Japan and the mysteries of the FPS format - A 1UP classic from February 17, 2010

On the gaming front, I was wondering why the Japanese and USA gaming aesthetics were so different. Let's take a quick look at the FPS genre. It sells millions of games across many different titles in the USA. Yet there aren't that many, if any, great FPS games coming from Japan. What gives? Why does the west seem to appreciate the genre more than Japan? In the arcade the frenetic "bullet hell" games are a popular genre but the "bullet time" games don't get a second glance.

In trying to get the average Japanese gamer interested in the genre, publisher Taito has taken to translating the popular game engine to the arcade. In Japan Half Life 2 has an arcade counterpart with its own control system, using a left and right controller for aiming and shooting and foot pedals for running, jumping and strafing. Plus the arcade game is not an adventure as much as the focus is on multiplayer maps. The control and approach are something that you would find on a robot combat game, it's not quite the FPS format that we are used to.

Taito is about a year into the release of the newest update for the game. This time the entire experience is being redone and all of the look and feel of Half Life 2 are gone. Instead there are decidedly anime-inspired archetypes in the game. Titled Cyber Diver, there are gothic lolita schoolgirls, cyborgs and ninjas all with their own special weapons and abilities going at it in decidedly Japanese aesthetic locals.

We might not make heads or tails of the characters they are putting into a FPS title, the control scheme they are going with, or even that these games belong in the arcade. What we cannot deny is the approach that they have for the genre and their own artistic cadences. They might not get the look and feel of the Team Fortress 2 characters but they should be able to recognize that our sense of humor in shooting games can be just as surreal.

Perhaps identifying our similarities is the first step in bridging the universal game challenge. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Married to the Sea, part 3 - A 1UP classic from February 8, 2008

Welcome back to this final part of the sea fairing adventure. Before I cast off let's take a look at the underwater games you might have missed. What makes this group different from yesterday's is the loss of the submarine. There is no metal barrier protecting the heroes of these games, no torpedoes or missiles to shoot at enemies. Just the player and wide open ocean. The majority of these games are based around free diving or small watercraft vehicles. Like the titles featured yesterday most of these games have their roots in the arcade. Early on they relied on a gimmick, like the periscope, to get players interested. The first ones were mostly about swimming around and shooting things with a harpoon gun.

Some of the oldest games were inspired by the movie Jaws, which demonized the great white shark. Atari was the first to make the connection with Shark Jaws released in 1975. A few years later Shark Attack by Pacific Novelty put you in the role of the shark, chasing around divers and eating them whole. The tables were turned and the seeds were planted for one of Scott Stoddard's favorite Shockwave creations Mad Shark.

Not all of the games were in the same format, some tried to mix things up by changing the objectives. K'K Tokki's Kaitei Takara Sagashi aka "Underwater Treasure Hunting" was released in 1980 by Namco. In this game players had to navigate a deep sea diver as they descended from the ship to the ocean floor. Along the way they were expected to avoid sea creatures. Once at the bottom of the screen they had to locate a treasure chest and then bring it up, again avoiding obstacles en route to the surface. This was a fun game but like the submarine titles, the SHUMP format seemed to work perfect here. Sea Fighter Poseidon by Taito was released in 1984. I believe it was the first SHUMP using the personal watercraft in place of the sub.

The SHUMP format seemed perfect for the genre, as divers could now swim as fast as sharks and their mini vehicle could shoot harpoons in the place of machine gun fire. One of the most well thought out games using this format was Thunder Jaws, released by Atari in 1990. Players swam around portions of the sea shooting a harpoon gun at enemies and trying to locate underwater lairs like caves and pipelines. The game then switched from swimming to running and gunning. Not quite the high action of Metal Slug but instead the slower pacing of Rolling Thunder. It was a unique concept but neither the diving nor the gunning was really superb.

this game was recommended to me by Marc and is quite good. Treasures of the Deep by Namco was released in 1997 for the original Playstation. The game allows you to explore the sea floor for hidden treasure. At the same time you have to fight off all sorts of sea creatures and pirates with their own personal watercraft and mini sub. This game is very much like Sea Fighter Poseidon in 3D. You get to travel all over the world, upgrading your equipment and buying different mini subs for certain missions. You can revisit levels and try searching for artifacts to unlock a secret level.

