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Akka Arrh

Updated 04/11/03

Here is a picture of the 3rd AKKA ARRH machine known to exist- There may be two more machines out there. One programmer remembers 5 machines, and the other two programmers can only remember 3 machines.

The two I own, have the serial numbers #1 and #2 on the back of the cabinets. Here is a picture of the two units at California Extreme 2001.

Orginally called TARGET OUTPOST, this game was tested in 1982, but was deemed too complicated for the average player. It is actually quite fun to play.

So far I have figured out this much-

There are two screens to look at. One is the screen with the geometric shapes with a graduated color scheme. (http://www.safestuff.com/aa12.jpg).

On this screen, you basically aim your pointer over the different colors/sections of the shape. When you shoot, it 'electrifies' that section and kills all the enemies in the section you 'electrify'. 10-30 enemies will come at you at the same time, which makes it tough to kill all of them before they get into the center area.The second screen is the one that looks like Star Castle. (http://www.safestuff.com/aa9.jpg).

When the enemies get to the center area, an alarm sounds, and you must hit the ZOOM button. This flips you view to a close up of the center area. Here you must defend you ship from the aliens who have made it to the center. Your ship is in the middle with a set of rings that make up your 'shield'. The rings do not rotate, but they can be shot away by the enemies. Typically they enter the center area, take a few shots and then leave to refuel and reload. Then they come back. When they leave the center area, you press the ZOOM button again to bring back the first view. You can pick off the enemies as they are trying to escape.

You do have a 'Super Zapper' type button that kills all the enemies on the current screen. It works on both screens. It recharges every few waves.

In the later stages, the enemies start to build a stationary cannon inside the center area. They build it over several waves. You have to zoom in and destroy it before it becomes active.

The sound effects are very 'Pokey' sounding and remind me of Missile Command somewhat.

The board set is a two-board stack. It has a circuit to run the chaser lights and it uses a lot of color cycling effects like early Williams games.