Friday From the Archives: Time Crisis II (2001)

Every Friday (or thereabouts) we celebrate the heritage of Code Redd Net by posting a retro-review from our considerable back catalogue of embarrassingly naive, but nonetheless entertaining and heartfelt, movie and game reviews. Please pardon the prose; most of these articles were written in immediately post-pubescent years. Hopefully you find them as enjoyable as we do.

I believe this weekly feature is starting to wind down. Why? Because I only have two or three more "retro-reviews" left to post. Nobody ever said we were prolific in those days. Something else (to be decided later) will likely take its place, though perhaps on a different day of the week. I have a few ideas what that something else might be. For now, though, enjoy this series while you still can. Take ChickenMan's review of Time Crisis II, for example. This was a great game, one of the best arcade-to-home translations ever, I'd wager. The light gun bundled with the game gave it that authentic arcade feel. When ChickenMan refers to me as "an enthusiastic enthusiast of pay machine gaming," I believe he is referring to that wonderfully lame op-ed piece I did. He's right, too; I love arcades (when I can find them).

"Time Crisis is definitely one of my most favorite arcade series along with Metal Slug. Yeah, it’s that good. So, if you’re not quite as an enthusiastic enthusiast of pay machine gaming as Thrasher, who judges his performance by the amount of $$ spent to finish the entire game, console is the next best and maybe even better thing. Of course you get the complete Arcade story mode, with unlimited credits with some unlocking effort, plus some bonus modes which I guarantee will challenge anybody, sharpshoota. They include clay shooting, range shooting, speed test, and a training mode. This keeps it smooth and gives you more to play, and is fun to play with a friend, one of the new features in TC2. And, as mentioned earlier, like Thrasher tests his skill through trials, you can also do the same by limiting the lives you need or getting the high score throughout the story mode. You can also unlock different guns. TC2’s replay value is up to you. Also in the console edition, as I’ve heard, has greater graphics than the arcade version. So, in short, this game in my book is a winner, but you must have a light gun for it to be the same in your book. And, this thought just came to my mind; I guess the arcade can be your brief rental/test if you need it."

Friday From the Archives: Editorial: Declination of the Arcades

Every Friday (or Wednesday when we're busy, like today) we celebrate the heritage of Code Redd Net by posting a retro-review from our considerable back catalogue of embarrassingly naive, but nonetheless entertaining and heartfelt, movie and game reviews. Please pardon the prose; most of these articles were written in our immediately post-pubescent years. Hopefully you find them as enjoyable as we do.

I find the title of this piece just as funny as you do, I'm sure. But I was reminded of this article, from our short-lived Editorial section, when I found myself playing Mrs. Pac-Man at an airport arcade. Arcades (true arcades) are difficult to find these days, and when you do find one they invariably disappoint. And if it was bad when I penned this editorial, it's only gotten much worse since then. My logic in this article is somewhat suspect, but the spirit is there, I can say that much. And just what the hell is "parallax scrolling"? Also, I want to play Metal Slug again.

"How many great games can you name that originated from arcades? Many, my friends, many. As a gamer who grew up playing Street Fighter II and Metal Slug in places like this, it's depressing to see such a tremendous decline. Why? Well, for one, I believe the power of the home console market is rapidly catching up technologically. In the old days (sound kinda old, don't I?) the arcades had awesome power and home consoles had parallax scrolling, and we liked it! Joking aside, consoles like the Genesis and SNES never could approach the power of the arcade. Now, though, it seems like the industry has caught up. People have realized that they no longer have to head to arcades to see something special. For instance, look at Time Crisis II. The game was a technical milestone when it came out, then about a year ago, it was released for PS2 with far superior graphics and a gund peripheral that matches the arcade unit perfectly. Arcade experiences are being brought home, and whether or not that's good or bad remains to be seen. As long as I still get arcade-style games like my Metal Slug X for PS1, I'll pipe down. Furthermore, what's with the price? Arcade cabinets cost a lot for the coin-op to buy and rent, but still, some of these prices are a little high. I can still play Metal Slug 2 (here I go again with Metal Slug, but it's a fine example) and beat it in under 4 dollars, which takes about 50-60 minutes to complete, while with some games I'll be lucky to get a good minute or so figuring out the controls at a rate of $1.50 a try. Sometimes, when I really get to thinking about it, I get the though of "maybe it's meant to be." Maybe arcades are as far along as they could possibly get, and all that's left for them to do is decline. And while I make this sound drastic, arcades will not disappear overnight. I just expect a slow decline in areas where the price is to high, and when home consoles inevitably pass by them, technologically speaking. Arcades have left their mark on the industry and it's sad to see them fall. Do the industry a favor; get off the couch, and go stand up and play some games for once. Darn tootin' kids!"