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PROLOGUE
Ok let's go back to '80s when all or almost all video games were unique, attractive and full of magnetic and frenzy gameplay.
I remember how much I was mesmerized by this particular machine when I first saw it in arcades.
How many times I skipped school just to walk in the local arcade and play with it again and again !
I remember the big stacks of coins I spent and the endless hours of wiping out the alien ships, especially the big birds which changed colors and exploded with a big BANG!
Oh man those were the days!...but just a minute!...Here it is AGAIN thanks to a group of VERY talented programmers and their achievement called MAME.(I am a faithful follower since ver.03!)
Unfortunately the emulation of my beloved EXERION isn't perfect yet, lacking accurate colors but thank god everything else works fantastically.Thank you guys out there for the great gift you gave me once again, for the opportunity to relive a part of my youth!..(I am now 33, not very old I hope :) ).
Because all of the above I decided to make this tribute page , to preserve EXERION's memory and to gather every piece of info I can to help its emulation to be perfect.Of course every help wanted and every advise is a gem which will probably help to accelerate the progress.C'mon don't hesitate, contact me , I need all of you ; your memories, your playing experience, everything useful concerning the game.
Thanx for reading this...enjoy the rest!
NAME
EXERION
MANUFACTURER
JALECO (there is also a TAITO licensed version).
YEAR
1982 (Initial release)
SEQUEL
SKYFOX (aka EXERIZER)
CABINET PICTURES
Exerion's cabinet (upright version) |
Exerion's side art (Thanks to MARKLINE VENDING) |
FLYERS
For more flyer needs, please pay a visit at arcadeflyers web site.
GAME INFO
From the game's flyer: "...is a futuristic world of brilliant colors and imaginative creatures.
It's formations of alien birds, bats and winged beasts that must be destroyed by the fighter ship in fierce outer space combat. It's bonus challenges and feats of flight and daring. It's non-stop action, excitement...and profit...all in a universal conversion kit!
Using the rapid fire gun too often means loosing charges which can be re-energized only by on-target shooting with the dual space cannons. The larger-than-life mutant space birds, genetically bred by the Exerions and on the attack with heat-seeking missiles, take eight hits to be destroyed... and take on a bright rainbow of changing colors when hit! And the EXERION adventure becomes more and more challenging as play continues!..."...need I say more ? ; )
The space craft moves in a pseudo 3D colorful background which changes very often when a different attack wave comes up. There are lots of scenes and alien spacecrafts to shoot, showing a very high AI from the early stages. The game behaves in a very cunning way and some times cheats the player !
There is a notorious bug. In the challenge stage, if you shoot all 40 aliens you normally get a bonus charge of 60. Sometimes a red hydra comes out during this stage. If you shoot it and all 40 aliens, you get a total of 41. The game seems to fail the test of 'hits=40' and only gives you a bonus charge of 41. Pretty obscure I admit, but there you go!
The player has to be extremely precautious when the purple vessels come up, cause they move randomly and very often appear surprisingly from the bottom of the screen.
Part of this game was later used in the fifth stage of "The Game Paradise". The stage is called "23bit CPU captured by 8bit CPU".
HINTS
from KLOV:
(1) Try to build your supply of bullets for the fast cannon so it can be used in critical situations.
(2) To get a high score, if you do not miss any shots your bonus score will keep on doubling to 10000 then reset to 000. When at 10000 miss a shot then bonus score will revert to 5000.
HIGH SCORE ENTRY
Best player is Giorgio Bonetti from Legnano, Italy with 3.679.100 pts.
Second one is Joe Janiec with a score of 653.400 pts.
More info at the above link.
TECHNICAL INFO
Exerion PCB
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Shooter
Type: Video Arcade
Monitor: Orientation: Vertical
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Color
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls / Joystick: 8-way.
Buttons: 2 - Slow Shot, Fast Shot.
Sound: 2 AY-3-8910, amplified Mono (one channel).
CPU: 2 Z80 (NEC D780-1(Z80A), SHARP LH0080A(Z80A)) (In Japan Genuine version).
BOARD: CPU-BOARD:EX-8313, VIDEO-BOARD:EX-8314 (In Japan Genuine version).
X'tal: 19.968MHz (In Japan Genuine version).
PINOUTS: Thanks to Malcom Moody this is the pinout sheet for download.
SCHEMATICS / MANUAL: Thanks to SPIES here is a local mirror for download .
ROMS
There are 4 known versions of the arcade game's romsets.
EXERION (Original Jaleco) |
EXERION bootleg
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EXERION Taito licensed |
EXERION Genuine JAPAN version |
Important UPDATE ! ! !
For more screenshots click HERE ; ). Thanks to RxMage and Michael Weishaar for the piccys!
HOME CONVERSIONS
Nintendo NES 8 bit |
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MSX version 1 |
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MSX version 2 |
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SEGA SC3000-SG1000 |
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VECTREX VERSION "Vectorion" Please visit KRISTOF's VECTREX PAGE for new Vectrex games . |
As you can see from the screenshots, the MSX 1 and SG1000/SC3000 graphics are pretty much similar. I would rather play the Nintendo version.
CARTS' SCANS
MSX VERSION 1 |
MSX VERSION 2 |
NINTENDO (NES) VERSION |
SEGA SC-3000/SG-1000 Thanks to Omar Cornut (Zoop) who scanned the box of this rare cart. Please check his cool site, SMS POWER ! |
RELATED LINKS
A great web site with TONS of screenshots of various systems maintened by Opi.
This is the treasure vault of information about any arcade game in existence.
Tons of manuals, schematics etc.
Valuable source of arcades' promo flyers.
OTHER LINKS
Click on LINKS section of my index.
Lord13 and Spector... where are you men ?...
That's all folks, more to come soon ! Keep up good playing !