Apologies for the gross lack of activity here on Final Form; We've been experiencing a mid-summer influx of busyness. I've only been back a scant week from a conference at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Utah. The day of our arrival it was an arid 104°, and I was yet still more aghast at the dry character of the Salt Lake area. Not really the most vibrant place I've ever been.
While mingling with other industry schlubs, my associate and I found ourselves with significant downtime between panels. I ventured to the nearby outdoor mall to subsist the local economy, and I was quite pleased to find not only an EB Games, but also a Tilt arcade! It had a typical collection of shooters, racers, and, my specialty, fighters. My fingers were crossed in anticipation, hoping against hope that I might stumble upon a Dark Resurrection cab.
Tekken Tag and Tekken 4, yes. But alas, no Tekken 5 to be found, Darkly Resurrected or otherwise. On the plus side, I was pleased to find Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 and 2, and Soul Calibur II. I quickly ran through MvC2 alone to leave the old KIL initials emblazoned at the top of the High Score screen, and then I started patronizing SCII, with a careful eye on the MvC2 machine.
Aha! A fly soon became enwrapped in the hyperactive web I was staking out. I waited until the teenager played through a CPU bout or two before I strolled over unassumingly. "Can I get in?" I politely asked. I'm sure this fresh-faced competitor was somewhat confused by Business Attire Killa gaming alongside the sandals and t-shirt types, but, of course, my challenge was accepted.
I didn't want to bring anything less than my A game, so in lieu of Akuma in my second slot, I picked the honorable Nathan Summers (Projectile), along with Sentinel (Ground) in the lead off position, and Cammy (AAA) as the closer. I don't specifically recall the opposing team, save for Cyclops, but I managed to edge him out in both of our clashes, resulting in him walking away somewhat disheartened.
I practiced Ms. White's Air Throw loop for a few minutes against the AI, and then abandoned the machine to once again lie in wait while I mindlessly dispensed Xianghua's tricky combinations. Another youth eventually approached the crossover cabinet, and was playing with an uber-newbie team of Wolvie/Wolvie/Spidey. I let him play a few rounds before cutting in with teh pwnage. I took a bit of a gamble and swapped Akuma in for Cable, but against such an amateur I could have used Spiral/Akuma/Cammy and still have cakewalked it.
I guess this should be no surprise, as SLC is not known for its arcade scene, though it did make me feel the stick practice at home had been paying off. MvC2 does not require the double quarter circle motion with which I've been struggling lately, but still, it was nice to emerge victorious over human opponents without the safety net of the comfortable and familiar d-pad.
Showing posts with label Arcade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arcade. Show all posts
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Gaming Resolutions 2007: Killa Edition
There is, of course, some overlap betwixt our lists, but please enjoy my current agenda of games. This sort of hindsight/foresight foray makes me feel somewhat like the Roman god of doorways, the two-faced Janus. Although, people today may be more familiar with his more recent incarnation, Phanto the two-tone mask from Super Mario Brothers 2. Regardless, you get the point.
Sidenote: This kind of makes me nostalgic for the reoccuring On the Horizon segment from the old blog.
Say Arr! to Piracy
Sidenote: This kind of makes me nostalgic for the reoccuring On the Horizon segment from the old blog.
Currently playing, need to finish
- Prince of Persia: Revelations (PSP)
- Final Fantasy XII (PS2) (With Catarina)
- Metal Gear Ghost Babel (GBC*)
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Wii) (With the J-Team)
- Ico (PS2)
Purchased, but not yet played
- Metal Gear Solid Porable Ops (PSP)
- Namco Museum Battle Collection (PSP) (A gift)
- Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (PS2) (Street Fighter Anniversary Collection)
- Snatcher (SegaCD*)
- Samurai Showdown Zero Special (NeoGeo*)
- Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
- Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (PS2)
- Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus (PS2)
- Playstation 3 console
- Ridge Racer 7 (PS3)
- Mega Man ZX (DS)
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patiots (PS3)
- Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
- Heavenly Sword (PS3)
- Tekken 6 (PS3)
- White Knight Story (PS3)
- Assassin's Creed (PS3)
- Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
- flOw (PS3)
- Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (PSP)
- Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP)
- Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii)
*Arr!