Of course the greatest ocean adventure game came out a year later. I've already said that the Ocean Hunter was one of my favorite games of all-time. What else could I possibly add about the Sega title from 98?

It's tough to put the experience into words unless you followed the game from beginning to end. It captures all of those themes that I had grown up with, including the amazing underwater world, awesome subs, sea monsters, sunken cities and wrapping them into a complete adventure. This is the only underwater game that trumps In the Hunt. It was the perfect design from the get-go. We are presented a steampunk world where science and myth collide. Sea monsters are attacking ships and ports and it's up to you to collect a bounty on these creatures by traveling the world with your hot air balloon and mini harpoon craft. This is a shooter on rails, akin to the other Sega titles Gunblade NY and Gunblade LA. Visually this game is still among the more impressive arcade titles you'll ever see. The only decent Ocean Hunter footage around is not very clear and does not give you a sense to how well made this game is.

The character designs, levels, music and bosses are all amazing. They help create a great atmosphere for the title and help pull you into this world. Too bad Sega never followed up with anything else on this title. I'd put my money down to get this on an arcade classics collection. This was truly one of Sega's unknown gems and worthy of a spot on the real top-100 games of all time list (especially since some magazines rank the dismal Bubsy the Bobcat on their list).

So does this wrap-up my never ending love of the sea and water videogames? Well it would if the genre didn't keep sparking new ideas. Undertow by Chair is a popular Xbox Live arcade shooter. It takes many themes featured in both the submarine and diving genres and mixes them in a western SHUMP format. Japanese SHUMPS are usually linear, the level moves left to right or top to bottom. SHUMPS over here from as old as Robotron to computer titles like Wingnuts 2 or as recent as Geometry Wars have allowed us to move freely all over the screen. While I don't own an Xbox 360 I still like to keep tabs on the genre and the video I've seen has me very interested in it. It also gives hope that developers haven't given up on the sea-based titles.

Well this brings me to the end of another series. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane and didn't get turned off with my crazy fascination with the sea. I didn't talk about all the popular boat games because those you are more familiar with. Although Aqua Jack by Taito and Hydra by Atari did take the high speed boat and put machine guns and missiles on them... hmm... maybe I should mention them at least.

Plus I never did get Blood Wake for the Xbox, was it any good?

Ah, enough of that. Have a great weekend and let me know what you are up to! As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Married to the Sea, part 2 - A 1UP classic from February 7, 2008

Welcome back ye land lubbers. When we last left off I was speaking in general terms about my love of the sea and the boats and subs that inhabit it. What makes the sea so great is how much it can change. One minute it's calm and smooth like a sheet of glass, the next it's 70 foot waves and a dark tempest that could snatch away grow men like leaves in a strong wind. But just under the surface the ocean remains calm. Quite and interesting dynamic. Today we'll take a look at this mysterious world under the sea to some history-defining games. A good number of these titles are older than you, some are older than me but I've played almost all of them in the arcade or console as the case may be.

You can break down a sea adventure into one of three types, those with a submarine, those with an underwater personal watercraft and those based on the surface of the ocean. I won't talk about the third because few are adventure games and most are boat or jet ski racing games like Wave Race or Hydro Thunder. Those you should already be familiar with. The first two sea adventure genres have had a few sleeper hits in their time. I'll highlight the submarine ones today.

The submarine genre is one of the few that can claim to have a deep-rooted arcade legacy. One of the earliest electronic games was Sega's Periscope, released in 1968 and Midway's Sea Raider released in 1969. The gimmick for many of the submarine games has been a reliance on the periscope, a form of control unique to actual submarines.

Unlike traditional arcade screen where everyone could see what you were playing, gamers on sub games could peer into their own screen which displayed a CRT or mini LCD. The player had the firing buttons at the thumbs of the periscope handle with some crosshairs on the display to help target enemies. While this gimmick worked in arcades for over 30 years it was not always the most popular format for players.

It didn't take too long for companies to begin applying the SHUMP (or shmups) formula to the submarine genre. While the flying ship in most SHUMPS can only fire forward the submarine was unique because it could fire torpedoes forward and missiles straight up. This allowed developers to come up with games that could be played like Space Invaders but with attackers from the side as well. Early adopters of this format included Midway's Submarine in 79, Taito's Polaris in 1980 and Helifire by Nintendo also in 1980. But it wasn't until 1981 when the side-scrolling aspect of the SHUMP was also applied to the submarine game.

