One little known fact about this game: the in-game speech was not synthesized like the Speak and Spell, but is rather an actual recording of a real female voice, compressed and encoded in this ROM cartridge along with the actual game code itself, being played back much like today's mp3.
The voice of the recorded on-board computer was of Aubree Anderson, who at the time was a student at Texas Tech University back in 1982.
This was the only really good game for the TI i hated those fuel tunnels, and after a few levels you had to fire your laser 1 shot at a time or your ship would explode
A few tricks... One shot every enemy on level 1, two shot every enemy on level 2, etc., back up through the fuel tunnel to refuel, get a refueling tunnel after Every wave of enemies by letting them race along the screen or with things like urbites, dramites, bynites passing them, then backing up, passing them, then backing up. Could score 150,000+ easily and play one game for an almost unlimited time.
Thanks for the video. This video shows a laser 'guide' or 'sight' on the far right hand side of the screen. I don't get this when I play the game on my TI99/4A. Can the 'laser sight' be turned on/off with a key? I don't have the instructions with the cartridge. Can someone help me out? Thanks.
That's not a laser sight. It's actually the vapor trail of the ship. It's more of a graphic defect but I use it to get more distance away from the enemy. To do it you have to move all the way to the top and then back up all the way and hold the arrow up key at the same time you are backing up. You may go too far and end up at the right side and then have to do it again.
@keghaywood Very useful hint, thanks very much Keghaywood... looks like it could be useful in improving the accuracy of my firing. There's a web page full of wierd and wonderful facts on Parsec, if you do a search on "parsec facts". I've had a quick flick through them but I don't think your vapour trail hint is in there, so maybe you could drop them an email and you could get a mention.
This game was the best. My little brother and I were obsessed. We'd play together a lot (I'd pilot, he'd shoot) and alone. There were 16 levels, but we never got past level 12. And that was only after playing WAY too many hours.
This game was great! TI was my first gaming machine, and started a love of gaming that carried on through my whole life (and basically every job I've had in my adult life). Played the hell out of this, Munch-Man, Shamus, Tunnels of Doom, and Hunt the Wumpus.
Refueling tunnels... those attack ships... with their cloaking devices... overheating laser... Those blasted flying saucers... the enemies that would hug the ground so close you had to risk crashing to shoot them... the asteroid belt... the speech... man, what a game. Not seen in this video - one of the most hellish opponents of my childhood, the KILLER SATELLITES. They would appear suddenly, unpredictably, and totally kick your ass.
I have this overwhelming, mighty, magic feeling again i felt back then, when exploring my TI994/A night after night on the "big" Tube Television in my parents livingroom. Mostly after TV-Station Closedown! Yes, there was i time when tv stations wished everyone a good night, and after playing the Hymne - stopped Broadcasting... until the next Day :) oh my... im getting old! What a way we walk/ed... Thanks for posting!
I would dread the fueling stations ! . soooo trippy to see it again tho after all these years, agreed guys !!!! love all the weird shit on the landscape, HOLY SHIT THIS IS TRIPPY !
crazy to hear and see something burned into the back of my brain that i haven't heard or seen in 25 years!
i remember eating cheeze-its all day long as i did my best to beat the game. Look at how good it still looks! as a kid i just loved it cuz it was fun. ...but seeing it now i realize it was a well designed game.
At the time this game was on par with the coin operated arcade games and it blew my friends away! I carried this computer inside a cardboard box around in my car and went around setting it up at friends houses when I partied! That amazed everyone then but seems insane now.
This was my first computer too. I had the speech synthesizer as well which added the voice & made this game very futuristic in 1983 . I could not afford a monitor or disk drive & had to use a small TV set and I converted a cassette tape player for a tape drive. I remember the colors being much more vivid than this video shows though (maybe it was the drugs). My all time favorite game for TI994A was Tunnels of Doom, though I used this game to demonstrate the "power" of my computer! LOL.
ya know wot . . . .dis game woz de top game ta play wen i woz a kid . . i used ta go round my mates house & couldn beleev da great ti994a computer and specially dis wiked game . . amazin. fankz fa postin dis game on de youtube
I had the TI system and this game too, plus the huge floppy disk drive thing. I thought games wouldn't get any better than this. Then again, I thought that same thing when I was lucky enough to have a 12 inch B/W TV with my own PONG system in 1977.
