Lost In Translation/Elevator Action

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.

Elevator Action
Manufacturer	Taito Corporation
Released	1983
Control Method	8-way Joystick 2 Button(s)
Main CPU	Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz) Z80 (@ 3.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono (4x) AY-3-8910A (@ 1.500 MHz) DAC
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 256 x 224 pixels 60.00 Hz 64 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	20 ROMs 76,032 bytes (74.25 KiB)
MAME ID	elevator · elevatob

About The Game

Elevator Action is an arcade video game.

Agent 17 (code name 'Otto') is to secure the top secret documents from the security building. The enemy spies are in pursuit and their orders are to stop him at any cost. Having made it to the top of a 30 story building, Agent 17 has to make his way down to the basement to get to the getaway car and save the documents. Enemy spies are everywhere and the documents are hidden behind the red doors (bonus points awarded). He has to open the door and keep moving. If either of them shoots the lights out there will be a temporary blackout. If Otto finds himself on top of the elevator the player will not be able to control the elevator. If he gets caught in the elevator he is a sitting duck and cannot duck the bullets. By using the escalator he can reach the basement quicker. Otto can defeat his enemy by jump kicking or firing at them. Help Otto to grab all the documents and escape the spies.

Additional Technical Information

Players : 2

Control : 4-way joystick

Buttons : 2 (FIRE, JUMP)

Trivia

Released in July 1983.

G. Ben Carter, Jr. holds official the record for this game with 143,450 points.

Scoring

• Shooting an enemy agent : 100 points
• Jumping on an enemy agent : 150 points
• Dropping a light on an enemy agent : 300 points
• Getting a secret document : 500 points

The bonus is 1000 points x the level you are on. After 10th level, you will get 10000 points per level completed.

Tips and tricks

When you start the game, a quick animation will show a hook with a line connecting to the top of the elevator. Then your character will slide down the line to the roof. Then he will enter the building, in the elevator, at the 30th floor. It is now up to you to get all the secrets and make it to your car. The first thing you must know, obviously, is how to eliminate the enemy agents that are after you. There are a few ways you can do this :

1. Just shoot them. Of course, especially in the later levels, enemy agents make themselves an impossible target by lying down. You can only take them out by riding an elevator down.
2. Jumping on them will take care of them. In addition, you may avoid some of their fire.
3. On the non-dark floors, shoot the light down on top of an enemy agent. You must do this from the elevator. This also has the added effect of causing temporary darkness in the building, making enemy agents harder to see.
4. Crush an enemy agent using the elevator. This is hard to do since they move around. You may get lucky, however, and get one under or on top of the elevator you are on.
5. This way is pretty hard. You might be able to get an enemy agent to follow you and fall down the hole created by the missing elevator.

You must know how to use the escalators and open the red doors :

1. To use the escalators, just stand on the little rectangle. Then push the joystick UP or DOWN depending on which direction you need the escalator to take you.
2. To open the red doors, stand on the little rectangle. Face the doorknob and press RIGHT on the joystick.

• You have full control over any elevator you enter. This means you can move UP and DOWN on a dime to keep your character safe. This works until the alarm goes off.

• Speaking of elevators, your character cannot duck while in an elevator. Also, while riding the escalators, your character cannot duck, jump, or fire his weapon.

• Also on elevators, you do not have control when you are riding on top of them. This means you are at the mercy of the elevator or the enemy agent controlling it. Be very careful if you ride on top of the elevator. You also cannot go past the bar on the top of the elevator.

• Enemy agents usually come out of the doors on the current floor or the floor above and below. A lot of times it is good to lay a wall of fire down a hallway. This way, you can pick off any enemy agents that happen to come out of one of the doors.

• When you enter through one of the red doors, the enemy agents will lose track of your character but will have a general idea of where your character is. When you exit the room, crouch and lay down fire both left and right to clear off the floor.

• As the levels progress, the enemy agents get better at their tactics. They start to crouch more to mess up your fire. They also may lay down which makes it impossible to hit them unless you are on an elevator and can shoot along the floor.

• As you move up in levels, there will be red doors in odd areas. Areas such as on the lower five floors where only elevators can take you across. Of course, if you get good with the jump button, you can jump those gaps to get to either side quicker. The downside is that enemy agents will usually flood the area and lay down a lot of fire.

• If you happen to get to the B1 floor and you have forgotten to get a red door, the game will automatically put your agent at the door you missed. If it is multiple doors, then you will be placed at the highest floor first.

• There is an internal time limit on how long you can take to get everything out of the building. If you take too much time, an alarm sounds and the following things occur :

1. Although you still have control over the elevators, it is much harder to get them to respond to your commands. If you are in a tight situation that requires a little bit of time, don't wait till the last minute or you may be an ex-agent.
2. The enemy agents move much quicker and their shots move faster. Plus, additional enemy agents will start appearing to really make your life miserable.
3. If your character happens to die, the next man will still be facing the same alarm situation. The only way to resolve the situation is to get all of the secrets and make it out of the building.

• Watch out for the double elevator. If you are in the top car, it will stop two floors short of the bottom since there is a one floor gap, and the bottom car. Try to always get into the bottom car of a double elevator so that you can make a hasty exit and not be trapped with enemy agents firing on you.

Series

1. Elevator Action (1983)
2. Elevator Action Returns (1995)
3. Elevator Action EX (2000, Nintendo Game Boy Color)

Staff

Music By:

Yoshino Imamura

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Elevator Action cabinet.

• 

  Elevator Action flyer.

• 

  Inside of the alternate Elevator Action flyer.

• 

  Inside of the alternate Elevator Action flyer.

Ports

Consoles

Atari 2600 (1983)

Nintendo Famicom (1985)

Sega SG-1000 (1985)

Nintendo Game Boy (1991)

Sega Saturn (1997, as bonus game in "Elevator Action Returns")

Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002, "Elevator Action Old & New")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Taito Memories Vol. 2")

Sony PlayStation2 (2005, "Taito Legends")

Microsoft XBOX (2005, "Taito Legends")

Computers

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)

Commodore C64 (1987)

Amstrad CPC (1987)

MSX

PC [MS Windows] (2005, "Taito Legends")

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Taito Game Music	28XA-110	1987-01-25	Alfa Records	CD version.
Taito Game Music	SCDC-00156	2002-03-06	Scitron Digital Content Inc.	CD version.
Taito Game Music	ALC-22908	1987-01-25	Alfa Records	Cassette version.
Taito Game Music	ALR-22908	1987-01-25	Alfa Records	Vinyl version.
Arcade Ambiance 1983	N/A	2003-01-01	Andy Hofle	Digital download only.
pia-com I / Piano x Computer Game	DERP-10005	2009-11-25	Dog Ear Records	CD version.

External Links

• Sinclair ZX Spectrum version of Elevator Action at the World of Spectrum

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.