Sega's Rambo on location test in Japan

HeavyElectricity April 20, 2008 11

Rambo location test poster

I hadn’t heard anything about this one prior to today, but Kobayan reports that Sega has a new lightgun shooter out on test in Japan at the moment. Rambo is obviously based on the film series starring Sylvester Stallone, and is Sega’s first attempt at taking the license to the arcade (the company previously produced Master System and Mega Drive Rambo games). According to Kobayan, the game uses an anger gauge which provides a power boost and temporary invincibility when filled. The report also hints at various special events throughout the stages, of which there were two on display. No word yet on if this one will get an international release, but with the popularity of the Rambo films in the West, there’s definitely a good possibility.

UPDATE: Here is another report from the testing that describes the game in a little more detail but no images. They say that it looks like it’s running on the Lindbergh so it should look good and they say that Rambo looks “shiny”. [via Horse and Gun] And as we see in the comments to the post thanks to The Stinger Report, it sounds like Sega is taking the Operation Wolf route with this one and for fans of that game and Rambo, it’s hard to see how it can go wrong.

UPDATE #2: First direct screens of Rambo and it’s cabinet from around the net (click here)

UPDATE #3: Our impressions from the UK location test, with new video and pictures (click here)

[Kobayan] [Discuss on the Forum]

11 Comments »

  1. Paul April 21, 2008 at 4:20 pm - Reply

    Helllll yeah! Rambo may be dumb war porn, but that’s what video games are all about. It’s funny how you were cautious about saying if it would come to the US – can you imagine a Rambo game being Japan-only? This year is going to be the best year for new arcade releases in a long time. Now let’s see screenshots of the inevitable compound bow.

  2. HeavyElectricity April 21, 2008 at 4:44 pm - Reply

    In the past, I’d have said that the game was a dead cert for American release. However, Sega has made some odd decisions lately – as well as the extremely late international release for Virtua Fighter 5, there was the decision not to release 2 Spicy in North America (and that one is a versus shootout game). Still, can’t wait to get a go on this myself.

  3. editor April 21, 2008 at 5:02 pm - Reply

    This was described to us as the ‘Operation Wolf’ game in Sega development.
    Think that after the problems with Sega R&D this will be a important game, and get US release at least – expect to see a system at Preview.

  4. Shaggy April 22, 2008 at 1:58 am - Reply

    I’m excited about this, especially if it’s in the vein of Operation Wolf. I hope that there is a lot of gratuitous destruction to go around. I do hope that it comes to the States – if not, that would be really strange. I was disappointed by the fact that 2Spicy didn’t see a general release so I hope the same thing doesn’t happen this time around.

  5. editor April 22, 2008 at 12:26 pm - Reply

    I will never get over 2Spicy Shaggy – the game worked on so many levels, but was reported to test badly, only for a rumor that it was never widely circulated as operators were turned off by the high price for a twin LindBergh system.

    I am of the feeling that the amusement operators are the worst enemy of the amusement scene at the moment – most want a way out of amusement operation (turn their sites into rental space), while the others want to keep it a secret they are making money and just want to milk it without buying new hardware.

    Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Busters saw major upswing in revenue – the same is true for GameWorks and Peter Pizza – these are the guys that have to report figures, what the rest are doing is a interesting situation. I wonder if the time has come for self operation across the board, this would ensure connected machines, clean and regular operation and remove the operator from the mix?

    • arcads4ever February 13, 2010 at 11:51 am - Reply

      I played it and love it, it used to be at skegness inngoldmels planet fun but a few months later it had gone and it was early 2007 when this happened. wouldn’t care but I saw people actually playing it. still its a dumb name though, they should have come up with a better name other than 2 spicey. I wrote to sega a year ago and they said they sold around 200 cabinets and that they are out there somewhere LOL but not being very accurate LOL XD

  6. Geo April 22, 2008 at 1:28 pm - Reply

    i still dont ge it, but what is the fun about pinball games..? are not all of them the same…? i played some of them, but it i see that you guys get very exiting for those games……..

  7. Shaggy April 22, 2008 at 2:26 pm - Reply

    Geo,

    I’m guessing you meant to post on another topic. 🙂

    Pinball games can be a lot of fun, but you have to get into it. I admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of pinball as I never have played many before but lately as I have had a greater opportunity to do so, I’ve gotten into it more. Each board is different (well except for cases like Shrek) and just the experience is something you don’t get in a video game by controlling a real object.

  8. SaraAB87 April 22, 2008 at 3:40 pm - Reply

    You cannot simulate a pinball machine, as hard as you try you can only get the experience from playing the real thing. Sure you can play video game pinball, but its not the same as playing a real machine. Pinball is very fun but it has its problems, the machines are difficult and expensive to maintain. Many people also get a bad impression of pinball because they find a machine in bad condition on location and play that, and thats what cements their opinion about it. Pinball is only truly fun when you have a machine that works 100% to play on, and to find those machines are rare these days. Its also best if you have a machine at a location that you frequently visit, if you continue to play the same game over and over, it becomes more fun and more of a challenge. Each machine takes at least a few plays to learn as well, its not really the type of thing you pop a quarter into, play a quick game and then walk away from.

  9. Geo April 22, 2008 at 7:18 pm - Reply

    My bad i tought that the Rambo picture was a Pinball game, however tanks for explain something about it…….

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