The Battle of Atlantis by Comsoft featured colorful underwater environments where ships and sharks would attack you. Amenip's Mariner game (aka 800 Fathoms) also came out in 1981. This game expanded on the the themes of exploration and diverse locations through which you had to pilot your sub while also taking on advancing enemies. While not as memorable as their sky and space contemporaries, the submarine SHUMP would survive for decades.

A fast-paced arcade FPS shooter using the periscope was released by Taito in 1989. It was called Battle Shark and was probably better remembered for having a main character that looked just like Charles Bronson.

The designs in Battle Shark were all great, plenty of sci-fi subs battling it out over sunken cities. The only sticking point was the periscope. It was large and clumsy, it also felt dated. So the remaining classic sub games were all played with traiditonal joystick or game pad. The best of the early console adopters was Submarine Attack, released in 1990 by Sega for the Master System. It was a throwback to the classic arcade SHUMP and had a quiet following.

Over the next few years we would see all sorts of attack sub games for the Genesis, PC and Nintendo. Some console titles based on popular movies like the Hunt for Red October. One of the more original titles from recent years featured a mini sub that controlled like a combat fighter. The series was called Aquanox and it was set in the near-future so the tech was semi-believable. Plus it was a nice change of pace to be fighting in underwater cities rather than storming through the clouds or off in space.

Of all the submarine SHUMPS ever made, my favorite by far has to be Irem's 1993 sleeper-hit In the Hunt aka Kaitei Daisensou. This game should look and feel very familiar to fans of the Metal Slug series because it was made by the same people.

Here is where I have to make an aside as to what makes In the Hunt and Metal Slug such a classic. It goes back to 1990, before the Irem and SNK designers joined forces and founded Nazca to develop the Metal Slug series. Most SHUMP developers are looking for a hook, a gimmick to make their game memorable. It's hard to come up with something memorable when Japan cranks out so many SHUMPS year after year. In some cases it is the design of the ship and enemies that stick with fans. The large grotesque monsters and falcon-like hero ship featured in R-Type helped put Irem on the map. Other developers rely on cartoony, anime-inspired designs with soft bubbly graphics like Cotton by Success.

The people at Irem had been experimenting with a fusion of hyper-realistic designs and cartoon-like animation. The "style" that they were working on began to gel in the early 90's. Air Duel was a SHUMP that featured traditional air combat with hundreds of enemies and gigantic bosses, what set the visuals apart was the highly-detailed graphics on every plane and even in the backgrounds. The attention to detail was nothing short of maddening. For the next game they took this level of detail and then threw it in a blender with an artistic style that can only be called genius.

In the Hunt was the first title that Irem made featuring the fantastic, over-the-top vehicles and levels that eventually made Metal Slug so great. All of the obscene detail was in the game, every billboard, car, truck, railroad tie and sewer could be counted individually. On some levels if you looked closely you could even make out pedestrians running for their lives, they could not have been more than a few pixels in height! This unique style of presentation, superb animation combined with the classic submarine SHUMP formula and fantastic bosses made In the Hunt the best sub game ever made. Fans would clamor for a sequel but Irem had other plans.

They took the stylized world featured in Air Duel and In the Hunt and applied them to a side-scrolling run and gun game in 94. The game is better known as Gun Force II / Geo Storm. While the designers still hadn't made the main characters completely cartoony, nobody can deny that the template for Metal Slug had been created between those two titles.

I am not a super fan of Metal Slug but I do like the designs. My favorite Metal Slug level takes place in Metal Slug 3 because it is the only time we are introduced to the Metal Sub, a nod to In the Hunt. What you might not notice is that the Metal Sub and scale of Metal Slug is much smaller than that of In the Hunt. The sprites featured in both games are relatively the same size, however proportionally they are different. The sub in In the Hunt is about five times bigger than the Metal Sub. It would be great if the next Metal Slug game could begin incorporating more scale in their series so that if a player jumped into a larger tank or a larger plane then the camera would pan back and allow us to see more of the world like In the Hunt. Of course even if the camera pans back you would still keep the same level of detail that Nazca is famous for.

