I probablly have more time on this game than most pilots have in their seats. I was in Millington, TN, waiting to see my number come up for a phone booth through a ticket system. I could see the number sign from the machine which I could now play for an hour on a single quarter in 1987. My favorite of all time! Good Memories! Thanks!
Actually it's not that hard at all. You only have to master the controls. If you're familiar with Asteroids and Space Duel, it doesn't take that long. On computer keyboard you can map them like z=rotate left, x=rotate right, SPACEBAR = shield / tracktor, - = thrust RIGHT SHIFT = Fire. There's no way to play this game with a controller, it's 100% keys game just like the original. Cheers.
This was one of the better stand-ups, it was challenging but kept my interest with the variety in each level. I'd usually look for this, Defender, Zaxxon, and Tron.
Thx for posting this vid, it brings back memories of my old arcade days in the early 1980's. I played the heck out of this game, in the end i had such an epic run/game that after i had played so long on one quarter, gravity had switched 4 times, the game must have over heated or something and that was it for my Gravitar, the owner of the arcade just removed it and replaced it with another game, so sad. BTW whoever was playing this was a very good player, well done.
Great story Mazerguru! I must have spent over a thousand dollars in quarters in Gravitar I was so obsessed with this game...you are right, this player is very good!
@@beberineau LOL... I spent several hundred on Tempest, then decided in 1983 that would be cheaper to buy that actual game, so I did exactly that, bought Tempest. Still have it 40+ years later.
When you master the 5-button control system, it becomes insanely addictive. I use: z=rotate LEFT, x=rotate RIGHT, spacebar=SHIELD/TRACTOR, -=THRUST, right-shift=FIRE
:) The last time I played (probably around 1984) I was on the last planet with invisible and reverse gravity and died. Last ship ... Game Over. Went back years later and the arcade was out of business so I haven't played since. Used to be able to play for maybe 30 min or so on a quarter, GREAT FUN, great days! I would love to complete it someday just on principle...
@@detonator2112 This arcade game and another one called Stargate were my favorite games. My " strategy " with Gravitar was to accumulate extra points ( to get extra lives ) by staying in space and orbiting the sun and shooting the craft that kept coming after you in space. Dang it what a great game it was. The online version is good too.👍
@@nynthworld4152 "The online" version is the exact same one as the arcade. It's emulated and uses the original arcade ROMs. :) Yes I know the trick of orbiting the sun and shooting the ships. That would take a LONG time to gain any decent points with that method though. :)
OMG, I have to go back to this on my MAME cabinet! To this day, I NEVER KNEW the tractor beam was also a SHIELD!! Haha. Wow, that explains why it seemed impossible.
Yes indeed. The only way to play this game properly is to adopt the Asteroids/Space Duel/Gravitar 5-button control system. It takes a while to get used to the controls and the gravity but it's not really that hard to get into 200K score level. Good luck!
detonator2112 as far as my record, I don't recall. Years ago, I believe I erased the scores, can't recall why. Or, if there's a way to look at all lists, I may find that score. But, yes I have made it into the invisible levels.
Just recently, due to all this Billy Mitchell stuff, got me back into firing up the ol ' machine. At the moment, from last week, I'm at 151k.lol. I remember some skills, have obviously lost some skills. Lol
It took me 30 years to complete the game. So it's not an easy task. Now I haven't played in a few years but if I practiced a few games I would probably complete it again. PS: I combined all these parts together here if you want to save the full loop. th-cam.com/video/mrWy2-mbmDg/w-d-xo.html
Hi Dana, it's not really that difficult. It just requires you to master the 5-button control system. If you can play Asteroids and Space Duel, that's already a good starting point for Gravitar. There's no way you can control this game with any other controller, it was designed for that Atari 5-button system. On keyboard I use z-x buttons for rotating, space for shield, - for thrust and right shift for fire. It's just challenging and in the era of very simplistic games Gravitar was way too deep and way ahead of its time.
@@detonator2112 Maybe it is the Tesla's emulator or my controller I'm using, then. I played the coin-op Asteroids (multi-button) a little bit, but a LOT on the 2600 (one button). It just feels like Gravitar's ship propulsion is too powerful given its slow rotation speed and the gravity factor in their model. I'm having a hard time getting the ship under control while aiming at the red guns.
