Part 4
31 and 32. Maximum Force (Arcade)/Area 51 (Arcade): To my surprise a local barcade near my house had a Maximum Force/Area 51 combo cabinet, which was amazing for a few reasons. The most obvious was that I could replay the arcade version of Maximum Force again, something I haven't been able to do since probably the early/mid 2000s on account machines for that game are hella hard to come by. I also get the added bonus of being able to play Area 51, which has always been one of my favorite and most nostalgic arcade games. But also for a more personal reason that made coming across this cabinet so special. Yesterday was my birthday and every year for my birthday I choose to spend the whole day celebrating it by doing things I don't typically do, many of which I used to do as a kid. One example of this is going to a laser tag place that has been around since I was in third grade, or at least that's the first time I ever went there. The place is called Laser Quest and it's bar none the best laser tag I've ever played, mostly because it takes place in a huge two story maze, you get a heavy duty vest and a big laser gun, it's dark with black lights and neon paint everywhere, and they play excellent techno music while you frag other people. It's an incredibly fun, immersive, and for me, nostalgic experience that never grows old for me. One other attraction of Laser Quest is their selection of arcade games, which unfortunately isn't what it used to be. Back in the day they had all the wall space in their lobby filled with arcade games, one of which was the Area 51/Maximum Force combo cabinet, as well as a dedicated Area 51 machine at one time. It was where I first played both games, and especially Area 51 left a lasting impression on me. However, both cabinets are long gone, but regardless things ended up working out in the end. I went to Laser Quest around 2:30pm yesterday, played a couple of games with my girlfriend, my brother and his girlfriend, and then later that evening after dinner and presents I went to the barcade with my girlfriend. It was there that I played through both Maximum Force and Area 51. So just like when I was a kid I got to enjoy the amazing experience of going to Laser Quest, but also got to play both arcade games that heavily reminded me of being kid again, even though I ended up playing them some place else. But with all that out of the way, here are my thoughts on the arcade versions of Maximum Force and Area 51. Maximum Force has always been second fiddle to Area 51 in my book despite looking better than its older brother. Both games were developed by the same people at Atari, and you can definitely see how they tried making Maximum Force a better game. The FMV terrorists and civilians look a lot higher quality than the aliens and zombies in Area 51, as do the levels, but that's about all this game has above its light gun predecessor. Neither game has that great of a soundtrack or sound fx, but Area 51's is slightly better due to its OST lending to its scifi theme, while Maximum Force's just checks all the boxes, amounting to little more than a generic action game score. Gameplay is pretty much identical across both games. One issue I have with both titles is shooting enemies on the edge of the screen, which often registers as you reloading instead; this can result in a lot of cheap hits to you, but otherwise the shooting gameplay is fine, pretty accurate, and very enjoyable. Despite all this however, Area 51 is still my favorite mostly because it's always been the more memorable game, which I think few would argue against. Still, both are classic staples of 1990s arcades and definitely worth playing through if you grew up with these two great games! (6/23/19) Area 51 [32/50], Maximum Force [31/50]
33. Nights into Dreams (Saturn): I don't use the word "special" to describe many games, but there is no doubt that Nights can certainly be described as such. While I do fully admit that I have a massive amount of nostalgia for this game which certainly contributes towards me feeling this game is special, the game is just so imaginative, creative, light-hearted, and unique that it's impossible to say that it isn't. At the time it came out there was nothing like it and even to this day there are few games capable of capturing the wonder and innocence within this Nights. Lending itself to this specialness are the game's vibrant and surreal visuals which really capture not only the aesthetic of many Sega games of the mid to late 90s, but also the qualities of what you'd expect to see in a child's dream, which is the main theme and setting of this game. While the graphics are very blocking and crude by today's standards, at the time this was an impressive game visually and that's how I am judging it; I also have a soft spot for early 3D games like this, but that's something that goes more towards my person score of the game. The soundtrack is incredible and while playing it continually brought a smile to my face in nearly every level of the game. Where the game does show some noticeable flaws in the gameplay. The controls, while mostly good, can be a bit unresponsive at times and I dare say inaccurate when you need them to be anything but. This might have to do with me not using the 3D controller which is what was bundled with the game, but while playing it seemed to be more of an issue with the game's programming itself. Also, this is a very short and very easy game for the most part; some of the bosses can provide a bit of a challenge, and if you are playing for scores than it can be particularly challenging, but to beat the game is not a terribly hard feat. It kind of baffles me that I am just being the game now in 2019 even though I've played and owned the game many times over the last 23-years its been out. Despite Nights' gameplay flaws, it is still a highly enjoyable game, and one that hits the scratches the nostalgia itch better than 95% of any game I played as a kid. This game will forever remain a very special game to me for the rest of my life. (6/25/19) [41/50]