i had this game and the speach synthesizer that hooked into the side of the console..the ti had alot of atari knock off type games...but in many ways thier knock offs were better than atari itself! I wish there was a way to find the games on rom or one of the big console makers come out with a TI classic games disk! WONDERFUL VID THANK YOU!
omg, i remember if you held both fire buttons down your ship would never overheat, if you timed it right you could refuel at the begining of the astroid belt, just go through the tunnell and you would be safe....man my age is showing.
this game was revolutionary... google 'rare parsec facts' (don't mean to spam, but anyone watching this video will love these facts i compile........ i am a HUGE FAN
I've probably logged more hours on this than on any other game. Wow.
There was a cheat; if you hit both buttons that allowed you to fire (or maybe it was shift and one of the buttons) you would be frozen in air...but your lazer wouldn't overheat. This allowed you to lay down a constant layer of fire and nail a lot of ships. I still never made it all that far. ^_^)
I also programmed a clone of what used to pass for Minesweeper, back then. ^_^
I remember playing this when I was in kindergarten when my teachers had a TI-994 computer in the classroom. Nice touch even though it predated early 1990s technology (Which was the time I was in said grade).
I spent so many hours playing this game. It sucked before I figured out that you could adjust the speed by pressing 1,2, or 3. After that it was much easier to refuel. Great shmup that is sadly forgotten by most gamers.
For me the hardest part of the game wasn't fighting the alien ships, but navigating through those refueling tunnels. I could easily see figure out the attack patterns of all the ships, but trying to inch through those narrow tunnels with a joystick was frustrating. I recall the one on the level 3 was a serious PITA, and I could never finish it.
I usually used the keyboard to control the ship when flying through the fueling tunnels; it gave you more precision. But I agree, that was the hardest part of the game.
Here's a neat little advantage you get when you play Parsec with the Speech Synthesizer, the ship's computer actually gives you a countdown when you're flying through the asteroid belt.
I used to play this game a lot when I was little. I remember writing cheesy programs on the Texas Instruments program, too. I remember you always had to type 10 CALL CLEAR or something like that at the beginning of the program. Does anyone have a video of Hangman for Texas Instruments? I remember the theme song of it was the same as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Ha! Thanks!
I remember that each level had the planet in a different colour (as shown) and the laser overheating more easily each time. Once all these levels were completed, it started with the yellow planet again. I thought there were 16 levels, but I could be wrong! I definitely managed to get through them all at least once as it gave out rather too many bonus ships!
I hated the third tunnel as well, and I got so I was able to run all the way over to the right just before it appeared, enter the cave, then back out. You would escape with the skin of your teeth, which was better than crashing.
/the killer satellites were the most dangerous to me.
Nice. Now that you mention it, I recall doing that once or twice as well. You gotta be pretty darn quick, if I remember, or you'll get locked in the cave and have to go the whole nine.
no seriously, I'm surprized. I thought this computer was only capable for normal sound, not PRESS FIRE TO BEGEN. Must be a kids game, so they know what they're doing
This was the only game I had that used the speech synthesizer (free with 3 games!) and I learned all the tricks!
Notice how he starts by bringing the ship far left? The engine fire is now wrapped around to the right of the screen? You did that by forcing UP+Left on the top of the screen, giving you more room!
Oh my god. I was six when I played this. And I played the shit out of this. The sound brings back more memories than anything. Refueling always felt like a great acomplishment. That game was fun as hell.
I loved Parsec too!!! But the female voice it´s from a synth, it´s not a real woman talking. PolePosition was a recording, though. TI 99 4/a was my first computer in 1982!!!! How much memories... Regards from Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Those dam refueling tunnels!! Could never get past those. Good video.
Telly187 1 day ago
This game was my first experience with a scrolling shooter back in 1985! I used to love playing this game. =)
matrixandraia 1 month ago
One little known fact about this game: the in-game speech was not synthesized like the Speak and Spell, but is rather an actual recording of a real female voice, compressed and encoded in this ROM cartridge along with the actual game code itself, being played back much like today's mp3.
The voice of the recorded on-board computer was of Aubree Anderson, who at the time was a student at Texas Tech University back in 1982.
