3 Wonders
Still need to add the bezelGameplay
Three games in one (hence the name).
Midnight Wanderers: This is your basic run-n-jump platform game but the big difference here is the graphics – they are beautiful! You control an elf and run through the levels killing all the bad guys and picking up the powerups left behind. AMAZING graphics.
Chariot: This one is your basic side-scrolling shooter but again, with awesome graphics. You control an elf in a hang-gliding outfit and destroy wave upon wave of enemies and grab the powerups to increase your weapon strength.
Don’t Pull: I would classify this as a Pengo clone. You control a rabbit (or chipmunk if you’re player 2) and run around a maze, pushing blocks into the bad guys to smush them. No elves here! :) Very colorful and overly cutesy graphics.
Any one of these games could be a game on its own, but this PCB has ALL THREE!
Acquisition
At my second Winston-Salem auction, I found this game. I had never played it before but I had to have it after playing it for a few minutes. Of the five games I bought that day, this one cost me the most — $80.
Repairs
I was lucky to get a working PCB, marquee, manual, and even the CPO. The cabinet it is in is pretty crappy though. There is no sideart, though I can’t tell if 3 Wonders even had sideart – the manual doesn’t mention it in the kit, but later tells you how to apply it! Anyway, the monitor they put in the cabinet didn’t quite fir so they sawed a hole in the back for the chassis to stick out! The cabinet is black but they did a poor job of sanding and repainting. Since I really like this game, I may either re-do this cabinet or take another cabinet I have and make it into a dedicated 3 Wonders. Also, the CPO is pretty beat, but it’s a simple black background with some symbols from the game – easy to duplicate. I’ll get to that eventually. The other dumb thing is that the buttons are on the LEFT sides of the joysticks. Really hard to play that way (if you’re right-handed). I need to switch that no matter what else I do.
12/29/98 – UPDATE: I just ordered a NOS CPO and a NOS monitor bezel from Video Connection and also ordered some Capcom sideart since I’m fairly certain there never was any 3 Wonders sideart. Should make the game look awesome. Total cost for these parts – $28!
1/16/99 – UPDATE: WOW! I received the 3 Wonders stuff. VERY cool. The Capcom decals are red rectangles that say Capcom. Should fit in well. The CP has a lot of red in it so it should look great. Now I have to decide whether or not to put this stuff on the Taito (Elevator Action) cabinet or wait for a different cabinet. I’m going to take some of the paint off and see if it’s orange (EA) – if so, I might try and convert it back to an EA.
2/24/99 – UPDATE: The cabinet is an Alpine Ski cabinet and not an EA cabinet. Same shape though. So do I wait to find a dedicated EA and use the cab for my 3 Wonders or do I convert this cab into an EA and put 3 Wonders in another cabinet? Decisions, decisions.
7/21/99 – UPDATE: Well, I sold the original cabinet it was in and now have a new cabinet that will be the home of 3 Wonders. It’s a Thief cabinet converted to Strider (the Strider stuff is gone):
2/20/00 – UPDATE: I gave away the Strider/Thief cabinet so now I have to decide what cabinet to put it in now. I have a Dynamo cabinet I could put it in and I have a converted Magic Sword I could put it in. Not sure which I will do. Hopefully I will actually get this done sometime this summer. Hopefully.
5/5/02 – UPDATE: I will definitely put it in the Magic Sword conversion cabinet. It’s a really nice cabinet. It already has 2 sticks with 2 buttons each and 2 start buttons. No need to modify the CP. Should look fabulous once (if) I get around to doing it.
4/29/06 – UPDATE: I FINALLY stripped/sanded/painted the cabinet and it looks great. I got a monitor for it from Chad and he gave me some sticks and buttons. I also got new T-molding from Morgan. I’ll be putting it all together this weekend.
