This unit runs on Atari's COJAG hardware which is similar to the Jaguar but replaces the supervisor processor with a MIPS R3000, and has a hard disk and 8 megabytes of RAM. Area 51 and Maximum Force were the only two games released on COJAG hardware.
To answer your question about the gun colors, yes the left gun is usually red and the right gun is usually blue. The gun colors on this particular cabinet (both green) is the default for Maximum Force.
I remember first discovering this game at a skating rink in Lockport back in 1997. I wouldn't be able to play this lovely gem until 1998 when I was at a Regal Movie Theater after seeing a movie. Of course when I played the Windows port on my dad's laptop before then, that was when I learned that shooting innocents (like the STAAR people in this game) costs you a life. I remember in 1999 when my mom and I were at a movie theater, it was minutes before our movie began, so my mom and I decided to kill some time playing Area 51 in the game room. Ah, memories.
If you choose "Beginning" and shoot only the first three STAAR team members and nothing else, you will unlock Kronn Hunter mode, where you play as an alien. On the original Area 51 and not the one on Area 51/Maximum Force Duo, your vision will be changed so that the backgrounds appear mostly blue and purple. Here's a video of it in action if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TESz-OtCsE4.html
I play this at a bowling alley near my area as a kid it was great but for a long time I forgot about the name till recently and my mom didn't let me play m-rated games though I didn't know it was m-rated till I found out but the game over was in my head for years
This has been one of my favorite arcade games as a kid growing up. I tried the PlayStation version of this and didn't like it as much as the good ol' arcade platform of it. I personally hated the aliens where they throw barrels and grenades and s*** at you.
Wish I knew a place close to me to buy one here in Tennessee. All I see are out of state and for one I don't know what to expect ordering something this big and having it shipped. That or they require local pickup only. Price wise I can afford it from what I see around $4000 but my wallet will take a hit of course. The problem right now is no room where I live for it and the whole shipping issue. Oh well I have the PS1 version but not as fun without a light gun. Yes I know PS1 has light guns but I don't even have a CRT TV to use them since they won't work on modern HDTVs. That's another space issue though as I want a good CRT TV as well for older game systems like PS1 and PS2. Nothing beats the arcade cabinet version of this game but cheaper alternative would be to get a CRT TV and PS1 light gun. I have nostalgia of both ways playing this game as we use to rent the game at a video store back in the 90's and we had the PS1 light gun to use. Still out of anything gaming collecting wise I want one arcade cabinet in my house and it has to be Area 51 for sure. One thing I remember is like mentioned at 6:52 the one we use to play had a red gun and blue gun not the green ones here. I always wanted blue gun as blue was my favorite color. The arcade cabinet I want has to have those color guns. I would like to get more of an original version I guess it would be that doesn't have the other game on it as well. The Arcade cabinet version I always had to play it when we were at Walmart years ago. Sorry for anyone reading this long rambling comment. Oh and anyone know where to find a poster of the Stars girl on the cabine?
+Luffymon88 We have a business that we buy and sell arcade games, so it's not our personal collection, just all of our inventory for sale. We started small and kept growing... eventually we ended up with hundreds of games!
