New Games on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg en-us Before Arch Rivals, arcade "basketball" games were simple "aim the ball" novelty devices. By letting each Player control multiple teammates, both directly and indirectly, Arch Rivals allowed Players to employ real basketball strategies and plays.

However, the game might best be remembered for the fact that characters could punch each other in the face, "pants" each other and even tackle opposing players...

Designed by Rampage designers Brian Colin & Jeff Nauman for Bally Midway shortly before a corporate buyout by competitor Williams Electronics, it is said that the success of Arch Rivals single-handedly paid for the 8 million dollar purchase!

]]> 29 Jun 2007 02:23:10 Joust's simple controls, and the fact that it was one of the few games two players could play together, helped make this arcade game a hit.

You play a knight mounted on an ostrich. You must use your lance to joust against wave after wave of enemies. The only controls you have are to flap your wings and to move left and right, making it quite easy to get into the game. You may defeat an opponent by colliding with them with your lance higher than theirs.

When you beat an enemy, they drop an egg. If you let it hatch by not collecting it, it will spawn a tougher enemy than the one who dropped the egg.

Other dangers include a lava pit at the bottom of the screen, a lava troll which tries to drag you into the lava pit, and a very tough-to-beat pterodactyl which appears if you take too long on a level.

Designer: John Newcomer
Released: 1982

]]> 13 May 2007 09:11:30 Final Fight is a classic beat 'em up series from Capcom. It is considered to be Street Fighter's "cousin", and the two series are set in the same universe (characters like Guy, Hugo Andore, Rolento, Cody Travers and Poison have all appeared in later Street Fighter installments). Final Fight was originally released as an arcade game and was ported to several platforms, including the Super NES, Sega Mega-CD, Sharp X68000 and Game Boy Advance. It features former wrestler (as seen in Saturday Night Slam Masters), and mayor of Metro City (Capcom's fictitious city, modeled after New York City), Mike Haggar.

The story of Final Fight involves the abduction of Haggar's daughter, Jessica, because he would not work with Mad Gear to ensure their dominance of the streets. When the Mad Gear thug Damnd contacts Haggar and informs him, Haggar calls up his daughter's boyfriend Cody and his sparring partner Guy, and the three vigilantes head into the streets to bust Mad Gear's skulls, fighting their way through the hordes of goons littering the city (including the Rastafarian thug Damnd, the "Japanophile" Sodom, former Red Beret and militia leader Rolento, corrupt cop Edi. E, and the ill-tempered Abigail), to get to Mad Gear's boss, Belger.

Final Fight, whilst following in the footsteps of Double Dragon, was an innovative and balanced game. Unlike several beat 'em ups before it, Final Fight featured very large and detailed sprites for its day, and the controls were quite fluid and simple. Beginners could take to the game quickly, yet the game was balanced and difficult enough to ensure even experts could always expect a challenge for every new play. The game also began the strength-based, speed-based, and average character variety that countless other beat 'em up and other genres derived, as one controls Haggar (very powerful yet very slow and vulnerable to attack), Guy (very agile and can use hit-and-run, yet has weak offensive power), or Cody (who balances strength and speed, being an excellent choice for beginners). It also featured very long levels and various powerful enemies that could easily crowd the screen and had several fighting tactics against the player. It was not uncommon to hear people talk of how crowds would gather to watch whoever was playing the machine at the time.

]]> 05 Apr 2007 11:59:05 A remake of the classic 1984 Atari Vector game Star Wars

]]> 03 Mar 2007 07:10:17 Double Dragon II: The Revenge is the second game in Technos Japan's Double Dragon series of side-scrolling beat-em-ups. The original arcade version of the game was distributed in North America and Europe in 1988 and in Japan during the following year. The game was made specifically for the Western market, where the original [url="http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/doubledragon"]Double Dragon[/url] enjoyed tremendous success.

Technos Japan developed a home version of the game for the Famicom/NES in 1989, which was drastically different from the arcade version. Other home versions were released for the Mega Drive and PC Engine.

Plot

Double Dragon II drops the rescue premise of the original game in favor of a revenge theme (hence the subtitle). Whereas in the original game, Marian was merely kidnapped, in the sequel she is shot to death by Black Warriors' leader Willy right in the very beginning of the game, giving the game a much darker tone than the original.

