I remember seeing a video of just sinistar saying that like a year ago and I thought it was something modern. Like from some creepy snuff video website or something.
I remember playing this as a kid, and never getting anywhere, but I played it at a retro arcade in Branson, Mo. last month for the first time since childhood. I finally took the time to figure out how to play it, and was able to kill a Sinistar for the first time in my life. I was pretty proud of myself. My wife was so impressed that she... nah, she didn't care at all.
"You start the game with zero Cinnabons." I know that's not what you said, but now I want a game where this sentence is applicable, ideally an 8-bit take on Better Call Saul. 😂
When a red guy picks up a crystal, they'll fly it over to where Sinistar is being constructed and add another piece to him. The name of the game is to not let any of the workers take crystals that you miss. That's how Sinistar builds up faster than you accumulate sinibombs. Stay on top of every crystal knocked loose and you'll rack up a good score in no time. Plus you have plenty of sinibombs to kill that thing over and over again. It's gratifying to make Sinistar explode and eat his words.
I have been terrified of Sinistar for as long as I can remember. Even now Sinistar is scary; not because of the voice, but because of how fast Sinistar can move.
When I was a kid, I had the same reaction… this game was so scary, I would make a loop around the arcade avoiding it for awhile until I got brave enough. Playing it was insanely scary when he came after you!
LOL, Sinistar used to be one of my go to's at Milford Rec. For those of you not from CT Milford Rec was one of two major and huge 80s type arcades in CT. 2 floors, over 500 cabs, 50 pinball machines, 25 pool tables, pizza place, it was a literal mecca if you were an arcade kid. I remember a couple years ago it was demolished to put up a horrid strip mall with things like Blinds to Go 🙄. I snuck in just to reminisce about the great times I had there. I had a cathartic moment and realized that like Milford Rec I too am a relic. I stood there among the ghosts of better times. Thanks Ralph for helping keep the golden age in the minds of the new generation of gamers. It was such an amazing time, and you're keeping it from vanishing into the ether.
Thanks my dude, I had a similar experience when I went back to my childhood mall that had my go to arcade called the "dream machine". Not only is the mall completely different but the arcade is a thing of the past. It's sad to see places you had such great memories of just vanish. Anyhow, on a positive note, these games are still special no matter how much time passes. I know you feel the same way, they won't die on our watch, right? Let's keep the dream alive my friend! I hope you have a great Christmas my friend!
I hear yah buddy. When I was 11 or 10 all I could think about was the Arcade and I was hooked hard. My place has long been demolished too but I can still see myself standing at the exact spot where I played Double Dragon for 20p and loved every second of it. UK guy here.
I also spent time at Milford Rec back in the day. My dad used to work in Orange and would drop me off there sometimes in the summer. Great place! Since I used to live in Naugatuck, I couldn't go very often and used to hang at Crazy 8 arcade in Waterbury all the time. Sinestar was one of my faves along with Robotron and Dragon's Lair. Man, I dropped a lot of quarters in those machines!
I was searching for the name of this game for decades (literally!). I played it as a kid on vacation in Italy; scared shitless. Today a friend sent me the link to this video. Another mystery of my childhood resolved.😁
This is easily my favorite arcade game of all time. I wish I bought an original cab when the price was more agreeable. I didn’t read all the comments, but when playing and a “worker” gets a piece from an asteroid, you can still chase them, shoot them and take the goods from them. Great video, and lots of good info!
I remember seeing this game in the arcade and yes, it was a big scary mess. I tried playing a few times but never understood the point. I was completely unaware of the little crystals coming out of the planetoids. I just assumed it would play like Asteroids, where you're supposed to blow them up. And then Sinistar shows up, you try to shoot him, and you're toast.
This game was brutally hard and scary as hell. I remember playing it in 83 next to a Joust (which used much of the same hardware). The speaking in the game was really ground breaking for the time.
I feel you. I had a high score for a very long time at the one that I used to have at work that nobody could even touch. I also used to be able to reliably beat two and I don’t remember if i beat a third. I might’ve one or twice, but even just the second one is quite a challenge.
Many, many years ago, I set the high score on a cab in a bowling alley next to my high school. It was little over 300K--nothing special really, but I pumped lot of quarters into that machine to get that high score. I came back home after graduating from college 4 years later and saw that my high score was still standing. That's how tough this game was.
Unfortunately it’s a game that’s pretty hard to play outside its original setting/hardware. It has a special joystick so if you’re not playing on the original hardware it actually plays differently than intended. Its quite hard without it as your speed is hard to control. I can get quite a bit further on the original machine In comparison to some thing like a mame.
