Rip Off

One or two players attempt to protect fuel canisters from groups of invading pirate tanks that appear from the edges of the screen. There are six styles of pirate tanks in the game worth 10 to 60 points each. The value of each style is determined by its speed and strategy. Low point valule tanks are very slow and generally head directly for the fuel. Higher point tanks are much faster and may work together to lure a player to destruction.

All pirate tanks are armed with short-range lasers, while player tanks are equipped with a cannon. Invading tanks are destroyed when they are hit by a cannon shot. Enemies can also be destroyed by a collision with a player's tank. There is no penalty to the player for destroying enemy tanks this way except for the brief period of time he is out of the game. When playing a two-player game, it is not possible to shoot the other player, although you will both be destroyed if your tanks collide.

The game is organized into waves and bonus levels. Two or three enemy tanks attack in each wave. A wave ends when all the pirate tanks have either been destroyed by the players or have dragged a fuel canister off the screen. After a number of waves, the bonus level increases 10, 20 ... and another round begins, starting with 10-point tanks. Each successive round is slightly faster and harder than the one before it. The bonus level gives additional points for each enemy tank destroyed. The game proceeds in this manner until all fuel canisters have been "ripped off" by the pirate tanks.

As a single player game, Rip Off is quite difficult. The game attempts to correct for the lack of a second player by attacking with fewer pirate tanks during the first few waves, but this doesn't fully make up for another player. All too often, when a pirate laser blast blows you up, you'll lose one or more fuel canisters in the time it takes to get back out on the screen.

The two-player mode is what makes Rip Off such a unique game. The players play in a cooperative, rather than competitive manner. With two players, various strategies can be employed to cover as much area as possible against the invading tanks. Ideally one player should always remain on the screen to protect the fuel.

The ability to destroy your own tank in order to wipe out an enemy tank also provides an interesting twist to gameplay. Sometimes it can be more effective to collide with the pirate and destroy both tanks than to risk being shot by the pirate and have your last fuel canister stolen. This strategy is generally only effective in a two player game.

If you stay still, it is possible to get an enemy to circle your tank indefinitely or until you shoot it.

The game was designed by Tim Skelly.

The game cabinet has a textured vinyl covering. There are also very cool sideart stickers. The control panel uses a plexiglass overlay with artwork screened on the back similar to a standard marquee. The game's front glass and marquee are not separate pieces instead, one large piece of plexiglass was used. The game instructions and graphics are screened on the back.

This game uses the same CPU board as Star Castle. The proper ROMs, a sound board, and a modified control panel are all that are required to complete this conversion.

The game was also licensed by Centuri and produced as a cocktail version. Note: there is no date shown on the screen in the game's attract mode. The monitor glass says 1980, but the game board is stamped 1979. The manual says 1980 as well. The flyer does not have a copyright date.

The game board is largely a CPU board. It consists primarily of a custom 12-bit CPU made from standard TTL logic ICs. The sound is generated by a second PCB which is attached to the CPU board by a ribbon cable.