Zombie Raid Joins The Barncade

I always thought that I'd add a video game cabinet to the Barncade at some point to go along with the pinball machines. I had a small interest in a MAME cabinet, but actually preferred an original game, so my choices were looking like one of my favorite arcade games of my youth, such as Galaga, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, or Battlezone. Or possibly building my own Dragon's Lair/Dragon's Lair 2/Space Ace cabinet.

Sometimes, however, you have to jump at an opportunity when it presents itself, especially a local one that doesn't involve the hassles (and damage potential) of shipping. In this case it was a Zombie Raid cabinet that Kelly found on Craigslist. Here's a little bit of information regarding Zombie Raid from The International Arcade Museum:

Name: Zombie Raid

Manufacturer: American Sammy

Year: 1995

Type: Videogame

Class: Wide Release

Genre: Shooter

Orientation: Horizontal

Type: Raster: Standard Resolution

CRT: Color

Conversion Class: JAMMA

Number of Simultaneous Players: 2

Maximum number of Players: 2

Gameplay: Joint

Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player

Sound: Amplified Stereo (two channel)

There's a really good summary of the game (along with lots of screen shots) over at hardcoregaming101.net, which concludes their summary with "Zombie Raid is an overall amusing and high-energy game which any horror lover can enjoy."

We drove to Portland to check the game out. It powered right up, had keys to the coin door, and the game went into its standard demo mode. I started a game and took a few shots with one of the guns to make sure the game was functioning properly. The cabinet has some dings and scratches but is still great-looking for a game that's from 1995. And that cabinet art - wow! It will look great next to the Scared Stiff and Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball machines. Loading was relatively painless thanks to the seller's pallet jack and ramp, but unloading was a pain - anything using particle board always feels like it weighs a ton, and though it has wheels on the back, that doesn't exactly help get it 3 to 4 feet down from a truck bed.

The game features two awesome light guns shaped like shotguns, complete with pump action reloading. One of them is not working but a replacement was provided, along with some other spare parts. A look inside the cabinet reveals it is relatively clean, although the power board looks a bit nasty and will need to be cleaned up. The marquee at the top did not light up but appears to be just a burned out fluorescent bulb. The tube TV and mirror are in good shape, too. I found a manual online; I also found another manual that allows the Midway Terminator 2 game to be converted to Zombie Raid. I'm not sure if the reverse is possible - it would be fun to play T2 as well as Zombie Raid - so I'll be looking into that in the future.

Gun games are always popular during parties and the graphics are pretty good for the time period, so this game should get a lot of attention once it is set up. I'll follow up with some posts about cleaning, maintenance, and gameplay in the future. The price was fantastic compared to what the last few on eBay have sold for, so it looks like a great addition to the Barncade!