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International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®

Area 51

Description

Kill the aliens and their mothership.

Area 51 was produced by Atari Games in 1995.

Atari Games released 89 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1984. Atari Games was based in United States.

Other machines made by Atari Games during the time period Area 51 was produced include: T-Mek, Primal Rage, Metal Maniax, Cops, Beat Head, Hoop It Up World Tour, San Francisco Rush, Primal Rage II, Beavis And Butt-Head, and Tenth Degree

Specs

Name	Area 51
Developer	Atari Games (United States)
Year	1995
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	6907
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Shooter
Monitor	Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Color
Conversion Class	unique
External Device	HDD
# Simultaneous Players	2
# Maximum Players	2
Game Play	Joint
Control Panel Layout	Multiple Player
Controls	Gun: Optical
Sound	Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard
Control Panel	Area 51 Control Panel Image

Game Introduction

The plot of this game is very simple. Aliens have invaded, and you and the other members of STAAR must defeat them. The game is pretty much a standard light gun game, with enemies appearing over a prerendered background. The introduction of secret rooms helps replay value, as does competing for a higher score with a partner.

Game Play

Through the game you will go from the Hangars of Area 51, into the Labs and then into the mountain cave for a final showdown. During the trip, you shoot at the aliens, with your Light Gun, shoot power-ups to collect them, and shoot inanimate objects (windows, barrels, etc) to get bonus points and open secret rooms.

Area 51 KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.41 (8 votes)

Fun Factor: 3.86

Overall Like	3.86
Fun (Social)	4.29
Fun (Solo)	3.86
Collector Desire	3.43

Technical Rating: 3.31

Gameplay	4.00
Graphics	3.50
Originality	3.43
Sound/Music	3.29

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

Cheats, Tricks, Bugs, and Easter Eggs

Secret Rooms:

There are many secret "rooms" that can be entered by shooting combinations of inanimate objects in the game. For example, shooting all the office windows out after going up the ladder in the hangar will take you to "Shake your Buddha", where you can take shots at the stationary heads of the development team and increase your score and streak. Taking out all the windows on the back wall of the hangar will take you to another secret room full of power-ups.

Kron Hunter:

Instead of starting out the game normally, avoid shooting the aliens. Instead, shoot the first three members of STAAR that appear on the screen (the guys in blue). Do not worry, after your health gets down to one, the aliens will not hurt you any more. After shooting the third member of STAAR, you will get an info screen talking about Kron Hunters, and you will start the game over as one. The graphics pallette will be completely whacked, and when you are done, a Kron Hunter symbol (a green K) will appear next to your high score, rather than a military ranking.

Images

Conversion

This game can be converted into Maximum Force, and the Maximum Force / Area 51 hybrid.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Area 51 Census

There are 15,264 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,669 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,973 machines (7,000 unique titles).

Very Common - There are 148 known instances of this machine owned by Area 51 collectors who are active members. Of these, 73 of them are original dedicated machines. 38 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 36 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 13 active VAPS members with a Area 51 machines for sale. There are 2 active VAPS members with a Area 51 circuit boards for sale.

Wanted - There are 3 active VAPS members currently looking for Area 51.

This game ranks a 26 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 5 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Technical

System based on R3041 MIPS CPU.

Legacy

Manuals

Operators Manual - Area 51 Manual — **Operators Manual**
(56 pages, 5 MB File)

Additional References (logged in members often see more)

3D Model (External): Upright (d4414bb643abf3331d9de88c1cabaeb7)

Arcade Map - Play This Game

Our members have reported that Area 51 is playable at 1 locations:

Name	Location	State	Country	Details	Check-ins
Level One Bar + Arcade	130 Hutchinson Ave, Columbus	Ohio	United States	Unknown	0

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