Museum of the Game ®

International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®

Monaco GP

Description

An overhead driving game where you try to beat the clock. During the game a player is given an unlimited number of cars lives. Extended play is awarded once a player's score reaches a certain amount.

Monaco GP was produced by Sega/Gremlin in 1980.

Sega/Gremlin released 21 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1976. Sega/Gremlin was based in United States.

Other machines made by Sega/Gremlin during the time period Monaco GP was produced include: Deep Scan, Fortress, Head On, Head On 2, Invinco!, Digger, Astro Blaster, Eliminator, Frogger, and Pulsar

Specs

Name	Monaco GP
Developer	Sega/Gremlin (United States)
Year	1980
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	8733
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Racing
Monitor	Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Color
Conversion Class	unique
# Simultaneous Players	1
# Maximum Players	1
Game Play	Single
Control Panel Layout	Single Player
Controls	Steering: Wheel Shifter: 2-position (low, high) Pedals: 1 - Gas Pedal
Sound	Amplified Stereo (two channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard Cocktail Environmental/Cockpit Cabaret/Mini

Game Introduction

A player receives points based upon how fast the car is traveling. About eight points per second are awarded for being in low gear with the accelerator fully depressed while 25 points per second are received for being in high gear with the pedal in the same position.

Game Play

The goal is to beat the clock. The player basically has an unlimited number of cars, but it is nearly impossible to reach extended play except using high gear and not crashing.

There are 5 areas you drive through: normal road, ice (you will slide around), tunnel (you can only see what's ahead of you in your headlights), gravel (you will slow down if you drive on the gravel), and the bridge (very tricky). The five levels always show up in the same order. Until you get extended play you will only drive on the normal road, ice, and the tunnel.

You can crash as much as you want during the first 90 seconds of game play. There is no penalty except losing out on points. Extended Play (one extra car) is awarded at 2,000, 4,000, 6,000, and 8,000 points. The game stops counting score at 9,999 (and the scene locks on the normal road, it never changes after that).

The cars all move in a fairly predictable sine wave. As you go further, your car gets faster and traffic gets thicker making the game more challenging. The trickiest part of the game is getting on the bridge. It's always in the middle and you'll be warned with a bottleneck sign just before you get to it. Drop to first gear, let off the gas, and merge within the other cars. The safest way to beat the bridge is to match speed with the other cars until you're off. Puddles will also cause you to lose control briefly. Puddles only appear on the normal road and only once per scene and usually towards the beginning. You can typically avoid them by sticking to the extreme left or right of the screen.

Monaco GP KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.68 (4 votes)

Fun Factor: 3.69

Overall Like	3.75
Fun (Social)	1.75
Fun (Solo)	3.75
Collector Desire	4.25

Technical Rating: 3.69

Gameplay	3.50
Graphics	3.25
Originality	4.25
Sound/Music	3.75

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

The driver starts with 90 seconds. If he earns 2000 points before that, he can keep driving without a timer, until two crashes occur.

Images

Cabinet Information

The cockpit version has a very impressive sound system and it even includes a working tachometer. Both the mini and cockpit machines use an LED display for top scores and time countdown.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Monaco GP 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 123 known instances of this machine owned by Monaco GP collectors who are active members. Of these, 115 of them are original dedicated machines. 2 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 6 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 5 active VAPS members with a Monaco GP machines for sale. There is one active VAPS member with an extra Monaco GP circuit board for sale.

Wanted - There are 6 active VAPS members currently looking for Monaco GP.

This game ranks a 25 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 10 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

Gremlin/Sega - It's a whole new game for '80.

1980 / 2 Pages

Technical

This was probably the last major game to be built entirely from discrete logic, i.e., without using a microprocessor. The game consists of two large digital boards containing over 100 TTL chips, an analog board with countless opamps for the sound, a board that manages the players score and highscores, and a board filled with 7-segment LED's for displaying these scores. Most onscreen details sprites are generated by small ROM's.

Legacy

Monaco GP
Super Monaco GP

Manuals

Owner's Manual - Monaco GP Manual — **Owner's Manual**
(32 pages, 4 MB File)

Cockpit Wiring Diagram - Monaco GP Manual — **Cockpit Wiring Diagram**
(1 page, 0.90 MB File)

Stand Model Owner's Manual - Monaco GP Manual — **Stand Model Owner's Manual**
(40 pages, 3.10 MB File)

Foto-Finder® (Books)

The Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 87; Color photo Price guide: No
Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 87; Color photo

Additional References (logged in members often see more)

3D Model (External): cockpit (4f8ca10de889bf2db0540991eede176)
3D Model (External): Cabaret (548df7e441d0aabd73965a6121490e9b)

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