Yeah I know its a little early, but I quite frankly darn near had a stroke last bight over snap jack being cheap, enough's enough for me.(Even once the deca is over, I'll be back on THAT game)
I'm going to give each game in IMO a fair evaluation., and see what everyone else thinks.
Cheeky mouse:
3/10
Game concept is very solid and fun, but the fact of the matter is, there is no way to play as intended due to the mice "crowding" issue. This frankly takes the game from potentially one of THE funnest games I've ever played into an impossible to play piece of crap. As a business owner, eps since the joystick would distracting to other players, AND need replaced constantly, it would in the trash bin, then and now.
I wouldn't mind seeing a "hacked" version that fixes this, and it would seriously change my overall opinion of the game. But seriously, Universal, BETA TEST.
Nova 2001
8/10
This game is excellent , and probably ahead of its time. It has a couple fatal flaws, but nothing stands out as too hard to deal with to me except one, esp on an arcade machine.
The problem that keeps this game down from a 10/10 is the mother ship speed up timer.
There is NO reason for it. you cannot leech of off it, there's no reason to stall, and its hard enough to destroy and navigate around as it is, so once it speeds up you die, unless you're already about destroyed it and you happen to be at the other end of the screen. Now maybe on marathonable settings this might not be so bad, but under TGTS. its a big negative.
I'd definitely imagine people would keep pumping quarters into the thing, so it would stay.
Jumping jack 8/10
I suck at this game, I HATE this game, but in all hoensty, its not that bad a game. the only real problem I have with it is the "future vision" problem. In level 2 esp, they requires you know the pattern of the monkeys well enough to where you don't killed coming off the second Rhino, but that's almost 5 seconds and 3 monkey's ahead of that spot, much less the normal 2-3 second planning that you have to constantly engage in just play this game. TOO much for most players to deal with, esp for an ARCADE game that isn't played for hours on end at home.
this game would depend on its performance, but I'd probably sell it rather then trash it, someone would want it.
Snap Jack: 5/10
I love this game to pieces, BUT it doesn't change the fact is not a really a good game, esp for its time.
Most importantly, this is NO REASON by 1982(probably hit more like 83-84) to have any game that doesn't have something for both hands to do.
Secondly the collision detection SUCKS. HARD. and finally, the extra letters are among the hardest in Univeral's library to get. All in all this game would have been a a Cherished classic if it had been released in 78 or 9, but is a unimaginative, low budget, craze inflation offering in 82.
If it were in my arcade, it would by request only, since it isn't a terrible game, but I don't see it drawing traffic.
space panic
1/10
Same problems as cheeky mouse. concept excellence, controls responsive, game fun.....Game impossible to play.
This isn't a bug, or a lack of skill on the part of the gaming community, this game simply was poorly designed, and poorly executed, and poorly tested. its not a game people want to continue to pump quarters into, and If I owned the cabinet as an arcade owner in 80's it would hit the trash can, and if I owned it Now it would be locked in storage unless someone specifically requested it. Only because probably everyone else that ever had it destroyed it already.
Space raider.
5/10
Again another game I like, but its really a bad business investment, its not particularly fun, unless you leech, then its not particularly profitable. Nothing wrong with it, but it would be run by request only. I personally think this made a great Deca entry, but as a market entry its kinda blah.
Mr. Do's wild ride
7/10
This game is a GREAT attraction game, it LOOKS easy, its simple to play, and its addictive. However once the player gets over this, they will say goodbye to it, and go Play Mr. Do's Castle instead. good game to keep around though if there are lots of kids around. It also pumped up the deca pretty good.
Cosmic alien
5/10
Another dud or COOL, depending on your market. If you have HARD CORE Galaxain/Galaga fan base here, and they are getting sick of those game, this would be a great idea. if you have a lot of kids and casuals, this will end up in the trash. the game is unresponsive, hard to play, and won't encourage quarters in a more freindly environment. Galaga, Galaga 3, Even space invaders will draw more casuals then this will. For a contest with unlimited attempts and such, it really wasn't a bad game, but not the crowd pleaser by along shot because it required too much play time.
Cosmic Avenger
3/10
I grew to like this game, I like this game a lot really, but it is NOT even in the same league as Defender. This game will not collect quarters, sits too hard to aim, its too liberal with its hit boxes, and in order to play it good you have to play SLOW AS MOLASSES. again nice Deca entry, but I'd hesitate to have it on my floor.
Lady bug:
9/10
As a deca game I wasn't amused by this, is seemed awfully overkill on the practice needed department, but as a game this thing ROCKED. There is not a single issue I have it, except the glowing system is annoying, but again, its not a bad feature, its just something I don't like, and made it IMO excessively hard to get extra lives compared to other game but Snap jack, which its about on par with.
Anyway that's my review, as for my opinion, best game of the Deca, Snap Jack, worst games, space panic, cosmic alien, and Cheeky mouse.
Originally Posted by chrisbo