[edit] Gameplay

The arcade version of Double Dragon II was essentially a reworked version of the original Double Dragon, using the same engine and recycling most of the game's graphics. The main change in the game was the replacement of the original game's punch and kick buttons in favor of a two-way attacking system (Left Attack and Right Attack) similar to Renegade. Pressing the attack button of the direction the player is facing will perform the standard left/right punch combo, whereas pressing the opposite attack button will make the character perform a rear kick. Most of the techniques from the previous game are carried over, with the exception of the headbutt. Double Dragon II also marked the debut of the Whirlwind Kick, which would become the series' trademark special technique.

Virtually all of the characters from the first game were brought back for the sequel. Most of them were given facelifts in order to represent the passing of time between the original game and the sequel, while a few kept their original appearance. The changes are more than superficial though, with some of the enemies being given new techniques to go along with their new looks. Each stage also features a new enemy who serves as the stage boss.

The overall stage layout of the arcade version is almost exactly identical to the first game, comprised of four missions including the enemy's base at the end of the game. Mainly the scenery was changed, although new traps were added as well.

]]> 15 Feb 2007 02:49:58 Story:

At 0400 hours, we received confirmation from NASA that an asteroid field larger than any recorded in the history of civilization is headed for a direct collision course with Earth. If just one of these asteroids were to hit Earth's surface, the impact would measure at approximately 50 megatons - 4,000 times the explosive power of the fission bomb used on Hiroshima.

Our entire military fleet is currently at war with the Martians and, as fate would have it, the asteroid field is too far away from Mars to reassign a Commander. You are the only armed ship within reach of the field.

Your mission is simple: Eliminate all asteroids. Our information sources believe gravitational forces have banded the asteroid field into eight waves. This will provide time between each wave to repair your ship.

Scientific analysis has shown the asteroids' outer shells are coated in almandine carconite, a rare, highly explosive mineral which is normally only safe at extremely low temperatures. This means a single shot from a laser turret will suffice to blow the asteroid into pieces, but be warned! The explosion will be so large that you are advised to stay well back. A severe explosion could interfere with your guidance systems, or ultimately obliterate your ship.

The entire fate of the world rests in your hands. Good luck.

]]> 12 Feb 2007 04:49:18 Remake of the arcade classic hunchback.
Platform game where you must avoid hazards like fireballs, arrows and angry guards on your journey over the castle walls to save your love, Esmerelda.

Updated graphics and funky sound track gives the game a fresk lick of paint but the same game play that made it a "one more go" game remains.

]]> 05 Feb 2007 05:07:13 Dig Dug is an arcade game released by Namco in 1982. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also available as a home video game available on many consoles, and had many arcade and home clones. Dig Dug runs on Namco Galaga hardware.

The objective of Dig Dug is to eliminate underground-dwelling monsters. This can be done by inflating them until they pop or by dropping rocks on them. There are two kinds of enemies in the game: Pookas are round red monsters who look like tomatoes wearing yellow goggles, and Fygars; green dragons who can breathe fire. The player's character is Dig Dug, dressed in white and blue who can make tunnels. Dig Dug is killed if he is caught by a monster, burned by a Fygar's fire, or crushed by a rock.

It takes four 'pumps' with the player's action button to inflate a monster to popping. If left partially inflated, the monster will deflate and recover after a few seconds, but half-inflating is a useful way to stun an enemy, especially to make sure it remains in the path of a falling rock.

The monsters normally crawl through the tunnels in the dirt but they can turn into ghostly-eyes and travel slowly through the dirt.

]]> 01 Feb 2007 10:09:36 Billy Lee's girlfriend, Marian, has been kidnapped! Billy and his brother Jimmy must fight through legions of street toughs to win her freedom, and her heart.

]]> 29 Jan 2007 07:40:30 Inspired by RoboTron, Smash TV and Llamatron. Mutant Storm is a classic arcade game with a new age twist. One hand controls the firing the other controls the movement. Simple controls and addictive gameplay with decent graphics set Mutant Storm apart.

]]> 17 Jan 2007 01:27:17 Paper Ball is a unique remake of the old classic Arkanoid. With new "hand-drawn" graphics and some new gameplay features Paper Ball is a fun addictive arcade game.

]]> 16 Jan 2007 04:14:30 LaserAge is a retro game similar to Galaxian and Galaga clones. This shooter features power-ups and is highly detailed, combining nostalgia with 24-bit color. Four levels have 100 waves of ships. Destroy 15 enemies with 13 power-ups. You can play in windowed and full-screen modes; then show off your skills to the world with Web-based high scores. Your ship can be controlled with the mouse, which comes in handy when you're trying to dodge enemy fire. The Gold version features a new interface and a massive list of bug fixes.

Genre: Arcade
Developer: Ingava
Version: 2.0A

]]> 07 Dec 2006 08:46:07