GregHowley.com

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I pulled my huge Slikstik arcade controller out of the garage and set it up on my new computer desk. I'd forgotten how huge the controller is, but it kicks ass if you want to play arcade games. I reinstalled MAME and have been having a blast with it since. If you don't know what MAME is, it's a freely available emulator which simulates an arcade machine. If you own the actual arcade machine, then you can legally download and play the game on your PC - they're available online. If you don't own an arcade machine and you still download and play the games, then that's technically illegal. Here follows a list of the excellent games I've been playing.

• Street Fighter 2 and it's variants. I play Super Street Fighter 2 most often. Super Street Fighter 2 turbo has some extra moves and features I like, but they upped the speed and improved the AI in that version, so it's extremely difficult. I also like to go back and play the original Street Fighter 2 sometimes, but it's generally too easy - I can beat it on one virtual quarter. Street Fighter 2 Alpha is fun too, but I don't like most of the changes they've made. For example, you can block in midair. Also, they made the game too cartoony - I prefer the original graphics schemes. I kick ass at Street Fighter.
• Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom. You probably haven't ever heard of this game, (wikipedia link) but we used to have it at Skooters, the arcade where I worked just after high school, and it was a ton of fun. It's a cross between Gauntlet, Street Fighter, and XMen. The game is a side-scrolling beat-em-up like XMen, but the combat has much more finesse, nearly to the point of Street Fighter. Characters can block with shields, jump, duck, dash, slide, roll, ram, and power attack. The Cleric and Elf have spells. You can find magic weapons, rings, scrolls, and boots. There are secret doors and branching storylines. In between stages, you can purchase gear with the loot you've picked up. It really is a tremendous game.
• Samurai Showdown 2 is another game we used to have at Skooters, which is probably where I developed my love of arcade games. It's just another 2D fighter, but it's one I grew to love.
• Crossed Swords (screenshots) is a game I'd never really played much until I tried it with MAME, but I saw it once at a Burger King in Southington, CT. It just looked so damn cool. The Wii could really do a great job with a game like this. Crossed Swords is set up similarly to Punchout, where you're looking at your own character from behind. But in this game, rather than boxing, you're fighting with sword and shield. You raise your shield, or move it left and right to block blows, and you swing your sword in specific directions to make attacks. As the game progresses, you can purchase new weapons and spells. After a while, the game gets repetitive, but I enjoy it.
• Darkstalkers is a horror-themed 2D fighter which really rips a lot off from Street Fighter. I still enjoy playing it.
• Pacman is available on nearly every platform ever invented, but there's something great about playing it as it originally existed.
• Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara is the sequel to Tower of Doom. From what I understand, they released it on Sega Saturn, but I'm sure that can't compare to playing the arcade version. This sequel incorporated the use of even more weapons and armor, added the Thief and Magic-User characters, and incorporated Street Fighter-like joystick movements. It also added new spells and cursed items. The amount of different endings, splitting paths, and hidden content in this game is amazing. It's a pity that much of it can't be accessed unless you're playing with four players, which I can't really do with the controller I'm using.
• Final Fight is a game I used to play in convenience stores back before I ever worked in an arcade. Cody, Guy, and Haggar. Sound familiar? A classic.
• Qix as a game never made a ton of sense, but it's incredibly original. I first played it back on my Commodore 64. The objective is to close off, or "claim" a majority of the screen by drawing it in with a line. Meanwhile, the Qix, the Fuse, and the Sparx try to kill you. Hard to explain if you've never tried it.

I spent about an hour playing Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara last night before I unwrapped my shiny new copy of Resident Evil 4.