I don't know if the line-up for the second one looks as good as the first - although lord knows I played the hell out of NARC in the arcade, and was never really all that satisfied with the NES port.
Originally posted by jvincionalthough lord knows I played the hell out of NARC in the arcade, and was never really all that satisfied with the NES port.
Hell yeah.
My buddy and I would pick a game a year to beat down at the shore (took like 20 bucks worth of quarters usually -- we sucked). NARC was one of those games, and we were excited to buy the NES port, but it never really did anything. Worse graphics, bad control (tap button twice?) and poor sound porting almost ruined the game for us.
The only reason to get this is for TOTAL CARNAGE! I used to play that damn game for hours. Mindless violence at it's best.
Hmm, isn't APB on this one as well. was that the one where you drive around in a cop car and go through the drive in doughnut shops? That one was fun too, but it probably won't be as cool without the steering wheel control.
Cerebus: RIP 1977-2004.
"What do you think it's like being created by a manic-depressive, paranoid schizophrenic, hypochondriac, misogynist with delusions of grandeur and a messiah complex?"
Originally posted by CerebusThe only reason to get this is for TOTAL CARNAGE! I used to play that damn game for hours. Mindless violence at it's best.
Hmm, isn't APB on this one as well. was that the one where you drive around in a cop car and go through the drive in doughnut shops? That one was fun too, but it probably won't be as cool without the steering wheel control.
Total Carnage and MK2 is what's going to make it special for me. MK was great; it was finding all the little glitches (i.e. Johnny Cage's three-header Fatality) and just good ol' fun.
MK2 took that a step higher, IMO.
I'm still surprised that they haven't included, say, Food Fight, Kangaroo, Journey and Domino Man among others. Just my .02 on that.
Journey, sadly, is tied up in legal crap thanks to, of all things, JOURNEY, not wanting the game put out unless they get a ton more money.
There was a game room place here called Malibu that had the old stand up version of that game for $300. It was EXTREMELY tempting, but just not a smart buy at the time. They also had Hologram for sale with two extra discs, but they wanted $500 for it.
I did end up with the much cheaper $150 air hockey table though, which has brough hours upon hours of pleasure to me and my friends.
Cerebus: RIP 1977-2004.
"What do you think it's like being created by a manic-depressive, paranoid schizophrenic, hypochondriac, misogynist with delusions of grandeur and a messiah complex?"
Originally posted by estragandI noticed that "Tapper" has been re-titled "ROOT BEER Tapper". Sheesh.
There has always been the Root Beer Tapper varient (or at least, it has been out for a long time). The Miller version was only found at bars and such, and the Root Beer version was at places like Showbiz Pizza/Chucky Cheese.
Originally posted by Smackfiend The Miller version was only found at bars and such, and the Root Beer version was at places like Showbiz Pizza/Chucky Cheese.
The version at my uncle's bar was Budweiser Tapper, as is the mame emulation that I have. Was there also a Miller version?
Originally posted by Teppan-Yakibut doesn't MAT1 have Tapper?
Yep.
Aw, hell. Here are both lineups just for completeness sake:
M.A.T. 1 Spy Hunter Defender Gauntlet Joust Paperboy Rampage Marble Madness Robotron: 2084 Smash TV Joust 2 Bubbles RoadBlasters Defender II (known to most people as Stargate) Splat! Blaster Rampart Sinistar Super Sprint 720 Toobin' Klax Satan's Hollow Vindicators Root Beer Tapper
M.A.T. 2 A.P.B. Arch Rivals Championship Sprint Cyberball 2072 Gauntlet 2 Hard Drivin' Kozmik Kroozr' Mortal Kombat II Mortal Kombat 3 NARC Pit Fighter Primal Rage Rampage World Tour Spy Hunter 2 Timber Total Carnage Wacko Wizard of Wor Xenophobe Xybots (Mortal Kombat 1 was also slated to be included but was moved to the crappy bonus disc for Mortal Kombat: Deception. S.T.U.N. Runner was also removed from the original list due to emulation issues)
I will have to go to GameFaqs to pick up a MK II faq, but so far it's emulating with no problem to me on the disc. Played a bit of that, played some APB and a bit of Total Carnage.
I picked up the game today...and I'm happy with the results. It's funny, how much I remember about these games, and what I don't.
MK2's emulation seems flawless, but it seems that fatality time has been cut in half. I also don't remember it being this difficult, or the AI being this cheap, even in the arcades.
