Mystic Marathon

Mystic Marathon
Developer(s)Williams Electronics
Publisher(s)Williams Electronics
Designer(s)Kristina Donofrio
Programmer(s)Kristina Donofrio
Ken Graham
Artist(s)Pam Erickson
Jill Chittenden [2]
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player
Arcade systemWilliams 6809 REV.2[3]

Mystic Marathon is a horizontally scrolling arcade video game released by Williams Electronics in 1984. The game presents a race between horned, shoe-wearing, fantasy creatures called "Benkins" on a course covering small islands and the water between them.[4] It was programmed by Kristina Donofrio (lead) and Ken Graham.[5] Donofrio later worked on Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest.[6]

The game was only available as a conversion kit for Williams games with horizontal monitors, marking the first such kit from the company.[7][8] Three versions were released: one for Defender; one for Joust, Robotron: 2084, and Stargate; and one for Bubbles.[9] 500 conversion kits were produced in total along with 5 dedicated cabinet prototypes.

Mystic Marathon was released in the year following the video game crash of 1983 alongside Turkey Shoot and Inferno, none of which were as successful as earlier games from Williams or ported to contemporary home systems.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ah was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Mystic Marathon artists".
  3. ^ "WILLIAMS 6809 REV.2 HARDWARE". System 16: The Arcade Museum.
  4. ^ "Mystic Marathon". Tomorrow's Heroes.
  5. ^ "Mystic Marathon". Killer List of Video Games.
  6. ^ Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  7. ^ "Mystic Marathon Flyer". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Williams Electronics.
  8. ^ "Williams Announces First Conversions". Cash Box: 40. March 24, 1984.
  9. ^ "Mystic Marathon Manual" (PDF). gamesdbase.com. Williams Electronics.