But that is just me thinking out loud again. Making a sprite-based game is a lost art and it seems that nobody has the dedication to keep the format alive. If Nazca wanted to have a complete meltdown then they would take my advice and feature a scalable world with infinite detail. They wouldn't get far before running out of time and money, but damn would it be a pretty game.

Let's end this aside and finish with In the Hunt is the best submarine SHUMP ever made. I hope that you have played it and if not go track down a copy online or in the arcade. You won't be sorry! If you think my blog on underwater-based videogames is over then you don't know me very well! Tune in tomorrow for the final part of this series.

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A glimpse at the psychic fighting games

I had originally posted a blog on this topic on my old 1UP page, but sadly couldn’t save the HTML before the site was disabled. I did however have the images, and will try to put together the topic as best as I can remember. If you’re a regular on this blog you know that I like to talk about different types of fighting games, and bring back some little known titles. One of my favorites was based on the manga, and anime BASTARD!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (The Dark God of Destruction). My brothers, and I enjoyed playing import games in the early ‘90s. One of the benefits of living in the southland was being able to visit Little Tokyo where they had import games for a reasonable markup. We were literally watching Dragon Ball Z on VHS a month after they aired in Japan. Plus we were playing DBZ fighting game on the Super Nintendo while kids were waiting for Super Street Fighter II to come to come out on the same console.

The manga was high fantasy, with lots of violence, and nudity thrown in for good measure. It predated Berserk by years, and is owed its flowers. What separated it from other violent fantasy titles was that the characters had magic, and psychic attacks, in addition to their traditional swordplay. Adapting the series to a game format was Cobra Team, and SETA Corporation. They actually did a fantastic job recreating the flying/fighting mechanics on the 16-bit console. Most games based on a property were platform titles, you would follow the main character from stage to stage fighting the various bosses, in a Castlevania-tyope quest. Sometimes a licensed game would be a fighter, but those were sloppily done. But this was different. It was actually a brilliant game with a lot of originality.

You had a sort of behind the back mechanic where you could see your opponents in the distance, flying over the various kingdoms. You could circle each other, fly at each other, and change elevation slightly. As fresh as the gameplay was, it also made a clever use of the special attacks. In order to perform a special move you would use button combinations, and these were inspired by the magical seal attacks from the manga. You know, where the main character draws a sort of spell over a pentagram? These were things that had been seen several times in manga, and anime. Most notably in Fullmetal Alchemist. I was lucky to have picked up an issue of V-Jump magazine which let me know all the magical seal combinations of the main characters. It became intuitive after a few rounds of battles with my brothers.

This mechanic of drawing special attacks would pop up in RPGs, and other titles some years later, when touchscreens had entered the mainstream. But the idea for creating spell patterns with button combinations? That was all thanks to Bastard!!. Speaking of which, the manga, and game ended up setting a sort of standard that would predate the evolution of the Dragon Ball Z fighting games. The downside was that 3D flying, and fighting mechanics were difficult to present accurately using 2D sprites.

While Dragon Ball was known for its impressive fight scenes, there were other manga, and anime shows that showed combat that was equally unique. One of those was X / 1999, a series by CLAMP. The main characters looked like typical high school teenagers, however they fought using awesome psychic powers. Think about how Tatsumaki from One Punch Man, or Mob from Mob Psycho 100 fight in their respective shows. They’re able to fold buildings, and turn cities into rubble with just a glance. Mind you these archetypes were made popular in the early 1990’s. It was about that time when 3D models were replacing sprites in arcade games.

Taito took a chance on free floating 3D psychic combat in their cult hit Psychic Force. The arcade game from 1995 was a breath of fresh air. In a sea of 2D fighting games this one truly stood out. The characters had a heavy anime design to them, and players battled within psychic cubes, this contained the force of their attacks, and prevented innocent civilians from getting hurt. You could float in three dimensions, and direct close, and ranged attacks at your opponent. It was an even more polished version of the Bastard!!, and Dragon Ball flying mechanics. Its sequel Psychic Force 2012 came out in 1998, and was published on multiple consoles including the Sega Dreamcast. I urge you to track down a copy if you have a DC, or play on an emulator. It’s still a fresh game.

