Original Release: Gaelco, 1993, Arcade
Other Releases: Evercade (2021 – censored)
Another of Gaelco’s early nudie games that works space shooter action into the usual “uncover the picture” mix
Glass (Arcade, Gaelco, 1993)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Glass is one of the more interesting stories among old-school adult arcade games. It’s one of Gaelco’s early dabbles in peepshow games, before they made a bigger name for themselves with more mainstream fare, but it’s also one of the rare birds that uses the Dallas DS5002FP security chip meant to deter bootleggers and scallywags. This chip would basically destroy the board if it sensed tampering, and game dumps were thus unable to be emulated until mid-2017 when some Dutch programmers hacked it (and the functionality was subsequently added to MAME).
The game WAS playable on emulators prior to that however, thanks to a version published in Korea that was officially licensed to a company called PROMAT and apparently ran on a board that didn’t have the Dallas chip. However, that was a “less naughty” version that scrubbed out the between-level nude pics and replaced them with anime cuties in bikinis.
The story doesn’t end there! Flash forward to 2020, when publisher Blaze releases the Evercade console meant to provide old arcade IP holders a way to sell their properties on a cartridge. One of the early releases for the system was a compilation of Gaelco games, including Glass … however, Blaze announced they would be Bowdlerizing it. But the reason they cited was not the known between-level nudie pics, but apparently something they found in dummied-out material inside the ROM that they called “pretty nasty stuff.”
Usually sites like The Cutting Room Floor and etc. are all over hidden stuff in ROMs, but I guess either no one cares about this game enough to bother and/or the Dallas chip makes it too complicated. Whatever the case, I can’t imagine the game’s known pics of bare tits to be labeled as “nasty stuff”, so we’re left with something of a mystery of what Gaelco buried in the catacombs of this game.
Anyway. The game is a combo “uncover the screen” format and space shooter. You pilot a ship that has two digger arms constantly flailing around automatically, and steer around to break all sorts of blocks covering the playfield. But you also have to shoot enemies that come wandering in from the edge of the screen. The highlight of all this is the boss battles, which tend to be against big enemies with fairly detailed animations (my favorite of which is simply a giant floating chalice with blood sloshing around in it).
Though it’s not bad, both the gameplay and adult content are mid at absolute best … it’s more of an interesting tale to read about than something fun to actually play.
Links
Article about the ROM dump history
Videos