Jungle Hunt is a 1982 action platformer arcade game by Taito, sending a lone explorer through four hazard-filled jungle scenes to rescue a captive woman.
Quick Facts
| Title | Jungle Hunt |
| Year | 1982 |
| Manufacturer | Taito |
| Designer(s) | Not publicly credited |
| Genre | Action platformer |
| Hardware | Single-player cabinet with an 8-way joystick and one jump/attack button, per KLOV/International Arcade Museum records. |
| Ports | 9 ports, including Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and ColecoVision — see Ports section |
History
Taito first released this game in June 1982 as Jungle King, casting the player as a Tarzan-like jungle man complete with a signature yell. The resemblance to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famous character drew legal action from the Burroughs estate, and within weeks Taito reworked the game into Jungle Hunt, swapping the loincloth-clad hero for an explorer in a pith helmet and safari jacket and dropping the yell entirely. The vine-swinging opening stage was also retooled, trading vines for hanging ropes so the redesigned game felt distinct from its short-lived predecessor.
Despite the mid-year rebrand, the game caught on quickly with arcade operators. Industry tallies placed it among the top-grossing upright cabinets in the United States by late 1982, and it held a spot among the year’s top-selling machines into 1983, with roughly 18,000 U.S. cabinets sold. That commercial run earned Jungle Hunt a Certificate of Merit for Best Adventure Videogame at the fifth annual Arkie Awards in January 1984, an industry honor voted on by arcade trade press. Home computer and console makers moved quickly to license the game, and it later resurfaced on modern hardware as part of Taito’s Taito Legends compilation series, keeping the four-stage chase available well after arcades moved on to other genres.
Gameplay
Jungle Hunt strings together four short, distinct action sequences rather than a single continuous stage, and the player must clear each one to advance. The explorer starts by swinging hand over hand across a row of vines, timing each release so he grabs the next vine instead of falling. He then drops into a crocodile-filled river, where the joystick steers him around the reptiles while a knife button stabs any crocodile that gets too close, all while managing a limited air supply that forces periodic trips to the surface. A boulder-strewn hillside follows, requiring quick jumps, ducks, and bursts of speed to dodge rocks tumbling downhill, and the final stage has the explorer weaving past spear-throwing cannibals to reach and free the captured woman before the whole sequence repeats at a harder difficulty.
- Vine-swinging stage requiring timed jumps between handholds
- Underwater knife combat against crocodiles with a limited air meter
- Boulder-dodging hill climb using jump, run, and duck moves
- Cannibal-evasion rescue stage that loops into an escalating difficulty cycle
Cabinet & Hardware
Jungle Hunt shipped in a standard upright cabinet built for a single player, controlled with just an 8-way joystick and one button that doubles as jump and knife-attack depending on the stage, keeping the control panel simple across all four scenes. Detailed CPU and circuit-board specifications for the original cabinet are not documented in this page’s sources.
Ports & Re-releases
| Platform | Year |
|---|---|
| Atari 2600 | 1983 |
| Atari 5200 | 1983 |
| Atari 8-bit computers | 1983 |
| Apple II | N/A |
| ColecoVision | N/A |
| Commodore 64 | N/A |
| VIC-20 | N/A |
| IBM PC | N/A |
| TI-99/4A | N/A |
Atari, Inc. handled the Atari 2600, 5200, and 8-bit computer conversions directly, while Atarisoft published the remaining home computer and console ports. Jungle Hunt has since reappeared in Taito’s Taito Legends compilation discs for Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, giving it a legitimate path onto modern systems alongside the original arcade version.
Where to Play Legally Today
- Taito Legends compilation discs on Windows, PlayStation 2, or Xbox, which include the original arcade version
- MAME, run only with legally owned ROM dumps from an original cabinet or a licensed source you own
- Arcade museums and retro arcade venues that maintain a working Jungle Hunt or Jungle King cabinet on their floor
Collector Value
With roughly 18,000 U.S. cabinets sold during its original run, Jungle Hunt is a reasonably attainable upright for collectors, though pricing shifts with condition, working monitors, and how much of the original side art and marquee survive. Because Taito reused the same cabinet and control panel for Jungle King, Jungle Hunt, and the related Pirate Pete, boards and cabinets are sometimes swapped or converted between the three, so buyers should confirm whether a listing is an original dedicated machine or a conversion before paying a premium. Home ports on cartridge systems like the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision are widely available and inexpensive, making them a low-cost way to experience the game without a full-size cabinet.
FAQs
Who made Jungle Hunt?
Jungle Hunt was manufactured by Taito, released in 1982 as a reworked version of the company’s earlier Jungle King cabinet.
What year did Jungle Hunt come out?
Jungle Hunt came out in 1982, following its short-lived predecessor Jungle King, which had launched earlier the same year before being rebranded.
Why was Jungle King renamed Jungle Hunt?
Taito renamed Jungle King to Jungle Hunt after legal action from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs over the original game’s Tarzan-like explorer character.
What genre is Jungle Hunt?
Jungle Hunt is an action platformer that combines vine-swinging, underwater knife combat, obstacle dodging, and a chase-and-rescue finale across four distinct stages.
Has Jungle Hunt been ported to home systems?
Yes, Jungle Hunt was ported to nine platforms in the early 1980s, including the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, Apple II, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, VIC-20, IBM PC, and TI-99/4A.
See also the related Elevator Action and Qix arcade pages for more early-1980s Taito titles, and browse the Golden Age of Arcade Games hub for other action platformers of the era.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Hunt
- https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8258 (Killer List of Videogames / International Arcade Museum, via Wayback Machine)
Facts on this page last verified 2026-07-15.