14 replies to this topic

[xg4bx]

available on PSN next week.

includes 4 player co-op and a "japanese" version of the game.

http://www.g4tv.com/...k-28-fbfantrack

[Austin]

Tomorrow? Does MS no longer follow the Wednesday XBLA release schedule?

[Nuclear Pacman]

Standard hack n slash fare of the era.

[HuckleCat]

I'd be more excited about this if I hadn't been playing it on MAME for almost a decade.

Has it been altered? Like, has it been given the "HD" treatment, does it support multiplayer over Live/PSN, or is it just the same old game?

[Curious Sofa]

I'm totally down for it, but why on a Thursday? Oh well. I liked what they did with TMNT, I'm hoping they'll at least HD up the graphics.
And sure, I have it for mame. But I'd rather play it with my wireless 360 controller on my couch. The Simpsons Arcade game was definitely repetitive, but it was sure fun.

[Austin]

I'm curious to know what's different about this "Japanese version".

[moycon]

Austin, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 7:46 PM, said:

I'm curious to know what's different about this "Japanese version".

http://www.joystiq.c...on-of-japanese/

This suggests that the Japanese version of the arcade game is included. There are a few minor differences from the US release, according to HG101: lower difficulty, more health items, more points, and the ability to jump while holding a weapon. The inclusion of that international version also suggests that developer Backbone is putting a bit of extra care into this update.

Also taken from another page, some more info about the game itself....

The side-scrolling beat-em-up will set you back a cool 800 Microsoft Points ($9.99) and will also include new modes, the (rumored) Japanese version of the game, as well as four-player online co-op and bonus promotional material from the game's original release.

[Austin]

Ah, okay. That's what I figured (altered difficulty settings, mainly). Did the X-Men re-release have that as well? I admittedly barely played that one, even though I bought it and meant to. It looked great, at least!

[Curious Sofa]

Yeah, they did precisely that with the X-Men game, including the option of playing the Japanese game. Very, very nice translation, I'm hoping the Simpsons is as good. I've been too busy to fire up the 360 and find out just yet... anyone else get it? Reviews pls!!

[Austin]

I tried the demo. It's good. Not much different from playing it in MAME, at least in terms of the stock arcade mode (everything else is locked for me, naturally). I'm sure it will be nice to be able to play it online though.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I got the actual cabinet of the game, but I am glad to see it finally released on a home system (not counting the terrible C64 version).

[onlysublime]

Austin, on Sun Feb 5, 2012 3:50 PM, said:

I tried the demo. It's good. Not much different from playing it in MAME, at least in terms of the stock arcade mode (everything else is locked for me, naturally). I'm sure it will be nice to be able to play it online though.

You can play the MAME version online as well with a version of MAME that has Kaillera support. My friend and I finished it that way. Good enough to satisfy the nostalgia in me. The game isn't good enough to justify buying it again for an afternoon of fun. I like The Simpsons but I'm not a diehard fan.

But yeah, for 4 player support, your odds of rounding up friends to play is much better with the XBLA/PSN versions... I don't even know if you could have 4 players with the MAME version over Kaillera.

[Curious Sofa]

I am surprised, but I played the demo a few times and was sorely underwhelmed. Even though the game looks right, sort of. I really hate the attempt at side art, or whatever you call the two diagonal lines they draw next to the screen. And yes, you can remove them, but then it's just blank next to the screen, very bare looking. No side art people?
And obviously, the game is a simple button masher. But somehow it felt more lame than playing XMen, and more tedious, despite how much I loved the game back in the day. I still enjoy a round of Simpsons on Mame, but that might be due to using an XArcade stick and buttons, not sure.
But for whatever reason, I'm giving this port a thumbs down, and am surprised to report that after wanting it for so long, I'm not buying it.
And with that I hereby deposit $0.02

[StoneAgeGamer]

Curious Sofa, on Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:34 PM, said:

I am surprised, but I played the demo a few times and was sorely underwhelmed. Even though the game looks right, sort of. I really hate the attempt at side art, or whatever you call the two diagonal lines they draw next to the screen. And yes, you can remove them, but then it's just blank next to the screen, very bare looking. No side art people?
And obviously, the game is a simple button masher. But somehow it felt more lame than playing XMen, and more tedious, despite how much I loved the game back in the day. I still enjoy a round of Simpsons on Mame, but that might be due to using an XArcade stick and buttons, not sure.
But for whatever reason, I'm giving this port a thumbs down, and am surprised to report that after wanting it for so long, I'm not buying it.
And with that I hereby deposit $0.02

Playing it with the arcade stick is more fun, the problem with these types of games is that without real money on the line they do lose some of their appeal.

I also always felt this game was incomplete. The final level where you fight Smithers and Burns you just walk into the power plant and right into the fight. Its almost as if at one time during development they were intending on this to be an actual level, but do to budget or time constraints they never finished it. It would have been cool if they would have added this as a complete level that you fought through like all the other levels for the Live/PSN release.

P.S. If you want to get good at it smashing buttons won't help.

[FujiSkunk]

StoneAgeGamer, on Mon Feb 6, 2012 4:33 PM, said:

I got the actual cabinet of the game, but I am glad to see it finally released on a home system (not counting the terrible C64 version).

Hey, them's fightin' words. I actually thought the C-64 release was pretty good for what it was.