AlainHubert 5 months ago 6
@AlainHubert Weird, wild stuff.
fjccommish 3 months ago
Ah, the memories... great vid!
byset 6 months ago
Wow - talk about memories from a time long ago! Thank you for posting!
jbutler303 9 months ago
This was probably my favorite game as a kid... I was sooo in love with her voice then and even decades later...
RomanticLinguaphilia 9 months ago
this game really needs bombs to drop like in cosmic avenger or something,.
Bp323 10 months ago
Oh happy days! This was the first video game I ever owned, I also had TI Invaders. Thanks for posting!
JanewayDar 11 months ago
Loved this. Had hunt the wumpas ... That cat mouse game... And that space invaders clone... whatever it was called.
DigitalSkyline 11 months ago
This was the only really good game for the TI i hated those fuel tunnels, and after a few levels you had to fire your laser 1 shot at a time or your ship would explode
GeneralG1810 1 year ago
This was my favorite game on the TI99/4A growing up!
DavidMolnarProd1 1 year ago
When did this game come out? The speech is amazing for that time period
TheLonersManual 1 year ago
@TheLonersManual 1982 :) I did a small lets play of this game recently as well.
NeoTifasRevenge 1 year ago
A few tricks... One shot every enemy on level 1, two shot every enemy on level 2, etc., back up through the fuel tunnel to refuel, get a refueling tunnel after Every wave of enemies by letting them race along the screen or with things like urbites, dramites, bynites passing them, then backing up, passing them, then backing up. Could score 150,000+ easily and play one game for an almost unlimited time.
hedgefm 1 year ago
AWESOME! I haven't seen this game since third grade...... 26 years ago. :)
lljmeyer 1 year ago
ships approachinf!!!
i love this game
nibelung34343 1 year ago
Thanks for the video. This video shows a laser 'guide' or 'sight' on the far right hand side of the screen. I don't get this when I play the game on my TI99/4A. Can the 'laser sight' be turned on/off with a key? I don't have the instructions with the cartridge. Can someone help me out? Thanks.
ForViewingOnly 1 year ago
That's not a laser sight. It's actually the vapor trail of the ship. It's more of a graphic defect but I use it to get more distance away from the enemy. To do it you have to move all the way to the top and then back up all the way and hold the arrow up key at the same time you are backing up. You may go too far and end up at the right side and then have to do it again.
keghaywood 1 year ago
@keghaywood Very useful hint, thanks very much Keghaywood... looks like it could be useful in improving the accuracy of my firing. There's a web page full of wierd and wonderful facts on Parsec, if you do a search on "parsec facts". I've had a quick flick through them but I don't think your vapour trail hint is in there, so maybe you could drop them an email and you could get a mention.
ForViewingOnly 1 year ago
This game was the best. My little brother and I were obsessed. We'd play together a lot (I'd pilot, he'd shoot) and alone. There were 16 levels, but we never got past level 12. And that was only after playing WAY too many hours.
Thanks for the great memory-jog!
happiour21 1 year ago
The TI was my first computer and I played Parsec for hours, back in the day :P.
mlpearc 1 year ago
This game was great! TI was my first gaming machine, and started a love of gaming that carried on through my whole life (and basically every job I've had in my adult life). Played the hell out of this, Munch-Man, Shamus, Tunnels of Doom, and Hunt the Wumpus.
2TonTongue 1 year ago
Refueling tunnels... those attack ships... with their cloaking devices... overheating laser... Those blasted flying saucers... the enemies that would hug the ground so close you had to risk crashing to shoot them... the asteroid belt... the speech... man, what a game. Not seen in this video - one of the most hellish opponents of my childhood, the KILLER SATELLITES. They would appear suddenly, unpredictably, and totally kick your ass.
jakeharvey 1 year ago
i still play this time to time on my TI emulater :)
and Hunt the Wumpus
worldtravel101 1 year ago
6:10 Oops! You don't want to be on the far left side of the screen with those crazy saucers trying to kamikaze you! :)
Akira625 1 year ago
Love the sound effects.
