Kick Control

[Xiaou2]

 Just a fun Idea...

  The game  ' Kick '   is pretty fun.    Its meant to be played with
a spinner (a trackball thats limited to one axis). 

 However, just for Kick's      Heres an alternate idea to control the
game:



 The thing could be simply a pedal unit,  or have an actual bike seat
on it.   

[Xiaou2]

Just for reference, this is the game:

[bfauska]

Oh, no that'll never work... see you've got it diagrammed with a blue cable and there's no way a blue cable will carry the signal needed to interface a bicycle wheel with a computer, maybe if you had your MAME setup on a Palm pilot, or Sega Saturn, but a PC... not with a blue cable, pink yes, blue no way.   



Seriously though, I've never played the game but it seems like a fun idea, it's cool when building our own controls actually leads to a new approach to a game.  I doubt I'll try it, but if somebody does hopefully they'll show it here.

[Xiaou2]

Damn, how could I have missed that?   Pink cable  *slaps forehead*
 



 Well man, you really gota try Kick with a spinner, or if you dont have one,
a Mouse.   Great fun.   (You may need to tweak the analog settings a bit
to get it just right)

 I used to play a version of the games on the C64 computer.  Totally addictive,
and a decent port..   But the arcade version really blows it away with its
much better control, sounds, and extra detail.

 I liken the bike-troller to something like Guitar Hero's guitar-troller.   Adds that
extra bit of challenge and realism into the game.   One day Ill actually get
around to building these ideas        Thanks for the comments
 

[vintagegamer]

I actually have this game and LOVE it but it died on me a month ago- trying to find parts to fix it.

It makes me laugh uncontrollably b/c as the clown goes back and forth on the unicycle to catch the balloons, you can actually hear a BELL on his little cycle that goes bling-bling-bling-bling-bling every time he moves..  That one little detail kills me.

You also have to love that this game was used to promote Pac Man.  Timeless.

VG

[ChadTower]

It will never work without the right kick harness.

[vintagegamer]

The game is actually complete and powers up, but it shows an EPROM error on the screen and won't proceed.  I got to play it 1x, shut it down, went to power it up the next day and that was it..  I don't think it had been played in years and I dealt the final blow- the time I got to play it tho was enough to get me hooked (never fails!!!).

VG

[ahofle]

To further enhance your idea, you could have some normally closed buttons on each pedal that, when both are released at the same time, would 'kick' the balloons up.   

[ChadTower]

He could put a bigass button on the kick panel and actually kick it.

[DrumAnBass]

Yah I rememeber Kick being very popular when I was a little kid - probably because it was so kid friendly. I remember a big row of them at Pier 39 in San Francisco.  I am sort of surprised that it has never been considered a true "classic"...

I like the idea of coming up with new, innovative controls for old games, fun ideas!

You could rig a switch (or piezo pickup?) to an inflatable "workout" ball sticking out of the front of the cab and kick that!

[Xiaou2]

Hah,  Nice idea      How could I forget the Kick button?!

 Heres V2.   Micro-leafs under the 2 swing arms.   Bungee to pull them
back a bit faster.   2 sphere kickballs mounted to circular cutout,
possibly sealed in,  or use of rope or wire to restrain it from the topside.

 Arms sit on rubber bumper rests.

 Not quite perfect, but decent for a conceptual 

 I think the arms would need a disconnect half way thu, for easier storage.

[delta88]

My buddy has a kick and I have a Kick trackball hacked to a USB mouse so I can use it on the PC......  To the guy with the dead one, what kind of parts are you looking for?

[vintagegamer]

My buddy has a kick and I have a Kick trackball hacked to a USB mouse so I can use it on the PC......  To the guy with the dead one, what kind of parts are you looking for?

Mine powers up and I get graphics, but when I last looked at it it said "eprom error 4" on the screen.  I was able to play it once, so I know the buttons and controllers work.  So I guess I'd be needing a tested main board and/or roms.  Do you have any of those parts available?

VG