Mad Bazooka

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Mad Bazooka

System(s): Large attraction

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega AM4

Number of players: 2-12

Release

Date

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Mad Bazooka (マッドバズーカ) is a large attraction developed by Sega AM4. Designed as a more traditional ride attraction for Sega's earlier Amusement Theme Park venues in Japan and involving a modified bumper car game, it was later exported to appear in the overseas SegaWorld London and Sega World Sydney in 1996 and 1997.

Story

The attraction's story makes use of a dystopian future concept set in 2011, where one of the most popular sources of entertainment is to watch a government-sanctioned primetime show on a public plasma screen display. In it, known criminals are forced to fight to the death in caged "Mad Carts". The sole survivor of the deathmatch, held in a legally made coliseum (the Mad Bazooka attraction itself), wins a large sum of money.^[1]

Gameplay

Mad Bazooka is a indoor bumper car ride/target-shooting game designed to last 3.5 minutes long. Players assume control of 10 carts, divided into two teams, in a 352 sq. meter arena. Each cart seats two people; one driver and one shooter. The driver collects coloured foam balls littering the floor of the arena by driving over them, while the shooter uses a pneumatic cannon mounted on the front of the vehicle to fire the balls – up to 8 per second at speeds of 80 mph - at targets on top of the other cars. Hitting the targets increases the team's score, which is displayed on an LED screen inside the vehicle.

After the game is completed, the winning team is declared, and a variety of statistics (i.e. the number of hits, contribution to the team, rank within the team, etc.) are totalled for each cart and printed out on a scorecard for the player to keep as a souvenir. Although usually played as a team game, Mad Bazooka also included settings for individual battle and team-switching modes.^[2]

Release

Mad Bazooka was first installed at Yokohama Joypolis as one of three debut attractions in July 1994, later going on to appear in four other indoor theme parks opened by Sega. All four locations besides Yokohama Joypolis had Mad Bazooka removed in the late 1990s before their own permanent closures. One of these installations is believed to have been bought and relocated to Kurashiki Tivoli Park in Okayama, where it was partially rethemed under the name of Hell Fighter whilst still retaining its main gameplay features.^[3] After Yokohama Joypolis closed in February 2001, the Tivoli version became the only example to remain in operation, staying at the park until its closure in 2009.