Friday, November 24, 2006
I MAME, I Saw, I Combo'd
How about we take a wii break from the cutting edge, and go retro? I'm talking the ultimate virtual arcade on your desktop.
First things first, rob a bank. And then go buy all of the arcade cabinets you want to emulate. Remember, just say Arrr! to piracy.
Now that we're legally protected, hunt down Namco Classics Collection 1 & 2, so you can have Galaga and Pac-Man (respectively) and their Arrangements. At this point, if you must, go grab a few other oldies with which you think you might spend a few minutes of reminiscence, such as Pong, Space Invaders, or Q-Bert. The games are classics, but there really isn't any depth or replayability. I find Pac-Man to be the earliest arcade game to still be thoroughly fun to this day.
Next are Konami's distinguished entries into the Beat'em Up genre. Three popular licenses, three memorable games: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, the weakest offering (skippable), The Simpsons Arcade Game, a fun throwback, and, most significantly, the era's pinnacle of poor localization, X-Men: The Arcade Game. As fondly as many of us remember these games, for the love of god do not buy these cabinets on a whim. These games are short. Play through them a couple times, and then decide if you want to buy one on Ebay.
After Konami's licensed beat 'em ups, the next stop is harvesting the best of Capcom's versus fighting catalog. Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Darkstalkers 3. Feel free to grab some of the prequels, but by attaining the final entry, you are usually getting the best of the series. If you absolutely must, then grab the original Street Fighter, but you will soon see why no one remembers this game. There are examples in all media of a sequel being better than the original, but Street Fighter was so unremarkable, so frustratingly bad, that it rarely even merits mentioning with the rest of its sequels. If nothing else, try to beat it. You will have a new found respect for both Sagat and the countless innovations of Street Fighter II, *if* you can even make it to Thailand. (Which is doubtful. You'll probably say Phuket long before you make it to Bangkok.)
The Marvel Vs. series is whole 'nother can of worms. The first Capcom game to feature Marvel characters was Children of the Atom, but that and Marvel Super Heroes can be skipped (although after CotA, Sentinel won't show up as anything besides an assist until MvC2). The first standout title was X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, which made its mark with tag team gameplay. Do not miss this game. The next two you'll have to find are Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom (1). Unlike the aforementioned Capcom fighting franchises, due to roster restraints, few characters appear in every version, so I
recommend grabbing XSF, MSHvSF, and MvC. It would be nice to have Cammy, Omega Red, and Venom all in one game, but such is simply not the case.
I know what you're thinking: All of those characters are in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, right? Oh yeah, but you won't be emulating that game anytime soon. Certain arcade hardware, notably Sega's Naomi and Capcom's CPS3, have not been raped for such "archival" purposes. They belong to a generation of arcade games a bit too valuable to be cracked and freely distributed.
So, if you're still fiening, track down the console versions. Street Fighter III: Third Strike can be found on the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection relatively easily. However, my PS2 copy of MvC2 is worth $100+ at this point, due to scarcity resulting from the expiration of Capcom's licensing agreement. If you ever see a working copy at a reasonable price, buy it.
Frankly, I don't enjoy older 3D fighting games in emulation. So only track down Street Figher EX or Rival Schools if you've never played them. Imho, the Soul series, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter get better with every incarnation (for the most part), so buy the latest console version or drive to an arcade if you can still find one. And regarding Tekken, if applicable, just purchase Dark Resurrection for PSP, natch.
Hold on, I've got a couple more Capcom notes. Download Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, a Puyo Pop-esque head-to-head puzzler, and if you're a Blue Bomber fan, snag the wacky Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. Okay, we're almost done. Get a good CPS2 shooter, Progear or Mars Matrix. They both make Galaga look like a cave painting.
Due to the constraints of keyboard controls, I would pass on most racing games for your collection, although the relatively simple and memorable Super Off Road can be a nice addition. Ignore the Cruis'n and Ridge games, though, unless you already have the appropriate analog controls.
In summation, if I had to narrow these down to ten, this is the rundown of the must-haves:
First things first, rob a bank. And then go buy all of the arcade cabinets you want to emulate. Remember, just say Arrr! to piracy.
