Showing posts with label Arcade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arcade. Show all posts

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Ms. Pac-Man


System: Sega Genesis

Cheats Used: None

Now this is what I call a fantastic arcade translation! In this version of Midway’s classic game produced by Tengen (Atari’s multiconsole development arm), you not only get a perfect port of the arcade original, but you are given a multitude of options to customize the experience. First, you have the ability to set the difficulty level at Easy, Normal, Hard or Crazy. Second, you can turn on the “Pac Booster” setting which allows you to move two or three times faster while keeping the ghosts at regular speed. This setting makes the game a lot more fun (at least for me), but it’s a double-edged sword because in the later levels when the ghosts speed up, it becomes harder and harder to dodge them, thus making the game more challenging.

Third, in addition to the regular one-player game, there are options for two-player cooperative, two-player competitive and two-player alternating. Last but not least, there are no less than four different sets of mazes to choose from: Arcade, Strange, Big or Mini. A nice feature is that from the start you can choose to begin on a later level up to level seven and once you’re past that and into the higher levels, you can continue up to four times when you lose all your lives, although continuing resets your score to zero. This is a good way to get some practice on the tougher mazes. Using my continues, I was able to get to level 14 or 15, far beyond what I was ever able to do in the original game. Tengen ought to be commended for creating such a superlative experience and if you like Pac-Man at all, you should definitely give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

X-MEN (Arcade Game)


Emulated via MAME

Cheats Used: None

Ah, X-Men. My favorite Marvel series (thanks largely to the excellent 90s cartoon). Growing up, I think the X-Men appealed to me because my autism made me feel like a mutant (still does, in fact) and I was able to identify with the characters easily. This arcade game was released alongside a pilot called “Pryde of the X-Men”. The pilot (which is corny, yet fun) failed to produce a series, but hey, we got a cool game out of it. At the start, you can pick from six characters: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Dazzler. I played through as Dazzler. As you move through the levels, you mostly fight Sentinels, every mutant’s natural enemy. At the end of every level is a boss, usually one of the X-Men’s great villains (Pyro, The Blob, Emma Frost, etc.) and eventually you meet Magneto for a final showdown. In addition to your standard attack, you can also use your mutant power. However, doing so drains your health bar. Fortunately, this being run on an emulator, you have infinite continues, so I was able to spam my mutant power during boss fights. The “engrish” in this game is hilarious (“I am Magneto! Master of magnet!”), which only adds to the charm. All in all, one of the best superhero games. Highly recommended.