving. Your main target is always the tank. Once the buzz bomb is fired, the tank will disappear.

[@cageordie]

Agree with all this. Backing up was how I used to get killed when I first played, back in 1980. For the first few hours I tried running, but I'd get hung up on objects and killed, or the passing shot would hit an object behind and the enemy would get a fast followup shot. After that I always went forward, because then you know where the objects are. I'd run into a supertank then back up just as they fired, and then turn and kill them, which only took a moment. I timed the missile coming down, or shot them in the straight part of their track. Very predictable. I used to get caught out sometimes when it went back to normal tanks. Top score was around 8 million. Funny that people are still discussing what we were wasting time on nearly 37 years ago! When I came back in my second year of university the machine had been replaced with Defender and I concentrated on my course instead.

[@ACDCSPECIALS]

Seems a bit harsh, he could have brought over a beer or something to help keep you going! Great game.

[@ZenFox0]

Loved this game. I knew it wasn't possible, but I always wanted to drive into those hills on the horizon. Thanks for posting!

[@grantbarrow1609]

Same here!!!!

[@haydukethor]

I loved it too I wasn’t very good at it lol

[@brendamobley]

Same

[@telafreeze]

In 2019 I found this at a retro arcade with my teen kids in tow and it was such a joy to play after almost 40 years. The sinking feeling of squandering all my hard-earned paper route savings on this game as a kid had made this quite the guilty pastime. No shortage of quarters this time! So after setting the high score in Asteroids at this retro arcade, I walked over to Battle Zone and nailed the high score on my second try. Never have I earned such street cred from my kids. Then in 2023 my son and his gaming buddy visited the arcade again and my Battle Zone initials were still at the top. Truly a proud moment when he told me that.💪

[@gabrielboi3465]

That's awesome! You gave me a wonderful idea too. I should take my Dad to a retro arcade as well, he used to be big into videogames in the 80s and 90s

[@Strive1324L]

This was my favorite game as a kid. It was fun, using the controllers on the arcade game many years ago. Didn't do too well back then, but just playing it any length of time was great.

[@SegaMario]

This looks mind-blowing for 1980. Thought it'd be something you'd expecting in the early 90s and late 80s!

[@billg7813]

This, that missile commander game, a lunar lander... good 'ole days. One day I got off work and stopped at an arcade. Probably 1982. Bought $5 in tokens. Spent an hour I guess but at the end of those tokens my arcade itch was fully scratched. Thanks for posting this.

[@Vintagesonic1]

This is apparently the first "3D" game. Insane how far technology has come in 42 short years.

[@JackCrazee]

I totally remember playing this as a kid. Ahhh, nostalgia.

[@charleskuss8428]

11 years later how do you feel?

[@DarianCohen]

This game, I swear.. I remember the UFOs and the missiles... the missiles were the most annoying at the time. Also, the green transparent vectors really set an atmosphere. When you lost a tank, the screen shattered.

[@vladimirvolkhov6786]

Loved this game as a kid, standing up, looking through the Periscope with your two levers, hunting enemy tanks through a green neon landscape. great arcade memory

[@nebulosa553]

So... This is one of THE first FPS's of all time huh? Static background... Horizontal plane of movement only, 1980 release... This must have been a really impressive arcade game for its time. Even though there are no textures, it has good FPS and seemingly decent A.I., I have to say. As somebody who grew up far later than possbile to play this in its hayday, I feel that it's quite a respectable game for its time. You can see some definite similarities between, this, MIDI Maze and Wolfenstein 3D. Makes you think what Atari could have done with this concept if they made better business decisions back then.

[@drott150]

I was 15 when it came out - it was the most impressive game of its time. But at 25 cents per play and usually with no more than $2 in quarters available, very difficult to learn and master without going broke.

[@BradiKal61]

i remember the night my friends told me the local bowling alley had a new amazing 3D game and we piled into my used 1969 GTO convertible and raced over and spent every quarter we had . our days of Pac Man were over!

[@Nik-6675]

This is the first 3D game

[@g000se99]

loved it - still in the industry with a screenshot from battlezone as my linkedin header

[@NotoriousNastyNas]

@@drott150dinglinger, I looked at your account and judging by your playlist, you are not 57 years old

[@awesomeaustenkitty]

*To think this was the first ever 3D video game in existence..*

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Tesla Cybertruck inspiration.

[@donald.mustard]

Jack says he has one ball

[@platosocrates9350]

Fr

[@Shackamaxon]

I hated those buzzbombs. If you drive into a cube and wait they will fly right over you with no harm. The saucer always tries to line you up with a tank thats behind you. Be careful.

