Games

[elvis]

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/untold_tales/episode_2/

Great article on a genre of gaming very close to my heart. The "Rolling Thunder" games have had many hours of play in my household. I first saw "Elevator Action Returns" on an episode of Retro Core, and have been convinced yet again that I really need to find myself a Japanese Saturn one of these days.

In a bizarre mish-mash of games, Outfoxies is another that I stumbled across. Think "Elevator Action Returns" meets "Street Fighter" (or more realistically, more like "Senko no Ronde" and the other "Vs Shooters" out there).

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/outfxies
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lxapXSAijw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RfmZXlTTrzs

Great fun if you can find a like-minded soul to play the game with.

[Jedah]

Nice article indeed. Elevator Actions Returns is a superb game. I remember seeing the first pictures back in 1994 printed in the Greek version of Gamepro. I never had the chance to play it until MAME emulated the machine. I was hooked for hours to end. The challenge builds up really smooth and the controls are excellent. It's included in Taito Legends 2 so everyone shiould give it a try. An overlooked but superb game.

[icycalm]

I've been thinking about that comment Francesco made, that driving games are the apotheosis of the coin-eating attitude. And the answer I've come up with is that since driving games usually employ very expensive dedicated cabinets, they have to be more expensive to generate the extra revenue to cover the additional expense.

This, of course, assuming that each credit costs the same as a credit in a regular game. If each credit costs twice as much or even more, as usually happens, then perhaps the whole thing is a bit of a scam.

Or, perhaps that's really what it takes to cover the cost of the cabinet.

And then on the other hand you have light gun games, which also usually charge more per credit than regular games (HOTD4 for example debuted at 200 yen per credit in Japan, instead of the usual 100), but which offer roughly as much playtime as regular games, and are therefore a "better deal" than driving games.

Still, I like to thing that there are really no scams going on in an arcade. If there were, then surely the principles of competition would have ensured that they didn't last long. After all, driving games have always been popular in arcades and many publishers have always made them, so if some of them were being too greedy, someone would have stepped in with a game that gave players a better deal, and hence forced the rest to follow suit.

[Molloy]

Most of the arcades in Western Europe only feature driving and lightgun games. That and the odd Virtua Tennis or something dull. If I was setting up an arcade I'd leave out those two genres altogether because the place is saturated with them.

[icycalm]

I understand that many arcade fans harbor a dislike for dedicated-cab games, for the reason you cite. I believe though that that dislike is unjustified. I love games like OutRun and House of the Dead just as much as anything else. They are, if nothing else, perfect as distractions from more "serious" games. When I used to spend a couple hours a day in Tokyo's arcades, I'd always take a break from games like Espgaluda or GGXX with a round of After Burner Climax, or Time Crisis 4, or OutRun 2. In the long run, these games helped keep me in the arcade longer; without them, I'd have gone out for a walk and cut my session short. When you are playing, say, a shooter to a very high level, you can't really concentrate for more than a couple of credits at a time anyway. You need something to clear your head before you go back for another round.

So I am certain that if the situation were reversed, and Western arcades were full of fighters and shooters, without any dedicated-cab games whatsoever, Western arcade fans would definitely be bitching and moaning about the lack of driving and light gun games. I think we should be thankful we even have those.

[MAXCHAIN]

My problem with the situation is that without any serious games a serious crowd can't develop around the arcade. You need those kinds of games in order to sustain a community of hardcore gamers, and you need a strong community to keep your arcade profitable, and in turn provide the newest hardcore games. Of course, this isn't the only issue I have with western arcades, but it's certainly at the core of what's wrong with them.

[elvis]

HOTD4 for example debuted at 200 yen per credit in Japan, instead of the usual 100

Just for interest's sake:

200 Yen is give or take AU$2. HOTD4 debuted here in Australia at AU$4 per credit.

I must admit, Aussie arcades are a little fuller today than they were this time 2 years ago. But with that said, people don't hang around long at $4 a credit.

[Molloy]

Interesting. I was playing Afterburner Climax and Virtua Fighter 5 today for 1 euro a pop, which is approx 155yen. Credits are probably half what they were 5 years ago when they were 1 pound Irish.

Of course there's only one proper arcade in the entire country so it's not much use to me. :)

[Randorama]

Thanks for the good feedback.

I had a weird feeling reading the articles again, it seems like I can never be at peace with my past efforts...

Anyway, I've never been a cars fan, I dislike driving and basically I am pretty biased about driving games. Also, I enjoyed a round or two of "Outfoxies" in HEY, didn't remember for it to be that fun.

I actually realized that I could write two "LIVE" installments of Tales from the Arcade, London and Tokyo, with the fil rouge being Ketsui. Spoiler of the article: a few people saw me 1-CCing Darius II, Darius Gaiden and G.Darius in a row, they were quite impressed.

[icycalm]

I had a weird feeling reading the articles again, it seems like I can never be at peace with my past efforts...

To an extent, this is natural, since with every new article you write you get better at writing. But you can always let me know if you want to make specific changes...

I actually realized that I could write two "LIVE" installments of Tales from the Arcade, London and Tokyo, with the fil rouge being Ketsui.

I'd really like to see what you have to say about Ketsui. I presume you played it at Casino Arcade and HEY... I've always wondered whether the cabs and controls at Casino Arcade are up to scratch. I would be seriously turned off from playing anything in there if they weren't.

[Molloy]

When I was in Casino three years ago the controls and cabinets were less than brilliant. I'm pretty sure I read on the shmups.com forum a while ago that the players have been loaning the place boards, replacing controls and repairing monitors since the regular meets got up and running.

[zinger]

Music, of course, and end credits. Well, unfortunately Crime City seems to lack proper ending credits; when you complete it you get movie-like credits showing who acted in the game, and that's all. Maybe someone can clear up a mystery I've been trying to solve since my youth by letting me know who did the soundtrack for this game. My bet is Yasuhisa Watanabe, known as "Yack". Yes, he was a Zuntata member at the time. If he's not the author, maybe it was MAR (Masahiko Tataki)?

Yep, it's by Yack.

[Randorama]

I'd really like to see what you have to say about Ketsui. I presume you played it at Casino Arcade and HEY... I've always wondered whether the cabs and controls at Casino Arcade are up to scratch. I would be seriously turned off from playing anything in there if they weren't.

Ketsui is the holy truth.

Amen.




Seriously, it has a strong Taito/Toaplan feeling, with its mix of short, concatenated chains and modernistic military style+ultra-fast pace. Plus, fighting against big bad companies in the name of ONU fills me with bright No-global enthusiasm :lol:

The other title I like a lot, 2002-onwards, is Muchi Muchi. Probably the weakest of the whole "post DOJ" cycle, but its "pseudo-cyvern sequel" style is quite funny. Almost finished on 1 credit, via moderate suiciding tecniques. Also, muchi girls squirming when the bullets graze their plump asses=win!

Didn't play Pink Sweets, by the way. Oh well, next time...I am hoping for Yagawa to pick up some other minor shmup and give it an unofficial sequel. It seems to me like he is basically doing that (i.e. Recca->Pink Sweets, Cyvern->Muchi).

the controls at Casino (London) were fixed when I went there a couple of years ago. I remember struggling with a stick getting the upper left direction half of the time and DEL having the Casino engineer fixing it for the occasion.