Battle of the Ports

[Yakumo]

I was at the seaside recently and looked at every single (remaining) arcade to see if there was any traces of the old games I used to remember being there. The state of the arcades were really quite depressing, even the biggest ones being full of prize ticket machines and a handful of "Raw Thrills" developed games. Imagine my surprise when I saw this at Bottons Amusements.



And then imagine my frustration when the coin slot mechanism was completely broken, rendering it effectively unplayable. I did find a very hacked-about Daytona USA and Time Crisis 4 though.

Oh man, what a shame that was unplayable. Raw Thrills crap is very uncommon here in Japan and thank God for that.
The golden days that we remember have long gone

[Hirst]

Oh man, what a shame that was unplayable. Raw Thrills crap is very uncommon here in Japan and thank God for that.
The golden days that we remember have long gone

I'll be back there in a few weeks and will try again, not holding out much hope but you never know! I think they keep it going as it's a bit of a haunt for bikers. But it's nearly the end of season...

The state of arcades was grim, a real sucker punch as it's some of my best memories. Some of the arcades I could still go in and say which machines they had over the years, even down to exactly where they'd put each cabinet. Makes me think I should document it somewhere just so it isn't lost to time. It was very slim pickings when I went in the late 2000s, but actual playable cabinets I bet is less than 5% of even that by now (even including the Raw Thrills). What used to be "proper" arcades completely turned over to ticket machines and slots. I was expecting I might find the odd survivor shoved in a corner.

Back in the day I could spend literal hours in the biggest arcade, took me about 5 minutes this time. Could still tell you where Sega's holographic Time Traveller was, mainly because I still want my 50p back.

[Yakumo]

It's a film to game title. It's going to be crap, isn't it?

[Hirst]

I remember very little about the MD version of this game other than the floor/parallax effects being quite neat and the (presumably GEMS) music being an awful cacophony. The music was worse than I remember!

This was one my mate got off the market on swaps and rotated back for trade in by the next weekend, he came round with it because I'd not had a go and he said don't bother. I can't remember if I played it or he just showed me it briefly, but it was just a complete turkey and we set off with it shortly after. Can't think what he swapped it for though.

[Yakumo]

A Battle of the Ports where the original started life on the Acorn Archimedes?

[Yakumo]

Halloween is here, so what better excuse to cover a forgotten Toaplan shooter.

[egparadigm]

Halloween is here, so what better excuse to cover a forgotten Toaplan shooter.

Interesting game, yes not one I’ve heard of (not that I know much about arcade or PCE titles). The PCE version looks a little more blurry to me, don’t know if that’s to do with how you captured it. Would you say it’s fun to play?

[Yakumo]

I think the PC Engine one may look more blurry due to the colours. I don't notice it myself.
It is an enjoyable game but it's no where near Toaplan's best output.
The PC Engine version is tough though,.

[Protocol Penguin]

My brain regularly confuses that game with Todd's Adventures in Slime World for some reason. Possibly because the Player 1 sprite characters look similar.

[Yakumo]

Could this be the worst Double Dragon game ever made?

[Hirst]

Could this be the worst Double Dragon game ever made?

It could well be, what an absolute honker! It's a shame the Double Dragon series was run into the ground so badly by being licensed out and badly ported by all kinds of crummy companies. It almost caused me to miss the - actually pretty good - Double Dragon Neon as I just assumed by then it would probably be a junk game. Probably also didn't help that I thought the art direction on that game was a bit weird, though ultimately I grew to not mind it.

Still don't mind the cheesy 90s film spin-off though, sue me.

[Nu-Eclipse]

It could well be, what an absolute honker! It's a shame the Double Dragon series was run into the ground so badly by being licensed out and badly ported by all kinds of crummy companies. It almost caused me to miss the - actually pretty good - Double Dragon Neon as I just assumed by then it would probably be a junk game. Probably also didn't help that I thought the art direction on that game was a bit weird, though ultimately I grew to not mind it.

Still don't mind the cheesy 90s film spin-off though, sue me.

I would strongly argue that Double Dragon Neon is pretty mediocre in itself.

Slow, clunky and definitely a case of style over substance.

[Yakumo]

It could well be, what an absolute honker! It's a shame the Double Dragon series was run into the ground so badly by being licensed out and badly ported by all kinds of crummy companies. It almost caused me to miss the - actually pretty good - Double Dragon Neon as I just assumed by then it would probably be a junk game. Probably also didn't help that I thought the art direction on that game was a bit weird, though ultimately I grew to not mind it.

Still don't mind the cheesy 90s film spin-off though, sue me.

I love Double Dragon Neon. The boy and I used to play that so much back when it was new.

[Yakumo]

I would strongly argue that Double Dragon Neon is pretty mediocre in itself.

Slow, clunky and definitely a case of style over substance.

Here's a stinker for you. Did you ever play that turd Double Dragon 2 on the 360 by some Korean developer? Bloody hell, that is one major yawn fest.

[DeathAdder]

Could this be the worst Double Dragon game ever made?

Am I right in thinking this didn't come out in Japan, except on the Jaguar?