SpiffyBiscuits5 1 year ago
I have this overwhelming, mighty, magic feeling again i felt back then, when exploring my TI994/A night after night on the "big" Tube Television in my parents livingroom. Mostly after TV-Station Closedown! Yes, there was i time when tv stations wished everyone a good night, and after playing the Hymne - stopped Broadcasting... until the next Day :) oh my... im getting old! What a way we walk/ed... Thanks for posting!
Earthtape 1 year ago
HOLY FUCK PARSEC WAS HARD
I would dread the fueling stations ! . soooo trippy to see it again tho after all these years, agreed guys !!!! love all the weird shit on the landscape, HOLY SHIT THIS IS TRIPPY !
bottomdogman 1 year ago
wow- I haven't seen this since - wow- 1982 or so. I have it memorized- how trippy to see it again!! thanks for posting this!!!
alpheratz9 1 year ago
i can't believe somebody built a city right below a giant asteroid belt
goonlagoon 1 year ago
I just nostalgia'd so hard right now it's not even funny. I was like 2 1/2 years old when I played this.
gnargnargnar 1 year ago
crazy to hear and see something burned into the back of my brain that i haven't heard or seen in 25 years!
i remember eating cheeze-its all day long as i did my best to beat the game. Look at how good it still looks! as a kid i just loved it cuz it was fun. ...but seeing it now i realize it was a well designed game.
capnap 2 years ago
good childhood game. Remember this one fondly.
argentmmm 2 years ago
3:09
Whoa. Wipeout HD Zone mode flashback :)
marktrade88 2 years ago
At the time this game was on par with the coin operated arcade games and it blew my friends away! I carried this computer inside a cardboard box around in my car and went around setting it up at friends houses when I partied! That amazed everyone then but seems insane now.
7tnorris 2 years ago
This was my first computer too. I had the speech synthesizer as well which added the voice & made this game very futuristic in 1983 . I could not afford a monitor or disk drive & had to use a small TV set and I converted a cassette tape player for a tape drive. I remember the colors being much more vivid than this video shows though (maybe it was the drugs). My all time favorite game for TI994A was Tunnels of Doom, though I used this game to demonstrate the "power" of my computer! LOL.
7tnorris 2 years ago
Best game ever made.
jacksorengan 2 years ago
yeah . best ever . no doubt
bopkick5 2 years ago
Ahhh, I really missed out without the speech synthesizer!
djpioneer722 2 years ago
you have to switch to low sensitivity controls when you refuel
I used to rock this game
kevmore007 2 years ago
you have the speech addon
JOCKATEO 2 years ago
i woz alwayz wel jelos of mi mate cos he had dis amazing computer de ti994a . . . i am curios dos any1 stil hav a ti994a operatin???
bopkick5 2 years ago
ya know wot . . . .dis game woz de top game ta play wen i woz a kid . . i used ta go round my mates house & couldn beleev da great ti994a computer and specially dis wiked game . . amazin. fankz fa postin dis game on de youtube
bopkick5 2 years ago
I had the TI system and this game too, plus the huge floppy disk drive thing. I thought games wouldn't get any better than this. Then again, I thought that same thing when I was lucky enough to have a 12 inch B/W TV with my own PONG system in 1977.
islamsucksallah 2 years ago
oh my god!!!!
i had this game and the speach synthesizer that hooked into the side of the console..the ti had alot of atari knock off type games...but in many ways thier knock offs were better than atari itself! I wish there was a way to find the games on rom or one of the big console makers come out with a TI classic games disk! WONDERFUL VID THANK YOU!
sprintbass 2 years ago 3
I have an emulator with a ton of TI games. It's called MESS. It works on older computers but it doesn't work on XP and Vista.
keghaywood 2 years ago
well sadly between my 2 computers one has xp the other one has vista...but i appreciate you telling me..
sprintbass 2 years ago
@keghaywood
Does it have Parsec? I don't think most of the games are worth the effort of nested emulators (which I would need) but Parsec would be.
Ganalef 1 year ago
My siblings and I played this a ton when we were kids.
We never got very far, though, because we sucked at refueling.
Who would put fueling stations in tunnels filled with craggy stalactites and stalagmites, anyhow?
StochasticOoze 2 years ago
LOL did you have a joystick? I found refuelling nigh on impossible using the keyboard, but with the joystick it was much easier.
koksy 2 years ago
Texas Instruments?
