Playing the Mame Game
October 25, 2006 6:35 AM Subscribe
OK, I've got MAME installed, and a (pretty much) complete (15Gb) set of ROMs. I've played my old favorites... Galaxian, Galaga, Gauntlet, Sonic, Mario... but now I'm daunted by the thousands of games I have to choose from.
So what should I play next?
(assume if I don't have the ROM I can get it)
Battletoads -- it is the hardest game ever and super fun. Beat it without cheating and you are a de facto gamer-god.
posted by jmgorman at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2006
posted by jmgorman at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2006
Try some of the old Sente games. My personal favorites are:
Snaks n' Jackson and Chicken Shift.
Chicken shift in particular is awesome. Simplest interface in the world, (2 buttons), but it gets really intense in the later levels. I also highly reccomend some of the old vector stuff like Star Wars or Tempest
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:09 AM on October 25, 2006
Snaks n' Jackson and Chicken Shift.
Chicken shift in particular is awesome. Simplest interface in the world, (2 buttons), but it gets really intense in the later levels. I also highly reccomend some of the old vector stuff like Star Wars or Tempest
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:09 AM on October 25, 2006
Discs of Tron.
Enable your mouse in the properties tab.
Flying frisbees of death...who could ask for more?
And if you like shoot-em-ups...Varth.
one of the few shooters where you don't survive
solely by remembering the patterns of planes
dropping down on you.
posted by exparrot at 7:30 AM on October 25, 2006
Enable your mouse in the properties tab.
Flying frisbees of death...who could ask for more?
And if you like shoot-em-ups...Varth.
one of the few shooters where you don't survive
solely by remembering the patterns of planes
dropping down on you.
posted by exparrot at 7:30 AM on October 25, 2006
Ooh, yeah, Chicken Shift is great. Also, of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. A mindless button-basher for sure, but still a ton of fun.
I'm also fond of Chiller for some reason. Please don't hold it against me.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:33 AM on October 25, 2006
I'm also fond of Chiller for some reason. Please don't hold it against me.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:33 AM on October 25, 2006
I always liked APV, in which you pay a cop in a squad car chasing down various miscreants.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 7:36 AM on October 25, 2006
posted by Doofus Magoo at 7:36 AM on October 25, 2006
Snow Bros is easily the most-played game on my MAME setup... people invariably discover it and end up sitting around playing it for hours on end. It seems to have a particular pull on girls, as none I've introduced MAME to have ever even made it below "Sn" in the games list.
Klax is an often-overlooked puzzle-style game. I've converted many a Tetris-addict to it.
Zoo Keeper is a decent game from the "classic" machine era that didn't show up in many arcades, but is worth some plays.
Personal favs and addictions of mine are Mappy, Mr. Do's Castle, Crazy Climber, Millipede and Crystal Castles -- I've never tired of any of them. The latter three play best with the "proper" controls, though.
posted by Pufferish at 8:24 AM on October 25, 2006
Klax is an often-overlooked puzzle-style game. I've converted many a Tetris-addict to it.
Zoo Keeper is a decent game from the "classic" machine era that didn't show up in many arcades, but is worth some plays.
Personal favs and addictions of mine are Mappy, Mr. Do's Castle, Crazy Climber, Millipede and Crystal Castles -- I've never tired of any of them. The latter three play best with the "proper" controls, though.
posted by Pufferish at 8:24 AM on October 25, 2006
From the favorites you mentioned, I don't really see any particular genre or style or company or era or developer or whatnot overly represented. You've got a couple shmups in there, and some platform games, and Gauntlet.
If you check out enthusiast sites (allgame, gamerankings, gamefaqs, klov, etc.), you can get an idea of the most popular and most highly-regarded games in these genres. Start playing things--after all, most MAME games can be loaded and played in a couple minutes. You'll develop a critical vocabulary, and a fuller understanding of the history of the medium. As you begin to recognize what you like, you can use the categories built into MAME to further remove the wheat from the chaff.
