Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Smash TV
Smash TV made it's arcade debut in 1990 and was set in the far flung future of 1999. Loosely based on the Stephen King novel, The Running Man and it's movie counterpart, Smash TV had you taking on the role of fighters who are starring on a violent TV show where the players must kill to survive and win cash and prizes along the way. The whole affair was narrated by an obnoxious game show host who interjected quips throughout the game like "Bingo", "Big Money! Big Prizes! I love it!", and the iconic "I'd buy that for a dollar!."
Playing much like Robotron, the characters would move through stationary levels swarming with enemies and must kill them all to advance to the next area. In later versions, the ultimate goal of the game was use your arsenal of weapons to reach the "Pleasure Dome". The Dome was accessed through the collection of 10 keys, defeating the Cobra Boss and entering some secret rooms. The game could be played either singly or with a partner for added fun. It was eventually ported to several consoles and home computer systems despite being a fairly violent game for the time period.
The front of this flyer was really quite dull with a close up of two pairs hands playing the game, so I decided to go with the back. Not only do we see screenshots and an excellent view of the cabinet itself, but we get one of the unnamed stars of the game hanging out in all his beefcake glory. The image, which adorned the side of the arcade cabinet, was an interesting touch. Most flyers of this era used women as the central, sexually appealing figure and if there was a male character, he was almost always accompanied by a scantily clad female. But not this fellow! Give him a safety helmet, skin tight pants and some stylish white boots and he's ready to go to battle. Who needs women when your carrying a gun that big?
Flyer courtesy TAFA
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