"This is your Daddy's Crack Down"

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

In the days when our household only had a Genesis, we almost exclusively rented our video games. There were several we would see in magazines that we thought looked interesting, or would see the cover art in stores, but could never find to rent.

This is not one of those games. Until recently, I didn’t even realize there had been a Genesis game that shared the Crack Down name. I found it purely by accident when searching for information on the first Xbox 360 game, Crackdown. Had I seen any version of the game’s box art, I would have more likely pointed to laugh at the monocled baddie on the Mega Drive cover, or the fake Stormtrooper on the US version.

The Genesis version of Crack Down is a top down run and gun game that was originally for the arcades. You play as Ben or Andy, two generic muscle bound heroes common to games of the time.  You must stop the evil Mr. X, who I assume is the monocle guy from the UK release’s box art, by planting explosives around various buildings.

When I first started playing, I thought I was finding and disarming the bombs, which seemed much more in-line with being the hero. However, this was 1990 and all bets were off.

The action takes place from a top down perspective, which reminded me a lot of Guantlet, only with rockets and grenades. Around each level are X’s, which mark where you are to place each bomb. The bombs are automatically placed by walking over each X. The top of your screen shows a map of the level, with the location of all the level’s bomb placement spots clearly marked. Since each level has a fairly short time limit, this helps to avoid a lot of frustration. It also makes sense that people planning on blowing up a cyborg manufacturing facility would know where the bombs needed to be placed to accomplish that task.

Enemies are placed in specific locations, and new ones will constantly be spawning from various buildings and crates (they are cyborgs, after all) to keep you on your toes. Your arsenal includes a machine gun, rocket launcher,and screen clearing grenades. You can also punch fools. As with many video games, the common trope here is that your rangeless punch is more powerful than a rocket launcher.

The part of the screen where the action actually takes place is tiny. The entire top half is your HUD. Each side of that shows Ben and Andy’s number of lives and ammo, even when playing single player, and the middle is the level map. The bottom half of the screen is broken up for each player. Again, this is regardless of whether or not you are playing multiplayer. The view area is tiny, to say the least, which makes the incredible amount of slow down make no sense to me.

The one interesting mechanic Crack Down has is a cover system. By pressing yourself up against walls, your character will flatten himself up against them. This is a very important gameplay mechanic to master, as it is the only way to avoid most bullets, since both Ben and Andy walk like they are in their 80′s.

Why did I pick this game?

I noticed recently that the Genesis game was now on Virtual Console, so with the release of Crackdown 2, I thought it might be fun to go check out the other, completely unrelated Crack Down.

Like I mentioned above, I had never heard of this version until more recently.

How does it hold up with time?

Crack Down has a pretty steep learning curve. Death is instantaneous, as it follows the Contra style of one hit kills. You restart exactly where you left off with the message “Ready! Ben” (or, I assume Andy). The options allow for you to increase the number of lives and continues, and has multiple difficulty settings. I was playing on normal, single player and it was a pretty tough game.

Since Crack Down was clearly designed as a two player experience, playing in single player was a bit strange. Only having a quarter of the screen viewable just seemed silly, and the amount of slowdown (as mentioned above) was ridiculous.

The controls are imprecise. It is way too easy to push up against a wall while you are trying to aim your character in the appropriate direction to shoot. I found myself relying on the grenades way too much. Any time a puzzle involved moving platforms or pits, it was a guarantee I was going to burn through most of my lives trying to cross it. The hit detection for falling to your death is horrendous.

Now that I’ve played it, there is probably a reason I had never heard of this Crack Down before.

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

In Electronic Arts’ Genesis classic, Road Rash, you take on the roll of a street biker who has to punch, club, and speed his/her way to victory.

You aren’t racing on a giant circle completing laps – you are competing in illegal street races for stacks of cash.

