• Tag Archives arcade

  • Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja (Arcade, 1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja is a beat-em-up style arcade game that can be played single player or cooperatively with another player. It was released by Data East in 1988. The plot is that President Ronnie (a very thinly veiled reference to Ronald Reagan) has been kidnapped by the evil (of course) Dragon Ninja. The secret service engages the help of the “Bad Dudes”, a heroic duo named Blade and Striker.

    The game play is fairly typical of any side-scrolling beat-em-up though this game helped to define the genre. There are several chapters or levels that include locations such as New York City streets, a moving truck, a sewer, a forest, a freight train, a cave, and an underground factory. You have basic attacks like punches and kicks as well as a charged attack and you can pick up various weapons along the way, including knives and nunchuks as well as other power ups. And of course, at the end of each level there is a boss character.

    The arcade game was extremely successful and there were a multitude of home ports introduced the same year including for the NES, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and more. The NES version is probably the most well known. The “vs. DraonNinja” part was dropped or de-emphasized so the game came to be better known as just “Bad Dudes”. Reviews of both the arcade and home versions were mostly positive. The biggest difference between the arcade version and the original home versions was that the home versions did not allow two player simultaneous play. Instead, you took turns.

    It was a long time before there were any re-releases. Data East financial troubles probably contributed to this though you would have thought they could have made some money on re-releases. Instead, they went bankrupt in 2003 and a company called G-Mode bought the rights to the game. The arcade version of the game was re-released in 2010 as part of Data East Arcade Classics for the Wii, in 2017 as part of a dedicated console called Super Retro-Cade, in 2018 as part of Flying Tiger’s Johnny Turbo series for the Switch, and in an arcade cabinet from Arcade1Up in 2020. The NES port has also been re-released several times. There was also an arcade sequel called Two Crude Dudes (at least in North America) that was released in 1990 and ported to the Genesis.

    If you like this style of game, then Bad Dudes, as well as its sequel, are definitely ones you want to try. The arcade version is obviously the best and you may be able to get your hands on one of the re-release options mentioned above or you can play it via an emulator. If you are a particular fan of one of the home platforms that it was ported to then it might be worth trying out as well. However, while they generally aren’t bad ports, contemporary arcade conversions were not always a strong suit of 8-bit computers…especially later ports where the arcade hardware had gotten better. There were always sacrifices.

    Screen shots above are from the arcade version of the game.


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  • Daytona USA (Arcade)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Daytona USA was Released in 1994 by Sega AM2. When it was released, it was basically THE arcade racing game to play. Play mechanics were really pretty simple but well refined and the graphics pushed it to the next level.

    Daytona USA, in terms of hardware, was based on Sega’s Model 2 arcade board. This board featured an Intel i960-KB CPU @ 25 MHz, a Fujitsu TGP BM86234 FPU as a graphics co-processor, a Motorola 68000 for sound control, 2 Zilog Z80s for communications and feedback, and more. Daytona USA was the first arcade machine to use this hardware. They weren’t cheap though at over $15K per machine when introduced.

    One of the weaknesses of this game were the limited number of tracks. There were only three: Three-Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Seaside Street Galaxy. However, they were well designed and each provided a different level of difficulty. Likewise, the car choices were limited as well.

    While the limited number of tracks and cars may have been disappointing to some, Daytona USA had a number of stand-out features that made it a blast to play. The deluxe style sit down cabinet with steering wheel, pedals and gear shift along with excellent responsiveness added a sense of realism beyond what had been seen before. Multiplayer with linked arcade cabinets was an awesome feature as well. What would initially draw people’s attention though were the outstanding graphics. Sega partnered with GE Aerospace when developing the Model 2 board which used tech from military flight sims. This board was capable of 3D graphics with texture filtering and texture mapping. Stuff that would be common in PC video hardware (and game systems) a few years later but was brand new at the time.

    The sound and music were also highly praised. There’s not much to say about the sound except that it added to the realism of the game. The soundtrack was interesting in that included vocals and other music that were sampled onto a Yamaha sound chip. Once again, there wasn’t a lot of variety though with only a few songs. However, these few songs are well remembered by fans of the game.

    The gameplay features many common racing mechanics that have been used both before and since. The most notable is probably the time extension mechanic though this certainly wasn’t new either. It did help to provide a sense of urgency though as you had to pass each checkpoint before time ran out in order to extend your race.

    If you are a racing game fan then you should definitely play this game in an arcade if you can find one. While there have certainly been more advanced racing games since, this one set many new standards at the time it was released. Ironically, you could also argue that this game was in part responsible for the continued decline of arcades. Not because it was a bad game or anything but because when the next generation of home systems came along, like the Saturn and PlayStation, they were capable of near arcade perfect ports of games of this caliber.

    Because of its popularity, there were many ports and sequels. The port that was released for the Saturn was a big deal at the time. There was also a Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition released for the Saturn in 1996, an arcade sequel called Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge released in 1998 using Model 3 hardware, Daytona USA 2001 which was a remake of the original game and Championship Circuit Edition for the Dreamcast, an arcade remake called Sega Rally Classic in 2010, and a Daytona Championship USA/Daytona USA 3 released in arcades in 2016.


