Nightmare (lost unreleased prototype of arcade game; 1982)

Screen of the game showcasing the main character.

Status: Lost

Nightmare (not to be confused with Nightmare released on the Atari 2600) was a game that was developed by the company "General Computer Corp" and was supposed to be published by Atari in 1982. The game was said to be a horror game with the theme of entering people's dreams to combat their "nightmares".

General Computer Corp was known for making games such as Crazy Otto, which would later be converted into the now-famous Ms. Pac-Man. They also produced Food Fight and Quantum, Nightmare was commissioned by Atari but was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons. The company was shut down in 2015 and the developers for the game are currently unknown.

Gameplay

The game was said to be very similar to the game Tron, with some leading to believe the game had been a heavily modified version of it. The player controls the face of Dr. John Roldarr which they must shoot down enemies which consist of skulls, frogs, bones, eyeballs, and other kinds of "horror imagery" in order to "escape" a prison cell by collecting locks that will appear throughout the level.

Availability

Despite never being released in arcades, an expo called "California Extreme" has had the game publicly playable, hence where some footage has been recorded of it. However, no ROM images have surfaced online as of the time of writing.

Gallery

• 

  The cabinet housing the game.

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  Attract mode.

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  Scoreboard.

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  Intermission screen.

Longplay recorded from a camcorder.

Sources

• Information and game screenshots Retrieved 19 Sept '24
• Technical information and photos of the wiring Retrieved 19 Sept '24
• Photo of arcade cabinet source Retrieved 19 Sept '24