Stocker, the best of the worst arcade drivers - Originally published on 1UP - March 31, 2009

In 1984 Sente, a developer for Bally, released a forgettable game named Stocker. It was a crude racer, ugly, with a top down view and a lame song that actually reminds me now of the Jurassic Park theme. Everything that went into the game screamed cheapness. Even as a kid I could tell that the game didn't compare to other racers. It looked and played like a first-generation arcade game and certainly didn't deserve the company of titles like Spy Hunter, Super Sprint and Monaco GP.

As simplistic and cheap as Stocker was, it did have its own charm. It, pardon the pun, tread some new ground in the racing genre. The purpose of the game was simple, it was probably the first transcontinental arcade race. It was a points-based experience, start in Florida and get as far along the course to California as you could before running out of gas. The car was not a standard driver but a brightly painted stock car, the type of race car featured on the NASCAR circuit. It's a subtext that reads the best way to race is with a big, fast, brute of a car rather than a dainty F-1 racer. A very noble American concept. Avoiding the cops, finding shortcuts and plowing through opponents all helped make this game unique. It undoubtedly took cues from the films Smokey and the Bandit and Canonball Run. But what was it about this game that made it special to me?

As simplistic as the controls were, another loose steering wheel and a low / high gear shift, the game was anything but simple. Each part of the course was held on a single screen, it would not advance until the player hit the edge of the track. There was no scrolling here, no chance to see what lay ahead. More often than not the screen would advance to a sharp turn and send the stocker way off course. Playing this game and advancing further than a state meant you needed a sixth sense. In my case, and for gamers that played this title more than once, it meant lots of memorization. The challenge for me was in trying to see the end, to reach California.

Unfortunately there were a few things preventing me from playing this game often. It was not in the local arcades, it was in one of two places, a mall that was far from home or in a Chuck E Cheese than was even further. The only times I got to play were on trips or special occasions. That and I was a little kid and didn't have an infinite supply of quarters to support this game. I had to make the most with what I had each and every time I went. I began trying to memorize the roads in the game, even taking alternate paths just to see if they were any faster. When I would get home I'd take out sheets of paper and begin drawing out the course. Each screen was one sheet of paper, I would lay them out end-to-end and look for the best route. I'd take these sheets to school so I could use the art supplies and color in the roads. I must have been in the third or fourth grade at the time. My parents just thought I was just making roads for my Hot Wheel cars. Never thinking that I was doing the same thing for most of the games I played. If I knew we were taking a trip to the mall then I'd go over my notes in advance. I didn't want to bring my papers with me because then I'd be cheating, or worse, look crazy. Which in retrospect I was.

I still have a lot of those tendencies and obsessions, what Stocker did was bring them to the front. Of course all of this helped me get very good at the game so that while my brothers were bugging mom and dad for more tokens I was still on my original one. Other kids my age were playing in the ball pit or stuffing their faces with pizza but I wouldn't be undone. Gritting my teeth and concentrating fiercely on the screen. I was getting further and further into the game than the teens that would hang out in the arcade would ever do. Although I never made it to California the older kids admired my determination. Having my name at the top of the leader board didn't hurt either. Stocker was not the overhead racer that I most obsessed about but it certainly was the gateway racer for that genre. Over the next decade I would become well versed in driving games, both the isometric and overhead kind. Tomorrow I'll touch on some of the best, if often overlooked, entries in the genre.

Was there ever a bad game that you became obsessed with? Tell me about it in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!