Road Rash takes advantage of the 3rd person, behind the bike perspective that was popular on the Genesis and uses it very well. Keeping all the HUD elements on the lower part of the screen clears up a lot of space for you to be able to watch out for oncoming traffic, police, road hazards, and other bikers trying to punch you in the face. I’m sure only using the upper part of the screen also contributed to how smooth the 2D scrolling is pulled off.

All five of the tracks in Road Rash are based off of actual California Highways. You can access all five of them right from the start, and after getting fourth place or better in each of them, you progress to the next set of races. As you progress through the sets of tracks, you race farther on the various highways, with faster opponents, more hazards on the road, and bigger stakes.

The only way to completely lose the game is to run out of money. This happens if you are busted by the cops (crashing too close to a police bike) and are unable to pay bale, or you completely wreck your bike and don’t have enough money to repair it.

Why did I pick this game?

Road Rash is one of my wife’s favorite games. She and her siblings used to play it all the time. When we saw that our local game store, Gamer Time (shout-out!), had a copy during one of their big sales, we ended up picking up a Genesis, Road Rash, and several other games for around $35.

Since Brittany loves the game so much, I’ve been wanting to give it a try.

How does it hold up with time?

Having never played it as a kid, there is no nostalgia factor here for me. My initial impressions were good. The game looks good, the soundtrack is fun (though a little funky on the Genesis sound chip), and being able to punch the other bikers in their stupid faces as you pass them has a certain charm to it. The bikes handle well and you get a sense of progression from buying the faster machines with your winnings.

I was getting frustrated with the increasing length of the tracks at first. As far as I could tell, there was no way to tell how far along you were in a track. Then Brittany pointed out that you had a mile counter in your HUD. It requires you to pay attention to how long a race is before starting it, since once you are in, there is no other indicator on how far along you are.

Once I realized that, my frustrations with the game seemed to slowly evaporate. There is not as much variety within the tracks as I would like, but for a 16-bit era racer with a little bit of a twist, it is still a pretty fun game.

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

I was perusing the internetz when I came across the news that EA is bringing the NBA Jam franchise back. I knew immediately that my next FOG review would have to be about the pinnacle of the NBA Jam series, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition. I hooked up a Genesis and proceeded to rain 3′s on the computer’s head.

There is something almost perfect in the design of NBA Jam. Even if you don’t know the difference between a triangle or a motion offense, you can still pick up and play NBA Jam. This is the game that pretty much defined arcade-style sports. Within seconds of sitting down to play, you’ll be doing insane dunks and knocking opposing players on their butts.

Everything about NBA basketball is exaggerated. Players are able to jump up to the rafters and perform crazy over the top dunks. If you can make three baskets in a row without the opposing team making a basket you ‘catch on fire’ which grants your player unlimited turbo and increases your chances of making your shots. If you catch on fire you can go on massive scoring runs and pull away from your opponents.

On defense you can try for the steal or you can shove your opponent over and take the ball from them. If you miss on either one, your opponent is going to get an easy dunk. Knowing when to make your move is the key.

On offense you have a wide variety of over the top dunks at your disposal. Even basic dunks have you jumping ten feet in the air, spinning around a couple times before slamming it home. A common mistake that rookies make is falling in love with the dunk. They will go for the big dunk every time, while I quietly drain 3 pointer after 3 pointer.

One of the best things about the game was the number of secrets you could unlock. There were dozens of secret characters and all sorts of cheat codes that changed up the look and feel of the game. Putting in the code for half court length dunks and Big Head mode were two of my favorites. Tournament Edition took everything that worked in NBA Jam and added a boat load of unlockables and cheat codes. When people talk about NBA Jam, they are probably really thinking of the Tournament Edition.

Why did I pick this game?

I spent entirely too much time with all of the NBA Jam games when I was a kid. My friends and I would spend hour upon hour with the game. It would get to the point where we would hear the announcer in our sleep. When I heard that the franchise was making a return, I knew that I had to replay the old school game.

