Sega Jet Rocket: The groundbreaking arcade game of the 70s without a computer or screen

In 1970, Sega introduced an arcade game that would pave the way for many of today's most popular video games. Jet RocketAlthough most people today are unaware of its existence, it is known that this electromechanical marvel was used for the first time in the world.

Jet RocketThe premise of was simple.

The player piloted an air force jet at night and pressed the trigger button to fire rockets at military targets passing on the ground below. These targets included fuel depots, missile sites, and airstrips. Successful hits – worth five points each – were indicated by a flash of light at the point of impact and an explosion.

But remember, all of this is managed without a computer or video screen. Jet Rocket It was the world's first flight simulation game, the first first-person shooter, and the first game in which the player travels through a virtual world (known as an “open world” game).

Origin story

Jet Rocket Developed by Sega in the late 1960s, when the Hawaii, Japan-based company was supplying coin-operated games to U.S. military bases in Japan, it was released worldwide in August 1970 and quickly became very popular in many markets.

Earlier that year, Sega introduced the game to potential buyers at a trade show in the US mainland, where it was also well received. Unfortunately for Sega, three Chicago-based companies liked the game so much that they immediately produced and released their own open, unlicensed copies.

In between these games, Williams FleetBally's Target Zeroand Chicago Coin Machine Company Night BomberNeedless to say, these imitators impacted the game's sales in the North American market.

“Sega said, ‘We’ve got a hit.’ They went back and started making them, they started making them left and right,” says Rusty Key, one of the company’s owners. Jet Rocket game that he had completely restored. “By the time they made them and shipped them back to the United States, Williams and others had taken over the market. Them [Sega] “They looked like copycats.”

Mainly thanks to the emergence of the first newfangled video games, what Jet Rocket and its clones were not produced for more than a few years. However, in 1977, Sega made releasing a helicopter-capable successor Jet Rocket known as Helicopter-ShooterIt still didn't have a display but it did contain a microprocessor.

Behind the camera

Given Jet Rocket What kind of screen did it have? nor a microprocessor, exactly how made Does it work? Come on, just be patient, things are about to get complicated…

Inside the game's rather large cabinet was a large vertically oriented conveyor belt-like “canvas” with a flexible foam relief map of the landscape (including targets) on its outer surface. Between the player's face and the continuously scrolling canvas was a mirror angled approximately 45 degrees down/forward to reflect the canvas.

When the actor looked out the cabin window – as if he were looking out the front canopy of a jet plane – what he saw was a three-dimensional horizontal reflection of the canvas in that mirror. Furthermore, when they turned the control panel's steering control to one side or the other, the mirror would tilt to either side accordingly, allowing the jet to bank left or right over the terrain.

The entire interior setup was lit by a black light, causing the painted highlights of the scenery to fluoresce against the dark night backgrounds. Check out the gameplay at Rusty's Jet Rocket machine – which you can play at Houston-based arcade The Game Preserve – in the video below. Article continues below.

Release the rockets

When the player saw an approaching target, he would direct his jet so that the rocket sight (a projected point of light) fell into the path of that target. He would then press the trigger button on one end of the controller to launch his rockets, repeatedly if necessary. However, in order to hit the target, the player had to get the angle and timing just right.

As the virtual rockets flew through the air, the player would see them as streaks of orange light moving down each side of the jet toward the ground. This illusion was controlled by a V-shaped array of lights inside the cabin below the player's legs.

The reflection of these lights is captured by a transparent sheet of plexiglass angled downwards, placed between the actor's face and the canvas mirror. This means that the actor is looking at from beginning to end Plexiglass on which rocket lights are projected with mirror. Therefore, they saw the lights superimposed on the image of the landscape.

A hit and a miss

If the player was successful in hitting the target, the latter would light up from the inside and the machine would also make an explosion sound. So how did the game come about? To know How do you make a target glow when it's hit?

Simply put, the player had to press the trigger when both the electronic mirror positioning pads and the target on the canvas were in the correct positions relative to each other. Doing so closed a previously open electrical circuit, causing a light under the canvas to come on. This light shone through the foam target as the target passed over the light.

But given that no wiring is integrated into the canvas, you might be wondering what the location of the targets is like. Open that canvas could be watched. Once again, be patient a little longer…

Inside the cabinet were five pairs of finger-like prongs with electric current running through them. All of these prongs rubbed against the underside of the canvas as it slid across. Each pair corresponded to one of five “target areas” arranged side by side to create a horizontal row of lights across the bottom of the canvas, covering the width of the landscape. Each target was located in one of these areas.

On the underside of the canvas, at a set distance from each target, was a square of electrically conductive flexible steel mesh. As this square slid, it contacted the pair of prongs corresponding to the area of ​​that particular target, grounding the prongs in the process.

This closed the circuit mentioned above, but only if The trigger was currently being held down. As a result, the light in that area would shine as soon as it passed over the target. A sound effect would also be triggered, and five points would also be added to the player's score.

Clever, right?

Jet Rocket in 2024

It's hard to say how many are functional Jet Rocket games still exist today, but there certainly can't be many, even if you include clones. Rusty Key only paid $100 for his hardware, though it required extensive restoration to get it back into working order.

He estimates that a fully restored unit would probably sell for at least $1,000, which actually seems pretty reasonable. However, Key is quick to point out that the game is so large and heavy—you have to get it in the cabinet—that its market is limited. It'll definitely require some electromechanical skill to keep it running.

But for Rusty, all the hardships are worth it to keep such a piece of history alive.

“Creativity seems to be a trait of a bygone era,” he tells us. “Understanding how to make something with limited materials is a skill set that is on full display Jet Rocket“It's as interesting today as it was 50 years ago.”

For a more detailed explanation Jet RocketTo learn more about the mechanics and gameplay of the game, check out the demo/interview with Key, courtesy of Todd Tuckey of TNT Amusements.

And if you think such setups are completely a thing of the past, check out our article on this recently built one-off device. Double CoincidenceThis may be the most complex electromechanical game ever made.