In the early 90s, Final Fight style beat em ups were a dime a dozen. Few managed to separate themselves themselves from the pack. However, there was one that managed to make itself into something classic. Taito’s Sonic Blastman began life in the arcades as a punching game which used two large punch pads and specialized gloves to complete certain minigames. It was bought to Super Nintendo as a beat-em-up. You bashed your way from the city streets to outer space as you fought off hordes of villains. The arcade minigames came to the SNES game as bonus levels. A sequel was released a few years later adding in two extra characters (your prerequisite slow strongman and fast woman, with Sonic Blastman being the balanced team leader) and a two-player simultaneous mode so you and a friend can take on the forces of evil together. Sure there are many beat-em-ups, and many games about superheroes, but there were none like Sonic Blastman. Hopefully we can expect a Virtual Console release sometime in the near future, since Taito already has the not nearly as awesome Legend of Kage available on the service.

This week we’re gonna look at one of the most prolific and underrated RPGs of the 16-era. It was unique for its time because of its hybrid RTS/Turn-based gameplay, massive scope, and a shifting alignment system which was years ahead of its time, even yielding one of 12 different endings based on your actions. Enix released the game on the Super Nintendo with a limited run. A ‘special edition’ was released on Playstation by Atlus, also having a limited run. Sequels to this game have appeared on the Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Game Boy Advance, but there is nothing better than the original.
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Because of the holiday, and the fact that the one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time has returned to theaters, we’re gonna dedicate this week’s Lost Classics and $20 GOTW to the Bruce Willis masterpiece. So read on after the jump to read all about the official series of video games based on a series of the finest examples of cinematic art ever created.
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Shortly after the fighting game X-men Children of the Atom, Capcom wasted no time in putting out more games featuring Marvel’s pantheon of super heroes. This game in particular is one of the more slept-on Capcom fighters (although not to the degree of Project Justice and Tech Romancer). Taking control of one of six Marvel heroes (Spider-man, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Psylocke) or one of six villains (Shuma Gorath, Blackheart, Juggernaut, Magneto, and Thanos and Dr Doom via use of a code), you must fight your way up the ladder to meet Thanos in a plot loosely based on 1992’s Infinity Gauntlet storyline.

The game play is similar to most other Capcom fighters, with six attack buttons, three for punches, three for kicks, each differing in speed in power. Special moves are done via quarter and half circle motions, as well as charging. However, since these are superheroes, don’t expect your garden-variety martial-arts maneuvers like in street fighter. Your fighter can jump up to several feet high, ‘normal’ attacks fire projectiles, special attacks can cause serious damage, and super moves take up the entire screen. It’s not as zany as in Darkstalkers, but you’re still not gonna see any of these moves in the next Street Fighter game. The main difference that sets this game apart from other Capcom fighters, although it isn’t much, is the addition of the Infinity Gems. They appear throughout the match, and grant your character special powers when you use them. Of course this regulates multiplayer games into bouts of “who can get to the gems the fastest” although an experienced player can destroy any newbie player who plays in that manner.

This game is often overlooked due to the fact that at the time of it’s release, it was just one of many 2-d fighting games. However, it was a Capcom fighter. Moreover, it was a good game based on a Marvel property. Capcom of course went on to use the engine to produce several more Capcom fighters, most important of which being the Marvel Vs Capcom games. This is still a good game to check out if you run across the arcade cabinet, even better if you can find a copy of any of the home ports. Also of interest is the SNES spin-off “War of the Gems”, which is a side scrolling beat-em-up in the vein of Capcom’s “X-men Mutant Apocalypse”.

Secondly only to Capcom’s Tech Romancer in terms of obscurity, this is one of the few times that Capcom bought their fighters into 3D. With a unique control scheme, crazy characters, and a high school setting, this game was something different. Not only was it different from most Capcom fighters, it was different from other fighting games in general. Even though Capcom fans like this game even more than the Street Fighter EX series, the fact that there hasn’t been many follow ups to this game, as well as the fact that Capcom continues to make (or at least Re-make) 2D fighting games more frequently than 3D speaks volumes of Capcom’s apprehension towards 3D fighters.
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Released during the midst of the fighting game craze of the mid-90s, this game went largely overlooked due to the fact that so many other games came out during the time. Shame too, as it attempted to set itself apart from the many Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat clones of the era with it’s storyline and unique combat system, which was based off real fighting styles more so than other 2-d fighting games.
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This week’s Lost Classics and $20 GOTW are dedicated to the casual gamer. You know, your mom, dad, grandparents, or girlfriend. They may like video games, but may not be into them as much as you are, so here is a little something for them. These games may not reinvent the wheel, but they’re guaranteed to be fun for the whole family. So with no further ado, lets get it started with this little RPG/Board Game Hybrid, in which you must defeat the evil dragons and their minions by answering their quizzes. Get it? Quiz and Dragons!
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Known in Japan as Ganbare Goemon, this fun little action game with RPG elements was released shortly after the Super Nintendo launch. Ganbare Goemon is a very popular franchise in Japan, although it’s mostly unknown here. Only four games in the series have been released over here, including this one. Players took control of Kid Ying and Dr. Yang (In 2-player games) as they travel Japan to rescue princess Yuki. Players can explore the town, buy equipment, and play minigames (including the first level of Gradius), then travel through 2-d platforming style levels in order to beat the area’s boss. There is a lot of humor in the game, although a lot of it was lost during the original translation. Even so, this is still an excellent game for all ages. It’s available on the virtual console now, so if you didn’t blow your points on Bonanza Brothers, then download this.