Solar-dependent handheld arcade game

The coin-op arcade explosion of ‘79/’80 (which you knew was mainstream when Arthur Daley played Space Invaders on “Minder”) led to a boom in the tabletop electronic game, as noted elsewhere in this catalogue. The Tomytronic 3D range warrants an entry of its own, however, due to the unique binocular portability and playability of the games (for the record, they were Planet Zeon, Shark Attack, Thundering Turbo and the Tron-indebted Sky Attack; a later addition to range was the restyled Skyfighters, with Stereo Sound).

No more shielding the screen from the sun - you needed the sun (or some strong, steady light source shining through the top at least) to play these babies. Also, there was something about the essentially private, immersive nature of these games that precluded them from end-of-term games days. They were more likely to be seen accompanying their owners on holidays, daytrips out in the car, or when the tent was set up in the back garden.

The strain on the pocket soon told however with the cost of all those 4 x C batteries (£5.99, Argos cat. no 347/2249) mounting up. It wasn’t long before investment was made in an AC/DC adaptor (£9.99, Argos cat no. 211/3486) - meaning the fluorescent fun could carry on indefinitely, albeit now only within range of a socket. The misleading television adverts implied smooth-scrolling vector graphics and spectacular explosions (arcade Battlezone stylee), although the games themselves followed the image-appears-in-one-of-three-places-only drill (see also Game And Watch) that we believe warrants a name all its own.