What It's Like To Play Near Arcade-Perfect Translation Games At Home


Buying Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection brought me back memories. Yes, memories of the arcade. Earlier on, I wrote an entry about why the pandemic never made me miss going to the arcade. Playing Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection made me think of a lot of stuff. It reminds me of the time I bought Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and did the Smoke Missions to unlock the Mortal Kombat II classic game for the PS2 -- the seventh console generation era. I was also able to buy Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Super Heroes for the PS2. All the while, I wonder why Capcom never made Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes remake for the PS2 while they did for the Dreamcast -- a system that died too soon!

The arcade is a huge token eater. I made a list of arcade games that I wasted money on. The games can be infamous for their button reading, broken AI (where characters can do what the player can't do), and the difficulty that goes up and up. I believe I remember seeing someone getting pummeled by Kintaro in the classic Mortal Kombat II arcade. I could remember someone losing to Apocalypse in X-Men vs. Street Fighter in the arcade. In my case, I never defeated Onslaught in the arcade as he was just awfully difficult.

Playing Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes in the collection is a real challenge. Abyss had three forms but wasn't that difficult. Back then, I counted the number of times I continued. Now, I feel like doing it again. I'd say, "There goes another quarter." I actually lost to Onslaught five times and continued a total of eight times. That means I would've wasted eight quarters to continue. The same while I played The Punisher. Beat 'em up games are meant to drain one's quarters. Only a truly skilled player can finish them without dropping in another quarter. I believe I continued more than ten times just to finish The Punisher as intended.

Playing Mortal Kombat II in a more or less arcade-perfect translation was something. There was NO difficulty adjustment -- something that Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection gave the players. Opponents get more and more monstrously difficult. I remember it took me two hours to finish the game. The AI was such a cheating bastard. Finally, reached Kintaro? It just got even worse from there. I had to learn how to cheat the AI. One such method was well-timed jump kicks on Kintaro. Otherwise, Kintaro would just grab you off the air when he blocked it. Shao Kahn was also monstrous evil. I even Googled everything on how to outsmart the AI. It's not an easy thing. I wouldn't be surprised if some IT/CS experts even can't figure it out either!

I could say that the arcade is something I'll probably never miss. Sure, I had fond memories but only with the games -- NOT the arcade itself. I prefer to play the games in the comfort of my own home or with peers. I'm able to relive the moments without the hassles of those days. 

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