As long as I have enjoyed arcade games, I’ve liked games with a little variety. One that not everyone appreciates as much as I do is Midway’s 1981 release, GORF. Supposedly, the name was an abbreviation for “Galactic Orbital Robot Force”, but personally I think it really has to do with spelling something backward. I dunno. Anyway, it’s a game that I’ve always enjoyed.
GORF has five different screens, all of which are of the basic, Space Invaders, vertical shooter theme, but each of which is significantly different from the last. When one became available in nearly perfect shape, the only question I had was how fast I could get the cash out of the bank.
Me and my new GORF!
This particular unit was in immaculate shape. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an unrestored game that looked as good as this one does. The only real problems were a missing upper back door and a broken trigger on the flight stick. The various lights in the cabinet were burned out or missing, which is not in the least surprising in a game of this vintage. With any new arrival, I always assume I’ll be replacing bulbs and starters. On the issue of the trigger, the previous owner had acquired the replacement part, but never got around to replacing it. The trigger came along in the deal, as well as a full extra PCB set, including the cage (GORF is one of several games that midway produced which housed a six-board set in a rack-style cage arrangement, called the “Midway Card Rack” or MCR system). The G07 monitor is quite possibly the best example I have ever seen as well. The tube has no perceptible burn, the colors are bright, and all the lines look just like they’re supposed to. The sound is clean, and all the speech functions work. This was a great find!
It appears that this particular game was in fact routed for a year or two, based on the license stickers that are still present on the cabinet, as well as some original scribbles on the cabinet bottom from the Midway factory:
 1984-85 license fee label. |
 How clean is this? Factory sharpie! |
Not much of a project, but a great survivor!
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