My review of Attack of the Zolgear (amended, see later replies)

[Framed_Niner]

So you may have heard that the Theater 6 in Nashua NH has been repaired. Within an hour of hearing the news, I immediately went on a road trip to the arcade. Sure enough the game was working. I regret to inform you that there have been some teething troubles, and the game needs to be repaired once again. But in that brief window of operation, I played a few times. Here's what I have to say.

The twin LaserDisc backgrounds are awesome. I never got more than three players playing, but I can confirm that the difficulty scales with player count. The game is quite difficult, and I haven't managed to beat it yet. The intercom voices are awesome. When you defeat the first boss, one of the voices says "Zolgear's next!". There are lights everywhere. A red light flickers throughout the entire theater when you are about to fail. The explosions are color coded. If the explosions are orange, the ship got hit. If they are blue, the enemy got destroyed.

The true beauty of this game doesn't come from being a particularly great video game. The gameplay is is admittedly mediocre. But this is less of a video game, and more of an experience. When you have six people coordinating to take down the bosses, panicking as the alarms go off, and voting on which level to play next, you see the Theater 6 truly shine. That is the beauty of Attack of the Zolgear.

[DarthNuno]

Thanks for your feedback, and it's great to see a true fan who didn't hesitate to go on a road trip to test the game immediately.
Indeed, the game difficulty id adjusts based on the number of players. The red lighting in the theater when the end is near is quite immersive and stressful!
The choice of branching paths, based on players votes, was a great idea and added replay value even after finishing the game.

Personally, I find the gameplay very interesting because, as long as the shooting guns are well-calibrated, the shots are very precise. Playing with several players is pure joy, competing for the best score. Maybe the guns weren't properly calibrated when you played?

When I got my Galaxian Theater, it was equipped with the Zolgear mission. After the repairs, I quickly switched to the original mission 'Project Dragoon' because it?s the one I have the most affection for. However, Zolgear is indeed a very special mission, as it has never been adapted for a console or computer. To my knowledge, the game is still not available in emulation, so it?s only playable on the arcade machine.

Did you take any photos when you were on-site?

[Framed_Niner]

...Did you take any photos when you were on-site?

I got a video. Here's me playing. This is around when the left LaserDisc started failing.
https://youtu.be/_ZvjbHC1ZbU

[Framed_Niner]

I've been playing for a bit longer, and would like to retract some of my prior statements.

I have come to appreciate the gameplay far more than before. There is a significant element of strategy here. Different enemy types do different attacks and must be prioritized based on threat level. Some enemies shoot and must be eliminated quickly. Others fire missiles and can be spared, but you must stop their missiles. A third type of basic enemy kamikaze attacks and must be shot before it hits you.

The branching paths are a great feature. You can choose different areas to fight in by vote. Exia Metropolis and Zolgear Gravity Organ are the easier levels in my opinion, whilst the boss encounters in Environmental Control Center make it the obvious hard level. This adds depth; a struggling player can choose an easy path whilst a successful player can challenge themself.

The balance and difficulty curve are great. The game rewards memorizing the enemy patterns.

One secret that only experienced players will know is that holding down the trigger is not very effective. If you mash the triggers and thumb buttons, you can fire faster and drill through enemy and boss alike. The final boss has weak points. Aim for the eyes on the shields on the brain core, then aim at the core itself when exposed whilst making sure not to let missiles destroy you. The mistake of not effectively hitting weak spots cost me tonight's run, so I won't make that mistake again.

On the topic of learning from mistakes, that is one of the beautiful things about Attack of the Zolgear. If you lose, it is not because of the game being rigged like others in the genre (cough cough, CarnEvil, cough cough). Also, when you lose shield, it's game over, no continues allowed. This is a game purely of skill, you cannot bribe your way to victory.

The environments are unique and graphically pleasant. Although the technology that powers the amazing graphics has not aged well (damn you left LaserDisc player, stop failing), the visuals themselves are still great.

I am glad that this game is now alive once again. I am privileged to live reasonably close by, I won't say how close for fear of some nefarious actor doxxing me. But I can always come back. I will be back. And soon enough, I will succeed in beating Attack of the Zolgear.