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Armor Attack Marquee

Destroy Some Vector Tanks

Armor Attack was one of Cinematronic's most popular games. Released in 1980, your goal is to survive attacks on your jeep by enemy tanks and helicopters.

The screen shows an overhead perspective of a ruined city. The buildings are not drawn by the game, but are a colored plastic overlay that sits on top of the screen. The game uses a black and white 19" vector display to show the single screen action in the game.

Adding to the fun, you and a friend can each control a jeep cooperating to fight the enemy weaponry at the same time. Like Cinematronics other 1980 release, Rip Off, devising team strategies to keep the game going adds a lot to the game play.

Inspired By:

Tank (Atari - 1974)

Emulation Status:

Armor Attack is emulated well in MAME. Artwork is available for MAME that accurately reproduces the colored overlay and the bezel surrounding the monitor. Sound samples are required to reproduce the output from the analog sound board.

Technical Information:

The main motherboard pcb is the same basic design as all other Cinematronics games. It has been modified to accept larger 4k 2732 eproms, up from the original 2k 2716 roms used on previous games. With four 2732 eproms, the program code for Armor Attack is 16k in size.

As with all other black & white Cinematronics vector games, the CPU was created using TTL chips and problems are difficult to diagnose without a HP 5004a Signature Analyzer and the Cinematronics Exorcisor.

Sound Board Repair Info:

The sound board is unique to Armor Attack and troubleshooting can be done without it being attached to the main pcb.

Armor Attack Cabinet Side Art

Home Versions:

Armor Attack had an official home version released for the vector-based Vectrex system. Since the vectrex screen was vertically oriented, the game was changed from it's original horizontal aspect ratio.

Armor Attack Box - Vectrex
Armor Attack for Vectrex Screen

Additional Information:

Cinematronics Monitor: Vertical Deflection Repair

Armor Attack Links:

KLOV | Arcade Flyer Archive

Manual:

Armor Attack Manual

Armor Attack Bezel