arcade – DaveGladow.com

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting mini review

Inspired by the new (super cheesy) movie, I had a run through one of my favorite games of all time.

That linked review made the distinction of singling out the Super Nintendo port as being my favorite version of the game, and that still holds true. My main point is the sound design. The tunes aren’t mixed as well and don’t come through as clearly in the arcade version, whilst the sound effects can overdo it in prevalence and obnoxiousness (I’m looking at the elephants in particular here).

Not that this matters all that much; it’s still a 10/10 to me, now and forever. The arcade version is easier to come by nowadays, so play that instead if it’s simpler. Bonus: playing on an arcade stick is easier on your thumbs.

Anyway, Street Fighter II is an essential gaming experience, and Turbo is the best iteration. That’s all that needs to be said.

Dave’s Score: 10/10

Die Hard Arcade mini review

What an interesting game this is!

The interwebs tell me this game is one of the first to utilize textured 3D polygons as well as quick-time events, and that makes it a fascinating bit of a history lesson.

The game is also a kind of hybrid 3D brawler, which makes it an odd duck in a sea of sprite-based beat ‘em ups.

And the license was about eight years late in arriving, which is another bit of wackiness I love.

So, this game is really effing weird, which scores it all sorts of points with me.

As for the gameplay itself? It’s kind of tricky to control and inconsistent. On the positive side, there are special moves and weapons to liven things up.

But they got rid of Alan Rickman, which is a level of weirdness I don’t approve of.

Dave’s Score: 7/10

NFL Blitz ‘99 (arcade) mini review

Arcade football games aren’t always good, so it’s worth pausing to appreciate them when they are.

The second entry in the “Blitz” franchise, “NFL Blitz ‘99” continues the tradition of grafting the “NBA Jam” aesthetic onto the game of football, creating outlandish, over-the-top hits, plays, and celebrations.

I enjoy the concept more than I do the execution, which suffers from a smidge too much rubber-banding and some so-so graphics from the early days of polygons.

Yet, the spirit of the thing can’t be denied. A bygone relic of a different age when the NFL wasn’t *quite* so vigilant about protecting its own image, Blitz’s comedic dedication to stupid violence is fantastically alluring.

Let’s give it an 8 and call it a day.

Dave’s Score: 8/10

Terminator Salvation (arcade) mini review

As a recent stop at an arcade illustrated to me, we all have our own distinct catnip.

While I immediately kickstarted some classics, my wife made a bee-line for the skee-ball, and my youngest kids jumped into the racers.

My oldest kid saw the very pretty ultra-violence on display in “Terminator Salvation,” and literally grabbed my arm to drag me to the impressive cabinet.

And I suppose those are the details most pertinent to a review: This on-rails first-person shooter is a looker and really immerses you in admirable fashion with creative set pieces. It’s also modern enough to appeal to the younger set.

The enemies are tank-like and sponge up a lot of gunfire, but given the license, that feels appropriate.

Also of note: It’s a pricey game and isn’t shy about putting you into no-win scenarios, so you’ll drop some coin. But if you’re okay with that, you should have a good time.

I’ll dock it a point for being occasionally unfair. But it’s still fun. I mean, you get to blow up terminators. That should always be a win.

Dave’s Score: 7/10

Haunted Castle mini review

Janky … but not unreasonably so.

Believe me, I have played some unreasonably janky games, and this one really ain’t even approaching the honorable mentions.

“Haunted Castle” is sometimes mistaken for being a harbinger or forefather of the Castlevania series, but the original Castlevania debuted on the NES (along with an arcade port) well before this sucker. So it really has no excuse for kind of sucking.

(Since it came along second, it’s also not terribly important from a historical perspective.)

The suckiness comes through some of the hit detection and the cheap hits. The music and graphics are mostly fine, but decidedly different from what came before.

And it’s janky, with the protagonist kind of jerking around the screen like an extra from “Thriller,” but that actually fits the theme, so I’m not mad about it.

The trick here is memorization of enemy patterns, which with modern comforts like save states becomes a breeze.

There are absolutely worse spooky season games to engage with. It ain’t great, but it’s not quite the tire fire it’s been accused of being either.

Dave’s Score: 5/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade) mini review

I’m not going to add a whole lot I didn’t cover already over here.

I guess what I’d say is that this is such a joy to play with my kids whenever I can convince them to give it a go. They’re into the Roblox and such, so it can be tough. We played it for Father’s Day this year.

It was great.

It’s always great.

Thanks, kids!

Dave’s Score: 9/10

Dance Dance Revolution — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 51)

Do you know what it’s all about?

No, really.

Do you know what it’s all about?

You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about.

(I apologize for nothing.)

Hokey pokey dalliances aside, I thought it was important to include a proper, traditional rhythm game in this countdown of my 100 essential retro games, and well, when you think on that for more than two seconds, the best possible choice really begins to make itself obvious.

You see, I think it’s the activity level here that really sets “Dance Dance Revolution” apart. A spirited evolution of the genre that demanded its participants stand up and get moving in order to have any sort of success, “DDR” took over arcades and helped usher in a true golden age for rhythm games.

I don’t think I’m overstating that either. I mean, we can argue that certain games have come along since that have done this sort of thing even better, and we can likewise argue that the activity doesn’t mean so much as the music itself and therefore a less active game might have a case for being considered more important to the games industry at large.

My argument in this discussion is this: Why else would this concept be imitated so gosh-darn much after this if this sucker wasn’t super meaningful to people? Here, you get two things – rhythm and dance – in concert, and moreover, it’s a communal experience, encouraging people to participate in pairs. And when it works, it REALLY works.

Truly, that IS what it’s all about.

Dance Dance Revolution at a glance:
Genre: Dance/rhythm
Released: 1999
Platform: Arcade
Guinness World Record: Most Widely Used Video Game in Schools

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 46)

This section of the countdown might seem a little like the department of redundancy department.

The next few titles we’ll be featuring in this space are games in series that I love that already had representation in the countdown, and yet, here I am, saying you should play this other game too.

The onus then falls on me to make the case for why people should play not just the game that falls higher on the list (in this case, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time“), but for them to play that game AND this one.

In the case of the arcade classic beat ‘em up “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” we’re going to be looking at three distinct things, I’d say.

The importance of the coin-op brawler as a genre within video games.
The massive cultural relevance of the ninja turtles.
Why this game, itself, is fun.

So yeah, let’s get to it. Why should someone play that other turtles game … and this turtles game too?

Let’s read on to find out!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at a glance:
Genre: Beat ’em up
Released: 1989
Platform: Arcade
Konami’s highest-grossing arcade game.