Game Stooge

E3 ‘09: Summer of Arcade Preview

• Scribbled on June 4th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
• Filed in Action, Driving/Racing, E3, Fighting, Microsoft Xbox 360, Platformer, Previews, Xbox Live Arcade

One presentation by Microsoft was one of the most exciting parts of my visit to E3 2009 so far: the titles that will be featured in the new Summer of Arcade.

The first two titles were arcade ports: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, and despite being great titles, they were the least interesting of the group, if only because they’re known intellectual properties. TMNT: TIT (awkward acronym!) is considered the best TMNT ever and one of the premiere arcade beat’em ups of its time. As expected, the game has received a HD boost, and veteran players will notice a subtle gameplay change – you can now attack up and down the three dimension plane; before you could only walk up and down.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is a beloved fighting title, and even though it is a backwards compatible Xbox title, finding a copy is almost impossible, with $100 plus eBay auctions for it. It’ll now be available for Arcade, and it’s been tweaked to engage the new HD medium. You can play in three graphic resolutions, from the highest HD grade (”crisp”) to the original sprites – and as a testament to the game’s longetivity, the old sprites look damned fine. Capcom is well aware of the hardcore crowd, and to make sure none of the gameplay or strategy was altered by the new widescreen look, they hired veteran MVC2 players to help them keep the game as balanced as it was in the arcade. If that weren’t enough, the same netcode used for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is being used for MVC2, so you can expect smooth, lag-free gameplay. As for the game itself, it’s all there – tons of Marvel and Capcom characters, three-on-three tag team duels, you name it.

The first original IP shown was Trials HD, and now Xbox 360 owners finally have Excitebike, only with amazing jaw-dropping visuals and physics. The gameis in full 3D, albeit in a 2D plane, in which you have a motorcyclist having to navigate a tricky mineshaft race tunnel. An advanced physics model adds to the game, as the biker reacts realistically to jumps, plummets, loop-de-loops, and so forth – and a lot of it is real-time puzzle action; It’s almost Switchball in its way. There are two modes, race and skill. Race is how fast the player can get through a course, while Skill has specialized games in which the player must perform certain tasks. For instance, one Skill course has the player seeing how far they can drag a sensitive bomb without making too many bumps and jars that causes it too explode. If that weren’t enough, there’s a full level editor that’s strikingly reminiscient of Excitebike’s, and also just as easy to use. The game has the same addictive nature as Excitebike, too.

‘Splosion Man was another big surprise, a wild goofy nuclear take on Sonic the Hedgehog with a crazy, giggling humanoid fireball with wild hair who just wants to hug his mad scientist creators to death, literally. ‘Splosion Man needs to destroy things to gain energy for running and jumping, and he can also wall jump and tumble around. The game is also a puzzler, as gamers have to figure out how to access seemingly impassible obstacles to get at the cowering scientists. ‘Splosion Man features 50 single player and 50 multiplayer levels, and the co-op games have puzzles that can only be solved with two players. For example, some of them require the players to time an explosion next to each other, which catapults the players in needed directions. The game has inspired lunacy, with crazy cutscenes, and, oh yes, the ‘Splosion Man just loves his birthday cakes. This one looks fresh.

Saving the best for last is Epic Games’ Shadow Complex. This is a title that will break records, both in sales and install size (it will be a hefty 500 MB download.) The game is best described as Rolling Thunder meets Castlevania; if you’re a Castlevania veteran, you’ll appreciate a lot of the game. The game is played in a 2D plane, but on a horizontal and vertical gridded map, and it looks beautiful, making full use of the Unreal 3 Engine. In fact, it’ll often make you forget you’re playing an Xbox Live Arcade title, with fully rendered cutscenes with well-written and voice-acted dialogue. As with Castlevania, the prologue starts you out as a character who is fully armed, and battling a helicopter, before shifting the scene to an average Joe who is camping with his girlfriend out in the woods. His girlfriend is kidnapped by mysterious soldiers and viciously and brutally interrogated, while you start out armed only with a flashlight. As with Castlevania, you slowly earn weapons and abilities, and inaccessible areas become accessible with various items. You can open new areas in more playthroughs, to get to the vaunted 100% area exploration; Castlevania gamers will feel instantly at home. This game will be one of the best downloadable titles ever on Arcade.

This Summer will be a real winner – look out for these games and be prepared to shell out the Microsoft Points.