Good playing. You’re reminding me of tactics I used to use. Just got an Arcade1up Asteroids Deluxe, and I’m dusting off the skills rust. Loved this game. Even listened to Mike Hally interviewed this afternoon and read Dan Coogan’s site.
Yes. Very underrated game that was too much ahead of its time back when it was released. Pure strategy and skill. People weren't ready for such game back in those days. Gravitar required a longish learning phase and it was labeled "too hard". It's not too hard at all. You just have to learn the controls which make it amazing.
Yep, never had the chance to see a Gravitar in the flesh back when arcades where popular (put my fair share of coins into other games though), but I can appreciate that people would think they are not getting the same amount of time before they die for their money - (compared to invaders/pacman etc). But you are right, games that demanded high skill levels like Gravitar, Defender, Stargate are all legendary games, and being good at them makes it even cooler because of the challenge.
@@detonator2112 Yeah, I can only complain about the fact that is not possible to emulate the particular luminescence given by the cabinet..Asteroids and this one on cabinet are a lights show!
@@David-gu8hv Well, I just saw this on the video... (I was totally mesmerized by this videogame when I was young but I didn't play that far). Any interesting story about this bug?
@@pierredenis2482 Oh, yes, but what you see at 7:12 is not a bug. Collision in Gravatar is based on the center point of the ship. No, the bug is far cooler. At one point I was coming down too quick on dead-center on a mountain peek and ended up inside the planet! I was blown away and almost crashed but managed to get a hold of myself and recover. I proceeded to travel inside the planet destroying the bunkers which could no hit me because the bunkers couldn't shoot through the planet. It was awesome! I didn't do it often because you had to line up exactly to the pixel to fall through or crash but I did sometimes anyhow. Quite a cool bug/Easter egg!
Came back to try and pick up some tips from you and your game run through. I finally made it to the 3rd solar system. Didn't have a clue what i was doing, lol. Im still a noob, so try not to laugh. Lol.
This game is all about button controls and the finesse it offers. I'm amazed that anyone could even TRY to play this game with a joystick. And yeah I'm well aware of the 2600 version. It was a bold attempt and fundamentally it has the same idea... but gameplay wise it had little to do with the original. Cheers.
I spent a lot of time in video arcades in late '82 through 1983 playing this game. I think my high score was 170,000 something. I never made it past invisible/reverse gravity.
With a little practice you could have done it. 170K is pretty good score and it indicates that you already mastered the controls and the physics of the game.
You can buy this game on Amazon that will play on modern PCs. It is the actual arcade game and not some cheesy knock off. It is made by "SNAP Classic Arcade Games". You can customize every input button on your keyboard. One of the best things about this game is that it gets progressively harder mostly from newly presented attributes and not just simply overwhelming you with faster play and tougher elements. If you have ever played Asteroids this is the same type of vector game(straight lines and angles) on steroids, in a good way.
Hey come on... if it was "off" why do you think I lost all those dozens of lives during that game? You can watch the rest of the video and make your own conclusions. That is a known glitch.
@@detonator2112 I've only watched the first part and some parts of the later videos. It's just I've watched some videos in the past for playing tips of games and then realised half way through it's been played hacked. That move at 7:12-7:13 does look weird you have to admit. If it's a known glitch as you say then fair enough. You do display very skillful play - that's why that part stood out so much.
@@davy_K It has similar glitch in the "cave planet" which has those sharp objects on the ground. You can actually fly through the wall. It has a few glitches like that. Check out Dan Coogan's Gravitar page and the interviews of the programmers. www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/
@@detonator2112 sorry if I doubted you....there's a lot of it about! Cool about those glitches....will check that out. Im a big fan of this genre and wish there were more games like it. Edit: wow! Nice website!!! Thanks for that link.
Space War meets Lunar Lander with a little Battle Zone thrown in for the graphics- was a good game :) Only problem (IIRC) was it had a rotary directional control dial instead of buttons. If it had had Space War/Asteroid controls it would have been a better/more famous game. Instead it was like trying to play Lunar Lander while playing Tempest.
