Gaming Hell

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Space Invaders (Taito, 1978)


Both the black & white and colour versions are included. Preference Settings allow players to display the number shots (officially caled BEAMS) fired, the current value of the UFO (the relationship between the number of shots fired and the UFO score value is explained in the manual, as well as the rainbow effect and the Nagoya Attack) and the current stage on the side of the screen. The Display and Sound Audio also have some extra options- Custom Screen Settings has three different cellophane settings and three different lunar backgrounds available (only in the black & white version) and Custom Audio Settings lets you switch between two different UFO flight sounds, reproduce white noise and adjust the individual volume levels for every single sound effect in the game.

One day, in 1978, Earth was suddenly attacked by alien life forms known as the Space Invaders. Vast numbers of them enveloped the planet like a cloud. The future of humanty looked bleak. But working in secret, Earth scientists developed a weapon that turned the tide- the Core Cannon. Equipped with a laser beam that could oblirate the Invader in one shot, could the cannon drive off the invasion, one alien at a time...? (Hey, have I heard this intro somewhere before?) Even with such a powerful weapon on our side, as well as defensive barricades that slowly get destroyed by laser fire, the Invaders will keep marching on, closer and closer, and faster and faster as you take them out... In black & white, in living colour, amongst the darkness of space or on the surface of our moon, the battle wages on, unendingly, relentlessly, and maybe it's still going to this day...
 

Just the one ROM this time. Preference Settings allow players to add two extra digits to the score display so you can make your score even higher, although good luck with that, this game's hard!

"OSHA violation? The hell you talkin' about, pally? Look, we've got a bit of a problem on the job site, so maybe you can help. Ol' Workman over there- long story how he got that name- is a lil' stranded on one of the parts of the building we ain't finished yet. We got a whole bunch of spare girders to place over there though- straight ones, ones that let 'im walk down to go lower and walk up to go higher, that sorta thing. So, you place the girders and he'll walk across 'em to get to safety on the other side. We only got 15 pieces to spare though, you go over and we ain't gonna be able to build this orphanage we're workin' on. Workman really needs to work on his walk though, 'cause he'll change his walking speed constantly. Yell at him to reverse course and he'll double-back, but he ain't so good at listenin' to instructions so he'll only do that so many times. Oh, and watch out for those cranes, we don't wanna knock the poor guy out. Alright buddy, get to it, I gotta go grab my lunch, good luck!"
 

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Crazy Balloon (Taito, 1980)

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Only the one ROM version here. Preference Settings allow players to lower the volume of the popping sound of the balloon, in case you get jumpscared easily.

A real vintage Taito classic this week! Crazy Balloon is an example of Taito being ahead of the curve and trying out new concepts in arcade games way before anyone else- this is a maze game quite unlike any other from the era. As the titular Crazy Balloon, you've got to make your way through the mazes of deadly spikes- oh, wait, I mean rose bushes according to the manual. The balloon sways to the left and right, so it's not just a simple case of rushing to the exit, you have to carefully move, taking into account the swaying, to squeeze through crevices and safely make it to the goal. Hang around (or should that be float around?) in the same spot for too long though, and a horrible face will appear to blow your balloon into motion (it even laughs at you if it kills you, which is a nice impish touch) so don't dawdle. While there's only three courses, variations keep getting added- the balloon will sway faster, some rose bushes will start moving, even the maze itself will start shifiting direction in an effort to pop your balloon. Attack as many mazes as you can! Well, the stages all start with the text LET'S ATTACK! so I'm just going with what they're saying.

I quite like Crazy Balloon, and I promise it's nothing to do with the fact that The NewZealand Story, my favourite Taito game of all time, started life as a proposed sequel to it (that's probably why it has that mysterious 'this game is dedicated to all maze game fans' message- it's referring to Crazy Balloon). It's a very simple concept but it's effective at what it does, and there's a lot of tension when you have to make a tight move taking the balloon's swaying into account. You might think digital controls would make it difficult to be as precise as you need to be, but I think they work well enough for what the game asks of you, and it's easy to get sucked in- it says a lot that I actively jump whenever I die, just like when you pop a real balloon! If you don't like high-tension arcade games, this might not be for you, but if you live dangerously, give it a try. There were a few home computer ports but otherwise this has only shown up on some of the Taito collections on PS2 and PSP (and a remake both on the PSP set, Crazy Balloon 2005, and a PS1 remake I didn't even know existed until this week, Crazy Balloon 2000) so it's nice to see it get a modern rerelease. I particularly recommend LordBBh's Push to Reject segment on Crazy Balloon just so you can see how tense and stressful it is.

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Dead Connection (Taito, 1992)

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This game is also included in Taito Milestones 3 (this is the final 'exclusive' game from that set to get an individual ACA release) but while that release only has the Japanese ROM, here both the Japanese and International ROMs are included. This is important because the intro and cutscene text is only in English in the International version, and it's a really big part of the charm. Anyway, Preference Settings include displaying the number of remaining bullets in special weapons and allowing solo players to play on the Player 2 side.

