Sea Wolf 2008
I’m not sure if the name Sea Wolf rings a bell for any of you but this was one of those games I remember playing in the arcades in the 1980′s and loving. Midway put out the original Sea Wolf in 1976 for arcades and it stood out for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason was that the game required that you look into an actual periscope to play it. When you looked into it, you saw an expanse of “ocean” in front of you and enemy ships would move in the background. Your goal, as you can imagine, was to line up the ships and push the red “torpedo” button on your periscope handle and try and sink the enemy fleet.
1976 Sea Wolf
What was even cooler about the 1976 version was what it was related to. That would be it’s older brother, a 1970′s machine called Sea Devil. It played about the same but rather than being a true “videogame”, as was Sea Wolf, it was one of those old school mechanical games. In Sea Devil, there were actual ship cut outs that traveled on a track inside the cabinet. When you fired your torpedoes, a strip of flashing lights would show the missiles path and when you hit the ship it flipped over. My uncle had one of these games, which I believe was actually another Midway mechanical periscope game called Sea Raider, in his basement and I thought it was one of the coolest games around. It’s really a cool thing, being all mechanical in nature and as such has a very unique quality to the sounds and feel of the game. If you can track one down to play, I highly recommend it.
1969 Sea Devil
Well, looks like all things old are new again. Gleefully, on my trip to a local arcade, I stumbled upon the next generation of Sea Wolf. Brought out by a company named Coastal Amusements, this is basically the same game, only a little more “digital.” It has more of a 3D look to it and sadly, the periscope is gone. The idea remains the same, however, in that you line up your torpedoes and try to sink ships. This next gen Sea Wolf also qualifies as one of those “redemption” arcade games. Meaning that, depending on how well you score, you get a number of tickets as a reward. You know, so you can go get that plastic spider ring you’ve been so fond of.
While not being the greatest videogame in the world, I’m actually pretty happy that we’re seeing Sea Wolf in the arcades again. Maybe the next version will bring back the periscope.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Yep, It’s called Sea Raider. I’ve logged lots of hours on that machine. It’s all mechanical and the mirror system it uses is awesome! Glad to see kids are still wanting to sink submarines!
November 11th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Cool! I thought it might be Sea Raider. I remember the difference being the “score card” that was at the top of Sea Raider. If I remember right, when you get a hit, a ship on the front card of the cabinet lit up. Or something to that effect.
You guys still have that one? Or did your dad sell it?
November 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
No periscope? Sigh, won’t get my quarters then.