34. Waverace 64 (N64): if we're talking extremely nostalgic games, Waverace 64 is hard to beat. I didn't originally own Waverace 64 back in the day, but it was a favorite rental of mine during the early days of the N64; something about racing jet skis in a very summery setting (mostly) with the cool, calm music in the background really resonated with me, and still does. Even to this day the water and wave physics and how they effect your jet ski are still very impressive, and were even more so back in 1996. However the cool water physics are what sort of make and break this game for me. I love how your craft's handling is so dramatically effected by the water in front of you, however this also results in some really annoying, and cheap mistakes, as well as makes the buoys in the expert setting extremely hard to maneuver around. Still, the gameplay is pretty enjoyable. As I mentioned, the music is so soothing and for me is like taking a needle filled with 90s nostalgia and injecting it directly into me. Waverace might not be the best racing game on the N64, however it is undeniably one of the best even to this day. (6/29/19) [39/50]
35. Marvel Super Heroes (Saturn): Growing up there was a roller rink that I used to love going to, and occasionally my elementary school at the time would have school nights there where a bunch of kids I went to school with would meet there and have an amazing time. Beyond skating around and also hanging out with my friends, the roller rink had a lot of great arcade titles during my childhood, and one of those games was...well, I thought it was Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, then I realized it was actually X-Men vs Street Fighter, but the game I remember most vividly, especially now after playing it for a while was Marvel Super Heroes. The roller rink did have a X-Men vs Street Fighter cab at one point, but it is the aforementioned Marvel Super Heroes cab that was the one I remember the most. Funny how memory works like that. But anyhow, the Saturn port checks almost all the boxes of what made the arcade version so memorable, well almost all the boxes, but more on that in a sec. Presentationwise, Marvel Super heroes is damn near perfect when it comes to its graphics, especially when compared to most other fighting games at the time. The stages are mostly dynamic and are constantly changing the longer you are in them, and also include a fair amount of elements that can be destroyed while fighting your opponent. The character sprites look incredible, the animations are great, and just overall this is a top tier looking fighting game, I dare say the best in the entire Capcom versus series. The soundtrack is amazing as well, and has a very unique late 90s Capcom arcade feel to it that just makes this game intoxicating. However, this game has one blaring issue specific to this port; the framerate. Marvel Super Heroes is compatible with a RAM cart expansion, and this is how I originally played the game. I expected it to run like grease lightening since the RAM cart makes both XvSF and MSHvSF play near arcade perfect, however to my surprise and disappointment the same cannot be said for this game. I did some research online about this issue and it turns out the game was never programmed to be optimized with the RAM expansion despite it being compatible, which means that the game actually runs worse when using the RAM cart. Switching this off the frame rate did improve noticeably, however it still was a lot slower than any of its 2D sequels on the Saturn. On top of that the roster of characters is very limited with only 10 playable fighters. The game also uses an item/leveling system that allows you to use infinity stones to give you brief power ups in battle. I overall didn't care for this feature and always had a hard time using it. Sadly, if this game had been better optimized for the Saturn like XvSF or MSHvSF this probably would have been my favorite of these Marvel licensed Capcom games, with the exception of Marvel vs Capcom 2. Despite this the game is still enjoyable, and I actually like it a hair more than X-Men vs Street Fighter mostly because of its superior presentation and sound, but by a similarly small margin I like MSHvSF more than this game. All three games are incredible, and this one is definitely worth playing just like the others. (6/30/19) [39/50]
36. Marvel Super Heroes (PS1): It's nice having the luxury of being able to play two ports of the same game back to back, especially when it comes to Saturn and PS1 ports of Capcom fighting games. Most of the time the Saturn version is far superior since the Saturn did 2D way better than the PS1, however the difference wasn't as profound as I was expecting in Marvel Super Heroes. The main difference were the graphics and frame rate which were both marginally better in the Saturn version. In terms of audio I didn't really notice that much of a difference. However, the fact that the Saturn version does look and play better makes it the better out of the two. This is probably a personal preference, but I think the game is better with the Saturn's 6 face buttons versus the four on the PS1, plus the trigger buttons. Still, I have to give the PS1 version credit since it typically fell far behind the PS1 when it came to this era of fighting games, which is not the case here. (7/2/19) [37/50]
37. R-Type (PS1): Despite the game's iconic status as an essential SHMUP, my experience with R-Type was about the same as it's been with most other classic shooters; meh. I feel like the SHMUP genre hit its peak in the late 90s up until the mid 2000s, and even though there are certainly examples of excellent shooters before and after that time period, most of those are definitely of the more recent type. R-Type being a 32 year old game at this point is still great looking and back in the day it was probably one of the best looking arcade games of the time. The sound is also pretty good as well. However, my biggest problem with R-Type has to do with its checkpoint system and it's tendency to maroon you if you lose your power ups. These two gameplay follies in shooters are some of my biggest pet peeves and if a game has them it's likability goes down significantly in my book. Still, I will give the game credit for not being as punishing when it comes to not providing any decent power ups in a timely manner; the check points are typically in sync with the arrival of a power up or two shortly after your ship respawns which greatly increased your chances of survival. Still, while playing R-Type I can't help but wish I was playing something else. Not a terrible game, but there are certainly way better examples