{"id":3976,"date":"2010-02-24T19:25:27","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T01:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/?p=3976"},"modified":"2010-02-24T19:25:27","modified_gmt":"2010-02-25T01:25:27","slug":"are-you-a-bad-enough-dude-to-play-data-east-arcade-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/24\/are-you-a-bad-enough-dude-to-play-data-east-arcade-classics\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Bad Enough Dude to Play Data East Arcade Classics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DATAEAST_BOX\"Good or bad, I love arcade classic game compilations. And I also love writing blogs about them. So here\u2019s one about all the games in Data East Arcade Classics for the Wii.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Data East is no longer around, and they were never a top-tier arcade developer like Namco, Sega, Capcom, or Taito. But their games were popular enough that you could see them in many an arcade or bowling alley in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s. This collection has fifteen of those games. Similar to the Achievements in Xbox 360 games, there are goals to complete in each game. By completing goals, you can unlock music, artwork, marquees, and other goodies.<\/p>\n

But of course, the most important part is the games, so let\u2019s take a look at what\u2019s on here:<\/p>\n

BurgerTime<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was a kid, my quarters were few and precious, so I rarely strayed away from the Pac-Man machines. But every once in a while, a game would come along that would lure me away from the dot mazes. Games like Dig Dug and Mappy, for instance. BurgerTime was another one of those games. I LOVED this game when I was a kid. One time I even cut out a paper chef hat, pepper shakers, and food enemies so I could play pretend BurgerTime at home! So I\u2019m really glad this game is on this collection! The goals in this game are actually kind of hard to achieve, though! BurgerTime was pretty big back in the day. It was ported to many a console (I even had the NES version later), and there was one really disturbing commercial that I remember seeing on TV. WE\u2019RE CLOSED NOW!<\/p>\n

Click here to see a weird BurgerTime commercial<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter Pepper\u2019s Ice Cream Factory<\/strong><\/p>\n

BurgerTime actually had lots of sequels and spinoffs, but very few know about them. This is one of them. I\u2019m not even sure if it really was in any arcade. I always thought it was a prototype that never made it out the door. But here it is. I can kind of see why it wasn\u2019t very popular, because this one sucks! In this game, you\u2019re still chef Peter Pepper and you still run around ladders and platforms avoiding food-themed enemies. But this time you must roll scoops of ice cream into cones. You can squish enemies this way, too. Only problem is this game is HARD and not in a good way. If an enemy is on the same plane as you, they\u2019ll ZOOM toward you and it\u2019s hard to avoid them. You can jump in this one, but play control is so bad that it never ends well.<\/p>\n

I could probably write a whole blog about the BurgerTime sequels and spinoffs. When I was little I remember seeing a sequel called \u201cDiner\u201d which had an isometric perspective. I think it was on Intellivision, but I remember pining away after a PC version, too. On the black & white Game Boy was BurgerTime Deluxe, I have it and played it TONS. There\u2019s also Flintstones: BurgerTime in Bedrock on Game Boy Color. It replaces the arcade characters with Flintstones ones, and it sucks royally. Aside from some cell phone games, there is also Super BurgerTime, an arcade game I don\u2019t think made it out of Japan, but I wish it was on this collection anyway.<\/p>\n

Click here for a video on Super BurgerTime<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lock N Chase<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is a Pac-Man clone that predates even BurgerTime. Unfortunately, it\u2019s a BAD Pac-Man clone. The sound and \u2018music\u2019 is grating and the \u2018closing doors\u2019 gimmick controls horribly. You\u2019re a robber and must gather up all the gold (dots) and bonus money bags that appear and disappear way too soon. You have to avoid four police guys named Scardey, Silly, Smarty, and\u2026Stiffy. Yes, his name is Stiffy. I\u2019m surprised Namco didn\u2019t sue. Back in the old arcades, I remember seeing Lock N Chase EVERYWHERE, though. And it was advertised a lot on the old home consoles, too. There is a good version of Lock N Chase; it\u2019s an updated one on the Game Boy. It plays great if you\u2019re a Pac-Man fan. Unfortunately, my copy stopped working after a week. I was so pissed!<\/p>\n

Burnin\u2019 Rubber<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people will know this game as Bump N Jump. I think it was called Burnin\u2019 Rubber in Japan. It\u2019s a top down racer where you try to bump the other cars off the road and jump over obstacles. I never was too good at this game. It was also in a lot of arcades I can remember. As far as top down old school racers are concerned, I prefer Spy Hunter.<\/p>\n

