During the current age of downloadable mini-games
and apps, shorter, simpler games such as Geometry Wars and Angry Birds have
become the rage on smart-phones and tablets. Today’s more elaborate console
games seem to have taken a back seat to these smaller scale titles, their
roots seem to lie in the arcade hits of the golden age of arcade games back
in the 1980’s. For those player curious as to where these kinds of games
might have come from, Midway Arcade Origins offers an excellent survey of
these classic titles, most of which have been emulated flawlessly in this
package.
Younger players might want
to try something like Rampart, a simple game on the surface but one that has
a lot of strategy underneath the surface. The objective is simple, place you
castles and guns on a map and fire at the attacking ships that lodge
cannon-balls in your direction. After each round, you can rebuild any castle
walls that have been damaged with Tetris-style pieces. You can also claim
new territory building around other castles, which can then be used to
increase your firepower with additional cannons. Look beyond its 2D
presentation, and concentrate on its approach and physics and you have a
game that feels a little bit like an ancestor of Angry Birds, though its not
quite a straight line in terms of evolutionary design, you can definitely
see elements of current games if you look carefully.
You can find interesting parallels to current titles in many of these
classic games, such as how Pit-Fighter anticipated Mortal Kombat a few years
later. The game’s digitized characters and ‘underground’ attitude can almost
be seen as a prequel, though its limited-move list hinders its replay value
these days. Another interesting thing you might want to do is play Xybots
for a short time, and see its primordial roots as an ancestor to current FPS
titles like Call of Duty or Halo, though the controls and clunky movement
aren’t nearly as precise as one would like, its definitely an interesting
title to play through. Other games didn’t have nearly as much influence but
are still enjoyable, such as the mindless smashing of Rampage, with its
monstrous characters and humorous overtones overcoming its somewhat
repetitive gameplay mechanics.
Many of the games on the compilation were designed with co-operative play,
with the first and second Gauntlet titles prime examples of the kinds of
games that attracted more players at once. Playing through the arcade
version of Gauntlet, you’re probably going to be surprised by just how fast
and intense it is compared to the later home versions, which unfolded much
slower. The famous digitized voice is here complete with its exhortation
that “Warrior needs food badly!” making the experience feel authentic to the
arcade game. Thinking about it context with today’s games, Gauntlet’s co-op
play and simple top-down approach probably wouldn’t feel completely out of
place on a touch-screen tablet, though it would likely need a graphical
overhaul and a slower pace to appeal to today’s gamers.
To put a point on this approach, Midway Arcade Origins also includes a pair
of over-head racers that remain appealing. Playing Super Sprint on a huge
monitor with its simple, retro graphics is loads of fun and its streamlined
play with minimal distractions allows players to concentrate on the gameplay
itself, with the sole challenge keeping control of your racer, avoiding the
nasty traps and collecting the occasional, well-placed power-up to speed you
along. Its straightforward approach proves that games don’t need to be
overly elaborate or filled with bells and whistles to be enjoyable and
challenging. Super Off-Road takes a similar approach, but adds hills and
ramps, which might makes things more complex, but doesn’t lose sight of the
fact that simple doesn’t always mean simplistic and fun doesn’t always come
with strings attached. You don’t really need too much introduction to play
these games, but you definitely need skill to succeed, which is a key reason
why Off-Road and Sprint remain entertaining these days.
Many
of the long-standing classics on the compilation need no introduction to
veteran players and they appear here in fine form for the most part. As
mentioned earlier, the classics Defender and Defender II (A.K.A, Stargate)
have been successfully imported in this compilation and remain as primal,
challenging and exciting as they were when they were released nearly 30
years ago. Both titles paved the way for literally hundreds of
horizontally-scrolling ‘shmups’ over the years, but few matched the
intensity and sheer challenge of these releases. Playing these games yet
again might seem redundant at this point, but its interesting looking back
at how many things went right with Defender. It’s sense of balance,
uncompromising level of difficulty and the sheer exhilaration of its battles
give it a timeless quality that allows players to jump right in, no matter
how much time has passed. Grabbing that high score and outlasting your
opponents is just as satisfying now, and this one only seems to get better
with age. Defender II adds a few new elements and is nearly as good, but the
extra seem to slow things down just enough to make it a little less
exciting. Still, its worth playing since it provides a different spin on the
original enough to offer a unique experience.
Robotron: 2084 has inspired legions of imitators over the years and this
edition offers an excellent version of the game. It remains one of the
pinnacles of classic game design with its flawless pacing, gradually upping
the ante level by level with more difficult enemies. New types appear in
almost every level and you go from shooting mindless robots to brains that
suck up characters you want to rescue to impervious tanks that throw
hundreds of large bombs at you at once. All of this wrapped up in a dizzying
primal series of cycling light that explode in waves of nearly unstoppable
destruction that keep you engaged at almost every moment. One interesting
thing about Robotron’s design that makes it so compelling is how the stages
seem large at first, offering plenty of maneuverability to attack your foes.
As you face more enemies at once, the single-screen becomes increasingly
claustrophobic, where you have to figure out how to shoot your way out of
seemingly endless numbers of opponents. The PS3’s dual shock controller does
an excellent job in recreating the original’s double-joystick controls and
its simple visuals and intense speed remain as addictive and challenging as
ever.
