In 1979 Only Computer Perfection Would Suffice

Friends, over the weekend it appears that Gary Burton, the head technician at the Arkadia Retrocade and frequent guest on the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast, was able to hit some flea markets. I have been fortunate enough to go along with him in the past and it is absolutely uncanny the amount of awesome retro related things he is able to find. Case in point – he picked up a working copy of 1979’s Computer Perfection from Lakeside Games. A company no stranger to various board and electronic games throughout the ’70s – such as Crash Tower, Aggravation, Duell, Avalanche, as well as Intercept. I can tell you that I certainly remember seeing Computer Perfection in the likes of the Sears Wishbook as well as on shelves at the local Walmart – it is a game that I always wanted but never was able to get my hands on. A fact that the Universe appeared to take delight in mocking me with… when Computer Perfection would show up in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series as a prop.

While I never was able to add Computer Perfection to my game collection that does not mean I did not have the opportunity to play it. Thanks to my third grade elementary school teacher I was able to enjoy the game before class would begin or if I was unable to participate in recess. Being a somewhat sickly child had it’s advantages in a couple of cases – although perhaps once or twice I was known to feign an illness so I could stay inside and play Computer Perfection.

Now one of the elements that made Computer Perfection so enticing is quite frankly it’s awesome design. That beautiful plastic blue dome when flipped back to reveal the buttons acts as the “On” switch for the game – in total there are four games that can be played on Computer Perfection. The first two are meant for one player to enjoy – those are Countdown and Black Hole – the former is a test to see who can press the ten buttons in proper order in the least amount of time. With Black Hole if you accidentally press the wrong button the game will shut off all of the lights and you will have to attempt to complete the game by memory. The remaining two games are Brain Battle and Light Race – both are for two players – and I will have to admit I never actually played. Although the description on the back of the box reads:

“Brain Battle – Battle to turn all lights either on or off. Computer will keep score.
Light Race- Race to capture as many lights as you can. The ultimate game for fast thinkers.”

Perhaps Gary Burton and I will get a chance to play some Computer Perfection at the arcade in the near future?