Express Raider<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never heard or seen this game before now. It has a Wild West setting to it. The first part of the game, you fight guys on a train. It\u2019s almost like Karate Champ (another Data East game not on this collection), except they replaced the karate guys with cowboy sprites. In the second part of the game, you\u2019re riding a horse and must shoot guys on a train. One hit and you die, though. This part was darn near impossible so I didn\u2019t bother with this game anymore. You don\u2019t see too many cowboy themed arcade games, though. My favorite is Capcom\u2019s shooter Gun.Smoke. Especially the NES version.<\/p>\n

Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"BADDUDE\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, here\u2019s the premise of Bad Dudes (never knew about the vs. Dragon Ninja subtitle): \u201cNinjas have kidnapped the President. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue him?\u201d I love arcade game storylines because they\u2019re so simple. No explanation as to WHY the ninjas kidnapped \u2018Ronnie\u2019 or who these ninjas are. But boy you sure do have to fight a lot of them in this brawler. Most of them look the same, but some wear red or gray instead of blue. And there\u2019s the occasional female ninja who shows up that doesn\u2019t do a thing except look cute. I hate having to punch them, too. Anyway it\u2019s a 2-D sidescrolling beat \u2018em up, but you can only move on one plane. It\u2019s not the best game in the world, but Bad Dudes does have a simple charm that\u2019s hard to explain. I love how your dudes say \u201cI\u2019m bad!\u201d after beating a boss. Speaking of which, the first boss in the game is Karnov (more on him later). Bad Dudes was super popular somehow. I saw it tons in arcades back in the day, and they even made a NES version. When you rescue the President, all he says is, \u201cLet\u2019s go out for a burger! Ha ha ha\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Crude Buster<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one\u2019s also called Two Crude Dudes. It even says so on one of the marquees you can unlock. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s supposed to be a sequel to Bad Dudes, but it is pretty much the same game. The premise is that in 2010, New York City was destroy by a nuclear explosion and is now a wasteland. You have to go in and beat up all the mutants. See, back in the late 80\u2019s and early 90\u2019s, if you didn\u2019t have ninjas in your games, you had to have mutants. And sometimes you had both. The style in this game is a lot more cartoony and comic book styled. And you can pick up things and throw them, too. Even cars! But somehow, this game lacks the charm that Bad Dudes had.<\/p>\n

Caveman Ninja<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know the name is very comical, but like I said before, back in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s, you had to have \u2018ninjas\u2019 in your title if you wanted to be successful. Caveman Ninja stars Joe and Mac, two guys trying to rescue all the cute cave-women (and one ugly one) from other Neanderthals and dinosaurs. You can get all sorts of primitive weapons to throw, and the game has a very colorful and cartoony look. Unfortunately, the arcade version of this game is really HARD! I rented and beat the SNES version of Joe & Mac back in the day. It was a little different than the arcade game, but it was a lot more fun, I think. I never did get a chance to play the SNES sequel, though. Oh well.<\/p>\n

Super Real Darwin<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never heard of this game before now. But it\u2019s a 2-D vertically scrolling shooter and those were a dime a dozen back then, so that\u2019s probably why. I don\u2019t really like this game much because it\u2019s one hit and you die, and they start you over at the beginning when you do. The power-up system is kind of interesting, though, and reminds me a little bit of Legendary Wings. The more power-ups you pick up, the more your ship \u2018evolves\u2019 and you get new kinds of firepower. And your ship gets bigger, too, making it an easier target. If you get hit by a bullet, you revert back to the smallest form, but colliding into an enemy destroys you completely. I\u2019d probably like this game a lot more if it were a bit more forgiving.<\/p>\n

Heavy Barrel<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one\u2019s a top down scrolling shooter with an army theme, like Commando or Ikari Warriors. I did see it quite a bit in arcades back in the day, but I never really tried it. I\u2019d just as soon play Ikari Warriors instead. Heavy Barrel had a unique control scheme in the arcade that let you rotate your gun while walking. They couldn\u2019t really replicate that on the Wii, but using the right stick on the Classic Controller worked well enough for me.<\/p>\n

Secret Agent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like Crude Buster, this one also had another name: Sly Spy. I never saw it in arcades, but I\u2019ve seen it in some of the arcade auctions I\u2019ve been to in the past couple of years. It\u2019s basically Bad Dudes with a gun, like a cross between Bad Dudes and Rolling Thunder. Also heavily influenced by James Bond movies. Your guy looks like James Bond, one of the power-ups is a golden gun, and even one of the bosses throws his hat at you as an attack! Sometimes they break up the action and have you on a motorcycle or underwater in scuba gear. And thank goodness for unlimited credits! It\u2019s a pretty unintentionally wacky game. They were pretty lazy with the ending, though. They just used the same White House background from the Bad Dudes ending and had the spy out in front with about five women draped all over him. DANG!<\/p>\n

