Retro Terrorism, part I

I’m very interested in airports and airport security. In fact, at Persuasive Games we have made not one but two games about airport security. But, what about earlier games about airports and terrorism?

As a part of their series of solar powered LCD handheld games, Bandai released Airport Panic in 1982. One of the neat things about this game is that it had two game levels, and the scene changed depending on which one you were on.

In the first, you have to cross the tarmac to the plane while avoiding the hijacker’s bombs. Then you board the plane (this is where the scene changes) and have to traverse the rows to shoot the hijacker and “rescue the stewardess and the passengers.”

When Gonzalo Frasca showed me this game today, I was reminded me that I actually have one, fully packaged, somewhere in my collection stash. I should find it and take it on my next flight. You don’t need to go to those extremes though. You can download the manual scans and a PC emulator.

Bandai Solar Handheld Simulator Downloads [ via Ludology.org]