Your tastes aren't the same as everybody else's--or else you'd be playing Demolition Derby, Super Qix, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Sunset Riders, Rampart, etc.
posted by box at 8:30 AM on October 25, 2006
If you check out enthusiast sites (allgame, gamerankings, gamefaqs, klov, etc.), you can get an idea of the most popular and most highly-regarded games in these genres. Start playing things--after all, most MAME games can be loaded and played in a couple minutes. You'll develop a critical vocabulary, and a fuller understanding of the history of the medium. As you begin to recognize what you like, you can use the categories built into MAME to further remove the wheat from the chaff.
Your tastes aren't the same as everybody else's--or else you'd be playing Demolition Derby, Super Qix, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Sunset Riders, Rampart, etc.
posted by box at 8:30 AM on October 25, 2006
Or, alternately, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Street Fighter II, etc.
posted by box at 8:31 AM on October 25, 2006
posted by box at 8:31 AM on October 25, 2006
Raiden - amazingly detailed vertical scrolling shooter.
Commando - you are a solderi and you must fight your way through vertically scrolling levels armed only with a gun and grenades.
Ghosts and Ghouls - don your armour and kill skeletons with your magic daggers/fire/potions. 2D platformer.
posted by pollystark at 8:34 AM on October 25, 2006
Commando - you are a solderi and you must fight your way through vertically scrolling levels armed only with a gun and grenades.
Ghosts and Ghouls - don your armour and kill skeletons with your magic daggers/fire/potions. 2D platformer.
posted by pollystark at 8:34 AM on October 25, 2006
Marble Madness.
Tempest.
Street Fighter Alpha 2.
King of Fighters '98.
seconding Discs of Tron.
Majestic Twelve/Super Space Invaders '91.
If it's available/emulated playably, Radiant Silvergun.
If you like music/rhythm games, Beatmania (though the earlier ones tend to have a pretty bad soundtrack and rather strict timing).
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:35 AM on October 25, 2006
Tempest.
Street Fighter Alpha 2.
King of Fighters '98.
seconding Discs of Tron.
Majestic Twelve/Super Space Invaders '91.
If it's available/emulated playably, Radiant Silvergun.
If you like music/rhythm games, Beatmania (though the earlier ones tend to have a pretty bad soundtrack and rather strict timing).
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:35 AM on October 25, 2006
Your ROMs mentioned seem to imply a taste for the more classic games, but if you want a sampling of some late-90's stuff that was easily passed over or simply not available in America, try these.
For side-scrolly goodness:
Osman
Strider
Strider 2
Metal Slug 1,2,3,4,5,x
For shmup bullet hell joy:
Vasara
Vasara 2
Giga Wing
Gunlock
Raystorm
Anything by Psikyo
Progear
Puzzle goodness
Senkyu (Battle Balls)
posted by Durhey at 10:07 AM on October 25, 2006
For side-scrolly goodness:
Osman
Strider
Strider 2
Metal Slug 1,2,3,4,5,x
For shmup bullet hell joy:
Vasara
Vasara 2
Giga Wing
Gunlock
Raystorm
Anything by Psikyo
Progear
Puzzle goodness
Senkyu (Battle Balls)
posted by Durhey at 10:07 AM on October 25, 2006
Penguin-Kun Wars is really enjoyable. It might seem simple, but I've only beaten it once.
posted by Shecky at 10:47 AM on October 25, 2006
posted by Shecky at 10:47 AM on October 25, 2006
Ahhh Marble Madness....what a fabulous game that was.
posted by mmascolino at 10:48 AM on October 25, 2006
posted by mmascolino at 10:48 AM on October 25, 2006
Puzzle Bobble or Puzzle Bobble II are insanely fun if you have a 2nd player around.
posted by blahtsk at 12:06 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by blahtsk at 12:06 PM on October 25, 2006
I enjoyed playing arcade games in MAME with a distinct beginning and end (that I never could stockpile enough quarters to finish in the arcades). The Simpsons and Total Carnage come to mind.
Also, are you using catlist with your front end? If you find yourself enamored with a certain genre of game, you can sort on that genre and find other games in the same vein that you might have otherwise overlooked.
If you really get desperate, you could always try to tackle learning Mahjong, thereby opening up thousands of pornographic game opportunities.
posted by Otis at 12:39 PM on October 25, 2006
Also, are you using catlist with your front end? If you find yourself enamored with a certain genre of game, you can sort on that genre and find other games in the same vein that you might have otherwise overlooked.