That's awesome, I can't remember does that cabinet have the version of SInistar where the map is on the right hand side? Thanks so much for watching! RUN RUN RUN!!!
That is correct. Mine is the horizontal version and the map is on the right side. Currently I have an 8 way joystick but plan to get a 49 in 1 joystick down the road. The 49 joystick makes a huge difference in game play.
This game is brutal I think it's possessed. 👿 But I think more games should taunt the player more like sinistar and black knight pin brings emotion into the gameplay.
I agree, it ups the emotion for sure and the urgency, act fast or be destroyed... it's really a simple concept but it's highly effective and quite addictive. It's interesting how a lot of the 80's games pull on your emotions. Space Invaders the sound effects actually stress me out so bad... haha. Thanks for watching my friend. I hope all is well and you have a great Christmas!
I remember seeing the sit down version of this game at the arcade and didn't think anything of it. Then I was waiting to play another game and from behind me this thing yelled "I HUNGER" and peed myself a little.
Yeah, this game scared the crap out of me as a kid. Especially has the place that had it had the volume cranked pretty high, so when he Fus Ro Dahs the player to death it was LOUD and STARTLING.
"Beware... I live." I must have plunked hundreds of dollars into that arcade game. All because Sinistar challenged my very existence. "Run coward!" LOL
Tip: Try to keep the Sinistar build site on your radar, indicated by the yellow dot. Because once he leaves your radar, you can actually hear him being built much faster. Every “plunk plunk” noise you hear is a piece of him being constructed. I try to keep him in my sights as he’s being built and periodically send a sinibomb loose to slow down construction.
@@RetroRalph you can also milk the first screen by keeping Sinistar next to you and just pick off the red guys as they try to add pieces to him. it's kind of cheap, and not super easy, but you can get some extra points. also, sinistar has auto fire, so you can just hold the fire button down. :)
@@coasterlvr It's not cheap. the game is cheap. you have to use whatever strategy works. besides that only works on the very first level which is unique, and doesn't repeat. the autofire setting has to be turned on, to use in the settings though. made it to 380k on default settings, but thats the furthest i got. later -1
@@negative1723 i've never turned on auto fire, or played a cabinet that didn't auto fire. my jrok and arcadesd both default to auto fire. 380 is great. i think when i was a kid i used to get 300k. i have an award somewhere that's engraved with my score from a contest i won. i THINK it was around 300k, but pretty sure not much more, if that at all. i need to setup another jrok. arcadesd works great with 49 way joystick support, but the settings in the menu don't work and it's only set to two bonus men.
This game holds a special place in my memory. I grew up in the country a little store down the street added this and a few other games back in the 80s. I spent $5.00 playing this and once I got home my mom came unglued on me for blowing money on something that she called "a waste of time. " Well I'm 50 and still wasting my time as my mama put it..hahah
Thanks for the Sinistar game tutorial. I recently got the Defender partycade and had no clue on how to play the game. I'm now enjoying the game since you shed some light on the rules.
Awesome video and game! One of my all time favorites. Yes in 83 this was very scary. Another one that had a similar effect was the classic pinball game Gorgar with the beating heartbeat that sped up as you played along with Gorgar speaking was as they promoted it “no longer man vs machine but man vs monster”
Always one of my favorite arcade games and I still use the name as one of my online pseudonyms. Having worked at an arcade for some years, I still have the plastic headboard.
Thanks bud, I really appreciate you helping me find this man, it means a lot. I should have mentioned the piece about the centering spider but I was exhausted filming this. We're hosting for Christmas and Kim and I are both running around like crazy people getting ready for Family. Anyhow, I hope you have a great holiday and thanks again my friend. Should I put you on the hunt now for an X-Men? That's the next cabinet I think I want to track down... haha. That and an original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Going to start off 2022 with some 90's titles. ;-)
I remember seeing this game for the first time at a local grocery store back in the 80s, I didnt know it was gonna start screaming at me telling me how hungry it was . Freaked me and my bro out man.
I remember playing Sinistar in its enviromental cab, has speakers in the front and the back. Super loud, when he screeched in, the whole cab shook and it felt like Sinistar was screaming at my balls.
Played this around 1985 at a hotel in California during a business trip my dad was on. We were there for a few nights and I played it every night we were there. Really awesome game and hard to get good at!
Cheers Ralph!! I never got to play this as a kid but I am looking forward to experiencing it soon. The voice clips sound so creepy and cool dude. Have a great Holiday weekend bro!!
I played this a couple of times at JETS, the arcade at my local mall before it closed down. I'd go get a Cinnabon before collecting Sinibombs on Sinistar.
