For the arcade game fan who plays arcade games at home, "MAMExpose" presents you with the many joys - and pitfalls - of emulation, specifically those found while using our favorite program in the universe: MAME.
by Rob "Flack" O'HaraOld man winter is upon us once again like brown on beans. I love winter, but I hate the cold, the snow, the ice, the wind … hmm, you know what? The more I think about it, I don’t think I like winter at all – I just like playing winter-related games in MAME! Don’t stand out in the cold this year! Make yourself a mug of hot chocolate, fire up your MAME playing machine of choice and try out some of these wintery ROMs instead! Go ahead, there is no flake on the list! Get it? S’no flake? Snowflake? Ha, I kill me!
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You've played plenty of bad games on game consoles, but what
about bad arcade games? In the next MAMExpose, we'll look at a few titles
that aren't worth a second look, let alone a second quarter.
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A new "MAMExpose" can be found here bi-monthly!
For "back issues" of this column, click HERE.
Fans
of the Bubble Bobble series will love this wintertime update to the
classic game. Instead of Bub and Bob, Snow Brothers stars two
snowmen with particularly un-wintery names, Nick and Tom. Like
Bubble Bobble, the goal of Snow Brothers is to clear each level of
all enemies. Instead of blowing bubbles, Nick and Tom throw snow.
Hit an enemy three or four times, and he’ll turn into a big
snowball. Then you can stand next to the snowball and kick it,
sending it rolling and flying around the screen. The more creatures
you defeat with a single snowball, the bigger your bonus will be!
With its fun graphics and quick action, Snow Brothers is a classic
platformer that everyone should give a spin. If you love it, check
out Snow Brothers 2 for more of the same, including more playable
characters, more levels, more enemies and more fun.
For
some reason there were a lot of skiing games in the early days of
videogames. It probably has something to do with the fact that snow
is very easy to draw (color the screen white – you’re done!).
Despite graphics, skiing games haven’t changed much over the past 25
years. The goal of Alpine Ski is to zoom downhill, avoiding rocks,
trees, snowmobiles and fellow skiers while picking up point bonuses.
Later levels include slalom racing (replace obstacles with flags)
and a ski jump competition. Alpine Ski is both simple and
challenging, making it completely addictive. There are plenty of
games out there with better graphics, but for a quick round of
retrogaming fun Alpine Ski is worth a spin.
The
second skiing game on the list is Vs. Slalom. I remember playing
this game in the arcade and trying to balance myself on those wobbly
ass skis that stuck out of the front of this game. Fortunately for
you at home, this game can be played just fine with a joystick
instead. I remember this game being pretty hard back in the day –
maybe it’s because I was steering with my feet back then. Using a
joystick, even beginner gamers should have no problem shredding
their way through Vs. Slalom in record time. Players looking for a
real challenge should try steering with their feet. Or you could
just use your feet to walk away from this game.
Ah.
Snowboarding, the winter sport of Generation X’ers everywhere. Snow
Board Championship has some really great graphics, but don’t get
your hopes up. After selecting my course and picking a snowboarder,
I began my downhill adventure. I whipped a hard left into the first
corner and kept going. At the next corner, a sharp right, I turned
left. Hey, didn’t I press right? At the next right, I turned left
again. Pressing left on your joystick turns left. Pressing right on
your joystick turns left. Pressing up or down on your joystick also
turns your snowboarder left. I even tried pulling three lefts at
each right hand turn, but unfortunately your turning radius is so
large I just kept smashing into the fence. If you’re looking for a
good looking and yet ultimately unplayable snowboarding game, Snow
Board Championship is for you. It’s too bad, since this one looks
really good too.
You
know me – I have to end on an old school note. Pengo is the
quintessential block pushing game. The goal seems simple enough;
push the ice blocks around, crushing Sno-Bees and lining up each
level’s three diamond blocks. The first time I saw Pengo it reminded
me of Pac-Man, except in this game you could move actually the
blocks around which made up the maze! Once you master the art of
kicking ice blocks around, you won’t feel nearly as helpless against
the Sno-Bees. Pengo can be tough for beginners, but it’s a
chillingly good game that even veteran gamers will consider
challenging!