How does it hold up with time?

NBA Jam holds up surprisingly well. Picking up the controller felt like putting on an old comfortable pair of shoes. I immediately started going back to the spots on the 3 point line that I am convinced work best for each player (Mark Price from the corner, Alonzo from the baseline, etc.). Characters don’t look nearly as good as I remember, but the basic gameplay still resonates with me.

Besides, any game that lets you play as Bill or Hillary Clinton is alright in my book.

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Cross-platform games are nothing new, but looking back at Flashback: The Quest For Identity is a little ridiculous. While originally for the Amiga, Flashback has appeared on everything from DOS to the Sega CD. I played the version for the Super Nintendo, as it was my main gaming console of the era, so that is the version I played for review.

Flashback was developed by Delphine Software International, the same people behind the similar (though graphically simpler) title, Another World.

Flashback opens with a cinematic (rare for us non-PC gamers of the era) showing our hero and agent for the “Galaxia Bureau of Investigation”, Conrad B. Hart, being chased by laser fire and eventually shot down off his space bike into the jungle.

"What'd I laser last night?"

When most people think of Flashback, they think of the iconic first level in a strange alien jungle. There is good reason for this. Not only does the level look fantastic and have a memorable art style, but the game is really difficult. My theory is that most players back in the day never made it past the first level. I’ve talked to several people who spoke as if the entire game took place there.

After making your way through the jungle of Titan, Conrad buys a gravity belt from a crazy old man which he uses to jump down a giant hole that leads to the first city you come across in the game, New Washington.

"Thanks, crazy old man!"

Once you find your friend, Ian (spoke of in a holo-recorder you find in the jungle), you get your memories back, and learn of an alien plot to destroy mankind. Apparently shape-shifters are disguised as high ranking officials and want to wipe out Earth for some reason.

You make your way back to Earth by participating in a “Running Man” style game show called “Cyber Tower” (originally called “Death Tower”, but the big N was still censoring this sort of thing). After arriving on Earth, Conrad discovers more of the alien plot and hitches a ride to the alien home planet to put a stop to their shenanigans.

"These guys must be "Bladerunner" fans"

After navigating the alien home world and fighting off a ton of shape-shifters and other strange creatures, you end up finding an injured man who was also trying to stop them. He gives you some explosives, which you then go on to use to kill the aliens and save the day.

Why Did I Pick This Game?

When I first rented Flashback in the early 90′s, I was blown away by the quality of the animation. It was the same thing that happened when I had played Prince of Persia and Out of This World (aka Another World). They all used the rotoscoping technique of drawing over video footage to get the highly smooth look.

What appealed to me most was the adventure game and platforming/exploration elements. This is one of those games I loved as a kid, but was never able to finish.

In fact on this play-through, I discovered what I thought was the last level was actually next to last. I will admit right now that at the time of this writing, I was still unable to finish the game. It gets that hard by the end.

How Does It Hold Up With Time?

While the cut scenes look very dated, the sprite work still holds up and the rotoscope animation looks fantastic. The controls are a little hard to pick back up. I spent the first ten minutes just trying to remember how to do everything. Playing through is a bit of a commitment, and not meant for a casual player. Save points are few and far between.

It has a lot of elements reminiscent of point and click adventure games. You’ll find items hidden on one screen that are used to open a door or solve a puzzle on another. These and the exploration elements are what make me still enjoy this game. The combat, however, is a lot harder than I remember. I was constantly getting killed once I was fighting space cops with jetpacks and shields, not to mention the shape shifting aliens.

If you are looking for a tough game with a lot of character, Flashback may be right up your alley.

There are few games as unique and downright strange as the original “Ecco the Dolphin”. It was really hard, it had a very eerie atmosphere and most of all, it had an insanely weird story. “Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future”, the fourth and final title in the Ecco series, manages to retain all of the difficulty and eeriness of the original series and makes a perfect transition from 2d to 3d.