@@detonator2112 Well looking it up , you are correct. Don't why I incorrectly recalled that , unless the one in our local arcade was in a non-standard cabinet. Been about 40 years, memory just fogged up I guess.. I could kill at Asteroids ,that was my game.
the problem was i was playing on my DS... hich makes it extremely hard... but this is gonna be one of the first games i buy with my 7800 next month, that should make it much easier.
Not that hard, really. But requires a long(ish) learning phase. Well... I admit the invisible levels (2-3 planets are pretty tough). But fun... YES. Cheers!
If memory serves me, after the invisible terrain, you had to do all planets again with inverse gravity AND invisible terrain. The last planet (the one that's basically a very tight tunnel) was ridiculously hard. I never got past that. I always wondered what happened if you completed that last one but never found out! Once you got the hang of it, it was fantastic value for money too - getting to that last planet on invisible terrain/inverse gravity was the best part of an hours gaming for 10p :)
Here's the experience if I play this game 'Gravitar;' they don't give you much time, to shoot the reactor and exit. Especially if you come to the red planet.
fuck this game - i've played it for like 2 minutes and i can't beat it 😂 -20k but only cuz i play asteroids and space war; and great, now i got another game to get mad at-
Lmao - Getting better - Almost able to beat the first galaxy now. Getting close to 50k - also, what emulator/plugin/filter did you use to get the phosphor trail in this video? I need it
My dislike is because of MY sole dominantion of this game. He missed sooo many routine shots taking out sky patrol, good exit directions conserving fuel the other than that mediocre walkthrough. thank you, We love you all, thank you, goodnight!
I probablly have more time on this game than most pilots have in their seats. I was in Millington, TN, waiting to see my number come up for a phone booth through a ticket system. I could see the number sign from the machine which I could now play for an hour on a single quarter in 1987. My favorite of all time! Good Memories! Thanks!
Whoever is playing in the video is a boss, this game is so hard. Mad respect. That is well played
Actually it's not that hard at all. You only have to master the controls. If you're familiar with Asteroids and Space Duel, it doesn't take that long. On computer keyboard you can map them like z=rotate left, x=rotate right, SPACEBAR = shield / tracktor, - = thrust RIGHT SHIFT = Fire. There's no way to play this game with a controller, it's 100% keys game just like the original. Cheers.
Loved this game! I can’t believe how long ago I played it.
This was one of the better stand-ups, it was challenging but kept my interest with the variety in each level. I'd usually look for this, Defender, Zaxxon, and Tron.
You're kidding....The tractor beam blocks turret fire? All this time I've been playing it I never knew.
its so innovative its uneblievable
Agreed. This game was so amazingly way ahead of its time. The pinnacle of vector games for sure.
Kim Basinger was about to play this game in the James Bond movie "Never Say Never Again," which is by far the most unrealistic part of the film.
Yeah. Can't imagine her mastering the invisible levels. Haha.
Then after the game she was exposed to the gravity of botox
Thx for posting this vid, it brings back memories of my old arcade days in the early 1980's. I played the heck out of this game, in the end i had such an epic run/game that after i had played so long on one quarter, gravity had switched 4 times, the game must have over heated or something and that was it for my Gravitar, the owner of the arcade just removed it and replaced it with another game, so sad. BTW whoever was playing this was a very good player, well done.
Great story Mazerguru!
I must have spent over a thousand dollars in quarters in Gravitar
I was so obsessed with this game...you are right, this player is very good!
@@beberineau LOL... I spent several hundred on Tempest, then decided in 1983 that would be cheaper to buy that actual game, so I did exactly that, bought Tempest. Still have it 40+ years later.
When you master the 5-button control system, it becomes insanely addictive.
I use: z=rotate LEFT, x=rotate RIGHT, spacebar=SHIELD/TRACTOR, -=THRUST, right-shift=FIRE
:) The last time I played (probably around 1984) I was on the last planet with invisible and reverse gravity and died. Last ship ... Game Over. Went back years later and the arcade was out of business so I haven't played since. Used to be able to play for maybe 30 min or so on a quarter, GREAT FUN, great days! I would love to complete it someday just on principle...
