"Jesus my hand hurts. I feel like a goddamn melee player after finishing one Fox vs Falco match." - Man who has shot over 4000 rounds into one boss.
I promise I'll get to playing .hack again. Just needed to scratch that old arcade itch again until I remembered this game.
Let me set the stage really quick for you.
The year is 1998, and The House of the Dead just came out with it's sequel that same year and it's hogging players left and right with how tight the controls were and how fun it was despite quarters being eaten left and right.
But... in that same arcade was a little cabinet that happened to release on Halloween day of all days.Holy geez did it look different compared to the competition at the time.
Before actually reviewing this game, I think anyone interested in this game at all should take a look at the development of this title when they have the chance.
Just seeing this game even be released was a miracle with the way things were headed for Jack Haeger's team during the beginning of the end for Midway games at the time. Only a couple of years before their impending bankruptcy in 2006.
I mean, they had good reason to think that as well. Hell, this is the same small development team that made Narc (Yes, that helmet blowing up hobos with rockets Narc.) after all.
Sadly the reviews on this game back then were not so kind. Going as far as to call it a "Crappy House of the Dead clone."
But enough of the past. We're in 2023 and I want to do some light gun shooting before MAME gives me a fucking headache upon setup. How does it play?
Like a faster paced House of the Dead. You're zooming left and right, jumping hoops and going through different rides in every level with the head camera changing every moment. The different perspectives you get while shooting down clowns, bats and whatnot is so different from any lightgun shooter that I've played. The music and the art-style is fitting for its Tim Burton Nightmare Before Christmas influence and the blood and gore taken from the Mortal Kombat arcade games.
This game is fucking cool as hell, but it's also short as hell too. If you're really good, you could probably beat this game in just under an hour, and with something like MAME with mom giving you infinite quarters at your disposal, you can just smash on through each hit.
Funny that the last boss is called Tokkentaker, because you'll be dying so many times throughout fighting him and the entire game really.
If you have 30 or so minutes to burn, give this a go. If you're new to using MAME like I was, check out this guide for setting up controls.
I promise I'll get to playing .hack again. Just needed to scratch that old arcade itch again until I remembered this game.
Let me set the stage really quick for you.
The year is 1998, and The House of the Dead just came out with it's sequel that same year and it's hogging players left and right with how tight the controls were and how fun it was despite quarters being eaten left and right.
But... in that same arcade was a little cabinet that happened to release on Halloween day of all days.Holy geez did it look different compared to the competition at the time.
Before actually reviewing this game, I think anyone interested in this game at all should take a look at the development of this title when they have the chance.
Just seeing this game even be released was a miracle with the way things were headed for Jack Haeger's team during the beginning of the end for Midway games at the time. Only a couple of years before their impending bankruptcy in 2006.
I mean, they had good reason to think that as well. Hell, this is the same small development team that made Narc (Yes, that helmet blowing up hobos with rockets Narc.) after all.
Sadly the reviews on this game back then were not so kind. Going as far as to call it a "Crappy House of the Dead clone."
But enough of the past. We're in 2023 and I want to do some light gun shooting before MAME gives me a fucking headache upon setup. How does it play?
Like a faster paced House of the Dead. You're zooming left and right, jumping hoops and going through different rides in every level with the head camera changing every moment. The different perspectives you get while shooting down clowns, bats and whatnot is so different from any lightgun shooter that I've played. The music and the art-style is fitting for its Tim Burton Nightmare Before Christmas influence and the blood and gore taken from the Mortal Kombat arcade games.
This game is fucking cool as hell, but it's also short as hell too. If you're really good, you could probably beat this game in just under an hour, and with something like MAME with mom giving you infinite quarters at your disposal, you can just smash on through each hit.
Funny that the last boss is called Tokkentaker, because you'll be dying so many times throughout fighting him and the entire game really.
If you have 30 or so minutes to burn, give this a go. If you're new to using MAME like I was, check out this guide for setting up controls.