Lately
I've found myself chilling with my homeboys Dan and Ryan, playing old
video games that most of our friends don't remember or never heard of
at all hours of day and night. It started when Dan found an old cartridge of the
Jaleco's SNES beat-em-up The Peace Keepers. I was impressed by the
ability to recolor any of the game's sprites however you wanted, but
otherwise the game was an all-around stunningly frustrating experience.
Things picked up for the next round, however, when I popped in my favorite SNES "sports"
game, DMA Designs' Uniracers. I've gushed about Uniracers before, how
it paved the way for trick-based games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and
DMA's next big hit Grand Theft Auto. The bright colors and self-aware living unicycles scared and confused my friends
at first, but once we hit the Bowl course, where players pull off the
craziest tricks they can in a set period of time for a higher score,
suddenly it was an intense competition. Hours were spent rolling back
and forth in the bowl , flipping, rolling, twisting, z-flipping,
pulling off tabletops and head bounces, scoring Tubulars and Gnarlys
and the coveted I Hate Races. Heated battles ensued with eyes locked on
the scores. Rounds regularly ended with last minute reversals thanks to
60-point mega-chains. There were upsets and supreme victories all
around.
Time
for a change of pace, Ryan popped his all-time favorite into the
Playstation, a 1997 Konami brawler I'd never heard of called Poy Poy. A 3D four-player arena fighting game, Poy Poy plays and looks a lot like both Power Stone and Super
Smash Bros, only it came out a good solid year-and-a-half before either
of those more recognizable titles. Cartoon polygon people run around
colorful and vibrant enviroments picking up rocks and logs and bombs,
or even each other, and throw them. Get hit, get hurt. Last man
standing gets the most points. Upgradable gloves gave each character
powerful special moves. The game was simple enough for me to learn
within only a couple of ass-beatings yet clearly compelling enough for
Ryan to love unconditionally for eleven years so far. The one true
downside to Poy Poy when compared to Power Stone and Super Smash Bros
is that the Playstation was only designed with two controller ports, so
four-player games required a multi-tap accessory.
Three
forgotten games from over a decade ago, all completely addictive and
fun with good company and messy tacos. I'm sure these game sessions
will become a regular occurrance, with Uniracers and Poy Poy bound to
see repeat performances along with plenty more semi-obscure games to come.
What are your favorite forgotten gems, readers? What do your late-night multiplayer sessions involve?
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