Original Release: Nichibutsu, 1984, Arcade
A Pole Position knockoff from a company destined to make mahjong smut, it gets some points for a creative theme (and technically being the first roller derby game) even if it isn’t really any fun
Roller Jammer (Arcade, Nichibutsu, 1984)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
One of those games that’s so bad and tedious I’m irritated at writing even a halfassed review of it.
The game intrigues you with roller derby, but delivers no sexy ladies on skates … hell you don’t even get any unsexy mulleted ladies. Instead you get a bunch of haunchy Dad Bod dudes in a really basic sprite-scaling racing game.
Well, first you have to slalom your way through some flag-laden qualifying course, which is quite the trial given the sluggish control. Dad Bod Jammer can jump, which seems to have almost no practical use on these courses (unless it comes into play far beyond what I was willing to get through), and can punch to the left and right, which isn’t useful just yet. You’ll start punching in the races with endless spawn-in clones of drunken Little League dad, where there seem to be no discernible rules of roller derby going on, you’re just trying to work around them while reaching checkpoints on time in Outrun style.
Developer Nichibutsu just seems to have been trying to put a unique spin on a clone of the then-hot Pole Position … the strategy didn’t seem to work out too well as the team retreated to making a series of strip mahjong titles that ran into the early ’90s (most notably some unlicensed Sailor Moon peepshows … though that’s a tale for Plumflower rather than this site).
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