The Grid (Game)

The Grid

GAME » on August 9, 2000

Take aim at up to five other friends in this arcade third-person shooter, set in a wacky futuristic game show, from the team behind the Mortal Kombat series.

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Overview

The Grid, sometimes stylized The GRID, is a multiplayer-focused third-person shooter developed and released by Midway for arcades on August 9, 2000.

Developed by the studio behind the Mortal Kombat (Franchise) series, The Grid brought fast-paced arena-based deathmatch shooters (such as Quake III Arena (Game) and Unreal Tournament (Game)) to arcades, allowing up to six arcade cabinets to link together for networked multiplayer. It features a unique control scheme (with a flight-sim style joystick for movement and combat, a trackball for aiming, and a dedicated special "supermove" button), along with a payphone-style number pad (similar to San Francisco Rush 2049 (Game)) as a password mechanism (for storing persistent stats and progress).

The game features an original futuristic game show setting, where seven digital representations (or "Digitals") of futuristic celebrities fight in a gladiatorial game show known as "The GRID". Like Smash TV (Game), the game features an over-the-top take on the "game show" aesthetic, complete with an overbearing host (known as Chuck Smiley).

Along with multiple playable characters to choose from, each with their own unique abilities, the game features numerous weapons, arenas, and pre-match cheat codes (or "Kodes"). A later revision, known as Version 1.2, added more content. It has received no home conversions at the time, nor any sort of modern revival.

Gameplay

The Grid is a basic deathmatch where you try to kill your opponents while gaining points and money. You can only hold one gun at a time, but various weapons constantly spawn throughout the arenas so it's easy to quickly change it up.

The different weapons all have varying range, velocity, and damage. The different characters also have varying core attributes. This wide range of options allows for many different play styles, and although the battles are generally fast paced encouraging constant running and jumping, many strategies can succeed.

Although the game is clearly designed for multiplayer, there is also a single player mode where the player races against the clock to collect enough points to proceed.

Aside from the 360 degree aim via the trackball, The Grid uses Doom (Game) style assisted vertical aiming, but this can be deactivated with a code, and the player can actually earn more points in combat for doing so.

Controls

One of the more unique aspects of the game is the arcade cabinet's control scheme. It consists of:

8-direction flight-sim style joystick on the left to control movement, with a fire button on the front and a jump button on the thumb rest.
Trackball (Concept) on the right to control aim.
Button on the lower right to activate your super move.
Payphone style alphanumeric numberpad

Characters

Each of the game's characters has their own unique recharagable ability (or "Supermove"). In addition, they can start with their own default weapon (when the "Start With Basic Weapon" cheat code is used).

Starting Roster

The Grid has 8 starting characters. Each starting character has a unique super move and starting weapon:

Wes (Character)	Pull weapons from opponents to him	Single-Barrel Shotgun
Chiller	Flies using his jetpack	Mako (a shark-shaped energy gun)
April (Character)	Digs into the ground and reappears across the arena	Zeus Gun (fires bolts of electricity)
Cyrus	Leaps into the air and lands with force, hurting close opponents and making them fall over	Blaster (shoulder mounted energy gun)
Ike	Body slam that hurts nearby opponents and causes them to loose their weapons	Tri-Shot (three barreled energy gun)
Flint	Speed run stunning anyone he touches	Uzi
Trixi (Character)	Turns invisible for a short time	Harpoon (gun that fires harpoons)
Karasu (Character)	Flying kick	Plasma Gun

Secret Characters

There are several hidden characters that can be unlocked for players who track their stats. Each character has their own unlock criteria, with most requiring players to earn enough points or money, and are then only accessed through a special "select code".

The Host, Chuck Smiley	Creates clones of himself to distract opponents	Host Wave Gun
Cameraman	Teleports opponents around him far away	Tri-Gun
Trom	Sets opponents near him on fire, killing them instantly	Tri-Gun
The Gridman	Activates an energy shield	Brick Gun
Darla	Emits a shockwave, pushing opponents away from her (farthest)	Grid Pom-Pom Gun
Kristy	Emits a shockwave, pushing opponents away from her (strongest)	Grid Pom-Pom Gun
Cleo	Emits a shockwave, pushing opponents away from her (average)	Grid Pom-Pom Gun
Lawyer, Oscar	Steals money from players close to him	Grid Brick Gun
Red Dog 6	Rolls forward knocking anyone in front of him down. Think Kano in Mortal Kombat.	Red Dog Uzi

There are also unlockable cameo characters from other games, like these from the Mortal Kombat series:

Sub-Zero	Throws an ice ball freezing an opponent	Ice Ball Gun
Scorpion (Character)	Throws a fire ball setting an opponent on fire	Fire Ball Gun
Noob Saibot	Sucks close opponents to him, killing them	Noob Shotgun

Weapons

In addition to the individual weapons characters have at the start of a match, there are many different weapons that spawn and can be picked up around each arena. They are generally more powerful than the starting weapons. These include:

Bazooka
Triple-Barrel Shotgun
Cannon
Grenade Launcher
W.Y.G. (a double plasma cannon worn on the player like a backpack)
Gat Gun (gatling gun)
Flamethrower
Bull Horn
Flash Cannon
Guided Missile Launcher
Ricochet Gun (shoots horizontal saw blades that bounce off walls)
Polygun (shoots an energy triangle, or multiples if charged)

There are also 2 special weapons. They are not spawned, but earned by the player. Also, unlike every other weapon they lack infinite ammo, but make up for it in devistation.

Mega Shotgun - One shot kills, but only allows 4 kills
Da Bomb - Instant kills all opponents

Arenas

There are 16 arenas to choose from. They range from being generally open and flat to cramped with many obstacles. Some also have traps that are controlled by a player. Different arenas cater to different weapons and play styles, although they all encourage constant movement as opposed to camping.

There are 3 variations of each arena based on how many players are in the game. 1-2 is small, 3-4 is medium, and 5-6 is large. The arenas are:

Buzzkill
China Chamber
Toxic City
Gladiator
Pool Table
Showfloor
Track Attack
Trench
Ground Zero
Electro
Inferno
Basement BRKC
Stayin' Alive
Blastoff
Mutha's Vineyard
X-Fan Kastle

There is also an unlockable "Gridworld" arena. This is only available if the code for it is entered by all players.

Trivia

Ed Boon (Person) along with other Mortal Kombat (Franchise) developers were moved to make this game drawing on the successful brutality of that franchise, and taking inspiration from arena shooters like Quake (Franchise) as well as the frantic pace and crazy powerups of Midway's own Smash TV (Game).
Ed Boon mentioned on the Giant Bombcast that The Grid was the most fun he has had making a game.
Built on Midway's Zeus 2 hardware, The Grid had such a unique infrastructure that porting it to a console was unfortunately unfeasible. Some cabinets were sent to Microsoft to see if it could be ported to the Xbox, but Microsoft deemed it too complicated.
Instead of having three sided polygons like most games The Grid has 4 sided polygons.
The player name is the name that will represent the player on scoreboards and other times when written in the game. The call name is a name that is actually spoken by the commentator in-game, for example, "JOSH is in first place!"

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