Missing in Action: Scrolling Fighters

Missing In Action is a column where we take a look at genres that have all but disappeared in the arcade industry as light-gun games, racers and dancers have primarily replaced other types of games that play well in the arcade. If you missed previous articles, we have already covered Space Games and Puzzle Games. Today we are going to take a look at the scrolling fighter – also known as the Beat ‘Em ‘ Up or Brawler (depending on where you’re from – I usually refer to them as beat ‘em ups) where instead of the fighter being a 1-0n-1 battle between you and one opponent, you walk along kicking the crap out of anyone that gets in your way. With the new resurgence of fighters on the market I felt that now is a good time to take a look at this nearly forgotten genre.

A bit of history first…

Scrolling fighters owe their creation to standard fighters themselves which came onto the scene as early as 1979 with VectorBeam’s Warrior, the first 1-on-1 fighter. This later would expand to games like Karate Champ(Data East, 1984), Great Swordsman (Taito, 1984) and of course Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Scrolling fighters differed by breaking form the single screen format and combined elements of a platformer title with a fighter(keep this in mind if you look up scrolling fighters on sites like KLOV. They seem to use the term loosely). Scrolling branched off as early as 1984 with two games coming along to define the genre: Kung Fu Master where you fought waves of enemies off and a boss at the end of each floor in an attempt to save your girlfriend Sylvia; the second being Samurai Magic where you control a samurai fighting through waves of sword-wielding enemies and a boss at the end of each level. After this the number of scrolling fighters begun making their way to the scene including Knuckle Joe, The Legend of Kage, My Hero/Seishun Scandal, Nun Chackun, Rush N’ Attack, Express Raider, Gladiator, Guardian, Iron Horse, Rock N’ Rage and Trojan, but it wasn’t until the predecessor of Double Dragon came along that things really got rolling in this genre. Hit the post break for the rest of the story.

Dynamite Deka EX and KOFMIA are out, Dynamite Deka website update

I’m glad I caught this at Arcade Renaissance as I nearly forgot about Dynamite Deka EX. In case you did, this is a new 3D scrolling beat ‘em up that is a sequel to the original Dynamite Deka (also know as Dynamite Cop). The new features that Dynamite Deka EX has however is the ability to change costumes and the addition of some mid-level mini-games. It’s nothing revolutionary but it’s a beat em’ up and I love these games. While many people (including myself) were disappointed that Sega decided not to bring this game to some more powerful hardware such as Lindbergh, the fact that it’s available for the NAOMI platform should mean two things: it’s relatively cheap and can be easily installed in a number of locations. It certainly doesn’t appear that it will see a wide release outside of Japan, but thanks to Coinopexpress you can pick it up for only $1182.72 (what a nice rounded number).

Also the Dynamite Deka EX website has been updated with new art and a totally different layout. Most everything is in Japanese but you should be able to navigate the site without much of a problem and check out a number of small screenshots for the game.

KOFMIA was also supposed to be available today but Coinopexpress lists the price as TBA, but they did take it off the ‘Coming Soon’ list. The lack of a price is strange since at one time they had listed it as carrying a price tag of $2771. Perhaps they is a slight delay with the game.
[Arcade Renaissance] [Coinopexpress] [Dynamite Deka EX official site] [Discuss on the Forum]

Pre-Order King Of Fighters MIA and Dynamite Deka EX

Coinopexpress has just listed the next installment of The King of Fighters (Maximum Impact Reg. A) on their website. The release date is 7/31 and it carries a price tag of $2771.93 USD. This does not get you a full cabinet, but the Taito Type X2 board, I/O board, cables and manual that can be installed in an available arcade cabinet. If don’t happen to have $3000  on hand to get this game for yourself, then you’ll either have to bug your local arcade operator to order this and get it in or wait for the inferior PS2 version.

It might also be worthy to note that Sega’s return to the 3D beat ‘em up genre, Dynamite Deka EX (also known as Asian Dynamite) will also be released on the same day for the Naomi platform.  It’s considerably cheaper than KOFMIA as it’s for much older hardware although there hasn’t been much hype about this game so it will be hard to say if many operators will be picking this game up or not. Here is a playtest video on youtube (by racketboynick) of Asian Dynamite in action.

[KOFMIA pre-order page on Coinopexpress.com]

[Discuss on the Forum]

1up Preview of Asian Dynamite

 

The beat-em-up genre isn’t dead. It’s just mostly dead. With next to no beat-em-ups having hit arcades in the last five years, it’s about time one did. Enter Die Hard Arcade EX (Dynamite Deka EX in Japan): Asian Dynamite. It doesn’t have the depth of, say, God Hand, but what it lacks in depth it makes up for in total goofiness. The original Die Hard Arcade wasn’t a Shakespearean tragedy or anything, but it was fairly serious; Die Hard Arcade EX, on the other hand, is just balls out crazy.

Thanks to Shaggy for the tip. [Read on at 1up]

Sega @ ATEI 2007 – Part 3 – The Rest

In the final part of my Sega round up I have got; the kids games which are Mushi King, Dinosaur King and Love & Berry, which to be honest I have not so much interest in, but I guess the kids will love them. Coming soon though, the Love & Berry dancers video! One game I could play all day though is Virtua Tennis 3. This game really does have to be seen because it has some of the best graphics I’ve seen in an arcade, and I can’t wait for the console version of this! Also there was a game on a Naomi cabinet called Asian Dynamite, which if I’m not mistaken is the follow up to, what was called in the UK, Die Hard Arcade. Unfortunately this game was not on free play. Finally there was a fairly original and fun game called Manic Panic  Ghost. This was a touch screen based game, where you had to whack all the ghost with you “wand”. Believe me when I say it really is Manic. Of course my favourite, but the frighteningly addictive game WCCF was there. Shame I  couldn’t get anywhere near it to have a game. I also heard there was a tournament the day before so hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of that off the Unofficial WCCF Forum.