Missing in Action: Space Games

Over the next little while I am going to run a feature every now and then where I discuss genres which have been “lost” to arcades. Where these genres were once a proud part of an arcade line-up, they have all taken a back seat to the current primary genres of the arcade industry (and in some cases they’ve been all but forgotten in the console world) which include: 1-on-1 fighters, light gun games, racers and dancing titles. Sure those are all great genres that work great in arcades but to think that they are the only ones that can do well on the arcade scene is ridiculous.

A little history first

So let’s start with a type of game that has suffered not only in the arcades but in the rest of the gaming world to an extent : the space shooter or space combat title. Why even bring up space games? I suppose they hold a special place for me as I grew up playing so many of them; on top of that I enjoy shows like Star Trek so personally my interest in such things hasn’t waned although it has in public. Perhaps the decline of interest in space games can coincide with a general decline of interest in space overall but it’s really hard to nail that down. The very first coin-operated arcade game carried the theme in both it’s name and the game itself: Computer Space)pictured right, KLOV image). Computer Space was essentially Space War, which would later become the first vector arcade game in 1976 (which also was one of the best selling arcade titles that year). The space craze continued with games such as Space Invaders (1978) which is one of the most popular classic games of all time and spawned other space-related classics such as Galaxian, Galaga and Gorf; Asteroids (1980) broke earnings records and brought a new concept to the genre that would create a timeless classic; Star Wars(1980) and Star Trek(1982) brought popular sci-fi series to the arcades; it seems that most Cinematronics games featured a space theme with titles like Star Castle and Cosmic Chasm;  overall the 80’s saw many space-based games but as the 90’s came along those began to disappear slowly despite some huge hits such as Starblade, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Space Lords(pictured, KLOV image), the Rayforce series (and to an extent space shmups like Raiden, Darius and Gradius) and with this decade space combat games of any type have practically disappeared as there has only been one real space combat title, Star Wars Starfighter. (I guess if you had to stretch things you could count Star Trek Voyager Arcade, which was a light-gun game; maybe throw in any Cave shmup that takes place in space). Namco was going to release a couple of space combat games a few years ago: StarBlade and Star Fox (which definently would have done well) but for unknown reasons those games were canceled. So does that mean that space games are done for? I don’t think so and let me tell you why. Hit the post break to continue reading.

Why space games in the arcade?

Of course you don’t see many space shooters on consoles these days – only the PC seems to attract most of these games but they tend to be too complex for the arcade environment but that doesn’t mean that every space game has to be Wing Commander to be successful. As always I believe that the arcade is capable of providing a fun experience that if done right can bring something unique to a genre – a good example from recent memory would be Blazing Angels, which with it’s unique control scheme and seat force-feedback technology puts it into a different category than it’s console counterparts. It would be excellent to see a new space title take advantage of a cockpit cabinet with a force-feedback control scheme and surround sound but beyond that with the right art direction a space title can look amazing (check Metroid Prime 3’s space scenes or the graphics in games like Space Force or EVE Online; pictured is a PC game called Space Interceptor), especially if you use an HD monitor. What has to set apart an arcade-style combat game from something you would typically find on a PC of course is the flow of the game – in an arcade you can’t spend time traveling to different star systems or several minutes hunting down another ship that just looks like a minuscule speck on your display – it has to be fast and action-packed. Many times battles happen in waves but obviously that doesn’t mean it has to be that way as designers can always come up with new ideas in familiar settings. Not every space-game has to be a shooter persay; one of Midway’s last titles was a space racer (HyperDrive) but space racing games never seemed to work out terribly well. One game that would have given the space genre a swift jump start in the arcades would have been the aforementioned StarFox – between the built-in popularity of that series and it being thrown into an arcade setting it’s easy to see that it would have been a winner. Overall I believe that space games set in the arcade can do very well and in some instances they are only worth it if they feature arcade-style gameplay.

And that brings me to my final point – we need new blood on the arcade scene in terms of what kind of games we’re seeing. I have been pleased to see some developers innovating design in some recent games such as 2Spicy, Primeval Hunt, Action Cop and a few others but it would be great to see us move away from the light-gun/racer/fighter/dancer merry-go-round. Of course inventing entirely new genres at this stage in video game history is pretty difficult so why not come up with some new ideas in some other familiar settings, whether that be a space-action title, a beat ’em up (or scrolling fighter, not 1-on-1), a puzzle title or something else. And later on we’ll discuss those genres as well (or anything else you’d like to talk about).

Comment!

Explore posts in the same categories: Arcade Coverage, Arcade Games, Arcade Gaming, Arcade Growth, Arcade Hardware

Tags: arcade, editorial, space based games

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.