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  • Electronic Gaming Monthly (May 1992)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – Issue Number 34 – May 1992

    I still have this particular issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly which I bought off the shelf back in the day. Consolidation has its advantages but I miss the variety of systems that used to be around. At this time, EGM was covering the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo, and a variety of portable systems including the Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, and Atari Lynx. The May 1992 issue includes:

    Departments

    • Insert Coin – An editorial on the inevitable wave of CD-ROM based games and whether or not the gaming industry is really ready for it.
    • Letters to the Editor – Letters from readers about the Super NES version of Street Fighter II, The Super NES CD-ROM, Genesis coverage, the Magicom and Super Magicom, Mega CD coverage, the Consumer Electronics Show, and more.
    • Review Crew – Four reviewers give their score for a variety of games including Super Scope 6 (SNES), The Rocketeer (SNES), Spanky’s Quest (SNES), Might & Magic (NES), Blues Brothers (NES), Lemmings (Genesis), Earnest Evans (Genesis), D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Genesis), Jordan vs. Bird (Genesis), Star Saver (Game Boy), Top Gun (Game Boy), Batman: Return of the Joker (Game Boy), Outrun Europa (Game Gear), and Hydra (Lynx).
    • Software Calendar – A list of planned releases for May 1993. There are a total of 38 games listed including Batman: Return of the Joker (Game Boy), George Foreman KO Boxing (Game Gear), Last Resort (Neo Geo), Steel Empire (Genesis), Rampart (Lynx), Ballistix (TurboGrafx-16), The Empire Strikes Back (NES), Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super NES), and others.
    • Gaming Gossip – News and rumors regarding the new Street Fighter 2 Competition Joystick from Capcom, a new “Quad” development system for the Super NES, Camerica’s Aladdin project, Super high Impact from Acclaim for the Super NES, Cool World for the Mega CD, Dolphin for the Genesis, and much more.
    • International Outlook – A look at new and upcoming games being released internationally (mostly Japan). Games covered this month include Axelay (Super Famicom), Adventure Island 3 (Famicom), Parodius (Super Famicom), Gargoyle’s Quest (Famicom), Astral Bout (Super Famicom), Macross (PC-Engine Super CD-ROM), Spindizzy Worlds (Super Famicom), Thunder Force IV (Mega Drive), Loom (TurboGrafx Super CD-ROM), After Burner III (Mega CD-ROM and cart), Blazeon (Super Famicom), Cameltry (Super Famicom), Ultimate Football (Super Famicom), Battleblaze (Super Famicom), Dinosaurs (Super Famicom), and Twinkle Tale (Mega Drive).
    • Tricks of the Trade – Tips, tricks, codes and strategies for Super Smash T.V. (Super NES), The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Super NES), Joe & Mac (Super NES), Snow Bros. Jr. (Game Boy), Sim City (Super NES), Hole In One Golf (Super NES), Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis), Batman: Return of the Joker (NES), Snow Brothers (NES), Captain Planet and the Planeteers (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (NES), Faceball 2000 (Game Boy), and Parasol Stars (TurboGrafx-16).
    • Next Wave – Previews of upcoming games including Return of Double Dragon (Super NES), American Gladiators (Super NES), Super Soccer Champ (Super NES), Wordtris (Super NES), World Trophy Soccer (Genesis), Muhammed Ali Knockout Boxing (Genesis), Dragon Strike (NES), Barcelona ’92 (Game Gear), Double Dragon (Game Gear), and Spanky’s Quest (Game Boy).
    • Super NES Times – A quick look at a variety of recent and upcoming Super NES games including Rival Turf, Super Battletank, Jack Nicklaus Golf, Pebble Beach Golf Links, and Might and Magic II.
    • Nintendo Player – A quick look at a variety of recent and upcoming NES games including Stanley in the Search for Dr. Livingston, Baseball Stars II, and Fire Hawk.
    • Outpost: Sega – A quick look at a variety of recent and upcoming Sega Genesis games including Splatterhouse 2, Bulls vs. Lakers, Cyber-Cop, and Cadash.
    • Turbo Champ – A quick look at Bonk III and Parodius for the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine.
    • GameBoy Fan – A quick look at a variety of recent and upcoming Game Boy games including Nail ‘n Scale, NBA All Star Challenge 2, and Yoshi.
    • Atari Lynx – A quick look at Basketbrawl and Rampart for the Atari Lynx.

    Features

    • Behind the Screens – A look at the making of the Wondermega. This was the all-in-one Sega Genesis/CD unit created by JVC.
    • Leading Edge – A look at some of the latest and upcoming arcade games, including Blazeon from Atlus, Seibu Cup Soccer from Seibu Kaihatsu, and Undercover Cops from Irem.
    • Super Play – A strategy guide for Contra III: The Alien Wars on the Super Nintendo.
    • Game Over – A look at the last stage and end of Super Castlevania IV for the Super Nintendo.
    • Double Dragon 4 – The first info along with some screen shots of what would become Super Double Dragon for the Super Nintendo.
    • Fact Files – In addition to those games already mentioned above, there are also additional quick looks of Mutation Nation for the Neo Geo and George Forman KO Boxing for the Sega Game Gear.

    …and much more!


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