Now that we're legally protected, hunt down Namco Classics Collection 1 & 2, so you can have Galaga and Pac-Man (respectively) and their Arrangements. At this point, if you must, go grab a few other oldies with which you think you might spend a few minutes of reminiscence, such as Pong, Space Invaders, or Q-Bert. The games are classics, but there really isn't any depth or replayability. I find Pac-Man to be the earliest arcade game to still be thoroughly fun to this day.
Next are Konami's distinguished entries into the Beat'em Up genre. Three popular licenses, three memorable games: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, the weakest offering (skippable), The Simpsons Arcade Game, a fun throwback, and, most significantly, the era's pinnacle of poor localization, X-Men: The Arcade Game. As fondly as many of us remember these games, for the love of god do not buy these cabinets on a whim. These games are short. Play through them a couple times, and then decide if you want to buy one on Ebay.
After Konami's licensed beat 'em ups, the next stop is harvesting the best of Capcom's versus fighting catalog. Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Darkstalkers 3. Feel free to grab some of the prequels, but by attaining the final entry, you are usually getting the best of the series. If you absolutely must, then grab the original Street Fighter, but you will soon see why no one remembers this game. There are examples in all media of a sequel being better than the original, but Street Fighter was so unremarkable, so frustratingly bad, that it rarely even merits mentioning with the rest of its sequels. If nothing else, try to beat it. You will have a new found respect for both Sagat and the countless innovations of Street Fighter II, *if* you can even make it to Thailand. (Which is doubtful. You'll probably say Phuket long before you make it to Bangkok.)
The Marvel Vs. series is whole 'nother can of worms. The first Capcom game to feature Marvel characters was Children of the Atom, but that and Marvel Super Heroes can be skipped (although after CotA, Sentinel won't show up as anything besides an assist until MvC2). The first standout title was X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, which made its mark with tag team gameplay. Do not miss this game. The next two you'll have to find are Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom (1). Unlike the aforementioned Capcom fighting franchises, due to roster restraints, few characters appear in every version, so I
recommend grabbing XSF, MSHvSF, and MvC. It would be nice to have Cammy, Omega Red, and Venom all in one game, but such is simply not the case.
I know what you're thinking: All of those characters are in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, right? Oh yeah, but you won't be emulating that game anytime soon. Certain arcade hardware, notably Sega's Naomi and Capcom's CPS3, have not been raped for such "archival" purposes. They belong to a generation of arcade games a bit too valuable to be cracked and freely distributed.
So, if you're still fiening, track down the console versions. Street Fighter III: Third Strike can be found on the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection relatively easily. However, my PS2 copy of MvC2 is worth $100+ at this point, due to scarcity resulting from the expiration of Capcom's licensing agreement. If you ever see a working copy at a reasonable price, buy it.
Frankly, I don't enjoy older 3D fighting games in emulation. So only track down Street Figher EX or Rival Schools if you've never played them. Imho, the Soul series, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter get better with every incarnation (for the most part), so buy the latest console version or drive to an arcade if you can still find one. And regarding Tekken, if applicable, just purchase Dark Resurrection for PSP, natch.
Hold on, I've got a couple more Capcom notes. Download Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, a Puyo Pop-esque head-to-head puzzler, and if you're a Blue Bomber fan, snag the wacky Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. Okay, we're almost done. Get a good CPS2 shooter, Progear or Mars Matrix. They both make Galaga look like a cave painting.
Due to the constraints of keyboard controls, I would pass on most racing games for your collection, although the relatively simple and memorable Super Off Road can be a nice addition. Ignore the Cruis'n and Ridge games, though, unless you already have the appropriate analog controls.
In summation, if I had to narrow these down to ten, this is the rundown of the must-haves:
- Namco Classics Collection Volume 2
- X-Men: The Arcade Game
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo
- Street Figher Alpha 3
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter
- Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
- Marvel vs. Capcom
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
- Super Off Road
I personally play the three Marvel Vs. games and Puzzle Fighter more than any of the others. Just like at an arcade where you play a game and then move on to the next, they are a lot of fun in short bursts.
Does this make anybody else miss the golden age of arcades as much as me? Unfortunately, powerful home consoles have all but killed traditional arcade games, allowing rail shooters and rhythm games to flourish. But thanks to MAME, these games will never be gone for good.
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