With the exception of the more recent Dragon Ball games the free-floating fighting game genre seemed to hit a dead-end at the end of the 20th century. That was until Psy-Phi was announced by Sega, and actually demoed in 2005. It was the first new fighting game designed by Yu Suzuki, the legendary mind behind many of Sega’s biggest hits, including Virtua Fighter. His goal was to completely rewrite the fighting genre, while at the same time making it more accessible to audiences. He saw the limitations of gamers using frame data, and other gameplay nuances to take the creativity out of fighting. So he designed a touch screen interface. And rather than rely on quick reactions like a martial arts game would demand, his characters had psychic powers, so there was more strategy involved in each battle.

It was a good idea in theory, but for more than a decade I worked in a computer lab. I knew how reliable touch screen technology could be. Not only that, I knew how filthy monitors would get after a few hours of playing. There was no way you would have convinced me, or my brothers to put our fingerprints all over a display, and pick up some nasty germs. I had no idea how Sega was going to handle that question, or how much it would cost arcade operators to buy touch screen games. What would the maintenance have been on these screens, or whether the technology was even viable in the arcade.

The character designs in Psy-Phi were nice, but not memorable. They didn’t seem to break any new ground as far as influences went. I’m glad that Mr. Suzuki, and Sega were willing to try out new ideas, but it seemed so far out of left field I couldn’t help but wonder if the studio was simply trying to see if their technology was even viable. Shortly after this demo Sega, and a number of other studios started releasing card-based games in the arcade. Where you could play your physical cards on screen, these included sports games, as well as RPGs. In futbol / soccer games you could actually field your players, and choose what formation you wanted to use based on the card placement on the screen. This allowed you to change formations in the middle of the game, as a good manager would be able to do in real life. These mid 2000’s games seemed to last a while, but never took off outside of Japan. I think it had something to do with relying on the technology.

Psy-Phi would be hard to bring to consoles without touch displays as well, or some sort of new controller. For anybody that has a stack of unused guitars, conga drums, and dance pads in their collection could tell you that games with peripherals did not usually last very long. What do you think? Would you have liked a chance to play a touch screen fighting game? Were you a fan of psychic characters in games, or pop culture? Did you ever play any rare import games at home, or in the arcade? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The return of Sonic... Blast Man?! - A 1UP classic from April 12, 2011

For almost as long as electronic games have been in penny arcades and the boardwalks of old there have been machines designed to test the strength and punching prowess of gamers. Some tested the hand grip strength of patrons, others Punching games have been part of the arcade scene for a long time and have never really disappeared. If anything they have evolved with technology and trends and have managed to keep on entertaining for decades.

The simplest type of punching game measures the punching strength and speed on some sort of scale. Most of the machines consist of a punching bag and an LCD screen. In some arcades these are ticket dispensing prize machines and have limited gameplay.

In 1990 Taito combined the punching game with the videogame in Sonic Blast Man. In it players wore boxing gloves and assumed the role of the over-the-top superhero Sonic Blast Man. Players were treated to simple scenarios going up in difficulty regarding speed and punching power. In the early stages our hero would get the chance to punch out a mugger. In latter levels he would get the chance to punch out a runaway truck, giant octopus and even meteor.

The character got a chance to shine on the Super Nintendo in two games. These titles were not like the arcade at all but instead side-scrolling brawlers like Final Fight or Double Dragon. The original title featured only Sonic Blast Man but the sequel introduced two new characters, Sonia and Captain Choyear, each with variations on the punching powers. The games were short and simplistic but gamers could take comfort in being able to punch opponents into oblivion.

Sonic Blast Man predated the over-the-top fighting of games like Capcom?s Godhand by more than a decade, yet was not the first or best game in the arcade to use the punching mechanic. Capcom had in fact beaten Taito to the punch (pardon the pun) in 1986.

The original Street Fighter arcade cabinet featured two oversized buttons that responded to the force applied to punches or kicks, from light and medium to hard. This game came out years before Sonic Blast Man and was far more interactive. Unfortunately for many arcade owners the pads were not always responsive and required routine maintenance. Gamers could not get into the early SF mechanics and the pads were quickly swapped out for the now standard six button control scheme. 