The visuals are nothing short of awe inspiring, and like nothing else on the Dreamcast. The ocean world is rendered so beautifully, I found myself getting sidetracked from my current objective because it is just so much fun to swim around and look at things. It’s all in the details. Like the tiny barnacles on the back of an enormous humpback whale, or the little specks of sand that are stirred up when Ecco skims the ocean floor.

The story is all kinds of strange. It’s the 30th century, 500 years after dolphins revealed their sentience to humans and dolphins and Humans have decided to co-exist and explore space. At some point, a mysterious foe called “The Foe” decided to destroy Earth, and Ecco is one of the guardian dolphins that must protect the planet. The Foe goes back in time, and takes the Noble Traits of ambition, intelligence, compassion and humility from the dolphins. Each trait was bound to a glowing globe and scattered across the planet, and Ecco must find all of the globes in order to save the future. It was interesting to see how the future changes as each trait is restored.

For example, without any of the traits, the dolphins become mindless animals and humans eventually become extinct, but once the dolphins have Intelligence and Ambition (without any of the other traits) they become aggressive, driving the humans from the sea and conquering all other sea life. It isn’t until all of the Noble Traits are restored that the future can be restored and the Foe is Defeated.

Ecco the Dolphin’s gameplay made the perfect transition from 2d to 3d. A few moves, like a quick 180 degree turn, have been added to make it easier to get around, but altogether, Defender of the Future plays almost exactly like the Genesis versions of Ecco.

Another feature Defender of the future shares with its 2d counterparts is an unforgiving level of difficulty. The puzzles are so difficult I found myself taking wild guesses at the solution until I stumbled onto it, or often had to resort to a FAQ.

The combat is no easier. Most enemies can take some big chunks out of your health bar, and there are a lot of hazards in the environment. On top of all this, Ecco needs to come to the surface for air every 60 seconds or so, adding another level of complexity to the puzzles.

If you liked the original Ecco games, I highly suggest dusting off the ‘ol Dreamcast and giving Defender of the Future a try.

If you are like me, then you love the Xbox 360, but hate the horrible D-pad on the controller. Sure, there are ways to crack open that bad boy and mod it to work better, but since this is me we’re talking about, I know the disaster that would likely follow.

Enter the Madcatz Street Fighter IV Fightpad.

When Street Fighter IV first came out, these little guys were nearly impossible to find either in stores or online. Unless of course, you were willing to pay three times the $39.99 retail price on eBay.

Now that they have been out for a little while, I was able to pick up two of them. Pictured above is the Akuma pad I found online and last night I grabbed the Chun-Li themed one.

Since I have been gaming for years, the Madcatz name still makes me nervous. They used to be synonymous with shoddy, cheep rip-off controllers. I am happy to report that lately, their stuff has been solid from the Rock Band 2 gear to these fightpads.

The D-pad is fantastic. It is very accurate and feels a lot like the old Genesis controller. In fact, the whole pad feels heavily inspired by Sega’s old Genesis 6-button controller and Saturn era controllers. The ergonomics feel pretty good. In extended sessions, my hands did start to get a little sore, unlike the standard 360 controller which is probably the most comfortable controller I’ve ever used.

If you play either fighting games or old school games, I would recommend tracking down one of these fightpads. It will give you the best experience for d-pad related gaming on the 360.

Update: I picked up Street Fighter IV last night and played with the controller, and they work like a charm. Good for fighting games confirmed.

On a very special episode of “Barrel Roll!”, we discuss R-Type Dimensions, the Resident Evil 5 demo, Phantasy Star Portable, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, Crackdown and Battalion Wars 2 in our “what we’ve been playing” section.

After the break we get into the news, where we ponder why the upcoming Saga 2 remake is actually being looked forward to, and that The Old Republic MMO is starting to look decent. We also discuss the most popular topic of the week from the Wing Damage blog.

Join us, won’t you?

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