David, get the AAE and roms here. Happy gaming! www.mediafire.com/file/a4e12st2gbd423i/aae092808.rar/file
@@detonator2112 Thanks!
@@detonator2112 This arcade game and another one called Stargate were my favorite games.
My " strategy " with Gravitar was to accumulate extra points ( to get extra lives ) by staying in space and orbiting the sun and shooting the craft that kept coming after you in space.
Dang it what a great game it was.
The online version is good too.👍
@@nynthworld4152 "The online" version is the exact same one as the arcade. It's emulated and uses the original arcade ROMs. :) Yes I know the trick of orbiting the sun and shooting the ships. That would take a LONG time to gain any decent points with that method though. :)
@@detonator2112 I gotta try out the online Gravitar. When the planets eventually become invisible that's when it gets crazy.👍
OMG, I have to go back to this on my MAME cabinet! To this day, I NEVER KNEW the tractor beam was also a SHIELD!! Haha. Wow, that explains why it seemed impossible.
Yes indeed. The only way to play this game properly is to adopt the Asteroids/Space Duel/Gravitar 5-button control system. It takes a while to get used to the controls and the gravity but it's not really that hard to get into 200K score level. Good luck!
I've owned my Gravitar for 30 plus years and can't play this good.
Awesome, thanks for showing us how to fly.
You're welcome. What is your personal record? Have you gotten into the invisible levels? Cheers.
detonator2112 as far as my record, I don't recall. Years ago, I believe I erased the scores, can't recall why. Or, if there's a way to look at all lists, I may find that score. But, yes I have made it into the invisible levels.
Just recently, due to all this Billy Mitchell stuff, got me back into firing up the ol ' machine.
At the moment, from last week, I'm at 151k.lol.
I remember some skills, have obviously lost some skills. Lol
It took me 30 years to complete the game. So it's not an easy task. Now I haven't played in a few years but if I practiced a few games I would probably complete it again. PS: I combined all these parts together here if you want to save the full loop. th-cam.com/video/mrWy2-mbmDg/w-d-xo.html
this game was HAAAAAAAAAARD
I had completely forgotten about this game, and was excited to see it come standard in the Tesla game section. Very difficult game
Hi Dana, it's not really that difficult. It just requires you to master the 5-button control system. If you can play Asteroids and Space Duel, that's already a good starting point for Gravitar.
There's no way you can control this game with any other controller, it was designed for that Atari 5-button system. On keyboard I use z-x buttons for rotating, space for shield, - for thrust and right shift for fire.
It's just challenging and in the era of very simplistic games Gravitar was way too deep and way ahead of its time.
@@detonator2112 Maybe it is the Tesla's emulator or my controller I'm using, then. I played the coin-op Asteroids (multi-button) a little bit, but a LOT on the 2600 (one button). It just feels like Gravitar's ship propulsion is too powerful given its slow rotation speed and the gravity factor in their model. I'm having a hard time getting the ship under control while aiming at the red guns.
@@dmccalldds Practice. It's very, very enjoyable game after you master it. Cheers.
@@detonator2112 Thanks for the encouragement, and thanks so much for posting your great video to show us how it's done!
Great game and great play through. I don't even think the devs were able to make it through a complete loop. Thanks for the post!
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Incredible game. One of my favourites next to Defender and Berzerk.
How about Robotron:2084? I love that game.
Good playing. You’re reminding me of tactics I used to use. Just got an Arcade1up Asteroids Deluxe, and I’m dusting off the skills rust. Loved this game. Even listened to Mike Hally interviewed this afternoon and read Dan Coogan’s site.
Obvious inspiration for Rare's Solar Jetman
Like #130. I LOVED that game every Saturday at Malibu Grand Prix Arcade and Miniature Golf in Redwood City, CA in the 80's
I remember when this game was rolled into the arcade I went to. It was a real ball buster but so fun.
Some incredible gameplay here. Nice work!
Thanks man. Cheers!!!!
Made me re-read this excellent site about Gravitar - such an epic game! www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/gravitar.html
Yes. Very underrated game that was too much ahead of its time back when it was released. Pure strategy and skill. People weren't ready for such game back in those days. Gravitar required a longish learning phase and it was labeled "too hard". It's not too hard at all. You just have to learn the controls which make it amazing.
