1980 Sega Monaco GP worth buying?

Is a 1980 Sega Monaco worth buying? Found one and I am sitting on the fence on wether to buy it or not for $100. Sounds like the monitor needs work.

1. Have you tried the gameplay? You'll either really like it, or not.

2. Does it play blind? Big plus if it does...`cause I think it's a bear to get the PCBs going if not, somewhat like Turbo.
 
From what I have been told there is sound coming from it but no picture and I have never tried the game before. Looks cool thought, it's a racing game:)
 
One of the last non-CPU games, AFAIK. Not emulated by MAME, for that reason.
Pretty cool game, IMHO. But you have to like early racing games, I suppose.
 
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Think TURBO but with a direct down facing orientation. It's a fun game for a classic. Basically an "avoid" type of game.
 
One thing that makes it different than Turbo, is that it doesn't have those "random" changes of the road direction which tend to rearrange all the other cars on the screen in a blink of an eye (usually causing you to crash). Monaco has a nice smooth flow to it, and the wheel is super-responsive. It's primitive technologically, yes, but it's very playable and has good replay value in my opinion.
 
Decided I am going to pick it up, going on thursday to get it. For $100 I can't go wrong I don't think, the seller said it was working until it was moved then it had no picture so hopefully it is just a lose wire( I know wishful thinking) LOL it's usually never that easy. I will post some pics when I get it. It's a upright cabinet, just wondering if anyone knows what type of monitor is in it and if I can still get parts for it if the monitor is the issue.
 
It's fun. I maxed it out awhile back at 9,999 so IMO the replay value isn't quite the same as some of the other racers but they really got the car control correct. Great response in the game.
 
If you've ever played Grand Prix on the Atari 2600 it's the same kind of thing.

I've got a mini that's just plain dead except for the score readout, but I'm going to hang onto it in the hopes that I'll figure it out some day, it's a classic and will look good next to the Turbo mini.
 
I used to have a mini and I loved the game. Been looking for another but will only buy a working one. Ever look inside one of these things? Holy crap that is a lot of wires and boards in such a small space. I have a Turbo mini now but I still think GP is a better game.
 
I had one until about a month ago, bought it in a bulk buy and could never get the steering wheel to turn right. Tried my damnedest but fixing the optics PCB was beyond my skills. Sold it off for $250 to a hobbyist who I hope had better luck with it. If you can get one for $100 that boots, and you have repair skills, it's probably worth the attempt to bring it back to 100%. Just be aware that replacement parts are NOT easy to find.
 
Picked it up today, monitor wasn't working but you can hear the game playing so the board is working. Turns out the monitor neckboard was cracked in half so it had broken traces, fixed those and the monitor works now but has horizontal collapse. All the score lights are working and the cabinet is in decent shape. Can't wait to get the monitor going and play this game:)
 
Please post a pic of it all when ya can.....I have the cockpit version and i'll be damned if its not the most played game in my homecade. Everyone rotates playing trying to beat the others high scores. I think its an awesome older driver...
 
Here are a few pictures
 

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Congrats on the grab. I tried so hard to bring mine back but it was just a total biyotch. I had to MAME it to run PP instead.
 
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