26 replies to this topic

[2d gamer]

I recently purchased pit fighter. It received tepid reviews back in the day (EGM surprisingly rated it pretty good). I thought the game sucked at first but the better I got at it the more fun I had. I am now able to beat the game with all three characters (buzz is the best IMO). Like many arcade games, there is a strong luck component (for example, Angel is far tougher if she decides to do that flipping move). Also, chainman eddie is far tougher if he does that bulldozer thing. With that said, however, the 6 continues they offer is perfect for that "one more game" appeal or pick-up-and play urge. The game has awesome graphics, at least compared to gameboy. I have found it useful to alternate punches with kicks in rapid succession is a great strategy. I do not find the power moves that useful. They are hard to center and execute. FYI: while the instructions claim items must be picked up with OPTION 2, this is not the case. Items can be easily picked up via holding down and hitting punch. Also, for some reason once you reach the final boss you can't select a different character, so if you want to beat it with some else, pick a different character during the 2 chainman eddies.

All in all I have fun with the game and like too many lynx games it was unfairly berated.

Thanks!

Darrin

Edited by 2d gamer, Sat Dec 31, 2011 11:33 AM.

[16BitMan]

I personally really like this game but then I loved the arcade original.

The Lynx conversion isn't as good as the brilliant Megadrive version although it does have the scaling effects which none of the other versions have.

For me it clearly wasn't quite finished as all the speech is missing and the forklifts between levels are missing too but that dosn't detract too much from the game. I play as Ty myself as I find him the best charecter and I have no problem doing the specials and use them regularly.

[adfot1]

I quite like the bugger, though it has a dreadful reputation

[Horst]

I think this game is either love it or hate it. I hate it. It just feels too clunky. The graphics are great but the gameplay is just too slow.

[DemonoidTentacle]

I hate this game. Like REALLY hate it. I think what I hate the most is that it looks so incredibly awesome, but the game is just so disappointing.

[Austin]

I do not recall enjoying this game on the Lynx. I liked it on the Genesis (where it wasn't even that great), but it at least played quickly and accurately, unlike the Lynx version, which felt clunky to me like someone stated above. I probably haven't played it since the '90s though, so I may need to try it again.

[2d gamer]

I think Pit-fighter and Jimmy Connors Tennis are the only two games to reach 4 meg. Ninja Gaiden 3 might be 4 meg also, but I am not certain (outside of Zaku, of course).

[Nuclear Pacman]

I like the Arcade game and the Genesis port. It's just cheap mindless button mashing, kind of like watching and enjoying those cheesy 80's and 90's action movies like Showdown in Little Tokyo, or Out For Justice.

As for the Lynx version, there's just something wrong with it. As someone who actually likes the game Pit Fighter itself, I can't play the Lynx port. The AI can pin you down far too easily and just wipe you out in a matter of seconds. It looks OK, but the resolution isn't high enough, everything looks muddied. IIRC you have to use one of the option buttons to perform certain moves and for a fast paced game like this that is far too awkward a move of the fingers to perform IMO. The whole thing is just 'off' and I can't play it.

[chris_lynx1989]

2d gamer, on Mon Jan 2, 2012 9:44 PM, said:

I think Pit-fighter and Jimmy Connors Tennis are the only two games to reach 4 meg. Ninja Gaiden 3 might be 4 meg also, but I am not certain (outside of Zaku, of course).

PF,NG3,RP,EotB,AG and Zaku were all 4Meg games,not JCT though.

Dracula was also a 4Meg before being cut back by Atari and Hand Made Software to 2Meg.Dirty Larry was also cut by Atari and Knight Technolgies,some two extra levels got cut out of it to make it 1Meg.

[2d gamer]

Thanks for the info Chris. I had no idea some of those were 4 meg. Is "RP" Rampart? I love Dracula. It is a shame it could have been even better!!

Thanks,

Darrin

[chris_lynx1989]

You're welcome.

No,not Rampart,Relief Pitcher.

The 512K Dracula still exists,you know. There was talk of it being released in '12 by the coder that still has it or the current owner of it.Might be cool to see. Dracula was made smaller to avoid the battery it needed for game saves like EotB and The Guardians needed too.

[chris_lynx1989]

Oh,also,to answer the question you posed about Pit-Fighter being the pits or not.

