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Gamefaqs Link
Last Topic's Ratings:
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes - BABAAB - 25% (6)
Blast Chamber - GGAABAABA - 50% {9}
Dengeki Construction - A - 50% (1)
Jeremy McGrath Supercross 98 - BBB - 0% (3)
Wild Arms - GGGGGAGAGG - 90% (10)
WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game - AAGGGGG - 86% (7)
I find it interesting that Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game rated much better here than on Genesis, even though the two versions are pretty similar. I wonder whether or not the improvements to the game did make that much of a difference, or if it's more reflective of the fact that the N64 / PS1 era was when Wrestling games started to become popular.
Games for this topic:
Dodgem Arena
Grand Slam
Machine Hunter
Real Bout Fatal Fury
Ridge Racer
Scrabble
I'm kind of curious to try Machine Hunter. It looks like another one of those early PS1 games that's mainly built around an interesting gimmick, some of which have turned out to be pretty cool.
Either way, this is guaranteed to be a successful topic because we've also got RIIIIIDGE RACER!
Dodgem Arena - G
ReplyDeleteGrand Slam - B
Machine Hunter - B
Real Bout Fatal Fury - A
Ridge Racer - A
Scrabble - G
There's very little information out there about Dodgem Arena, so for anyone trying to figure it out, the gist of the game is that it's like Wipeout meets Rocket League. The game controls and looks like Wipeout, but it's not a racing game, the goal is to collect pucks and shoot them into the goal, which moves around the stage. Like in wipeout, there are also weapons you can pick up, and your craft also has health, if its health is depleted, it moves slower, which often prevents you from making it up ramps, forcing you to find a health pack. Shoot puck is Square, shoot weapon is Circle, change weapon is Triangle, and accelerate is X. The winner is decided at the end based on who has the most points (shooting enemies is also worth some points but goals are worth the most). It takes a while to get the hang of it, but it's actually a pretty decent game once you start to figure it out. Pulling off cool moves like cutting off someone who is about to make a shot, using magnet to steal their puck, then shooting it into the goal is very satisfying. I also like the variable mix that changes up the music when you have a puck.
In a certain sense I respect Grand Slam for trying something different, but I really don't think it works out very well. What sets Grand Slam apart from other baseball games is the methods of pitching and batting. Pitching is akin to playing a golfing game, you have to line up a meter with 2 button taps to throw a pitch, but the second tap must be absurdly precise or you throw a ball, probably within 2-3 frames or so, which feels obnoxious. I can nail it sometimes, but it shouldn't be that tight. Batting similarly requires you to aim your bat as well as swing. The problem is that the angle is shown from completely behind the batter, so it's almost impossible to judge the position of the pitch. There's a reason most baseball games show this from above instead of behind. I feel like these could be solid concepts, but they need a bit more refinement to work well.
Machine Hunter is definitely not what I expected. It's basically a complete clone of Alien Syndrome, you'll be wandering through alien-ish environments looking for hostages in a top-down twinstick style environment while shooting everything in sight. The game's titular monster capture mechanic is basically a glorified weapon system, there are very few enemy types in the game, but a few of them can be captured when you kill them, slightly adjusting your basic capabilities. The claim that there's strategy involved in picking which one to use is completely nonsense, as noted there's usually only a couple per stage and they refill your health when picked up, so I always take every one I come across. There's tons of shots on screen at all times so avoiding all damage isn't really an option, it's much more about timing health pickups and outlasting your opponents while moving around as much as possible. It might be passable if that's all there was to it, but the game also has a "unique" visual style where each level is made up of multiple vertical layers. The problem is that this is a top-down game so judging height is a pain, and it really just serves to make the levels far more confusing than they need to be. There is a map, but because everything is stacked on top of each other it's basically useless. Just stick to the PS2 Sega Ages version of Alien Syndrome instead, it's a much better game.
Real Bout Fatal Fury is pretty solid. There's a lot of characters, the animation is nice, the characters have a decent amount of moves, cancelling and hitstun is sensible, etc. I also think the 3 button system works well, pretty much every fighter's entire movelist feels meaningful and it also makes the game decently accessible. By this point SNK basically has fighting games on lock and you can expect pretty much anything they put out to be solid. The only issue is that this game has to go up against many other SNK fighters on the system, and they basically just keep getting bigger lineups and more polish. In particular, PS1 also has this game's direct sequel, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, which is a fair bit better. The plane switching system is finally gone (did anyone ever actually like it?), the inputs have been streamlined a bit, there's more characters, and the whole thing is just a bit spiffier. RBFF is still a solid title for sure, it's just up against some pretty strong competition, which bumps it down to A.
DeleteYou might recall a while back I claimed that one of the things that made Jeremy McGrath an instant B was that it only had 3 tracks. Of course, at the time, I was sure someone was going to point out "well, what about Ridge Racer", since it has only 2 tracks, but clearly that does still hurt the game. However, at least the gameplay of Ridge Racer is fun. Ridge Racer is a very fast-paced game, owing largely to the patented Ridge Racer crazy auto-drift, which is a strange mechanic at first glance (you start the drift and then the car basically corners by itself) but it works out well in practice, but I feel what really sets Ridge Racer apart is its sense of style. Someone already complained about the announcer, but he's kind of essential to the over-the-top, bubbly style of the game. Everything is super colourful and energetic, which sets it apart from much of the rest of the genre. The series still has a long way to go at this point, but it's a decent first start.
Scrabble is a decent conversion of the board game. I feel there's really not a lot else to say here. I've always thought that Scrabble was one of the better board games. I do agree that the music is pretty bad, but at least the AI is competent and has many different difficulty settings.