Yep, never had the chance to see a Gravitar in the flesh back when arcades where popular (put my fair share of coins into other games though), but I can appreciate that people would think they are not getting the same amount of time before they die for their money - (compared to invaders/pacman etc). But you are right, games that demanded high skill levels like Gravitar, Defender, Stargate are all legendary games, and being good at them makes it even cooler because of the challenge.
The raster graphic of that time was almost terrible but vectors were really beautiful..
Indeed. And they look amazing even today. Completely timeless.
@@detonator2112 Yeah, I can only complain about the fact that is not possible to emulate the particular luminescence given by the cabinet..Asteroids and this one on cabinet are a lights show!
@@Nullius_in_verba Try AAE. This has the emulator and all the roms. It's the best there is. www.mediafire.com/file/a4e12st2gbd423i/aae092808.rar/file
Damn! I liked Gravitar, but I SUCKED at it. You have some skills!
This game is brutal!
That is some incredible gaming! A lot of people out there don't have a clue just how hard that is! Wow.................
Thanks man. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Amazing playthrough. You are skilled!
Thanks man. Glad you liked it. Cheers.
Major havoc I cannot comment on as I have not mastered it. Great Atari game!
This was when 'BevMo' was the 'Wherehouse' video store; they only had joystick control, not the entire unit.
You Sir. Deserve a 🥇
I absolutely sucked at this game.If I wasn’t crashing into walls,I was crashing into the sun lol
Nice work! I remember you could use the star for additional acceleration and slingshot shenanigans to get away from the flying saucers (????)
7:12 A bug in collision detection?
You know about the collision bug?
@@David-gu8hv Well, I just saw this on the video... (I was totally mesmerized by this videogame when I was young but I didn't play that far). Any interesting story about this bug?
@@pierredenis2482 Oh, yes, but what you see at 7:12 is not a bug. Collision in Gravatar is based on the center point of the ship. No, the bug is far cooler. At one point I was coming down too quick on dead-center on a mountain peek and ended up inside the planet! I was blown away and almost crashed but managed to get a hold of myself and recover. I proceeded to travel inside the planet destroying the bunkers which could no hit me because the bunkers couldn't shoot through the planet. It was awesome! I didn't do it often because you had to line up exactly to the pixel to fall through or crash but I did sometimes anyhow. Quite a cool bug/Easter egg!
@@David-gu8hv That's an awesome story indeed! This strange "feature", probably not anticipated by the programmers, makes the game even more amazing.
Yes. That's a bug in the game. Try it yourself.
Came back to try and pick up some tips from you and your game run through. I finally made it to the 3rd solar system. Didn't have a clue what i was doing, lol.
Im still a noob, so try not to laugh. Lol.
There's 11 planets per universe + the red planet (reactor).
Cheers.
I have something to tell you about the Atari 2600's version of 'Gravitar;' it's really hard to handle, since I've tried it before.
This game is all about button controls and the finesse it offers. I'm amazed that anyone could even TRY to play this game with a joystick. And yeah I'm well aware of the 2600 version. It was a bold attempt and fundamentally it has the same idea... but gameplay wise it had little to do with the original. Cheers.
…...why hello grandfather to Solar jetman.
I spent a lot of time in video arcades in late '82 through 1983 playing this game. I think my high score was 170,000 something. I never made it past invisible/reverse gravity.
With a little practice you could have done it. 170K is pretty good score and it indicates that you already mastered the controls and the physics of the game.
You can buy this game on Amazon that will play on modern PCs. It is the actual arcade game and not some cheesy knock off. It is made by "SNAP Classic Arcade Games". You can customize every input button on your keyboard.
One of the best things about this game is that it gets progressively harder mostly from newly presented attributes and not just simply overwhelming you with faster play and tougher elements.
If you have ever played Asteroids this is the same type of vector game(straight lines and angles) on steroids, in a good way.
Well this IS the actual arcade game. 100% same game and ROMs. MAME and AAE can perfectly duplicate it.
Try ZD Recorder. It works fine with MAME and AAE. Fraps works too but it makes the files gigantic. I only use the ZD Recorder these days.
Very nice job on this video!