Wizard Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wii collection categorizes this as an RPG, but it is SO not an RPG. It\u2019s just a isometric 3-D brawler with fantasy medieval themes. It looks a LOT like Taito\u2019s Dungeon Magic, except Taito\u2019s game is MUCH better.\u00a0 Wizard Fire is a sequel to another game, as it\u2019s also known as Dark Seal 2. Wizard Fire isn\u2019t really a bad game, though, but it is overly dramatic and corny. The best part is the cheesy intro. \u201cI\u2019m closer than that, fools, I\u2019M HERE!\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to watch the intro to Wizard Fire<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Side Pocket<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you can guess, this one\u2019s a pool game. It\u2019s pretty primitive and more mini-gamey by today\u2019s standards, though. I remember it being pretty popular at the time, but I never played it. It\u2019s really not that good of a game of pool. The ball physics are terrible. You can hit the ball and if it hits another ball, it\u2019ll stop completely while the other goes at full speed until it hits something else, and then that ball rolls at top speed! It\u2019s almost silly. I\u2019m not very good at Side Pocket, though. At the score tallying screen, the playboy bunny girls just turned their noses up at me! Aww, poor Cary, none of the pixilated video game women like him. Anyone remember a similar pool game on the NES called Lunar Pool? I actually rented that once and enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a bit of trivia about Side Pocket. Ever heard of the PS2 game Steambot Chronicles? Probably not, but I loved it. It was set in the early 1900\u2019s except people drove around two-legged mechs instead of Model T\u2019s. It had a Grand Theft Auto sandbox style of play, in that you could do whatever you wanted. One of the ways you could make money was play pool in the bar. The pool mini-game was a LOT like Side Pocket, and even in the credits they gave thanks to the Side Pocket team! I\u2019m pretty sure I read that anyway. Kind of weird since Side Pocket was Data East and this game was from Irem.<\/p>\n

Street Hoops<\/strong><\/p>\n

My guess is that this game came out in the early 90\u2019s to try and compete with the more popular Arch Rivals and NBA Jam arcade games. Normally I don\u2019t like sports games, but this one\u2019s not too bad. Kind of has a Super Dodge Ball charm to it. And it keeps things simple. Only problems are the opponents get way too hard too quickly, and the digitized rap music in the background is annoying.<\/p>\n

Magical Drop III<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one\u2019s a more recent Data East game (1997), and one of the last ones they did in the arcade, I reckon. It\u2019s a color matching puzzle game with typical anime styled characters and colorful and cute themes. I\u2019m not sure who my favorite character is, though. Normally it would be \u201cWorld\u201d because of her pink hair, but that third eye she has kind of creeps me out! Maybe you guys can pick out a favorite character for me. Back in the day, my friends were TOTALLY obsessed with this game.<\/p>\n

Here’s a video of all the games in the collection<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Karnov Konclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all the games on this collection. It\u2019s really not the best collection in the world, though. Some problems include a confusing menu and I\u2019m not sure if the game autosaves or not. Plus, there are only a few games on this collection that are standout titles. At least it\u2019s only 20 bucks, but I think they could\u2019ve put more games on here anyway. I hear Data East Arcade Classics is a rare and hard to find game, so if you really want it, I suggest buying it soon.<\/p>\n

Of course, every arcade collection has a few games missing on it that we would\u2019ve liked to have seen. I\u2019ve already mentioned Super BurgerTime, but another I would\u2019ve liked on this collection was Tumble Pop. They even had it in one of the flyers in the game. Tumble Pop is a single screen maze game similar to Bubble Bobble, and I love those kinds of games.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also surprised that Karnov isn\u2019t on here. Karnov is like Data East\u2019s secret mascot. He\u2019s an ugly Russian circus strongman who can breathe fire, and he starred in his own wacky platform game. I never really liked it, but I think it should\u2019ve been on here. Karnov\u2019s been in other games, and he\u2019s kind of a bad guy. Even in his own game he\u2019s only out looking for treasure. So Data East kind of did the \u201cWario\u201d thing long before Wario was even a thought! Karnov was the first boss in Bad Dudes, he was an enemy in Tumble Pop, and he was also a character in a handful of Data East\u2019s one-on-one 2-D Street Fighter knockoffs.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, I had a Russian Blue cat. I don\u2019t like Star Trek, but I named him Chekov after the Star Trek character because I couldn\u2019t think of any other Russian names. Chekov was a really smart cat and I taught him how to play fetch, open doors, even use the toilet! I think if I got another cat someday, I would get a Russian Blue (from a rescue place, of course) and I would name him Karnov!<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s all for now. In the comments section, let me know what YOUR favorite Data East games are! –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good or bad, I love arcade classic game compilations. And I also love writing blogs about them. So here\u2019s one about all the games in Data East Arcade Classics for the Wii. \u00a0 Data East is no longer around, and they were never a top-tier arcade developer like Namco, Sega, Capcom, or Taito. But their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3976\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}