jbaker@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (John Baker) (06/13/90)
I don't like the arcade games from the past few years. When I still used my Atari 800 regularly, I played LOTS of arcade games on it. They were GREAT! I had all the Atari classics, many Williams games, the early EA stuff - MULE, etc. I couldn't quit! But there is little that excites me now, for several reasons. First of all, it seems that today's arcade games are not original. There are endless clones of clones with little or no creativity. One of the major causes of this was the Atari VS Commodore situation. If Atari had not split the arcade game dept from the personal computer group, and had not lost the Amiga, then we would see all the classics on our 16 bit Atari game machines, and we would get all the best arcade games soon after they were released as coin-ops - sort of like video movies. But now we don't have such a "blockbuster" game company. The closest we have is Nintendo. They had some nice stuff at first, but maybe due to their monopoly, all the Nintedo games taste the same. Blah. So we just have to make do with technically advanced machines with lame (in my opinion) unoriginal games. But there ARE a FEW people writing some original games, many of which are adventure or strategy games. Things like Zak McCracken, Millenium 2-2, Stunt Car Racer, Shufflepuck Cafe, Ocean Beach Volleyball, to name a few. But there isn't anything like the old arcade classics - Pooyan, Berserker, Ms. PacMan, Frogger, etc. John Baker jbaker@gmuvax2.gmu.edu
buffa@sardaigne.inria.fr (Michel Buffa) (06/13/90)
In article <1620@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, jbaker@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (John Baker) writes: |> I don't like the arcade games from the past few years. When I still |> used my Atari 800 regularly, I played LOTS of arcade games on it. They |> were GREAT! I had all the Atari classics, many Williams games, the |> early EA stuff - MULE, etc. I couldn't quit! But there is little that |> excites me now, for several reasons. First of all, it seems that today's |> arcade games are not original. Arcade games don't always need to be original. If they are, it's better, but I still have a lot of fun with games based on an old concept like defender-type games or platform games, if they are good. BATTLE SQUADRON, X-OUT, DATASTORM, SILKWORM are not original, but they are as good as the recent real arcade games. DATASTORM copied defender, but added a lot of new features. The realization is far much better than the original williams game, and it's very playable by all arcade fans. (If you are a strategy game player, it will seem a little bit too difficult and frustrating, but if you are born with a joystick in your hand, the playability is perfectly dosed). A soccer game will always be a soccer game. How do you explain that Kick-Off is so good compared to the others. I bought this game one year ago, and it's still the game I play all the time. And it's graphics are poor, nearly no sound effects, but it's fast and funny to play. It'a a fantastic non-original arcade game !!!! Of course, you'll remember Stunt Car Racer for years because of its originality, AND BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD GAME. I'll remember Kick-Off only because it's a good game. But I play more often Kick-Off than Stunt Car. |> little or no creativity. One of the major causes of this was the Atari |> VS Commodore situation. If Atari had not split the arcade game dept |> from the personal computer group, and had not lost the Amiga, then we |> would see all the classics on our 16 bit Atari game machines, and we |> would get all the best arcade games soon after they were released as |> coin-ops - sort of like video movies. But now we don't have such a |> "blockbuster" game company. Well, Atari games is re-issuing all the old games. But these games were funny a few years ago. Not now. You play them with nostalgy, but feel disappointed after a few minutes. The concept were good, but you expect something more than the a few levels always identical. (I must say that these games were poorly realized) The company is ARC, created by Atari and re-issued games like STORM, VENTURE (I'm not sure about the names). I tried STOPM and it was really bad compared to the today's good games like TURRICAN. |> But there ARE a FEW people writing some original games, many |> of which are adventure or strategy games. Things like Zak McCracken, |> Millenium 2-2, Stunt Car Racer, Shufflepuck Cafe, Ocean Beach |> Volleyball, to name a few. But there isn't anything like the old |> arcade classics - Pooyan, Berserker, Ms. PacMan, Frogger, etc. Ok. Did you try to play Pooyan recently. It's boring. Did you try to play Frogger ? Let's face the reality: these games were good a few years ago, not now. They are funny for a while, but all the levels are the same, there is no depth, no strategy. I agree with you when you say that all the original recent games were strategy games. I recommend a recent one called TOWER OF BABEL, by Rainbird. It's as good as Sentinel (I spent thousands of hours playing Sentinel !). It's in 3D, very playable, and very funny. I'll post a review when I will have played it a little more (A friend of mine bought it, and I only played with him) Shufflepuck Cafe and Ocean Beach Volley are maybe original (?), but they are not good games. They have no depth. Shufflepuck Cafe is always the same, and the strategy is very simple in Beach Volley. Try Kick-Off. It's more an arcade game because is much faster and requires goo reflexes, but if you don't use strategy, you'll never win a match. (And with Kick-Off player manager, you can elaborate complex (too complex sometimes) strategy (you can tell to each player its movements, depending on the ball position, on the actions, all with a graphic interface) HEY ! IF YOU DON'T HAVE KICK-OFF 2, BUY IT, OR ORDER IT NOW !!!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Everybody will like this game. It's impossible not to enjoy it. ------------------------------------------ Michel Buffa: Projet Robotvis, INRIA, France Internet: buffa@sardaigne.inria.fr Surface Mail: Michel BUFFA, INRIA - Sophia Antipolis, 2004, route des Lucioles, 06565 Valbonne Cedex -- FRANCE Voice phone: (33) 93.65.78.39, Fax: (33) 93 65 77 65 ------------------------------------------