Hard Times (set 1)

Playmark’s Hard Times, released in 1994, is a cooperative two-player shooter presented from a third-person perspective. Players control characters navigating challenging environments while battling enemies—the game shares its DNA with the earlier title Blood Bros. Using an eight-way joystick and three buttons for action, players work together to progress through levels, facing increasingly difficult obstacles and opponents. The game’s graphics utilize a palette of over one thousand colors across a resolution of 320x224 pixels, displayed at a refresh rate of approximately 58 Hz. Hard Times runs on a Motorola 68000 processor with sound provided by an OKI6295 chip. Due to the scarcity of original PCBs, finding a working cabinet can be difficult; most remaining boards have been repurposed for use in other games. Directed by D. Marchi and featuring programming by A. Cappi, Hard Times offers a demanding experience requiring coordination and skill between both players.