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Exterminator

Arcade

Arcade

Exterminator was produced by Gottlieb in 1989. Elmininate pests by any means possible. Grab the flying beasts, pound your fist onto ground enemies or move to the side of the screen and use your 'laser' by rotating the joystick to aim left/right. When an enemy dies, the tiles on the floor move ...

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Developer
D. Gottlieb

Released on
1989

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Exterminator was produced by Gottlieb in 1989.

Elmininate pests by any means possible. Grab the flying beasts, pound your fist onto ground enemies or move to the side of the screen and use your ‘laser’ by rotating the joystick to aim left/right. When an enemy dies, the tiles on the floor move along one block coloured in. Below the floor tile ‘columns’ are room names. Once a floor tile column is completely filled in, you are moved on to that room. At the end of each house a bonus basement will sometimes be awarded where you must shoot a load of rats.

Use your hands and bug spray to kill digitized bugs that come towards you. Set in a street of houses, you have to go from room to room in each house in order to complete the entire street.

Exterminator

Overview & History

Released in 1989 by Premier Technology (a division of Gottlieb), Exterminator is a delightfully bizarre and frantic arcade platformer that casts players in the role of Iggy, a blue-collar pest control specialist. Diverting from the traditional hero tropes of the era, the game injects a heavy dose of dark humor as you traverse bizarre, oversized suburban environments—ranging from kitchens to sewer systems—to eradicate mutated, oversized household pests. While it never achieved the ubiquitous cultural footprint of contemporary coin-op titans, it carved out a dedicated cult following due to its quirky premise, vibrant cartoonish art style, and surprisingly challenging difficulty curve that demanded precision and quick reflexes.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The core gameplay loop revolves around clearing vertically and horizontally scrolling stages packed with hostile vermin, including giant mutant rats, aggressive cockroaches, and killer bees. Armed with a heavy-duty spray gun and a trusty mallet, Iggy must stun or eliminate pests while collecting scattered household items for bonus points. The game features unique mechanics like destructible environmental elements and timed hazard triggers, requiring players to constantly balance offensive aggression with defensive positioning. Certain stages transition into frantic bonus rounds where you must smash as many scurrying bugs as possible within a strict time limit before the timer hits zero.