Arcade
Growing up in the 80's and 90's, I played a ton of classic video games. I still play many of these games to this day, and recommend them to anyone who will listen to me. But I often wonder what people feel about those games who didn't grow up playing them. Young kids in their teens and early twenties. Do they think those games suck, because they don't have great graphics? Are the games too simple for them, too primitive looking? Is it possible that they would view with scorn a classic title like Mario 3 or Castlevania as something out of the stone age and not give it a chance, similar to the way I would look at a silent movie in today's age?
I know that the main appeal of classic games for me is the memories I made playing these games as a kid. That's why I always try to include a few of those memories at the beginning of each blog entry I post. But if I didn't grow up playing these games and didn't have those sentimental feelings attached, would I still like them?
That is the question that is posed to me as I review Smash TV. I know that many people consider this to be a classic game. It came out in 1990 and has developed a big cult following in the ensuing years. Nearly everyone who grew up playing this game sings it praises. No doubt that for a lot of people who played this in the arcades back in 1990, Smash TV definitely still carries a lot of sentimental value.
But I had never played this game in the arcade. Never played it on a home console. Sure, I had heard about Smash TV and had been familiar with the concept, but somehow the game had passed me by. Now here we sit in the year 2016, 26 years since Smash TV first came out. After all of these years, I finally got the chance to play the game for the first time.
The version I played is for PlayStation 2, on a disc called Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits (or something of that nature). This is a direct port of the arcade version, so I am counting it as an arcade game rather than a PS2 game.
There isn't a whole lot of story here. The game is set in the distant future of 1999 (lol). Game shows are all the rage in the world, especially game shows featuring copious amounts of violence and death. Smash TV is the world's most popular show. Contestants are put in an arena and forced to gun down their opposition to get such sparkling rewards like money, vacations and brand new VCRs! If you have ever seen the movie the Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger, this game's vibe is similar to the movie's.
Smash TV is a shooter that takes place from an over the top perspective. You only need two buttons to play this game, and they are not even really buttons. They are the two analog sticks on your controller (or two joysticks if you are playing this in the arcade). The left one controls player movement, the right controls in which direction you fire your weapons.
Expect mass carnage here. You walk around, you shoot your enemies, you collect prizes and weapon upgrades left in your enemies' wake. The first few rooms you enter are fairly easy to complete as to get you used to the flow of the game. After that, expect to die. Expect to die a LOT. The game throws too many enemies at you to count. From above, from below. From left, from right - you are constantly getting swarmed in this game. Not only are enemies swarming you from all angles, but you get enemies that hang out on the fringes of the level and fire at you relentlessly. There is no safe haven in this game.
Even if you think you are really good at video games (which I did, coming in) this game will quickly humble you. It seems like no matter what strategy you utilize, how quickly you manage to take your enemies out, you still can't avoid getting killed in this game. I consider it lucky to last more than 30 seconds before something hits me and takes me out. Luckily this is a "free play" version of the game, and I was not saddled with a certain number of lives or continues. To those who played this in the arcade, I can't even begin to imagine how many quarters it would take to beat this game. I was just getting slammed. I had to have continued at least fifty times. Probably more.
The game takes place over three or four main stages, and each stage is comprised of a number of rooms. You must completely clear each room before you can move on to the next. This game offers a little bit of variety by giving you a choice as to which room you can enter next. Each stage has many different paths you can follow but each path arrives at the same destination. So really, every time you play you can take a different path and get a slightly different gaming experience.
Even so, there is not much variety in the game play itself. You run, you shoot, you die. The game is very repetitive. At least the weapons are varied. You can pick up all different kinds of weapons, from spread guns to grenade launchers, to protective drones that encircle you and fire at your enemies.
Visually the game isn't much to look at by today's standards. The characters are small and don't have much detail. A lot of the enemies all kind of look the same. At least there is some variety in the stages. Each one has a unique feel and design. A lot of the rooms look the same, but each stage definitely has its own theme and personality.
Each stage ends in a boss battle. These bosses are all quite hard, but that is to be expected here. Visually, the bosses have to be the highlight of the game. They are all big, all detailed, they are all quirky and look like a lot of fun. Most bosses have weak points which will flash white when you shoot them. And a lot of bosses can only be hurt by special weapons. Dole out enough damage, and you defeat the boss and move on to the next stage. Most of these battles are just a war of attrition. You know you are going to die, and there isn't much you can do to stop it. So you just respawn, grab a weapon, and fire away until you die again. I've said it before and I will say it one more time, I simply can't even fathom how much it would have cost to beat the game in the arcade. Each boss alone probably took several dollars to destroy.
As the game went on, I started to get sick of it. I know it was probably a lot of fun to play in the arcades. You'd have a group of kids standing around the machine, each person looking to jump in when someone would run out of quarters. Cheering, jeering, excitement in the air. Playing it at home by myself however, I found the game to be extremely repetitive. With all the dying and respawning and dying again, I didn't find much strategy involved in the game play. It did not seem to matter what I did or how good I usually am at games, each stage started to feel like a broken record. There is no strategy other than killing as much as you can before dying and coming back and repeating the pattern over and over again.
I'd say about halfway through the game I began to think to myself "is this over yet? How much longer is this?" It is a fun concept, and I am sure I would have had a much better time playing it in an arcade, or even playing the home version with a friend. But as a standalone single player game, I really wasn't feeling it. I mean, I liked it for a little while. But then reality set in and I realized that this was as good as the game was going to get.
I finished it, just for the sake of finishing it so I could write the review. I didn't particularly enjoy myself, but it is not like I hated the game either. This game brought to my mind the question I raised at the beginning of this blog entry.
Everyone says this game is a great classic. But I, having never played the game, didn't like it as much. It's still the same game that people fell in love with back in the early 90's, but because I didn't play it back then I don't carry sentimental feelings for the game as I am sure a lot of people do who DID grow up playing this game.
It proves just how important these sentimental feelings are when talking about classic video games. I am sure if I had grown up playing this game, I would say it is awesome and give it an A plus and completely ignore all of its faults. But because I didn't, I think the game is just okay. I slogged through it, beat it, and probably won't play it again ever in my life. Unless I run across someone who wants to play this in two player mode. I am sure the game is more enjoyable with a friend.
But alas, I have to judge this game based on its single player experience. It doesn't have a great story line, the game play is incredibly repetitive, and there is basically zero strategy involved in playing this game. I'm willing to give it the benefit of a doubt. I'm sure it was fun in the arcade, I am sure it is fun playing with a friend, I am sure it is fun if you grew up on the game and have a lot of fun memories with it. But as a stand alone experience for someone who had never played the game before, I found it to be mediocre. And that is how I have to judge it here.
Overall:
C-
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