Lost In Translation/Bank Panic

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

Bank Panic
Manufacturer	Sanritsu Sega
Released	1984
Control Method	2-way Joystick 3 Button(s)
Main CPU	Z80 (@ 2.578 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono (3x) SN76489 (@ 2.578 MHz)
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 224 x 224 pixels 60.00 Hz 256 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	17 ROMs 124,028 bytes (121.12 KiB)
MAME ID	bankp

About The Game

Bank Panic is a reaction-based shoot-em-up in which the player takes on the role of a gun-slinging Deputy, who has been charged with protecting the town bank from outlaws.

Each stage contains 12 numbered doors, with 3 doors visable on-screen at any one time. The player must scroll the screen left or right to bring other doors into view. At regular intervals, one or more doors will open to reveal either a bank customer or an outlaw. The customers must be allowed to deposit their money unharmed while the outlaws must be shot before they have a chance to shoot the deputy. Some of the outlaws must be shot twice before they are killed. If the players kills an innocent citizen, a player life is lost.

Doors will only open when they are on-screen and a level is only completed once cash has been deposited safely into the bank via each of the 12 doors. Each level has a tight time limit so it's important to ensure that the player reaches the doors that are about to be opened as quickly as possible. Imminent visitors are indicated by the presence of a bar graph that sits above each door, with a red marker indicating an approaching customer or robber.

In addition to the outlaws, players must also be wary of time bombs that occasionally appear on one of the doors; this is indicated by both a timer and an icon above the door with the bomb. The bomb must be reached and shot before the timer runs out. As well as the outlaws and customers, a small, bandy-legged cowboy occasionally appears holding gifts above his head, these can be shot for bonus points.

Additional Technical Information

Players : 2

Control : 2-way joystick

Buttons : 3

=> [A] Left fire, [B] Center fire, [C] Right fire

Trivia

Released in December 1984.

Sanritsu is the actual developer of this game, and Sega produced and distributed it. In fact, if you look through the graphical data, you can see Sanritsu's logo amongst the different tiles and sprites.

The character's names are John, Sam (with a robber behind him), Hope (tied up with rope), Mary and Ann (with a robber behind her). Your character is simply referred to as the Hero.

Alessandro Giuriato and Gary Hatt share the official record for this game with 9,999,999 points on March 5, 1985 and May 27, 1987, respectively.

Scoring

Killing A Gunman

When	Points
Before he draws his gun	100 or 200
Timer on 0.00	5,000 for red shirt gunman (may also earn EXTRA letter)
Timer on 0.00	3,000 for green shirt gunman
Timer on 0.00	2,000 for brown shirt gunman
Timer on 0.01-0.10	1,000
Timer on 0.11-0.15	800
Timer on 0.16-0.20	700
Timer on 0.21-0.25	600
Timer on 0.26-0.33	300
Shooting the bomb	100

Deposits

Item	Points
First bag of money	200
Second bag of money through the same door	400
Third bag of money through the same door	600
Fourth or more bag of money through the same door	1,000
A money bag deposited at a door with a cashier present	1,000 Bonus

• Regaining a stolen money bag : 1000 points.
• Shooting the rope on a customer who is tied up: 3 bags of money worth 1,000 points each (3,000 points total).
• Shooting the hats: 100 points for the first one, 200 points for the second, 300 points for the third, etc...
• Shooting the bag of money after all the hats : 1,000 points bonus.
• There are only three and four hats on rounds 1 and 2 respectively.
• Sometimes after a woman is help up and the gunman is killed, a 500 points bonus is awarded (woman peeks in the door before it closes, winks and a red heart is shown).
• Sometimes after a man is help up and the gunman is killed, a 200 points bonus is awarded (man peeks in the door before it closes, smiles and waves).
• If EXTRA is spelled, the player earns an extra life plus 20,000 bonus points, and the game advances to the next level.

End Of Level Bonuses

Money Bags	Points
1-12	50 each
13-24	100 each
25-36	150 each
37-48	200 each

Fair average bonus

Time	Points
0:00	10,000
0:01	9,000
0:02	8,000
0:03	7,000
0:04	6,000
0:05	5,000
0:06	4,000
0:07	3,000
0:08	2,000
0:09	1,000
0:10 and above	no points (game displays 'non points')

• Timer bonus : 100 points per click of time remaining.
• Starting on Level 3 : 20,000 points bonus for clearing level 3.
• Starting on Level 6 : 60,000 points bonus for clearing level 6.
• Robber Bosses must be shot twice to be killed - you get two scores based on the time of each hit.

Tips and tricks

• Try to always allow a gunman to draw, as you only score 100 points if he doesn't. If two or more gunmen appear take one out straight away, as it is a lot more difficult to kill more than one when they draw.
• You don't have to shoot the little guy with the hat an exact number of times, just once for each hat or more. So fire as many times as you can and you will get the bonus points.
• You should try to defuse bombs as soon as possible.
• Doors cannot be opened while you are moving, so move directly to the door you require without stopping.
• Watch the indicators above the door numbers to see which doors will be opening soon. If there are two next to each other, try to get only one of them on screen so you do not have to possibly contend with more than one gunman simultaneously.

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Bank Panic arcade cabinet.

• 

  Bank Panic flyer.

• 

  Back of the Bank Panic flyer.

Ports

Consoles

Sega Master System (1987)

Computers

Amstrad CPC (1986, "Westbank")

Commodore C64 (1986, "Westbank")

MSX

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
SEGA Arcade 80's Vol. 2	SCDC-00252	2003-03-19	Scitron Digital Content	CD version.
Arcade Ambiance 1986	N/A	2004-08-27	Andy Hofle	Digital download only.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.