Old arcade games I’d like to see on XBLA
This isn't a very REALISTIC list mind you, but these are some games (or good clones) I would LOVE to see arrive on Xbox Live Arcade. And you could count the Wii's Virtual Console and PSN as well I suppose. :) And they aren't in any particular order. All the images are courtesy of KLOV.
Okay, this is kind of one of the more unrealistic ones for XBLA, but for the Virtual Console this would be perfect. I remember playing this in the arcades every chance I got. I would even walk all the way to Wal-Mart to play this in the little tiny arcade they had in the front of the store. Yeah, it's just a glorified shooting gallery, but it's a damned fun one at that. It was worth every quarter. The SNES and Genesis versions were good (for what those systems could handle), but it wasn't QUITE the same.
Are you a bad enough dude to save the president??? I love this game, as evidenced by a previous article. Xbox 360 owners got a game that plays almost identical to it in the indie games section called Angry Barry, but it has one major problem with all it's slick gameplay and polished graphics. 1 life for the entire game. Now, I've read somewhere that the arcade version of this IS coming to the Wii's Virtual Console, and when it does that will push me over the edge to actually go out and buy MY OWN system and give my friend Alicia back hers. :) There's no depth at all in the gameplay for Bad Dudes, you're just beating the crap out of countless ninjas who drop sodas, nunchucks and knives. But God damn it's fun.
Carnevil. Another one of those shooting gallery style games in the vein of House of the Dead. Only on steroids. Back when the arcade near me had this I was one of the guys who would stand there and play this with both guns by myself. Forget dual wielding in Halo (and losing that ability in ODST from what I understand). How about PHYSICALLY dual wielding a pair of plastic guns in front of an arcade machine. And the overall atmosphere and feel of the game are top notch as well. And yes, XBLA or PSN because. Honestly. Do you really think the Wii could do this game justice?
Now I have never actually played the arcade version of this. This is "The Typing of the Dead". I played it on the Dreamcast, and most recently the PC because it's one of the few games my lowly old Acer Aspire netbook can run and run well. It's basically House of the Dead 2, only you're typing out the words, letters, numbers, phrases, etc that are in front of the zombies to shoot them down. The best part about it is the fact that the characters are walking around the game with keyboards slung down in front of them with giant Dreamcasts powered by a giant battery strapped to their backs. Not to mention the game's famously terrible dialogue and addictive gameplay make it a must have. The closest right now we have to that classic (on the 360 anyway. Don't know about PSN) is the horrible Type Attacks.
Pit Fighter ... it's not that good. It's only real credit is being one of the first games to use digitized graphics (and I believe it was the very first fighting game to do it) to represent the characters on screen. But it's still one of those games I still pop into my Genesis from time to time anyway. And I think this would make a great 400 point game with Xbox Live play and all that. Sure, there probably wouldn't be any real money to be had with releasing this, but we need a good version of this game. The home consoles of the time barely had the capability to do this game right.
Why isn't this out? The Simpsons is still as popular as it ever was on television, they could have put this game out on XBLA and PSN to coincide with the recent Simpsons game. It plays great, had bright vivid visuals that match the TV show almost exactly, great sound and it just a great game overall. The closest port fro the arcade I've ever seen is for the PC ... and the PC just didn't have the power to do it right back in the day. We now have consoles that can emulate the game PERFECTLY, and PCs have been able to do it for YEARS. So why isn't this out? Probably Fox.
How about NBA Jam : Tournament Edition? This is one of the very few sports games I've played that I CONSTANTLY go back to. Fast paced gameplay, WAY over the top moves, loads of in game content and codes (which would probably be the ultimate killer for it coming to the downloadable services) and just a great arcade basketball game. My main experience of this, however, is on the Sega Genesis where I used to play it. I've only played the arcade version a handful of times, but damn it left a lasting impression.
T2 : Judgement Day. Otherwise known as T2 : The Arcade game for the home consoles. The home ports were good, but didn't match the arcade by a longshot. I love this game, and the arcade near me has it ... but the guns are flaky. Go figure. This is another one of those games that would probably be better on the Wii with that remote. And I would gladly pay to play this on it.
Killer Instinct? In HD? What more do I have to say here. This and Mortal Kombat 2 were my go to fighters back in the day. And, yes, I'm aware that it came out on the SNES ... but come on. The SNES never stood a chance of doing this game. By and large the most visually impressive game of the time, and giving us false hopes toward the "Ultra 64" ... *ahem*. It's still great fun to play, and with Rare releasing Perfect Dark soon on XBLA, this is one game I would love to see. And speaking of which ...
Killer Instinct 2, while it did get a "decent" port to the N64 (only to be butchered by that stupid controller), and while it's not quite as good as the first, really balanced some things out. Like that combo bitch B. Orchid. :)
And finally, Primal Rage for having the most ridiculous attacks and fatalities I've ever seen. And playing volleyball with the humans is pretty fun too.
Have any (realistic or not, doesn't matter) suggestions? Leave a comment saying what you'd like to see. Doesn't matter if it's possible or not, just whatever game you remember that you'd like to see now that we have the better technology and don't have to suffer through sometimes terrible ports of great games.
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October 13th, 2009 - 01:18
NBA Jam would be a blast over Live.
On slightly the same topic I was just saying the other day how I’d love to see a Time Crisis or Virtua Cop on the Wii.