Notyu1459 2 years ago
I loved that game. Cool!!!
combatcamera4671 2 years ago
This was the first video game I have ever played.
captinnintendo 2 years ago
The speech was outstanding for it's day and is still good even today. It was incredible.
pjcnet 2 years ago
I LOVED this game on my TI 99 4/A, my first computer. Major nostalgia trip!! I didn't have the voice synthesizer, so I never heard the voice before.
trefoyl 2 years ago
omg, i remember if you held both fire buttons down your ship would never overheat, if you timed it right you could refuel at the begining of the astroid belt, just go through the tunnell and you would be safe....man my age is showing.
SUNSHINE21480 2 years ago
this game was revolutionary... google 'rare parsec facts' (don't mean to spam, but anyone watching this video will love these facts i compile........ i am a HUGE FAN
matthewdoucette 2 years ago
good tip, great site.
orangetide 2 years ago
Nice flying pilot! I remember the joy sticks where not the best and not that easy to use.
staticcharges 3 years ago
I loved this game and went to some high levels but then the TI=99/4A would overheat and then the game would freeze!
Wish I would have used a fan on it! I still have my TI-99/4A with Speech Synthesizer and my old Commodore 128!
chieflittlehorse 3 years ago
hey! Its Defender!!
JoeChrisMorris 3 years ago
Clever!
RockMSockM7 3 years ago
Yea but I don't remember Defender having a female voice to congratulate you :)
frank197594 2 years ago
Wow, this takes me waaaaaaayyy back. I spent hours playing this game when I was kid!
Classic stuff.
SpaceLionR 3 years ago
I forgot how much I used to love this game as a kid!
averagejoe0073 3 years ago
thx. Spend SOOOOO many hours with this game back then (only had this one:)
phcphcphc 3 years ago
who the f- wouldn't give this 5 stars?? so sweet.
pohillsf 3 years ago 2
Five stars from me. love this game.
kway745 3 years ago
I've probably logged more hours on this than on any other game. Wow.
There was a cheat; if you hit both buttons that allowed you to fire (or maybe it was shift and one of the buttons) you would be frozen in air...but your lazer wouldn't overheat. This allowed you to lay down a constant layer of fire and nail a lot of ships. I still never made it all that far. ^_^)
I also programmed a clone of what used to pass for Minesweeper, back then. ^_^
Ganalef 3 years ago
I remember playing this when I was in kindergarten when my teachers had a TI-994 computer in the classroom. Nice touch even though it predated early 1990s technology (Which was the time I was in said grade).
TheManAbove 3 years ago
This was one of my favourite games as a kid. I can't imagine how many hours I spent playing this as well as Alpiner and MunchMan.
drm310 3 years ago 2
I spent so many hours playing this game. It sucked before I figured out that you could adjust the speed by pressing 1,2, or 3. After that it was much easier to refuel. Great shmup that is sadly forgotten by most gamers.
theatarian 3 years ago
How many levels are there? I don't think I ever got past level 12.
GenerationX1984 3 years ago
That's a lot farther than I ever got. I'm pretty sure it goes on forever.
keghaywood 3 years ago
@GenerationX1984 There are 16 levels. My highest level was Level 6.
nwest1140 8 months ago
For me the hardest part of the game wasn't fighting the alien ships, but navigating through those refueling tunnels. I could easily see figure out the attack patterns of all the ships, but trying to inch through those narrow tunnels with a joystick was frustrating. I recall the one on the level 3 was a serious PITA, and I could never finish it.
Akira625 3 years ago
I usually used the keyboard to control the ship when flying through the fueling tunnels; it gave you more precision. But I agree, that was the hardest part of the game.
worldwatcher22 3 years ago
Here's a neat little advantage you get when you play Parsec with the Speech Synthesizer, the ship's computer actually gives you a countdown when you're flying through the asteroid belt.
