It’s a late night snackfest with SnapJack!

Hey Arcaders!

What would happen if Pac-Man and Defender had a baby? Well- that crazy tot would be named- SNAPJACK!

This crazy guy lives in the sea… a mechanical chomping machine….eating the algae dots… just minding his own business… When everything in the ocean decides to attack old Snapjack! squid, giant fish, kettles, boots, even barrels start coming after him! When he eats a magic pearl- Snapjack goes ballistic! eat up as many enemies as you can! And dot forget to eat those letter bubbles- spell extra for a bonus Snapjack! Look out for the huge trench in front of you! When it’s time to jump… don’t worry! just jump on the trampoline old Gertie is holding- bounce high and land on the platforms without falling into the trench!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another stunner of a cab by Universal- and I believe this is the first cabinet to use the racing stripe design on the sides and front!

• Developer / Publisher: Universal Co., Ltd. 
• Release Year: Circa 1981 (some sources list 1981, others 1982)
• Platform: Arcade 
• Genre: Platform / Action
• Players: Up to 2 players
• Controls: 8-way joystick + 2 start buttons 

• You guide a “dot-munching, long-jumping, leg-stretching” character through right-to-left scrolling levels of hills and tunnels. 
• The player must avoid enemies / obstacles such as “squid-type things,” giant fish, and also kettles and boots which come via an overhead conveyor.
• The game has been described as a cross between Pac-Man and Defender.
• It’s implemented on the same hardware as Universal’s Lady Bug.

Technical Details

• Main CPU: Zilog Z80 running at ~4 MHz. 
• Sound: Two SN76496 sound chips @ ~4 MHz. 
• Screen / Video: Horizontal orientation, resolution ~240 × 192, 60 Hz refresh. 
• Palette / Colors: 32 colors.

Release & Legacy

• According to Arcade-History, Snap Jack was released in 1981. A port (or related game) exists: Commodore 64 (1984) under the name Wheelin’ Wallie. 

• It’s been preserved in emulators: ROMs exist in MAME (the MAME “snapjack” driver) 
• There is a relatively small but dedicated fan / collector interest. People talk about building or restoring cabinets, because like many Universal arcade machines, the original cabinet artwork is rare.
• On performance: there’s a recorded high score of 189,600 in MAME.

So- what do you think of Snapjack? I think turning Pac-Man into a on the rails Scramble type game is interesting! I wish I could have seen the character in a sequel of sorts… more Moon Patrol like? Adding a shooting element?  We had this rare one at Disneyquest in one of our compilation cabinets! It’s a great game that just makes you want  to try one more time! especially during those energizer chain attacks! I always want to spell EXTRA!

Keep Playin’ Like It’s 1981!