Two of Robotron’s ‘spiritual successors’ also play into the disc with
different results. The first did an excellent job in updating the original
game for a new era, while the other didn’t match the intensity for reasons
that show how not to produce a sequel. Smash TV took the basic mechanics of
the original game and set them in a game show, with new power-ups,
collectible bonus items and even a few boss battles. The game was fun and
matched the intensity of the original game. It did this by dividing the
action into different self-contained rooms that matched the claustrophobic
feel of the original and kept most of the original controls intact. Opening
the action up a little bit might seem like a good idea, but the next sequel
Total Carnage shows that evolution can go a step too far. Total Carnage’s
larger more expansive stages stretched over multiple screens but this proved
to be problematic. It made it harder to see oncoming enemies while diffusing
the tightly wound action that made Smash TV so appealing. Goals weren’t as
clear and the end result was a game that didn’t match its earlier siblings.
Still, it was a cool idea and it makes an interesting example for gamers of
what happens when you take an original idea too far from its roots and stray
into areas that get in the way of its intrinsic appeal.
The other game in the famous Midway trilogy was Joust, a title that offered
a unique flapping mechanic where you had to ride an ostrich and help it fly
through the sky. Using the flap button, you had to time your ascent and
descent perfectly in order to beat your opponents. When you came into
contact, the knight with the higher lance would knock off their opponent.
This made for an extremely challenging game and one that has great physics
that are intuitive and interesting for players. It remains seemingly far
ahead of the curve in this aspect, and in another unexpected way. One
interesting thing about Joust comes to mind when you encounter its sporadic
egg waves. In these stages, eggs are placed on various platforms and players
have to collect all of them before they hatch. It requires seamless timing
with the flap button and spatial reasoning that would come into play in
other platform titles. While you’re running and jumping through these
stages, you only need change the eggs to coins and substitute the
ostrich-riding knight with a goofy plumber. Then, it's hard not to think of
Joust’s egg stages in a different light, viewing them as prototypes of play
mechanics implemented the first Mario Bros arcade game a few years later.
Playing with a different perspective makes it feel a bit more significant
these days and its definitely aged well. Joust is an interesting example of
how small elements can lead to bigger innovations.
Many players were disappointed by the previous emulations of Wizard of Wor,
which were plagued by speed problems. This version plays flawlessly complete
with its invisible monsters with the radar. The game was also ahead of the
pack, with its end-level boss battles against the monstrous warlock and then
the final battle with the Wizard himself. The starts off slowly for the
first few levels, but builds into something much more intense later on.
While a bit simple by today’s standards, its straightforward controls,
intense shooting action and myriad battle maze layouts makes it challenging
to play today with its digitized voices adding to the tension and
difficulty. Two more early titles benefit from renewed play if you’re
looking for some new insights. Spy
Hunter was a huge hit back in the day and its easy to see why it was so
compelling. Mixing the strategy of standard racing with combat, adding
tricky power-ups and a brilliant presentation makes the game quite
appealing. While there’s nothing more frustrating than getting knocked off
the road by a spiked rival, moving your vehicle into the bonus trucks and
getting that power-up is equally satisfying. Its this mix of risk and reward
that makes the game so compelling. Unfortunately, the lame 3D-lite sequel
failed to recapture the first game’s magic and its awkward, split screen
approach didn’t match the impact the first game had.
While it would be easy to initially dismiss Satan’s Hollow as another
empty Galaxian clone after playing the first few stages, those who persist
and are able to get through to the end-boss battles will find a much more
interesting and complex game that remains compelling to play, even though
the shields aren’t as effective as you’d like them to be in certain
situations.
While
most of the games on this disc have held up well, some of them just don’t
stand up to the test of time. Arch Rivals is a fairly dull basketball title
with limited moves, ugly graphics and some fairly dull play mechanics that
make it an unappealing title these days. However, you can see all the
elements that made NBA Jam so popular later on are missing in this flat,
uninspired release. Players probably won’t find much appeal in Xenophobe, a
trudge through badly rendered platforming with wonky controls, badly
designed play and repetitive action that doesn’t meet the standards set by
other games. Another disappointing game in this release is APB, a pedestrian
driving game where you navigate a confusing layout in your police car. The
bad controls undermine this one and it’s a challenge to keep on the road
without smashing into other vehicles while chasing down suspects
simultaneously. The simpler approach taken in Toobin’ seems to work better,
and the race mechanics are fun, though it seems to be missing a little of
the spark seen in some of the earlier games. Presentation undermines the
otherwise decent port of Tournament Cyberball, a futuristic football game
where you’re objective is to beat the opposing team. Unfortunately, the
split-screen approach and poor controls make it difficult to call plays
which leads to confusion and frequently frustrating mis-throws and errant
plays. While not every title is a winner, its still interesting to play
through these lesser games with a historical eye, to figure out what went
wrong, or how other games that came along later improved on some of these
nascent ideas.
It
would be easy to dismiss this as another classic game compilation, with a
selection of games you’ve played many times over the years. It could easy to
ignore in a flood of newer games with more flash and style. Looking at them
from a fresh vantage point after all these years, or even after only a few
months can give you some new insights. If you look at these old games from a
different perspective, in this case how they might have influenced other
games later on, might make playing through them more interesting. This
compilation’s lack of extras such as interviews or marketing materials might
seem detrimental, but it can also be seen as beneficial. Since you only have
the games themselves to play, your focus can stay on their qualities.
Players can learn a lot about today’s games, what worked consistently over
the years, which ideas turned into dead ends and how gaming evolved. Going
through them with a different perspective might be more challenging, but
this approach allows you to see things that you hadn’t before. Taking this
approach can reveal a lot of interesting, unexpected parallels and fresh
ideas on their own if you look at them through the right lens. The factoid
bullet points might state that Midway Arcade Origins contains 30 emulated
copies of 30-year old games, but there might be more inside if you know what
to look for.
-
Michael Palisano