from the genre than this so called must play shooter. (7/3/19) REDUX: I belong to a facebook group of collectors/retro gamers that do a lot of things, one of which is a monthly game competition. I've competed in several of these, and in fact I won first place a few months back in an Ikaruga competition. I'm playing R-Type right now as part of this month's competition and so I have the extra advantage of playing it a lot more than I normally would when just playing a game casually on my own. Unfortunately in the case of R-Type my opinion of this game has decreased more and more the more I've played it, and in fact I decided to retire from this months competition because of how miserable I was while playing this game more. Yes, R-Type is a hard game on account the genre it belongs as well as it's an old arcade game meant to swallow quarters. But much of R-Types difficulty lies in an enormous hit box, arbitrary checkpoints that make you replay the same section of the game over and over (assuming you have the credits), and marooning the player each time they day by stripping away their power ups, ensuring their death even faster than before. In small amounts these things are simply an annoyance, but replaying the game dozens of times legitimately made me angry. After about 4 more hours with this game since I reviewed it I absolutely dislike this game way more than I did before! When I score games 20 points out of the 50 are my subjective enjoyment of the game, with a 10 meaning I didn't really like it or hate it, it was just okay. I originally gave R-Type a 9 on account of its annoying gameplay mechanics that diminished my enjoyment, but after more time with it I've actually cast this games fun factor down to a 5; it isn't all bad, but my god it is very close! I kept the objective measures of gameplay, graphics and sound the same. (7/4/19) [25/50]
38. Elemental Gearbolt (PS1): I've always had a love of lightgun games, but Elemental Gearbolt flew completely under my radar growing up and it wasn't a game I knew about until I began collecting games. Going into Elemental Gearbolt I knew very little about it other than it was a lightgun game with RPG elements that sounds interesting. After playing and being the game I am left with an appreciation for this game on a level I didn't expect, but that is both a good and bad thing. For one, this is a very unique, interesting, and in a way, beautiful game. The stage graphics are a dark fantasy settings mixes with some sci-fi. The cut scenes are full on anime cut scenes that give me massive 90s anime nostalgia, including the voice acting which is pretty bad. There is a story in there somewhere, but it barely makes any sense, but in a weird way it's nonsensicalness actually ads to the game's charm. More than it's visual presentation though, the game's soundtrack is amazing as it is fully orchestrated, which seems odd in a game like this, but oddly it works very well with the game's setting. If only for that this might go down as one of the best light gun games I've ever played, but remember that RPG element I talked about? Yeah, that's where the problem lies; this game tries to be way more deep than it really needs to be. You are given three different shot types, but all but the main shot type are pretty much useless throughout the game. The leveling system makes you stronger, but in the end it didn't really have to be there either. In the end, this game would have benefited way more from just being a straight up lightgun game minus all the extra crap that weighs the game down more than anything. Still, I mostly enjoyed Elemental Gearbolt, save a few parts, but it is definitely one of the most unique games I've played on the PS1, and certainly one I'd like to revisit in the future. (7/15/19) [35/50]
39. Propeller Arena (Dreamcast): The story behind Propeller Arena is as interesting as it is tragic. This game was supposed to be released for the floundering Dreamcast on September 19, 2001, however it was cancelled before release because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The reason for this was the game's artwork showed a plane flying around some building and one stage takes place in a large city with sky scrapers. Given the Dreamcast's issues at the time and everyone being hyper sensative about anything having to do with Plane's crashing, especially into building, this game was cancelled despite being finished and set to release a week later. Luckily it was leaked online and through a cool guy I know who makes high quality Dreamcast repros I was able to get an unofficial copy of this game. Propeller Arena is a arcade style dogfight sim that has that undeniable late 90s/early 2000s Sega arcade vibe. The game has you flying around themed stages trying to shoot down your opponents while dodging their attacks, and collecting power ups to assist you in winning. Each match is on a time limit or until you or one of your opponents reaches 10 kills. The game plays very well, however the powerups are mostly unnecessary and I never felt like they really provided any sort of tactical advantage to me or my opponents. The graphics are pretty good and there is cool variety in the stages and characters, however there is a lot of empty space in most of the levels that can make trying to track down your opponent somewhat boring after a while. One thing that this game does not have going for it is it's soundtrack; I try not to mark a game's score down based on my own preference in music, but this game's OST is comprised solely of punk rock which for some reason seems out of place in this game. On top of that the same song plays in each stage until you run out of continues of go for another match. Not as big of a deal, but still annoying are the three or four lines each pilot has whenever they hit another opponent or kill them; it's nice they gave each pilot their own personality, but hearing the same few one liners over and over again gets pretty old fast. Under much better circumstances if f Propeller Arena had been released I don't think it would have been revered as a classic in the same way other Dreamcast arcade ports like Crazy Taxi or Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are, but it certainly would have been a fun edition to the library despite being released too late in the Dreamcast's life to make any sort of difference. (7/28/19) [32/50]
