1979 · Atari
Hercules
Known for Path of Victory, Base Bonus pads, Oversized cue ball and Double Bonus. Red and orange sky with forked white lightning, jagged ochre rock spires, cracked dry earth and gold ornamental scrollwork side borders.
- Year
- 1979
- Maker
- Atari
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- loop
Path of Victory
- Target
Base Bonus pads
- Toy
Oversized cue ball
- Goal
Double Bonus
On the playfield
- orange
- yellow
- purple
- blue
- 2 flippers
- 3 pop bumpers
- 2 target banks
- 2 slingshots
Toy 1
- Oversized cue ball
Orbit 1
- Path of Victory loop
Target 1
- Base Bonus pads
Flipper 1
- Oversized flippers
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Muscular bare-chested hero, tan skin, long flowing black hair, dark trousers with a wide ornate gold belt bearing round lion-head medallions, twisted torso, looks back over left shoulder with a grimace, holds a drawn sword with cross-hatched blade in his raised right hand and drags a heavy iron chain in his left fist
- creature Giant gorilla, yellow-brown fur with black shadow hatching, orange muzzle and brow, stands upright at right, one arm raised overhead and mouth open roaring, an iron chain runs across and into its raised hand
- woman Pink-skinned red-haired woman in a torn fuchsia bikini-style costume, lying on her side on cracked earth in the lower centre, wrists chained, one knee raised, head lifted with mouth open
Setting
- Red and orange sky with forked white lightning
- Jagged ochre rock spires
- Cracked dry earth
- Gold ornamental scrollwork side borders
Text on it
- ATARI
- CREDIT
- MATCH
- BALL
- TILT
- GAME OVER
- 3
- 486
- 535
- 1
- 2
- 4
How it plays
-
Goals 4
- Double Bonus
- Extra Ball path
- Special path
- Base Bonus
Made by
- Design
- Steve Bicker
- Art
- Jim Kelly
Reference
Linked terms
- Path of Victory also called Path of Victory orbit
- Base Bonus pads also called flashing pad also called Base Bonus threshold pads
- Double Bonus also called Yellow path
- Extra Ball path also called Orange path
- Special path also called Red path
- Base Bonus also called Base
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- orange
- yellow
- purple
- blue
Fingerprint: Medieval fantasy electro-mechanical, enormous purple-gold cloaked knight across lower half gripping long silver sword splitting field, castle keep with burning orange rubble at top, cream playing-card target banks on both sides, pop-bumper caps with replay panels at top
An enormous purple-and-gold cloaked knight painted across the whole lower half, his yellow-gloved hand holding a long silver sword upright that visually splits the playfield down the middle. Second, the medieval castle keep with burning orange rubble across the top third. Third, a cream playing-card-suit styled target bank on each side, each with three red-lit round inserts labelled 'SPECIAL' and 'EXTRA BALL'. Fourth, three cream pop-bumper caps across the top printed with blue 'START DOUBLE REPLAY' and 'START REPLAY' panels.
Setting
- Burning medieval castle and rubble
- Mountain and rock landscape at the lower edge
- Orange flame and smoke sky
Symbols
- Playing-card-suit framed target panels
- Circular score inserts
- Red round lamps
- Clear plastic ramp
- Sword
- Shield
- Helmet with plume
- Castle battlements
- Serpent coils
Notable shapes
- Upright full-height sword dividing the field
- Semicircular fan of cream-lit arcs at centre
- Arched castle keep silhouette across the top
- Arched window frames around each target bank
Art motifs
- Flames and burning rubble
- Heavy black keyline comic shading
- Spear and arrow motifs
- Fan of concentric glowing arcs
Themes
- Medieval fantasy
- Knight
- Castle siege
- Jousting
- Sword and shield
- Fire and destruction
Text on it
- START DOUBLE REPLAY
- START REPLAY
- SPECIAL
- EXTRA BALL
- JUGGLE
- SCORE
- HERCULES
- 3 BALLS
- PLAYER 1 REPLAY
- SHOOT AGAIN REPLAY
- TILT
- ATARI
- A.G.