The trade videos from MK2 and MK3 were terrible. If I were an arcade owner, I'd have purposely NOT bought them for those. Ouch.
MK3's "Outworld" videos (the behind the scenes) videos were hilarious...but I didn't really care for the trade videos.
I didn't remember PIT FIGHTER to be so fast, either. Or that fun, for that matter.
And Hard Driving? Why, oh, why...that game sucked in arcades, and it sucks here.
I spent a lot of time reading up on the games histories, but it would have been nice to find out more about the companies' history, too.
I do have a problem with Rampage, though: I would have preferred the original version to the newer Arcade edition, and I would have loved to be given a choice in who to play as. Down with Ralph, go Lizzie! Yah!!!
The chance to save the games and my progress in them would have been so good, especially since I want to beat Total Carnage...but can't possibly do that in one sitting.
MK2's done nicely, though...with no pausing when doing Shang Tsung's morph. Very, very cool. As is MK3, which I really didn't like much, until now.
All in all, it's a good collection at a good price. It's a better value than the Street Fighter game that was released last month.
(edited by SOK on 15.10.04 2125) Wouldn't it be funny if there was an italian chef named Al Dante?
^^^ Regarding the AI being cheap; that's a Midway staple from what I've seen. Even in the new stuff like MK Deadly Alliance and MK Deception, it still pops up once in a while. Midway would be probably my favorite game creator on earth if they'd just get some decent A.I. people in there. Their games go from mind-numbingly easy to impossibly difficult in the span of one level/play/whatever depending on the game. NFL Blitz, NBA Jam/Showtime, the MK games...they all are great at pissing me off.
I don't mind losing if it's fair - playing Halo on legendary difficulty is ridiculously hard, but I've never gotten all pissed because I know that although the computer is kicking my ass, it's doing it legitimately. Playing something like Mortal Kombat II and being destroyed in 7 seconds with the computer reacting instantly to every movement I make and button I push gets pretty frustrating.
Anyway, in regards to the other games, Pit Fighter was my absolute FAVORITE for a while. When it came out on the home consoles I kept calling the video store to see if the person who rented the Genesis copy had brought it back yet. When the guy DIDN'T bring it back until it was a day late, I was FLIPPING OUT. I dunno why I was so into it, it wasn't that great of a game and it sure as hell doesn't hold up that great today. I was just in middle school, what did I know?
Hard Drivin seemed amazing to me back then. That's just because it used polygons (all 6 of them or whatever) and I found the replay thing fascinating. That doesn't hold up very well today either. Too bad S.T.U.N. Runner got dropped, that was similar but more entertaining.
NARC is still fun, and having a newer Rampage (after the first one was on MAT1) doesn't hurt. I agree with SOK though, I can't understand why the hell they didn't make it so you can select anyone and you're always stuck with the ape.
I got the disc on Saturday and spent a fair amount of time with it on Sunday.
I am sucking mightily at the MK games right now. This doesn't surprise as far as 3 goes, because I rarely played it back in the day. but I'm amazed at how much I've forgotten about even the basic mechanics of MKII. And fatality times are drastically shorter. I have only successfully pulled off one in about 40 matches.
Also I have encountered one fairly major emulation problem with Arch Rivals. In the third quarter of my game, the players vanished and the clock stopped. The music kept going, though. I haven't tried it again to see if it's a recurring glitch.
So, overall it's definitely worth it for the MK games, Narc, Gauntlet II, Total Carnage and Arch Rivals. The rest seem kinda meh to me. I used to play Xenophobe a lot at my local 7-11, but man is it a bad game now.
I love Xenophobe when you have more than one player, I've played it online with a friend in the past and it was fun as hell. But singleplayer is really dull.
I am sucking mightily at the MK games right now. This doesn't surprise as far as 3 goes, because I rarely played it back in the day. but I'm amazed at how much I've forgotten about even the basic mechanics of MKII. And fatality times are drastically shorter. I have only successfully pulled off one in about 40 matches.
For some really dumb reason, I sucked at MK3 in the arcades and on the SNES, but I'm finding this version to be really easy. Up until Shao Khan, that is.
In retrospect, the SNES version of MK2 was easy as hell, as was the arcade edition...but i can't get past round three on the easiest level on this compilation.
Oh yeah. and what in the world is with that semi high pitched clunk noise that happens when Shiva jumps and lands on the ground? that's the single most annoying sound ever.
--Steven
Wouldn't it be funny if there was an italian chef named Al Dante?