The punching mechanic was perfected in another arcade title, Hokuto No Ken (HNK), or Fist of the North Star. In in players assumed the role of Kenshiro and would play through scenarios made famous in the manga and animé series. Players donned hard plastic gloves and punched at targets timed with animations on the screen. The moves and techniques that were used in the comics actually made their way into the patterns employed in the game. It was a fun title but exhausting for the amount of effort, reflexes and timing required to get through levels. 

Taito is not hoping to topple HNK as the most interactive punching game ever but instead celebrate the arrival of the punching icon. Sonic Blast Heroes is not only getting a new arcade title but also a graphical makeover. As is the case with modern characters the hero himself is swollen to ungodly proportions. Aside from punching a new target in the arcade I really look forward to hearing the new soundtrack provided by their internal music group Zuntata.  

The Zuntata team celebrates 25 years in 2012. I had previously talked about the studio and a free album they published in Arcadia. Many game companies have come and gone in the past 25 years, it is rare to find a group that has not only survived the generations but has also maintained quality in their productions.

To celebrate Taito is publishing the Cozmo album which is a collection of the best from Zuntata. Arcade classics, console and handheld releases all appear on the album. From Battle Gear to Darius Burst, all of the catchy melodies are on the album. Check the track listing on the website and if there is a Japanese bookstore near you be sure to order a copy for yourself!

Do you ever play punching games in the arcade? If so which is your favorite? Do you have a favorite music team, or an underrated music team in gaming? I'd like to hear about it.

I bet you thought I was going to talk about the other Sonic announcement with this blog. But I'm not. Here is the video of Sonic with Sonic? 

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Night Stocker vs Night Striker, sci-fi action racing - A 1UP classic from April 30, 2009

Bally Sente teamed up to release Night Stocker in 1986. This game had nothing to do with their previous collaboration which was named Stocker. Although now that I think about it, the colors of the car were carried over, but that was about it. This game was a science fiction first person racer. The bold graphics of the attract screen were what initially drew me to this game. Look at that car, with a crazy frame and smoking gun sticking out of the windshield. Who wouldn't want to play it?

It was among the first titles set in an off road environment. The levels were quite bizarre as was the format of the game. Players had to drive their car across a wasteland. Collecting energy crystals with some calipers sticking out of the bumper. At the same time alien bugs would fly down and try to land on the car. Damaging it as they dug into the frame with their pincers and mandibles. If the car suffered too much damage before reaching the checkpoint then it was game over. To help the game from ending prematurely players were equipped with a laser gun that they could use on the aliens.

The combination of driving and shooting was manic. Some stages set the car in front of an alien outpost where the player had to shoot aliens that popped out from windows or doors. All the while knocking down swarms of bugs as well. Unless you had multiple eyes and sets of hands then you couldn't progress far into the game. Thankfully my brother was always available to help me get through the levels.

A game like Night Stocker could only have come from the Americans. The mixing of formats, presentation and artistic stylings were very western. However in Japan the best version of an arcade sci-fi racer-meets-shooter was with Night Striker.

Released in 1989 this title was a very good blend of multiple formats. The car and setting was very much inspired by the film Blade Runner. Taito combined the futuristic stylings of Syd Mead with an anime influence and mechanics of the classic arcade shooter Space Harrier. The result was sublime. Japanese arcade designers knew just the right amount of balance to make for a fun game while also immersing the player into the fantastic world they created. They created a car combat game where the vehicle could drive and shoot, like Spy Hunter, but could also fly like a jet.

The Japanese had taken the formula into 3D without making it very complicated. They became masters of design by providing us just enough visual cues while still funneling players through the experience they wanted to deliver. They created the illusion of depth and movement through a shooter by keeping it on rails. This was much easier to get into and play than the frenetic driving and shooting of Night Stocker. Night Striker was not as highly regarded in the US as was Spy Hunter. I was a great admirer of the gameplay, design and transforming car. Few games ever captured a great sci-fi atmosphere well, let alone made a fun game out of it as well. If ever there were to be a successor to the Interceptor G-6155 it would probably be this car...

Perhaps some day Taito might revisit the IP one day. I think there is still plenty of life left in these old games. Some of my oldest arcade memories were not built on the fantastic drivers but on the games that recreated the daily driver experiences. Tomorrow we'll look at the penultimate chapter in this car series.

