Space Duel - should I buy cocktail or upright?

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I can't see these in the flesh or play them to decide, so I have a few questions to consider.
I have played upright bitd and enjoyed it, and I have an upright original asteroids and enjoy that.

Cocktail - does this have the booming bass sounds that people love in the upright version?
Is the screen too small or viewed from the wrong angle to appreciate the color vector graphics?
I'm thinking that cocktail co-op mode playing the same screen from each side of the cab would be a very cool experience, do people enjoy this aspect? this is the main reason why I would consider a cocktail.

Upright - hmmm, thinking better artwork, bigger screen, better viewing angles, bigger sound, but no where to put your drink?

So I think upright is edging ahead, please help me decide, or confuse the issue further :)

P.S. from memory Space Duel saves high scores without a mod, is that right?
 
I am not sure about Space Duel, but a Tempest cocktail has a regular 19" monitor. I am pretty sure its the same. I am not aware of a 13" or other small size color vector monitor. I used to have an upright and the artwork was real nice on it. Some people think it is just color Asteroids. Playing in the dual mode is a lot more interesting. The changing shapes is a nice addition as well.
 
On average, cocktails take 2x the floor space as an upright. (Especially when you have to move away from a wall for 2 players)

Also, most cocktails have a bad control panel experience (tilt--especially those that face out instead of up), and it's harder to see the screen as you need to lean over it, and get light reflections.

Very few cocktails are usually enjoyed. About the only ones that are really liked are Bally-Midway's like Ms. Pacman.

However some like cocktails, but be sure that is what you really want given the above issues.
 
I've owned a SD CT and it is hella fun playing head-to-head. These 19" monitors are space hogs but it does have the same base boom effect as the UR counterpart. I like the CT and the design of Tempest CT as well. If you can snag the CT at a cheap price-- I say go for it! They are heavy bastages and akward to haul around.. fyi. Let us know what you decide.
 
Upright...no question. Better art and easier to move, plus the game play is just better standing up.

Cocktails only benefit is a place to hold your beer.
 
The absolute only time a cocktail is a better choice over the upright is Warlords.
 
Got to go with the pac on this one.. Upright is the way to go.. I would love to own both, but if I had to choose upright all the way...
 
Space Duel CT >> upright.

Having owned a cocktail, I would say it is a must have. The upright art is better, yeah, and it takes less floor space, but the CT has the booming bass, the 19" monitor and true head to head action. With the upright, you're jockying for elbow room in 2-player coop mode. With the CT you get all the room you need and things can get REALLY wild. Reflections were not an issue with mine and it was all original stock machine.

If I had room/cash to have one of every game manufactured, I'd exactly 2 CTs....Space Duel and Warlords.

Space Duel on an upright just isn't the same level of awesome.
 
I had both cocktail and upright.. SD cocktail was the 2nd game I ever bought. I would go with upright (I sold my cocktail). Both have the 19" monitor. They only 13" color vector was for the pat 9000.

Here are reasons for upright:
1: better artwork
2: tkaes up less space
3: you never have to worry about scratching or shattering the topglass.
4: better angle of play on the control panel

here are reasons for the cocktail.
1: more space for 2 players to play
2: vector labs made a cool multi pcb for it.
3: better 2 player game scores.

Better 2 player scores I can not prove, but it seemed to work out that way when a budy of mine played space duel back in the day.. I think the the opposite view allowed the players to defend/avoid objects better..
 
It's funny how a lot of the people I know who aren't collectors assume cocktail machines are worth a lot more than uprights, based purely on the idea of them being able to double as a table. Myself, I grew up with more CTs than URs because my parents were always taking me to bars.

Whichever you decide on, you could do a lot worse than a Space Duel CT in terms of looks. Nice machine.
 
Awesome info, thanks everyone :)

Seems more people prefer upright, but people are saying the two player experience on the cocktail is good, as I suspected it would be.

Taking up more space is one negative about the cocktail I had not considered earlier (even though I have a mulitgame 3 sided cocktail already) so it's good to be able to think about that. Looking at my games room I do have space for either, but yes the upright would be more space efficient.

Seeing as there are positives for both I'm still undecided, but I think I'm leaning towards the cocktail for the two player opposite co_op experience. I will see what comes up and probably just take whichever one I find in the best condition as I now know there is no outstanding negative for me in either configuration.
 
It's funny how a lot of the people I know who aren't collectors assume cocktail machines are worth a lot more than uprights, based purely on the idea of them being able to double as a table. Myself, I grew up with more CTs than URs because my parents were always taking me to bars.

Whichever you decide on, you could do a lot worse than a Space Duel CT in terms of looks. Nice machine.


some cocktails that I can think of that are worth more than the upright: are:
warlords
eliminator
joust
ms pac
demolition derby
battlezone
 
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Having owned the cocktail, it does take up more space and the overlays and glass are normally damaged and there's not much of any option to restore those.

Unless you have a second player always readily available, I'd go with the upright as I think the single player experience is better.
 
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