[@protorhinocerator142]

Unless it's swerving. Then the missiles will swing wide and hit you from the side.

[@TheInkPitOx]

I just suggested this for the Video Game Hall of Fame

[@GuildfordGhost]

First time I've seen this in nearly 40 years! Loved that - thanks.

[@FrothingManiac]

Oh crap... the way the tanks sloooowly turn around... and the cracking of the screen... takes me back

[@THEsuperCourier]

Whoa, blast (!) from the past. Like 30 years past. Wish I could find a PC version. Tanks for the memories.

[@EhAchilles]

It took me years to find out the name of this game again, I played it as a kid on my uncles pc when he let me play on it. Wow this brings me back

[@goyim1999]

awesome game... id love to have one of the original arcade stand up versions. i can still remember the arcades of the 80s.. what an era.

[@charleskuss8428]

vladdy, whats up bro! Long time no see

[@tellshiar]

I loved this game as a kid too. The best part and most appealing was the cabinet. Standing up and looking into the periscope-like sights was the best! Thanks for uploading.

[@silvastomp]

It's surreal watching videos of these old games again. The capability of technology has just had such major advancements in 20 years. I was a player of this game thinking these virtual tank battles are pretty awesome and then found my way to the Battlefield series which is getting fairly representative of real-life visuals. It really makes you consider the next 20 years of the immersive/realistic nature of computers.

[@YimYamYo]

Oh my god, I finally found it! For so long random clips of me playing this would pop in my head, but I had already forgot the name of the game.. But here it is! Alive and well. I won't forget the name of this again ;-;

[@dereklouden7415]

Reminder: the name is battlezone

[@blacksupra001]

@@dereklouden7415 1980 version

[@pimplyface64]

I still have a memory of playing this from a floppy disc when i was around 4. I just downloaded it from a random site. Love finding and playing classic games from my childhood.

[@YimYamYo]

@@pimplyface64 so funny, I was just again wondering what game this was recently and you reminded me. It was really a great game.

[@pimplyface64]

@@YimYamYo had a feeling i would XD

[@Shackamaxon]

Man I loved this game! Its hilarious when you ram a tank repeatedly. I loved doing that! Great technique for supertanks. You wanna align the supertank so its just on the edge of the pie slice in the radar. Then bring it in close to you straight down the line. Then turn and nail him when hes almost on top of you.

[@airdriver]

I remember this one as a personal favorite of mine. This was one of, if not the first, VR styled games where the player is actually sitting in the driver's seat. Trying to find an arcade that had it was next to impossible. I finally found one and hung out there for a month playing it. Then one day, it was gone. I asked the owner what happened to it and he said,"I saw that a lot of you assholes liked the game so I had them take it away." A couple of months later, the arcade was out of business. I saw a lot of that in the early 1980's. Someone starts a business with a product or service the public loves and then out of sheer spite, they stop offering that service or product and the business goes under. Common sense was not so common in business back then.

[@PokemonTrainerVince]

I remember playing this on PC when I was 8 years old and that was in 2001. I'm glad I got to enjoy a classic that was way before my time.

[@engineeringartist4801]

One of my very favorites from the arcade! I thought it was like 1975. Man you just had to stay moving, spin a lot into a different direction, remember where everyone was and hide behind triangles. Show no mercy! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@itsdoombunny469]

This is the very first video game I ever played in an arcade. Loved this game for its time!

[@douro20]

I got to play this once, at a shop which restored it. It had a new subwoofer and rebuilt monitor. A very well designed game which is quite immersive even considering the primitive graphics.

[@asd36f]

Brings back memories of playing this at the slot-car track centre at Blacktown in Sydney in the early 1980's!

[@usalax76]

11years since this was posted but probably even longer since I’ve played it...! I was a child & I remember playing this all the time in my grandparents basement on their computer with dialup internet 😂😂 Such good memories, my grandmother would stand with me while i played. So glad i found this

[@keefsmiff]

I will never forget the panic feeling of that ufo thing buzzing at you

[@engineeringartist4801]

I know, right? 😮

[@jamesborlan2850]

I remember playing this game on atari anthology on Xbox As well as the 2600 port on my Atari flashback Great tank simulator game and definitely the first of its kind

[@omareltayar102]

For those who don't know. This game is the first 3d game

[@orangefunk]

nice playing... BZ was my fav game in the arcades... I think my highest score ever was 70,000 or so... could not believe it when I saw someone get 500,000... I think after a while it just becomes a pattern of reversing while slowly turning... then its just a problem of objects behind you...