Were there any science fiction racing games that you enjoyed? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Monster Jam versus Double Axle, the monster truck showdown! - Originally published on 1UP - March 17 2009

NOTE: I have the original images for this blog, but I could not find the original HTML files. So I'm rewriting it from memory. I hope you understand.

When Bigfoot debuted on the NES in 1990 I was almost certain that there would never be a good monster truck game. All of that quickly changed the following year. I was on a high school trip to Knotts Berry Farm when my friends, and I decided to see what arcade games they had. I almost had a heart attack when I saw a monster truck-themed arcade cabinet. I instantly ran over to check it out. I'm pretty sure no one was playing it, otherwise I would have knocked them down to get my hands on it.  I was surprised to see that it was developed by Taito. I knew they made solid arcade games in many different genres. Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Darius, Double Dragon, Rastan, The Legend of Kage, and Superman were just a handful of hits that were well known to seasoned players. Double Axle played like an over-the-top American version of an earlier Taito hit known as Chase H.Q. The controls were very similar in that you had a low gear, and high gear, plus a boost button to run down opponents. 

Double Axle was what every young boy in the '80s had wished a monster truck racing game could be. You took control of an unnamed truck, and entered one of three main races. The Cross Country Race, Icy Road, and Mud Bog Race. You were up against other trucks, and even a monster van, and giant diesel truck as well. The tracks were spread across all sorts of terrain, including dirt, mud, high water, snow, gravel, asphalt, and sand. You could also roll over some boulders, fallen logs, and even plow through trees. The trucks were unstoppable. No other racing up to that point even came close to capturing the raw power of a six ton, 1000 horsepower monster truck. As long as you finished in the top three then you could advance to the next race. Extended plays weren't always the rule in racing games. Even better than that was that there was a bonus race in between each race.

The Night Stadium, High Way, and Sea Side Crushing Race were the bonus stages in between rounds. This time it was a one-on-one challenge where the objective was to destroy as more obstacles than your opponent. These included cars, busses, billboards, tires, barrels, and anything else that was tossed on the track. If you managed to complete all of the races, and bonus stages then you were rewarded with the final challenge. It was labeled Car-Crushing!! but turned out to be a monster truck demolition derby. You could imagine how much that kid in me was losing his mind! You had to destroy nine other trucks in 120 seconds. Including an enormous black cab diesel truck.

I implored my friends to enjoy the rest of Knott's Berry Farm, I had no intention of leaving the arcade until I ran out of money. They asked my older brother if it was okay to just leave me there. He said to trust me. He knew monster trucks were my life, and I would be having a blast all by myself. Surprisingly it didn't take me too long to figure out the stage layouts. I must have spent $6 in total playing, and mastering the game. The only downside was that the cabinet had a bad turbo button, I would have to mash it extra hard to get it to kick in. I had burst a blood vessel in my finger slamming it on the button over, and over. It got swollen, and I spent the rest of the trip with my finger in a cup of ice. Knowing I had beaten the game made the pain worth it. I would see it randomly in other arcades, and if the turbo button was working could beat it on one quarter just about every time. I only wish that Taito had released this on their compilation disks. 

Sadly there wouldn't really be any great monster truck games for the home consoles. At least not to my standards. Monster Jam had taken over the airwaves in the early '90s, and had redefined what monster truck competitions were about. I wrote a little bit about how Feld Entertainment bought out the monster truck organizing body, as well as the rights to many classic trucks on the blog American Daredevils, the monster trucks that changed the world, part 2. They licensed their stadium tour to developers looking to cash in on the craze. Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction was released in 2002 for the Playstation 2, GameCube, and GameBoy Advance. It was a dismal game, the subsequent releases Monster 4x4 Masters of Metal (2003), Monster Jam (2007), and Monster Jam Urban Assault (2008) didn’t do much better with audiences, or critics. Motor Storm Pacific Rift (2008) for the PS3 helped save the idea of monster trucks within a racing game. There wouldn't be a truly great Monster Jam game in my opinion until 2021 with the release of Monster Jam Steel Titans 2. By then I was content with other racing experiences. 

I never stopped being a fan of monster trucks, and I hope to someday find a monster truck game that captures the magic of the early years. Until then I'll keep digging through the archives looking for new experiences. Were you ever a fan of monster trucks, or lesser known racing games? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!