- 7,000
- 8,000
- 10,000
- 25,000
- 200,000
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Giant painted knight filling the lower half, purple cloak with yellow-gold trim, yellow gauntlet gripping an upright silver sword, gold helmet with red plume, bearded face at the blade's right |
| Man | Smaller standing warrior in a yellow helmet and red tunic at mid-right, holding a shield, painted beside the right target bank |
| Man | Dark-clothed mounted figure on a horse in the upper-left area |
| Creature | Serpent or dragon coil painted in yellow scales at the lower right and again in the top-right corner fire |
Full-length view of a brightly lit electro-mechanical playfield inside a wood-grain cabinet with orange side rails and an orange-and-purple striped apron carrying a black coin door. The artwork is a medieval-comic fantasy spread dominated by a huge painted knight: a broad purple cloak with heavy yellow-gold trim and a yellow gauntlet gripping a long silver sword whose blade points up the centre of the field, with a gold-helmeted, bearded, red-plumed head at lower right of the blade. A castle keep with battlements and lit arrow-slit windows fills the upper third, ringed by flaming orange-and-yellow debris, and mounted figures and a dark horse appear in the upper left. Three pop bumpers sit across the top on cream discs printed with blue 'START DOUBLE REPLAY' and 'START REPLAY' panels, flanked by clear posts and a plastic ramp. Symmetrical cream-framed target banks sit at mid-left and mid-right, each holding three round inserts with a red lamp, with 'EXTRA BALL' and 'SPECIAL' labels. A fan of concentric cream-lit arcs and a scatter of round score inserts fills the middle, and 'JUGGLE' and 'SCORE' captions run down a red panel on the right.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- orange
- yellow
- red
- black
Fingerprint: Hero with gorilla: bare-chested long-haired hero bound by heavy iron chain to giant upright roaring gorilla, chained red-haired woman in torn costume lying at their feet, title rendered in gigantic cracked golden stone block letters, two crossed drawn swords forming X above hero's head.
A bare-chested long-haired hero bound by a heavy iron chain to a giant upright roaring gorilla, with a chained red-haired woman lying at their feet. The title is rendered as gigantic cracked golden stone block letters filling the whole upper background, and a black trident logo sits at the top left. Two crossed drawn swords form a large X shape in the sky above the hero's head.
Setting
- Red and orange sky with forked white lightning
- Jagged ochre rock spires
- Cracked dry earth
- Gold ornamental scrollwork side borders
Symbols
- Trident logo
- Two crossed swords
- Iron chains
- Scored display windows
- Circled player numbers 1-4
- Gold filigree scrollwork
- White lightning bolts
- Gold lion-head belt medallions
Lettering
- Cracked stone-textured golden-yellow block capitals for the main title; plain small yellow sans-serif capitals for the instruction labels; black capital logotype under a trident at top left
Themes
- Adventure
- Sword and sorcery
- Captivity
- Monster
- Martial-arts comic
Text on it
- ATARI
- CREDIT
- MATCH
- BALL
- TILT
- GAME OVER
- 3
- 486
- 535
- 1
- 2
- 4
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Muscular bare-chested hero, tan skin, long flowing black hair, dark trousers with a wide ornate gold belt bearing round lion-head medallions, twisted torso, looks back over left shoulder with a grimace, holds a drawn sword with cross-hatched blade in his raised right hand and drags a heavy iron chain in his left fist |
| Creature | Giant gorilla, yellow-brown fur with black shadow hatching, orange muzzle and brow, stands upright at right, one arm raised overhead and mouth open roaring, an iron chain runs across and into its raised hand |
| Woman | Pink-skinned red-haired woman in a torn fuchsia bikini-style costume, lying on her side on cracked earth in the lower centre, wrists chained, one knee raised, head lifted with mouth open |
Landscape-format backglass art in a comic-book painted style, dominated by a huge block-letter title banner in cracked golden-yellow stone lettering stretching across the upper half behind the figures. A bare-chested, muscular man with long black hair stands centre-left in a wide stance, twisting to look back over his left shoulder, gripping a drawn sword in his right hand and a length of heavy iron chain in his left; a giant yellow-brown gorilla stands upright at the right, one arm raised and roaring, with the chain running between them. Behind the man a pink-skinned red-haired woman in a torn fuchsia two-piece costume lies sprawled on cracked earth, wrists bound with chain, one knee bent, mouth open. The background is a red-to-orange sky over jagged ochre rock spires with white forked lightning. Gold ornamental scrollwork borders the left and right edges. Top left carries a black trident logo above the word ATARI, with red seven-segment numerals in black display windows, and yellow lettering reads CREDIT / MATCH / BALL / TILT / GAME OVER. Circled red player numerals 1-4 run down the right border beside further red digit windows. Reflections of room lights streak across the glass.