Dateline, The Big City! Nerozzia's crime syndicate has seeped into every part of the city, but four untouchable cops from the Criminal Department- Philip, James, Eddie and Gary- start striking back. Enraged, Nerozzia's message to them is simple- "You can regret it in Hell!"- and orders a hit on the beloved Christine. Keeping anger in their hearts, the four trecnhcoats refuse to give up in the face of tragedy, and go all-out in crushing out the crime in the city, with Nerozzia at the top of their list. From the opulent Restaurant Campanula to the Nerozzia crime family garden party and even the grand opera house, each single-screen stage sees the quartet gunning down a quota of gangsters and can grab machine guns and shotguns to even the odds, as well as duck for cover and dive to avoid shots (and take out bad guys at the same time). Evil power steals on, but nothing will stop their quest for vengeance!

Oh hell yes, Dead Connection. One of my favourite discoveries through emulation, this is an action-packed arena shooter that eschews the twin-sticks of the likes of Roboton: 2084 and Smash T.V. and goes for a single stick with two buttons layout. The controls might be an issue for some, as there's a sort-of auto-aim mechanic- bullets will fire slightly to the left or right if there's enemies in those directions- but it doesn't take long to get used to it, plus the dive can save you in a pinch as it will kill enemies. It also makes up for potential control shortcomings by taking cues from crosshair shooters like Cabal with its focus on environmental destruction. It goes a step further even, as these finely-detailed dioramas have environmental hazards that can be used against the enemy like statues you can kick down stairs, tables you can knock the candles off of to start fires and even machinery to turn the warehouse stage into a raging inferno. The later stages do perhaps go on a bit too long and slowly get less and less interactive elements, but the game overall is pretty short, so as I said about 10 years ago in my short review, at least it wears thin near the end rather than halfway through.



So it plays very well, but the presentation really puts Dead Connection over the top. You've got hugely-detailed dioramas for stages, great character and enemy animation, and some of the most bonkers stage intros and environmental destruction in a game of the time. This does come at a bit of a cost, especially in co-op mode as there can be some rough slowdown, which is a shame, but that's the price of fighting crime. The story really helps as well- the intro has stone-cold classic lines like "MEN MAKING A STAND AGAINST A GIGANTIC CRIME" and "EVIL POWER STEALS ON", this continues throughout the game with diary entries before each stage explaining the story, voice clips throughout like "NEROZZIA... I'LL CHASE YOU TO HELL AND BACK" and "DON'T DIE, ANDY! PLEASE, OPEN YOUR EYES!" and even inserting a coin gets you "WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU, DON'T LET US DOWN". It's incredible, and the ending really leaves an impact, like a good Taito ending should. If you want more info, my very very old Gaming Hell playthrough hasn't aged as badly as I thought- probably needs a rewritten intro but generally it's got some good tips, if I do say so myself. In summary, play Dead Connection.

 

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III (Taito, 1992)

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Although there are no Preference Settings, you can alter settings for the two monitors in Screen Settings to replicate little differences between the monitors as you'd see on original hardware, and you can set the Joystick Attack (mashing Left and Right for a health-sapping desperation attack) to a single button, although this is disabled in Hi-Score and Caravan modes.

Released a bit before Atari's similar Pit-Fighter, Violence Fight is a one-on-one fighter that adds in scrolling brawler-style movement, letting you move in and out of the screen (well, in the arenas that let you- some are strictly on a 2D plane!) as you and your opponent try to knock seven bells out of each other. There's no rules here, so grab crates and barrels and lob them at your enemy, do whatever it takes to win! You've got three buttons- Punch, Kick and Jump- with mashing P or K for extra attacks, P+J and K+J for even more moves and P+K to duck and avoid your enemy's blows. There's even bonus rounds where you fight a tiger (good luck with that, that tiger's got your number). Can you become the No. 1 Quarreler?!

Violence Fight is a lot. it's not the most graceful video game ever made- movement is odd and stiff, hit boxes are more of a suggestion than anything else, and the computer begins to get real rough with you about three stages in- but it's one of those Taito games that tries to be more 'serious' than their cutesy games but ends up being unintentionally hilarious. The intro is one thing, but you have fighters with names like LICK JOE and BAD BLUE (yes, they spell his name wrong in the intro), comic-style onomatopoeia during the fight that you've never seen like DOGON and GOGOON, post-fight victory screens with goofy music and phrases like SAMMY YOU! and CAMON BOY!... It's very silly and charming. It's also a funny game to play in two-player as you just wail on each other with impunity. It's not a game I'm like a massive fan of- it's from that awkward teething phase of fighting games where the standards hadn't been set just yet- but it has its fans and, a bit like Growl, it's got a lot of personality, and that's not something you can say about every arcade game!