Retro-Gaming

[GeorgeC]

It's hard to say where this belongs.

I really didn't want to contribute more to the videogames thread because that's mostly games coming out in the next few weeks or months versus what my main interest is here...

... Older games legally remixed or run through emulators (virtual software replicants of the original arcade hardware) on PC, Mac, and consoles.

I'm going to stay away from MAME because most of us in-the-know are aware of it and it strays into areas of illegalit that shouldn't be discussed on this board. Most reputable videogame forums stay away from MAME and discourage discussion of "warez", too.


Anyhow, the first post of this thread covers the Xbox Live and Playstation Network re-release of one of the first licensed X-Men arcade games by Konami --
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6285026.html

Yep, it's X-Men: The Arcade Game by Konami. Released around 18 years ago, this was a sidescroller during the heyday of fighting games and probably around the time sidescrollers started to die down in popularity. At least 4 players could pick an X-Men (hero) character and battle through the game cooperatively against Sentinels, The Brotherhood of Evil, Magneto, and other X-Men.

Players who pay for the download privilege of keeping the game on your 360's or PS3's hard drive get the opportunity to play with 3 friends as fellow mutants (in your living room by the game console and large screen TV), or as part of a 6-person troop fighting cooperatively over the Net.

******

Personally, I never cared for sidescroller beat 'em ups. I prefer the Street Fighter II-style fighters. One of these 2D fighters was the 1994 Capcom fighter, X-Men: Children of the Atom, the first licensed arcade fighter Capcom produced with Marvel characters.

The only decent console port of that game was made for the Sega Saturn. 100% frame-accurate ports of this game are still limited to CPS-2 motherboards and PCB's containing the arcade game. (Don't knock the Saturn port, though... it's much better and more representative of the arcade game than many give it credit it for. It's a HARD fighter to get through!)

Odds are against this (IMHO) superior game from getting re-licensed and reprogrammed for emulation on PS3 or XBox 360 but the odds were also against Marvel Vs Capcom 2 being re-licensed and reprogrammed. The success of that download release has led directly to next year's Marvel Vs Capcom 3 console release. Impressions of beta builds of that game lead me to believe it will be a huge success in the US and much of the Western world.

Sequels and remakes are not impossible for other classic arcade games if they hit at the right in the current game cycles...

[Whippet Angel]

Wasn't there a Simpsons side-scrolling fighter?

Or am I just imagining that?

[GeorgeC]

Yep,

There was a Simpsons side-scrolling fighter!

One of the first licensed games for that series, too!

I believe it was also a Konami product (confirmed).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_(arcade_game)

More details at the link...

It never got a proper console port.

The home console machines back then probably couldn't do it full justice.

[Whippet Angel]

Ah, thank you! I spent many days of my youth hanging out in arcades, but I only have a vague recollection of playing that game when I was really young.

I was never a huge fan of beat em' ups, except for TMNT, Sunset Riders, and a few others. My favorite fighting arcade game when I was a kid was "Primal Rage" (the one with the dinosaurs). I REALLY wish I could play the original version again. I still own a copy of the SNES port, which really doesn't do the game justice. I've heard that the playstation 1 version is a bit better, but it's impossible to find (I came across a reasonably priced copy on ebay a few years back and I'm still kicking myself for not getting it).

One of these days (assuming I ever have money to burn) I'd love to buy myself arcade machines of this game as well as Mrs. Pacman.

EDIT: AAAAHHHH!!! After a bit of searching, I came across this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Arcade_Treasures_2. I am SO TOTALLY getting this!

I'd still like to own the arcade machine tho, for nostalgia's sake. I spent so many hours playing this in the arcade.