Page 17 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #1
P. 17
by Kyle Snyder
the arcade market. So, they con- Of course, the ug-
hen you tacted Namco for the exclusive lies will speed up
W ask the rights to manufacture the "next and take on a
average Joe or Josephine which mega-hit.” Seemed like a sure rather frantic abruptness to their
video game they associate most thing. movements which adds to the chal-
with the early 80's, you get a vari- lenge. Oh yes, in addition to chas-
ety of answers...Space Invaders, ing you down they are also shoot-
Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Galaga, ing at you.
and of course, Pac-Man and his Unfortunately, the game never
family. Not ONCE will you ever saw a great deal of success. I
hear somebody excitedly never saw Warp Warp in person,
shout..."OH YEAH MAN!!!! WARP and I only discovered it when I saw
WARP WAS AWESOME!!!!!" a wrestling game called Mat Mania
This is not to say that the game in a white cabinet with Warp Warp
has nothing going for it at all...in artwork on the side. I decided to
fact the gameplay and origin is do research in back issues of Re-
rather interesting for such an un- Play magazine to find out about
known game. this lost classic. I found an article
It SHOULD have been big. It with the presidents of Rock-Ola
had a lot going for it. Imagine this... and Namco shaking hands over the
Spring 1981...Namco, the highly contract for the "next big thing." It's
successful Japanese programming a shame really. (Funny that the
powerhouse just made fortunes for next hits from Namco were Dig Dug
Bally/Midway in 1979 and 1980 and Pole Position.)
with Galaxian and PacMan, re- The resulting game is a surreal On the VERY off chance you
spectively and were the hot ticket maze & shooting game where you happen to find this game intact,
of the industry. Then there was control a little spaceman with a play a few rounds and see if it isn't
Rock-Ola, one of the largest manu- four-way joystick. Play begins in a infectious and well done. Or, check
facturers of jukeboxes the music large open field with walls being it out on MAME like I did.
industry had ever seen. With video the outer borders and two large
games being at the biggest high rectangles forming a hallway in the
the industry would ever see, it was center. These rectangles flash from
only natural that Rock-Ola would time to time with the word “Warp” -
see opportunity for expansion into hence the title "Warp Warp." If you
enter this warp hallway during the
time it flashes, you are transported
to a basic maze comprised of
evenly placed squares, much like
Exidy's Targ. You can "toggle" be-
tween the two screens each time
you enter the flashing hallway.
Of course, there has to be some
kind of baddie, or there wouldn't be
too much of a game. From out of
the corners, strange creatures, re-
sembling giant walking tongues
and pointy headed spiders emerge
one at a time. The object is to de-
stroy these monsters with your gun
before they destroy you. Pretty ba-
sic pathos for an early video game.
Classic Gamer Magazine Fall 1999 17
