[dessgeega]

in this thread: konami games you can play right now, through the magic of the multiple arcade machine emulator!

loco-motion

there's some controversy surrounding this one, as the blue sky rangers were prototyping a similiar game at around the time loco-motion was released. this isn't their week, though.

loco-motion's mechanics are similiar to those of the 15-puzzle: a grid of tiles with one missing - slide a tile into the empty space to rearrange the grid. loco-motion's tiles are covered with railroad tracks, and a tiny train engine chugging along them. around the edge of the board are stations where anxious passengers wait - your task is to get the train to the stations by shifting tiles. (holding the button speeds the train up.)

there's no way to make a single path linking all stations, so you'll be constantly shuffling tiles to make sure the little engine has a path - if there's nowhere for it to go, you'll lose a life. also, if you don't hit stations in time they'll produce sinister, toothed cabooses that will race along the tracks, trying to collide with your train. ensuring a clear course for the train to the stations while diverting homicidal cars gets pretty frantic pretty quickly. you can shift tiles while the train is on them, so there are a lot of options available to those who think fast.

this game plays absolutely great on a gp2x in tate mode.

jungler

the snake game in a maze with guns. but it's so much better than that.

you're a snake and so are your enemies. you can eat snakes that are shorter than you by touching them head-on. snakes that are longer than you can eat you the same way. and all snakes can shoot. shoot the hindmost segment of a snake's tail to destroy it, making the snake shorter and possibly eligible for gobbling.

jungler might be the most balanced game i've ever played. tail length has an inverse effect on speed, so you'll always be faster than snakes that can eat you, and you'll always be a little slower than snakes you can eat (making tricky manuevering a prerequisite to catching them). you'll get a bonus for shooting a snake down to nothing piece-by-piece, but the larger the snake the more points it's worth, and the more tenacious your position over them.

jungler makes a fine staple of any mame collection.

surprise attack

shinobi in zero gravity.

instead of - or rather in addition to - jumping between planes you jump between the floor and ceiling, dodging enemy fire and retaliating in that same precise way shinobi expects of you. you're hunting for bombs, but you'll also find power-ups that will let you fly around zapping enemies.

in between stages you're challenged to ten-question bonus trivia contests. most of the questions are about space and the people who go there ("which is not a 'terrestrial' planet?"), as suits the theme of the game (it takes place on a satellite). but there are also questions like "the star of the movie 'blade runner' was...?" it makes a pretty great short diversion from fighting terrorists in zero gravity.

surprise attack is a classy package.

sunset riders is a four-player shooter that's a lot like shinobi with four players in the american old west. it's great. however, mystic warriors is like sunset riders with ninjas on skiis.

it also has amazing vocals. "my rocket is the best!" "NOT!" and buzzsaws, exploding gas trucks, scuba divers, and ninjas on skiis.

OMAKE:

mr goemon (fantastic platforming debut of goemon) video
violent storm (final fight with added off-the-hookness) video
vendetta (double dragon with added off-the-hookness) cutscene rips
time pilot (best game ever) house remix

there are lots more konami games in mame. some of them involve ninja turtles? some of them involve shooting blocks in space? talk about them!
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