If you really get desperate, you could always try to tackle learning Mahjong, thereby opening up thousands of pornographic game opportunities.
posted by Otis at 12:39 PM on October 25, 2006
Slapfight/Alcon for SHMUP
Caddilacs & Dinosaurs for beat 'em up
If you've got an analog controller, give Road Runner a try.
I find my self playing a game of Elevator Action every time I fire up MAME.
posted by Four Flavors at 1:02 PM on October 25, 2006
Caddilacs & Dinosaurs for beat 'em up
If you've got an analog controller, give Road Runner a try.
I find my self playing a game of Elevator Action every time I fire up MAME.
posted by Four Flavors at 1:02 PM on October 25, 2006
Our house plays Robotron: 2084 constantly, all the time. The graphics and sound are primitive (it's quite an old game) but the gameplay is terribly addictive.
In short, robots have taken over the world and you have to gun them down as you run around the screen, picking up surviving members of humanity for extra points. Robotron uses two joysticks, one to move and the other to fire. This takes some getting used to at first but it's really a brilliant interface for the game.
Actually, if your setup lacks two physical joysticks, you may not enjoy the game nearly as much.
I also recommend a side-scroller called Act-Fancer Cybernetick Hyper-Weapon. If you're in the mood for inexplicable weirdness, try a Pac-man type game called I'm Sorry!
posted by BaronEarth at 1:25 PM on October 25, 2006
In short, robots have taken over the world and you have to gun them down as you run around the screen, picking up surviving members of humanity for extra points. Robotron uses two joysticks, one to move and the other to fire. This takes some getting used to at first but it's really a brilliant interface for the game.
Actually, if your setup lacks two physical joysticks, you may not enjoy the game nearly as much.
I also recommend a side-scroller called Act-Fancer Cybernetick Hyper-Weapon. If you're in the mood for inexplicable weirdness, try a Pac-man type game called I'm Sorry!
posted by BaronEarth at 1:25 PM on October 25, 2006
Ah the heady dot com days when I had a neo geo cabinet at work!
For fighters the game Last Blade 2 is great. Best for two players.
Strikers 1945+ is a good shoot-em-up
My favorite puzzle game (and I love puzzle games) ever is Money Puzzle Exchanger. Magical Drop 3 is similar and more popular, but I prefer Money Puzzle Exchanger. Money Puzzle Exchanger is also great for two players.
posted by aubilenon at 1:36 PM on October 25, 2006
For fighters the game Last Blade 2 is great. Best for two players.
Strikers 1945+ is a good shoot-em-up
My favorite puzzle game (and I love puzzle games) ever is Money Puzzle Exchanger. Magical Drop 3 is similar and more popular, but I prefer Money Puzzle Exchanger. Money Puzzle Exchanger is also great for two players.
posted by aubilenon at 1:36 PM on October 25, 2006
I second Robotron 2084, and would also suggest Smash TV.
posted by Cog at 1:41 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by Cog at 1:41 PM on October 25, 2006
Shinobi. I put ridiculous amounts of money in that machine as a kid, and it's the game I always fire up with MAME.
posted by markr at 2:18 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by markr at 2:18 PM on October 25, 2006
And +1 for Smash TV, provided you have a controller with dual analog sticks on your MAME box.
posted by markr at 2:20 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by markr at 2:20 PM on October 25, 2006
Perhaps I'm old, but if it ain't Moon Cresta, it ain't shit as far as I'm concerned.
posted by genghis at 3:28 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by genghis at 3:28 PM on October 25, 2006
Moon Patrol. As a kid my parents favorite Chinese restaurant had it in the lobby area. I'd play while waiting for a table and play again once dinner had ended and my parents just wanted to sit around and talk.
Never got past stage L ...
posted by Cog at 3:32 PM on October 25, 2006
Never got past stage L ...
posted by Cog at 3:32 PM on October 25, 2006
Some good suggestions in this thread- my favorite games are mostly from the later years of arcade gaming, so yeah, you can probably pretty much skip this post if the classic period is more your thing.
