1284: Arcade Archives Crime Fighters PS4 \\ 1P Playthrough! (INT, 1-2P) Best hardcore beat-em-up??
0My second play-through of Konami's 1989 arcade beat-em-up emulated by Hamster Corporation in Arcade Archives Crime Fighters on PS4--2P International cabinet mode. And this time I got my silly voice-over in. ^ P^
After my first play-through, I didn't like the game, and felt the two-hour play-through was a horrible slog. But something prevented me from deleting it; I had a feeling that maybe there was fun to be had here somehow. After this second play-through, I think it's probably, in terms of gameplay, the most technically advanced beat-em-up I've ever played; its depth and challenge are pretty much unsurpassed. In short: it's REALLY good! = o
My other beat-em-ups playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZO3OPzPjIzMRdL46C-xoiG1dgqjvlgao
0:00 - start
6:52 - train
18:24 - Trois St. dancer
22:44 - gas guzzler
27:05 - steam roller
31:06 - chainsaw
38:07 - shocking
43:32 - Freddy
56:25 - red pants
59:33 - boxing
1:02:38 - dogz
1:07:30 - boom bikers
1:08:34 - knife fight
1:14:43 - factory fracas
1:20:38 - gunfight
1:24:26 - choice
1:26:06 - rush
1:30:45 - red pants redux
1:44:43 - loop
1:50:00 - wrap!
The first impression of Crime Fighters isn't great: tiny, weirdly colored sprites, pale backgrounds, fairly limited, non-flashy moves, unrelenting mobs of enemies, and really bad hit detection.
On the second play-through, though, I realized that the hit detection isn't bad: it's extremely precise! You have to AIM in this game.
Each enemy type has a different attack pattern; different combinations of enemies create unique challenges--the game will often throw mobs of five or six (or more!) enemies at you, but even a two-enemy combo can be extremely challenging, depending on how their attacks overlap; they are all very good at double-teaming you! A play-through is nearly two hours long, but the ever-unfolding new enemies and enemy combinations mean there's a new challenge every step of the way.
Not to mention the many bosses! Each has their own attack patterns, AND each can be hit most effectively by a certain pattern of movement and attack by you the player. Hit detection and timing is VERY tight, and you probably WILL get hit plenty--but you feel that maybe you could've avoided taking that last hit if you'd only launched your last attack a pixel closer in, or a fraction of a second later.
Some of the boss patterns are pretty unique, too; for instance, one of them can hammer you with extremely rapid-fire, fairly short-range punches--so you may think you want to keep your distance, but in fact its at extremely short range where you can hit him and he can't hit you, so you have to stay right on TOP of him, matching his quick footwork; if he manages to dodge back a step ahead of you, you're in for a barrage of hits!
But I came to realize that it isn't just the bosses who challenge you to find a fresh attack pattern to counter their moves: against even the weakest rank-and-file enemies, if you switch up punches and kicks to match their movements and hit reactions, you can take them down in a single extended combination of hits, instead of taking several knock-downs to KO them: the game lets you invent intuitive custom combos crafted to each character, on the fly! I've never found an attack system this in-depth and natural in any other beat-em-up; it was fairly mind-blowing when I found it, near the end of the two hour run. Now I want to play through all over again!!
And I don't think any beat-em-up has a mass onslaught quite like the boss rush of the (I think) "good" ending in Crime Fighters. ^ _^
What a game. What a game. It looks like some barely-NES-level discount board at first, but it might actually be the best.
(At least in Two-Player, International cabinet mode. I haven't tried the health-constantly-ticking-down-Gauntlet-style, probably friendly-fire-heavy four-player cabinet mode https://selectbutton.net/t/2d-beat-em-ups-that-arent-streets-of-rage-et-al/1222/347 , and only briefly tried the cheap back-kick, unlimited-gun-ammo attacks of the JP cabinet modes.)
1/14/23
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