Alrighty, two more.
First up is a classic from ye olden days of gaming:
1) It's a port of an arcade game for the Atari 2600
2) Best played with 4 players
3) Uses the 'paddle' controller
4) Breakout wishes it was this good.
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What could it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
Let's find out! \ ^_^ /
Warlords - Atari / Atari - 1981 - 4-player breakout-pong
I LOVE the Atari 2600. Seriously, easily one of my top 5 consoles, and games like Warlords are the reason why. Despite how utterly basic it is, I have never had as much fun with a multiplayer game as I have had playing this with friends.
The premise is extremely simple: use the paddle to direct the ball into the walls of the enemy's castle, smashing them down so you can hit the king inside. Being an Atari 2600 game, there are additional options controllable with switches on the console that change the game mechanics as well, such as switching between slow and high ball speed (a 'fireball' and 'lighting bolt', as I recall), and you can pick between sticky or ricochet shields. Personally, I'm all about sticky shields and lightning bolts, as fully controllable, high-speed death is where it's at. >: D
But I'mma let you in on a secret here, the real magic of this game has almost nothing to do with its mechanics at all (which are great, by the by), noooooo, it's a completely meta thing here that makes this one so good. You see, deep down, people are kind of assholes, and this game really brings that out in people. And I don't mean in a violent outburst kind of way, I mean that when you find yourself three rounds ahead and two short of victory, you suddenly notice that subtle alliance blue and purple seem to have formed against you. And when you bring it up to yellow that, maybe, it might be wise to form an alliance, you can't help but notice his bottom wall is missing, and you can get that ball up there ever so quickly . . .
The game is absolutely perfect arcadey multiplayer, and if you happen to have any interest in the 2600 this is a title you definitely need to play. If you aren't a person with interest in the console, but still like fast paced competitive multiplayer games, you may still enjoy the title on a newer platform, as an updated version was released on PSN/XBLA a while back that might be worth looking into. Those releases added a few new mechanics, to my understanding, but the basic formula is the same. The game certainly isn't for everyone, as is the case with many 2600 releases, but I'll always love it and, in my mind, it remains . . .
an awesome game you should know about!
For the second game . . .
1) It's another Breakout-style game
2) You can play as a knight, a mage, a mermaid, a robot, or an owlman
3) It supports 4-players
4) It has a story mode and bosses!
Got a guess?
Lesee what it is
Firestriker - Axes Art Amuse / DTMC - 1993 - Breakout Done Better
So, funny story, and I may be completely alone on this, but, uh, I . . . hate Breakout. I have always found the titles, and clones like Arkanoid, utterly boring and tedious. Fortunately, it's an easily fixed formula, as Atari demonstrated with the previously mentioned Warlords, and Axes Art Amuse, despite the terribad boxart, did again with Firestriker.
In the game you control a knight (at the start) that can freely move around a stage and you swing your sword to shoot the ball into breakable blocks and monsters. At the bottom of the screen is a gap, usually with destructable blocks covering it, that you die if the ball falls through. To help defend against that you have a mage you can move with L/R or a friend can control with the second controller (not that they have to stay down there
This is important because, in another much appreciated departure from Breakout, your goal is no longer to destroy every block in a stage. Instead, stages end when you shoot the ball out of the top of the screen, which often requires you to clear a path through blocks and monsters in the area. Sometimes there are gates you need to open as well, or, in several stages, you instead have to use the ball to kill a boss.
There's even a storyline to the game, though it is quite basic, and as you progress through it you traverse a world map and unlock additional characters, each with different speed and hitstrength properties (thought I think player 2 is always stuck as the mage). Personally, I love the robot, though he is super slow and harder to use than other characters -- an unfortunate trait that carries over to multiplayer.
Speaking of which, the multiplayer is a pretty cool mix of game modes, feeling like either a mad spinning death match or something more like a soccer game, depending on the map you pick. All of the characters are selectable from the get-go and powershot pickups randomly appear on the map. It's never as good as Warlords, but it's still fun and one of the relatively few four-player games for the system.
Overall, the game is a great take on Breakout, and I really think more people need to give this one a try. It certainly isn't perfect, but the new things it tries work more than they don't, and at the very least the simple story, bosses, and unlockable characters make it a more engaging title. If you are a Breakout fan, or just looking for something new to try on the SNES, give this one a try. It's not the best, but it is . . .
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