This game I will never forget. played it once just because it scared the crap out of me when I walked by it, It felt to small me like a poisonous snake ready to strike. Now days I wish I could take its voice lines and use them as a ring tone.
Running the OG boards on this is next level. Basically, it's worse than pinball, which I didn't think was possible. Pinball will break your heart. Thanks for the video, I'd forgotten this gorgeous cabinet!
Loved this game as a kid. Later on in life got the dos version of midway classics and I remember there were some videos on the one where Noah Falstein was talking about the infinite lives bug and just amazed at how the kids found out about it in the arcades. Just blew his mind. Awesome game and memories. Thanks Ralph! Great score man...def hold on to that machine!!
When I was younger I would always see these types of games on compilation discs like Midway Arcade Treasures and Namco Museum, etc. But I would only be interested in the later 80s and 90s games. I'm only now starting to get into the earlier 80s games and I wish I gave them more time when I was younger cuz they are seriously awesome games.
Thanks bud, I'm really glad you enjoy them! This one was fun to make and Sinistar is just such a fun, challenging and sometimes very frustrating game... LOL. Have a great holiday and thanks again for the support!
I'll never forget playing this game at an arcade inside Six Flags. My last man gets eaten! "RRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" I'm dead. Then the screen says, "Thank you for visiting Six Flags Over Texas." What a nice, amicable message from a machine that just ate me alive while bellowing with demonic rage!
Sinistar was my jam in the 80s. I held high scores on every machine I found. When you learn how to dodge him (lure and circle around) you can near play it forever on a quarter.
This game is so wacked LOL. Definitely not something I would play, but I do have an appreciation and respect for the Golden Age games. Nice to see such a diverse selection in your collection Ralph! As always, thanks for sharing and keep up the great content.
These early 80's games aren't for everyone but I have sure grown fond of this one. Lot's of Arcade games to go around, right? Thanks so much for watching my friend!
I remember an arcade in Salem Oregon that had a Sinistar back in 1980 something. I was thirteen years old in 1983 and remember blowing Sinistar up! While it is a scary game I believe Berzerk from 1980 is the most terrifying game ever. Everything from the cabinet shape, art work and the robot voices. Berzerk has actually been urban legendized as being linked to several deaths. Regardless of what you believe Sinistar and Berzerk both capture that rare moment in time that was the early 1980's. Incredible! Thanks for the video Ralph.
I lived in a small town when I was growing up in the 80's, so we almost always got games later than the big cities. I guess this game came out when I was 11, but I never got to play it until I was around 15 or so. They put it in at a small petrol station just a short walk from my house. I bet I played this thing 1000 times over the years. Loved this game! Even defeated Sinistar a few times, but despite all those quarters, I was never great at it. Still fun, though. Man, I wish I had one of those collections to give it a go again. Such fond memories of this one. This, and Time Pilot.
I've seen sinistar many times over the years but I've never played it. After watching this video I think I'm gonna give it a try next time I see it. Game actually looks pretty fun
I was 9 years old in 1983. I used to play this at a skating ring my babysitter's daughter has meets at, otherwise i would never have known this game. I played it all the time, though i always lost, not understanding the game. It was my favorite game nonetheless. I decided to purchase a classic collection on my daughter's xbox....the sounds bring back sweet memories! Now that i don't blow through my limited quantity of quarters, i will eventually, and finally beat this game!
the game never scared me but i see how someone could be, it came out when i was 14, and as much as i wanted to like the game, i just wound up hating it due to the rediculous difficulty spike from the very beginning. i wasn't going to waste what precious quarters i had on a game that tookm them all before i could play joust, pac-man, dig dug or any of the other decently fair games i fell in love with.
This was my favorite arcade game. I remember the first time I played it. I had read about it in a video game magazine, but had no idea how insane the game really was. The thing roars at you!
My family would make a yearly cross-country trip. We would always stop overnight at a Holiday Inn with a gameroom and they had Sinistar. What an amazing game! Bad guys never had life like Sinistar did. There was no hiding from the fact that this was a life or death battle. The style reminds me of Williams pinball machines, particularly Sorcerer. They both make great use of the voice chip.
This was my favorite game of all time. I must have fed that game a couple hundred bucks in quarters while in high school. I always jumped when it screamed "I Live" and roared. There has never been anything to compare to this masterpiece.
50 year old here. We never played it as pre-teens but i remember we could hear it from a distance... i think i was playing time pilot, xevious, heavy barrel etc in that era. That machine attracted older players so we as kids did not even go near it to see the play. Later we deciced to try and it was so frightening because I never spectated one game so it was all new to me. I tried a couple of times and never killed it. We were Gauntlet/Golden Axe/Double Dragon players ha ha best to stick with what we knew.