[@brendamobley]

This takes me back! I wasted a bunch of quarters in the arcade at my college. I loved this game so much. It feels like you’re in some alien world.

[@Justinicus24]

Wasted? I'd say well spent

[@SirRandom]

Playing this on a cabinet with the periscope was very much like an early VR experience for me, the feeling of being actually inside the game, and some mild claustrophobia for extra tension 😄.

[@wereallwrong9149]

Kids is the 80s, "wow this is so realistic. It cant get better than this".

[@soylentteal]

Always loved that 1812 Overture at the end.

[@nottherealpaulsmith]

Anyone else remember that castle in the volcano? Took goddamn forever to get there, but it was kinda cool to look around in.

[@MrStickman1997]

Those cruise missiles used to scare the shit out of me when they first appeared...

[@racer927]

+MrStickman1997 You probably won't like the WASP missiles in the 1998 RTS game. They function exactly the same.

[@DeadRaymanWalking]

Same here, they would come at you at an alarming rate. When I played this game on Microsoft Arcade in 1996 as a kid, I would be screaming my head off when they came at me.

[@geoatavist6880]

Same here.

[@Shinobi33]

My this has actually aged pretty well. Wire frame graphics seem to always hold uo

[@tigerboy1966]

Played this obsessively in 1982 and could topscore on just about any arcade in Liverpool. Strategy? Keep moving, use the blocks, memorise the enemy moves (they didn't have too many).

[@Chickensea10]

Its amazing to think that we were all so entertained with just the little things like this back then!

[@Religious_man]

I like how they explode, ha ha. No wonder this game is addictive. :P

[@Dead-Ball-Situation]

I remember playing this game when i was 10 at my local youth club i was addicted to it.

[@kingbeauregard]

The haunting strains of Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" ...

[@Thejred]

I use to have this arcade game in my garage use to play it for hours

[@paraguaymike5159]

Lucky bastard. I am jealous.

[@TheTWISTEDCREECH96]

I remember watching my dad play this when I was little, along with Diablo, Quake 2 and Descent.

[@thisisus.504]

Played this as a kid ....just ordered the psvr version, cannot wait. So happy to find this vid.

[@aldiun16]

I remember this really kick ass arcade game very similar to this but with two joysticks and an enclosed Booth to play in..

[@chriscarruth5147]

Same game

[@Hideous_Swamp_Witch_Designs]

This was the first thing that popped in my head when I saw a cyber truck for the first time!

[@zamp6969]

That game rocked

[@AyWunHunnit]

This game is coming to ps4

[@AyWunHunnit]

Yea search battlezone ps4

[@blainekelley816]

Great game of my childhood. Oh, how I wished the turret would move! Played this for hours on end ... which was quite expensive at the time = 3 quarters per play in 198x was steep ... but there was nothing else like it!

[@DarkShadowRage]

God I REMEMBER playing this back on windows 95 holy crap it was great.

[@dmgreenberg]

Microsoft Arcade - with Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, and Tempest!

[@Lady_Omni]

Oh my god I wondered if this was a fever dream from my childhood.

[@Jhihmoac]

The Buzz Missiles and the Supertanks in this game were nasty....

[@MrTheopinionater]

I have never had the privilege of playing Battlezone,I hope to one day play this on the arcade cabinet

[@spectaculargaming3222]

I had this on pc in 2002. Played all the time before we got internet, that and pinball

[@jonactiveUT]

Ahh the memories, bunking off school, cycle down to the arcade, playing this Defender and The Black Hole pinball game. :)

[@PiotrBarcz]

The missiles are so scary! The sound they make is terrifying!

[@justinchristoph3725]

God, I am flashing back so hard watching this.

[@joellanier3060]

Wish we had this game back online. I miss it.

[@chemistryguy]

No feeling of dread as the enemy's barrel pivots right at you

[@mequetrefe62]

Que lindo recuerdo.Cómo nos gustaba ir a jugar a Ripley, en Liniers.

[@andypiantanida6340]

Great playing. Great game.

[@masculinebuddha8762]

First rule when engaging a tank on a battlefield: DON'T RETREAT!

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

I was so good at this. I actually DID have the high score on the machine at the local cafe when I was a university student...

[@chadmcmullen4064]

Atari predicted the laughable styling of the Cyber Truck over 40 years ago. Amazing.

[@noise6327]

I USED TO PLAY THIS ON THE MAC ALL SUMMER BACK IN 1997. WOW.

