The Arcade Game Page.

The Arcade Game Page

Arcade games — they’re the big juicy cabinets, with huge screens that just make ya drool. There’s nothing like getting into ya fave racing game, and feeling the whole thing move, shake and vibrate, as you drive your virtual car around the track. Not to mention the fighting games, shooting games and those psycho dancing dealies! There’s that magical something about putting your coins through the slot, and those brightly coloured plastic buttons. Sure, you can play some of the games at home on ya consoles, but once you’re in the arcade, you can show off ya pro skills on ya fave title, and try your luck with other people right there with you! So, welcome to the arcade game page! Find out my ratings on all the classics, and all the hot almost latest releases! (I haven’t been to the arcades that much recently.) Listed are overall ratings, and board types also. Ooh, plus if you happen to actually own a real arcade game, and have some comments that you’d like to share about it, please feel free to chuck me some mail, (jmk222@beagle.com.au) and I’ll inlcude the info here.
One of these years I may end up having enough money to buy one, but for now, I can only wish and dream. Heh heh.

Cool arcades to visit:

Galaxy World — George Street, Sydney — this has gone!
Galaxy World — 5th floor, Westfield Parramatta
Galaxy World — Market City, Sydney
Time Zone — George Street, Sydney
Fun World — Church Street, Parramatta
Intencity — Pacific Fair, Broadbeach — long gone!
Namco Land — Pier 39, San Francisco (How would I know if it’s still around?! I was only there once.)
Some joint I don’t remember the name of — Trocadero, London. (Hey, give me a break for my lack of accuracy.)
Vertigo Amusements — Darling Harbour, Sydney — actually this place was demolished!
Time Zone in Parramatta closed down in 2010.

Recent Games:

Initial D ver. 2 — A top handling racing game by Sega, with quite a decent amount of tracks and cars. (Naomi 2 board.) 95%
Initial D ver. 3 — More tracks stuff have been added to what is basically the same deal as the 2nd game. (Naomi 2 board.)
OutRun 2 — Vastly improved graphics over the original game from 1986, and some sweet handling and new modes also, and then there’s OutRun 2 SP!!! (Chihiro board.) 93%
Virtua Cop 3 — An excellent sequel to V.C. 2, with awesome graphics and some mighty accurate guns. (Chihiro board.) 97%
Virtua Fighter 4 — The greatest fighting game continues! Highly detailed characters, and spiffy background loactions. (Naomi 2 board.) 96%
The House Of The Dead 4 — woah, this looks pretty spiffy! Pretty tough too on my 1st go. (Lindbergh board I fink.)
Sega Rally 3 — This is pretty much the same as Sega Rally Revo, except they returned to the classic Sega Rally style racing with one course after another. I found it pretty tricky, but the graphics are amazing on those huge screens and you can even choose whether you want the moving seat enabled. (Europa-R “board”.)
Street Fighter 4 — Capcom took the game back to 3D again with a weird sort of cel-shaded kinda thing going on. It’s worth a burl if you see it.
Hummer Extreme Edition — I loved playing this game at Galaxy World in Sydney at the George Street location, but then they got rid of it! No-o-o-o-o! If you do see it somewhere though, it’s a must play! Smashing up junk and landing with style is the name of the game, and it plays really nice with some fantastic graphics also. (Lindbergh board.) 95%
Daytona Championship USA — A very sweet looking new Daytona USA game. It’s been close to 20 years since I 1st played Daytona USA 2, and this new version has 3 new tracks, plus high detailed remakes of the original tracks from the 1994 game. The handling is similar, but not exactly the same. I played it at iPlay at Pacific Fair in southern Queensland & found it to be a bit easy really, on the single player normal kinda race mode. The expert one-track-after-the-other mode seemed much more challenging. I would like to hope that the service mode would allow for more laps, because there were only 3 for the advanced courses and only 1 for the expert tracks. Too short for your money! I got my name in the top times pretty easily, so either everybody else who played it isn’t as good as me, or it hasn’t been all that popular. That said, I preferred it to any other game there. You’ll also notice (if you see the game in person,) that there’s a camera for each player, which captures a mug shot of them for the high scores and you can see yourself on signs during the race too. I’ll say 82% for now.

Older & “classic” games:

Ferrari F355 Challenge 2 — I must have missed something here, ’cos I didn’t notice the new stuff included in this version. Plays around the same as the 1st game. (4 Naomi boards, I think.) 80%
Daytona USA 2: Power Edition — With an extra race mode including all 3 tracks in one, and the original Hornet car, this is a top driving experience with realistic physics also. I still prefer the beginner track from the Battle On The Edge version though - Palm Rock Valley. The tracks appeared in the XBOX conversion of OutRun 2, but they weren’t complete, and there’s yet to be a console version, but don’t hold ya breath. (Model 3 Step 2 board.) 95%
Sega Rally 2 — Smooth playing rally action. Not as good as the 1st game playability wise, but still this has more cars to choose from, and now a hand brake also. (Model 3 Step 2 board.) 85%
Scud Race — See my review here.
The House Of The Dead — A gruesome shooting game from Sega’s AM 1. Take on the undead, and other mutant freaks. You’ll instantly spot it by the black curtains that try to keep out the younger players. Top stuff! (Model 2 board.) 94%
Soul Calibur — Totally excellent fighting from Namco. Truckloads of fighters to pick from and it’s usually pretty cheap to play now also. (System 22) 98%
Indy 500 — Speedy circuit racing with nice looking scenery and great handling cars. Playing the 8 player setup in the deluxe versions is an awesome experience! Press Start during the race to number your opponents. Hold Start + the brake while choosing transmission, and keep them held, for the pace car. (Model 2) 97%
Marvel vs Capcom 2 — Fighting with 3 characters, and you’ve got what feels like a tag team deal going on. Excellent drawn characters with top animation, and 3D backgrounds. Definitely worth whacking a few dollars in for a whirl. (Naomi board) 94%
Daytona USA — 17 years on, and it still gets the customers. Some dude took me on in Sydney that I’d never met, who was about the same skill as me. I beat him by about a tenth of the length of my car - but none the less, it was an awesome close race all the way, with some good old biffo between us! This is without doubt the ultimate arcade racing game, and it’s a great laugh with ya mates and something to show off on when you get pro at it. A benchmark in racing games, that will still be around for years to come. (Model 2 board) 98%
Sega Rally Championship — One of the sweetest driving games that you can find with out a doubt. It may have only featured 2 main cars, (not inlcuding the bonus Lancia Stratos,) and 4 tracks, but this superb piece of work from AM 3 is a “must play.” The graphics may be getting on a bit now, but it has a distinct look that is unmistakable for anything else. (Model 2 board) 96%
Sonic The Fighters — An awesomely cool fighting game with characters from Sonic games of course! Not by Sonic Team, but AM 2 with a fighting style a bit like Virtua Fighter. Characters have shields to guard themselves, and great cartoony expressions. Ultra hard to find anywhere, but worth playing if ya do see it. Great to play with friends also, either on the single cabinet, or the bigger back to back setup which I played yonks ago. Finally out on console too. Originally scheduled for the Saturn, but cancelled, and now included in Sonic Gems Collection on GameCube. (Model 2B board) 95%

• To race on the Segal course in the practise mode of Motor Raid, select Yendas (that’s the right most selection,) and press P, K, K, P, K, K, P, P, K, K. (P being the usual attack button and K being the kick one.) Segal will then automatically be selected.