SDCC: ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Arcade Game Experience Brings ‘Fix It Felix Jr’ to Life

As part of the marketing campaign for Walt Disney Animation’s Wreck-It Ralph, the studio plans on introducing full-scale arcade cabinet versions of the film’s ‘Fix It Felix Jr.’ game, the home of the title character. While the cabinet has appeared at both Disney D23 Expo (as a view-only demo) and most recently at E3 as a broken, non-functioning machine, San Diego Comic-Con saw the first actual working versions of the faux-c. 1982 video game manufactured by the defunct TobiKomi video game company.

The arcade version — of which there are two — are currently located at Tilt Arcade on the top level of the Horton Plaza in San Diego for the convention. Those who visit the arcade are invited to play the game free of charge and will receive a one-sheet movie teaser poster for the film as well as a Wreck-It Ralph badge buddy which includes a free download code for a Wreck-It Ralph t-shirt for Xbox Live avatars. In addition, players who are able to successfully beat a specific, modest score, will receive a free t-shirt. There is no limit to the number of attempts one can play, other than returning to the end of either line and waiting to retry.

Interestingly enough, the ‘original’ arcade version of the game is quite a bit different than the recently released free version of ‘Fix It Felix Jr‘ for Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices. The arcade version does contain the same hazards such as blocked passages and flying ducks (as well as the requirement to jump over gaps), but they come much later during gameplay than in the Apple iOS version. In addition, whereas pies give the player extra lives in the Apple version, the pies engage ‘Super Felix’ mode in the arcade version, making Fix-it Felix invulnerable for several seconds.

Also worth noting is that the arcade cabinet featured at E3 included a sign giving a brief history of the game and asking people to report to [email protected] should they come across a working version, suggesting some sort of alternate reality game (ARG) but emails sent to that address regarding these particular arcade cabinets have gone unanswered. Word on the street is that arcade cabinets for ‘Fix-It Felix Jr’ will in fact be appearing nationwide at select locations (namely movie theaters) closer to the film’s release on November 2, 2012.

Whether you’re able to play the game at Tilt in San Diego or will have to wait to see if one shows up at a movie theater near you in the future, here are a few tips for successful play:

• Time is not a factor. Your main objective should be to fix windows but also to avoid the bricks being thrown by Wreck-It Ralph. In other words, make avoiding bricks your priority and take your time fixing windows.
• All windows need to be repaired. If a window looks open, it still needs to be repaired. This also includes the blue doors at the bottom and the curved windows directly above them.
• You only need to press the Fix button once per window. The delayed reaction suggests tapping it, but one press will do it.

Below is our photo gallery from the SDCC promotion at Tilt. Click on any of the thumbnails to see a larger version of it. A video featuring the arcade cabinets as well as some gameplay is also shared below:

[View with PicLens]