No.It is rather funny and fun with 2 players on it.One time some 20 yrs ago, I brought my Lynxes with PF to help pass time while I and another fellow were on security duty.Needless to say,we had a blast for hours killing each other and Chainman Eddie and the others! LOL

Did you ever notice the Hydra poster on the back wall in one of the warehouses you fight in?It's there,man.Look for it.

[16BitMan]

I always find it funny that Ninja Gaiden 3 is that big as its just a terrible port of an equally terrible NES game.

There is nothing there that warrants the card being that big.

[chris_lynx1989]

I like the Intro of NG3.

NG and NG3 were okay,I guess.

PF doesn't seem to warrant the 512K rating,either.Some sprites are gone,the speech is missing too. I thought the same of RR4WD.

[16BitMan]

Disagree.

The original Ninja Gaiden is brilliant, best beat 'em up to appear on a handheld at that time. NG3 is utter crap though.

Pit-Fighter uses almost 100% digitised graphics so you can understand why the game card had to be so big.

[chris_lynx1989]

RR has some digitized stuff too but is only a 2Meg.RR is as big a game (bigger?) as PF is levels-wise probably and was half the memory size.Seems strange.

[Austin]

16BitMan, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 2:40 PM, said:

NG3 is utter crap though.

I disagree there. It looks like ass but at least plays roughly the same as the NES game, which was good IMO. To each their own though, as they say.

[goatdan]

Pit Fighter gets it's reputation because when it was released, if you were in the arcades and playing it at that moment in time, it was absolutely revolutionary. If you weren't, and you got introduced to one-on-one fighters with an overall much better game like Street Fighter II or even Mortal Kombat, it seems like an odd step backward to play Pit Fighter.

Pit Fighter is definitely a product of it's time. It wasn't a bad game, it just hit very shortly before the most memorable one-on-one fighting game for gameplay, and the most memorable one-on-one fighting game for digitized characters hit the marketplace. After that point, the world was filled with one-on-one games that did so much more than Pit Fighter did. Does that make it a bad game? No -- but it makes it very hard to enjoy it for what it was.

[chris_lynx1989]

I loved playing Pit-Fighter,Cabal,Rolling Thunder and Vindicators in the arcades back then. Atari always had me wondering why more of the titles never made it to Lynx. They also had me wondering another thing,why was PF on Lynx only 2 player and the arcade one was 3??Also,how did Rampage go from 3 in the arcade to 4 on the Lynx?Why wasn't PF 4 too?

Edit: Another thought,why was Steel Talons only a 1 player game on Lynx?All the arcade units I ever saw were 2 player side by side ones like Road Riot.

Edited by chris_lynx1989, Wed Jan 4, 2012 11:04 PM.

[im_reg]

chris_lynx1989, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 1:24 AM, said:

Did you ever notice the Hydra poster on the back wall in one of the warehouses you fight in?It's there,man.Look for it.

Did a screen grab from Handy (I also own the actual game ) for those who have not seen it:

[Nuclear Pacman]

ahhh!! my eyes!!

[ZylonBane]

16BitMan, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 2:40 PM, said:

Pit-Fighter uses almost 100% digitised graphics so you can understand why the game card had to be so big.

Graphics being created via digitizing has practically nothing to do with how much memory they take to store.

goatdan, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 7:18 PM, said:

Pit Fighter gets it's reputation ... Pit Fighter is definitely a product of it's time.

[in the dark]

I never played the arcade version, tho I do remember seeing it back then. And when the Lynx version came out, for some reason, I purchased it. And I really enjoy playing this game. Always have. Sure it is not a perfect game, but I find a lot of fun with it.

[ThomH]

ZylonBane, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 11:36 PM, said:

Graphics being created via digitizing has practically nothing to do with how much memory they take to store.

'Photographic' graphics are much less likely than 'cartoony' graphics to compress well with the RLE scheme used by the Lynx hardware.

I also have to take issue with your 'it's' graphic; what about 'it has'? Like if I said "it's been fun!"

[ZylonBane]

ThomH, on Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:58 AM, said:

'Photographic' graphics are much less likely than 'cartoony' graphics to compress well with the RLE scheme used by the Lynx hardware.

Did I say anything about "photographic" graphics? Why no, I didn't.

Pay attention to the words, people.

Edited by ZylonBane, Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:48 AM.