[@MrOnFireSkull]

who's watching this after watching the new battlezone on ps vr?

[@matthewlake182]

+MrOnFireSkull lol :) I wish the Battlezone on PSVR came to the Rift o.o I loved the PC remake of the game

[@modelmode8]

+MrOnFireSkull Im watching it while high on weed.

[@mombame2521]

hahaha,,count me in buddy

[@AremasNL]

Now you can actual play the classic version in VR :D

[@Mr_Doon]

Really? Where?

[@ikagura]

a 3D videogame, in 1980

[@patrickbass9957]

Hi Can you recall any names of old adventure games that had graphics made up of letters or special characters? The most basic graphics in a top down game format, eg a flashing $ dollar sign would transport you somewhere or an x would do something else. They are very old games, before Gauntlet, they used to be popular and I can't even remember if they were on PCs, maybe they were Amstrad or Spectrum games. Good games!

[@dereklucht4811]

Lol I remember as a kid trying to drive to the mountains in the background for wayy to long 😂

[@kilroy987]

Cool game. I didn't understand the 3d aspect when I played it at the arcade though, despite my acute understanding of the subject. I would always back up in an arc while a bullet was heading towards me and fail to understand it was going to miss, so I kept backing up in an arc and it 'curved' right into me. Anyway, this game was more enjoyable to me at the arcade rather than playing it solo at home. It doesn't have the saturation to make a full experience out of it. The '98 PC game with the biometal story was a lot of fun, though.

[@ilovesmosh2012]

I used to have a special cassette to listen and play this to.

[@sculptorguy]

Wow!!!! Thanks for posting this. memory lane. Havnt graphics come a long way since then?

[@realisticskypearson606]

Damn i loved this game!!

[@1983parrothead]

See also the Game Boy game simply called "X" (or "Ekkusu", if you can't easily find it), and its upcoming sequel, "X-Scape".

[@charlessmith263]

Tip to avoid being hit by the enemy tank when you see the enemy tank turn its turret to try to kill you---be sure that you align your tank shot with the neon green guidelines above and below the center gunsight. Otherwise---your tank is toast AND YOU'RE DEAD!

[@commandershirakamifubukiav9680]

one of my favorite arcade game in 1980

[@Skandalos]

I played it until I was able to finish it in a single run. then I forgot it and 20 years later I stumbled over battlezone 2.

[@ZeroFox0013]

I have this on a floppy disc and now when I look up any online it gives a different version.

[@Hammster69official]

I don't recall ever seeing any "buzzbombs", but I sure did find those *missiles* to be a royal pain... ^_^

[@Nigmax1991]

Here is where all the story begins the startjng era of 3D Video games

[@christinasavannah7992]

1980 this was cutting edg3

[@toddk.3257]

Is there a way to get ahold of the arcade version of the game to play on my computer?

[@dirdib69]

This game was exhausting - you never got a break and just couldn't win!

[@Cyberdemon-9001]

Didnt realize this game even had a story XD. I played mostly the n64 game which was the second in the series. Someone needs to bring it back!!

[@pumkinbreath]

The old back fade jog move

[@sammy1995]

I remember playing this game in 1985 , this looks like an updated version. Don't remember the flying saucers or zig zagging missles in the 80s.

[@thefadden]

No, this is the original. The first missile comes straight at you, but they weave more wildly as the game progresses. The saucers show up after 2000 points plus a random delay, and don't appear on radar, so if you were focused on the enemy tanks you might not see them.

[@sammy1995]

@@thefadden Thanks. Always loved this game. Friends and I would hang out at this Arcade place on Beach Blvd in Westminster, CA on weekends and play for hours draining all of our quarters.

[@SwissArmyTin]

@JackCrazee I don't know, but it was released on some Windows 95s

[@keithsummers6139]

i used to play tailgunner in my local pub most nights

[@22reepicheep]

had one of these arcadesize games in my apartment! Ex-roommate slashed wires inside with a knife out of spite one night while i was asleep.

[@gokudomatic]

I remember playing that game on PC DOS.

[@jurisgnostic]

i spent a lot of time backing up re: the missiles because it gave you more time

[@SaintSteven67]

I loved this game!

[@rabie4x4]

Gawd l loved playing this game! Untold top scores, but had to keep playing..

[@oxandco.2724]

The fist 3d game

[@georgeshelton6281]

It didn't take me very long; to figure out that, this VG (video game) has a different sound. That's when you shoot the flying saucer.