Thanks guýs. And keep up the good work with the classic arcades. I've been watching your TH-cam site regularly. Cheers!
AAE Vector emulator looks amazing. Any links to a download or setup tutorial?
+rotarydialz Here you go man. It has everything. www.mediafire.com/download/a4e12st2gbd423i/aae092808.rar
+detonator2112 Thank you very much.
How do you record the video straight on like that? I'd like to do the same when I attempt another world record on Gravitar.
Anybody know about the collision bug (personally I think it was an Easter egg)?
7:12 looks suspicious - you sure this is genuine? Looked like collision detection was off. Maybe it's a glitch?
Hey come on... if it was "off" why do you think I lost all those dozens of lives during that game? You can watch the rest of the video and make your own conclusions. That is a known glitch.
@@detonator2112 I've only watched the first part and some parts of the later videos. It's just I've watched some videos in the past for playing tips of games and then realised half way through it's been played hacked. That move at 7:12-7:13 does look weird you have to admit. If it's a known glitch as you say then fair enough. You do display very skillful play - that's why that part stood out so much.
@@davy_K It has similar glitch in the "cave planet" which has those sharp objects on the ground. You can actually fly through the wall. It has a few glitches like that. Check out Dan Coogan's Gravitar page and the interviews of the programmers. www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/
@@davy_K I played this game literally for years and I swear there are ZERO cheats in my game. Cheers.
@@detonator2112 sorry if I doubted you....there's a lot of it about! Cool about those glitches....will check that out. Im a big fan of this genre and wish there were more games like it. Edit: wow! Nice website!!! Thanks for that link.
Space War meets Lunar Lander with a little Battle Zone thrown in for the graphics- was a good game :) Only problem (IIRC) was it had a rotary directional control dial instead of buttons. If it had had Space War/Asteroid controls it would have been a better/more famous game. Instead it was like trying to play Lunar Lander while playing Tempest.
What do you mean? Gravitar used the exact same 5-button control system as Asteroids, Space Duel and Asteroids Deluxe.
@@detonator2112 Well looking it up , you are correct. Don't why I incorrectly recalled that , unless the one in our local arcade was in a non-standard cabinet. Been about 40 years, memory just fogged up I guess.. I could kill at Asteroids ,that was my game.
the problem was i was playing on my DS... hich makes it extremely hard... but this is gonna be one of the first games i buy with my 7800 next month, that should make it much easier.
Theres more than 5 planets!?
Before tutorials...
Not that hard, really. But requires a long(ish) learning phase. Well... I admit the invisible levels (2-3 planets are pretty tough).
But fun... YES.
Cheers!
If memory serves me, after the invisible terrain, you had to do all planets again with inverse gravity AND invisible terrain. The last planet (the one that's basically a very tight tunnel) was ridiculously hard. I never got past that. I always wondered what happened if you completed that last one but never found out! Once you got the hang of it, it was fantastic value for money too - getting to that last planet on invisible terrain/inverse gravity was the best part of an hours gaming for 10p :)
It's hard to believe that you now days have; video game machines that, spit out ticket stubs which you can use to purchase toy prizes with.
I love to go back to the days when; we use to have video game machines that say, great score enter your initials.
Here's the experience if I play this game 'Gravitar;' they don't give you much time, to shoot the reactor and exit. Especially if you come to the red planet.
better than MW3
fuck this game - i've played it for like 2 minutes and i can't beat it 😂
-20k but only cuz i play asteroids and space war; and great, now i got another game to get mad at-
Haha.... try 2 YEARS. Good luck man. :)
Lmao - Getting better - Almost able to beat the first galaxy now. Getting close to 50k - also, what emulator/plugin/filter did you use to get the phosphor trail in this video? I need it
Kreddit karma brought me here
one of the hardest fucking games in the world.... SOOOOOOO fucking fun though.
@7:12 WAT
Yep. That's a bug in the game. Try it yourself. Error in the programming. Works every time.
Game was too hard! Too many buttons!
My dislike is because of MY sole dominantion of this game. He missed sooo many routine shots taking out sky patrol, good exit directions conserving fuel the other than that mediocre walkthrough. thank you, We love you all, thank you, goodnight!