Home /
Arcade

Looping

Arcade

Arcade

In Looping, a single player flies his/her airplane into Adventure-Land, battling hot air balloons, rockets, and other high-flying objects in the quest to reach “The End.” An acceleration button, fire button, and a 2-dimensional (up-down) joystick are all you have as you fly your plane over cities...

Download

0/5 Votes: 0

Report

Developer
Video Games

Released on
1982

Size
1 Player

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

Publisher
Venture Line

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Report this app

Images

Description

In Looping, a single player flies his/her airplane into Adventure-Land, battling hot air balloons, rockets, and other high-flying objects in the quest to reach “The End.” An acceleration button, fire button, and a 2-dimensional (up-down) joystick are all you have as you fly your plane over cities, through pipes, and eventually into “The End” itself. Death-defying looping maneuvers can be executed with ease as you attempt to destroy strange flying obstacles and ground targets.

The Looping arcade machine contains a series of relatively rare Texas Instruments CPUs and a dedicated DAC (Digital To Analog Converter) sound chip, capable of speaking audible commands to the player throughout his/her mission. The Texas Instruments CPUs are reportedly difficult to find if they need to be replaced, and original hardware is becoming scarce as the years go on.

Released in 1982, Looping was one of the two original titled produced by the German company Video Games GmbH. It is said to have been developed in Parma, Italy by Giorgio Ugozoli. It was licensed to Venture Line for US manufacture and distribution, and has seen home release on the Colecovision.

An interview with the devloper or Looping, Giorgio Ugozzoli, is available here in English, and here in original Italian!

Looping

Overview & History

Released in 1982 by Venture Line—originally developed by the Japanese manufacturer Coreland—Looping (sometimes known as *Looping III*) is a distinct horizontal-scrolling arcade shooter. Standing out from standard space-combat titles of the era, this game casts players as the pilot of an experimental vertical-takeoff aircraft navigating through treacherous, maze-like industrial complexes. The atmospheric sci-fi backdrop tasks you with penetrating heavily fortified enemy installations, dodging defensive barriers, and ultimately targeting the central reactor core in a dramatic final assault.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike typical side-scrollers, Looping demands precise spatial awareness and meticulous fuel management. The game unfolds across distinct phases. First, you maneuver your aircraft through twisting, narrow tunnels filled with moving barriers, rocket launchers, and dead ends that require precise altitude adjustments. The screen forces a continuous horizontal progression, punishing hesitation. In the second phase, the environment opens slightly, transitioning into a frantic dogfight against waves of homing missiles and hostile patrol ships. Your craft is equipped with a forward-firing cannon to obliterate static defenses and airborne threats. Success relies entirely on anticipating narrow structural gaps and managing a rapidly depleting fuel gauge, which can only be replenished by collecting specialized energy pods scattered dangerously close to enemy fortifications. The difficulty ramps up aggressively across escalating loops, demanding lightning-fast reflexes and flawless memorization of labyrinth layouts.