Akira625 3 years ago
The neat trick with the fuel tunnels was to back up into them. Also there where secret bonuses in the game (destroying a wave of asteroids was one)
amoore2000 3 years ago
I used to play this game a lot when I was little. I remember writing cheesy programs on the Texas Instruments program, too. I remember you always had to type 10 CALL CLEAR or something like that at the beginning of the program. Does anyone have a video of Hangman for Texas Instruments? I remember the theme song of it was the same as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Ha! Thanks!
existentialrainbow 3 years ago
Haha, I used to play this on my dad's old TI computer in 1985. This was my favorite game of the ones he had. Thanks for putting it up.
matrixandraia 3 years ago
did u play any of the text adventures pyramids of doom mystery fun house voodoo castle?
maliceaforthought 3 years ago
loved this but never got to the end! how many levels did it have?
maliceaforthought 3 years ago
I think it just goes on forever. I saw my uncle and brother make it to level 5 and it just got harder. Level 4 has killer sattelites.
keghaywood 3 years ago
I read that it loops after level 8.
Stopmotionist 3 years ago
I remember that each level had the planet in a different colour (as shown) and the laser overheating more easily each time. Once all these levels were completed, it started with the yellow planet again. I thought there were 16 levels, but I could be wrong! I definitely managed to get through them all at least once as it gave out rather too many bonus ships!
Balticmania 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
this is so cool...
wintrbutrfly 3 years ago
WOW it's been like 23 years since I played this. amazing!
batfly 3 years ago
I remember playing this when I was a little lad, my brother who is younger than my was better at it than I was though.
fulcilover 4 years ago
Nice skills on this one. I always hated the 3rd fueling cave. It like goes on forever. Too bad a saucer collided with you immmediately after exiting!
2bin 4 years ago
I hated the third tunnel as well, and I got so I was able to run all the way over to the right just before it appeared, enter the cave, then back out. You would escape with the skin of your teeth, which was better than crashing.
/the killer satellites were the most dangerous to me.
Snarfangel 4 years ago
Nice. Now that you mention it, I recall doing that once or twice as well. You gotta be pretty darn quick, if I remember, or you'll get locked in the cave and have to go the whole nine.
2bin 4 years ago
OMG!! THEY TALK
no seriously, I'm surprized. I thought this computer was only capable for normal sound, not PRESS FIRE TO BEGEN. Must be a kids game, so they know what they're doing
Jedite01 4 years ago
my first computer and my first video game at home . I played this game completely, love how those alien ships swoop down at you .. greatest game
chandraalvin 4 years ago
I used to play this all the time. Now I remember I hated the dramite ships!
Alexandra22773 4 years ago 2
This was the only game I had that used the speech synthesizer (free with 3 games!) and I learned all the tricks!
Notice how he starts by bringing the ship far left? The engine fire is now wrapped around to the right of the screen? You did that by forcing UP+Left on the top of the screen, giving you more room!
BluemaxMPM 4 years ago
MACKED OUT. This was such a classic. Best game on my first PC.
I never had the speech synthesizer. Now I see I was missing a lot of atmosphere!
classof77 4 years ago
dang, you're a lot better at this than I ever was.
EATABAGOFHELL 4 years ago
this was my dads favourite game
OrangeOrnage 4 years ago
Oh my god. I was six when I played this. And I played the shit out of this. The sound brings back more memories than anything. Refueling always felt like a great acomplishment. That game was fun as hell.
natoman 4 years ago
Parsec, Super Demon Attack, Indoor Soccer, Munch Man, remember these lovely games??? Ahhh....
tarkus223 4 years ago
wow!! This is awesome!! Brings me back to my childhood.
jpriw298 4 years ago
Man, i grew up with this. Thanks for the video!
ronpoz 4 years ago
How do you get the screen capture from a video up on here? Is it hardware or software?
I loved PARSEC. I always wondered who did the voice work for the game... That and PolePosition.
loudstone 4 years ago
I have a TV tuner card on my PC so I hooked up my TI computer to it and recorded this as an mpeg file.
keghaywood 4 years ago
I loved Parsec too!!! But the female voice it´s from a synth, it´s not a real woman talking. PolePosition was a recording, though. TI 99 4/a was my first computer in 1982!!!! How much memories... Regards from Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Madbeat1 4 years ago
That's not true. If you look at the game manual, it gives credit to Aubry Anderson for doing the voice over.
2bin 4 years ago
Excellent game, loved it! Thanks for the video.
jonecool 4 years ago
amazing what could do with a computer with only 16k of RAM
miraiz 4 years ago
Parsec was fucking awesome.
zealousdemon 4 years ago