For shmups, I'd second the Vasara and Giga Wing games, and I'd recommend pretty much everything by Raizing(standouts include Armed Police Batrider, Battle Bakraid, and Dimahoo) and Cave(the already mentioned Dodonpachi and Progear, Guwange, and ESP Ra.De). There's a bunch of reviews of arcade games in this genre here.
For side scrolling beat-em-ups, I'd recommend Warriors of Fate/Tenchi wo Kurau 2 (which may seem a bit familiar if you've ever played Dynasty Warriors), the two Dungeons and Dragons games(Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara), Alien vs. Predator, and Battle Circuit, which gets points just for being amusingly bizarre. (One of the characters you can play is a giant carnivorous plant, and the second boss is an Elvis impersonator who turns into Fat Elvis when you beat him.)
For fighting games, I second the Samurai Shodown and King of Fighters series. I prefer KOF '97 to '98 for some reason, but when it comes to fighting games, you can't really go wrong with either. Then there's Waku Waku 7, another amusingly bizarre one.
Some others I've enjoyed which are less easy to pigeonhole into a specific genre are the Bubble Bobble series(Bubble Symphony is my favorite, but they're all good), Saboten Bombers(a surreal Bubble Bobble-like game in which you play as a bomb throwing cactus), Shock Troopers(think a more advanced Commando, or Metal Slug with an overhead view) and Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn(sort of a fighting game that turns into a beat-em-up once you reach a certain point). And I'd enthusiastically second the Metal Slug series, and would like to note that there's going to be a Metal Slug Anthology for the Nintendo Wii that will contain the entire series of arcade games.
I probably could go on, but I think that's a pretty good selection. I spend way too much time playing obscure arcade games...
posted by a louis wain cat at 4:42 PM on October 25, 2006
For shmups, I'd second the Vasara and Giga Wing games, and I'd recommend pretty much everything by Raizing(standouts include Armed Police Batrider, Battle Bakraid, and Dimahoo) and Cave(the already mentioned Dodonpachi and Progear, Guwange, and ESP Ra.De). There's a bunch of reviews of arcade games in this genre here.
For side scrolling beat-em-ups, I'd recommend Warriors of Fate/Tenchi wo Kurau 2 (which may seem a bit familiar if you've ever played Dynasty Warriors), the two Dungeons and Dragons games(Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara), Alien vs. Predator, and Battle Circuit, which gets points just for being amusingly bizarre. (One of the characters you can play is a giant carnivorous plant, and the second boss is an Elvis impersonator who turns into Fat Elvis when you beat him.)
For fighting games, I second the Samurai Shodown and King of Fighters series. I prefer KOF '97 to '98 for some reason, but when it comes to fighting games, you can't really go wrong with either. Then there's Waku Waku 7, another amusingly bizarre one.
Some others I've enjoyed which are less easy to pigeonhole into a specific genre are the Bubble Bobble series(Bubble Symphony is my favorite, but they're all good), Saboten Bombers(a surreal Bubble Bobble-like game in which you play as a bomb throwing cactus), Shock Troopers(think a more advanced Commando, or Metal Slug with an overhead view) and Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn(sort of a fighting game that turns into a beat-em-up once you reach a certain point). And I'd enthusiastically second the Metal Slug series, and would like to note that there's going to be a Metal Slug Anthology for the Nintendo Wii that will contain the entire series of arcade games.
I probably could go on, but I think that's a pretty good selection. I spend way too much time playing obscure arcade games...
posted by a louis wain cat at 4:42 PM on October 25, 2006
oh, and I missed it in my first post, but I just noticed someone mentioned Pulirula and I have to second that recommendation. The gameplay is decent enough, but it's not the standout feature- it's the artistic style, which is something like a manga/children's storybook having a head-on collision with Salvador Dali. The start of the third level is easily the most surreal thing I've ever seen in a game.
posted by a louis wain cat at 5:06 PM on October 25, 2006
posted by a louis wain cat at 5:06 PM on October 25, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
SNK's Neo-Geo games are good too, so give those a try as well.
posted by owenkun at 6:47 AM on October 25, 2006