Finally in our week-long feature on Capcom Arcade Cabinet titles, we look at games on the collection from 1987 and 1988. There’s the 2-D top-down brawler Avengers, side-scrolling action game Black Tiger, 2-D shooter sequel 1943 and bonus game 1943 Kai!

Avengers

No, it’s not a game starring the popular super hero comic book team. Avengers is an interesting mix of top-down run and gun gameplay without the guns. Instead, you only punch and kick. Think of it as Commando mixed with Final Fight. As with many of the other arcade titles, Avengers is needlessly hard and controls are slightly clunky. Capcom may be known for their beat ‘em ups, but I guess they still had a few missteps along the way.

Black Tiger

I have lots of good memories playing Black Tiger in arcades. I got pretty good at it because one summer in high school when I went to a band camp, it was held in the empty dorms of a college campus and the lobby had two arcade games. One of them was Black Tiger, which I played a lot. The other was Track & Field, and is where I learned all the crazy secrets and tricks in that game. Anyway, Black Tiger reminds me a lot of Ghosts N Goblins. It’s super hard, and if your warrior gets hit, his armor gets knocked off and he runs around in his undies, just like Arthur. You can buy power-ups with collected Capcom currency “Zenny,” and find hidden keys to open chests and doors. Even though Black Tiger is tough, I really enjoyed it anyway because the play control is so solid. Jumping, climbing, and shooting your weapon is easy to pull off. On the TG-16 game console, Capcom released a game called SonSon 2, but it really played like a cartoony version of Black Tiger. I’m sad that the NES version of Black Tiger was never released. They even announced it and showed screenshots of it back in the day!

1943

This sequel to the arcade hit vertically scrolling shooter with WWII airplanes features better graphics and music, more power-ups, and giant bosses like battleships, aircraft carriers, and sky fortress bombers. I also like it because it’s not needlessly hard. You get a life bar so you can take more than one hit. Plus the gameplay is smooth and it’s actually one of my all-time favorite shooters, even to this day. Even the NES version was awesome.

1943 Kai

The last game is from 1988, and it’s the other bonus game that unlocks after you buy all the others on Capcom Arcade Cabinet. It’s pretty much the same game as 1943, except your airplane looks different and stages are reworked. It’s also a bit harder, too. Plus it was only released in Japan.

And that’s all the games on the Capcom Arcade Cabinet. I hope you enjoyed reading about them! In the comments section, tell me what YOUR favorite Capcom arcade classics are! Later!

Tags: Game Reviews