Budget Atari and Capcom arcade cabinets to see release this fall!

[John Stamos Mullet]

These are some creative fixes, but damn - to have to do this much work just to make these things functional when they are brand new is just unacceptable.

[+thanatos]

Saw 4 on the shelves at Wal-Mart today, 1 Capcom and 3 Atari. The cartons looked pretty beat up for some reason - bashed in corners and what not.

[mr_me]

Ok, so here's what I did.

 

I got my Asteroids / Tempest cabinet yesterday.

Put it together, HATED the spinner. Piece of crap. First, I tried to replace it with a standard spinner. The signals aren't the same. While standard spinners have Voltage, Ground, XLeft and XRight, this spinner has Voltage, Ground, Transmit, and Receive. So no go there.

...

I think the spinner is encoded as an hid mouse axis. Same probably goes for the trackball. You could probably replace it but if the spinner resolution is different you'd have to compensate in software, which you can't do here.

[negative1]

ok people, sit back and relax.

 

got to try out 2 units today. the asteroids cabinet at thinkgeek,

and sf2 at gamestop.

 

yes, there are tons of reviews out there, but have any gamers,

and i mean dedicated, real, or expert gamers tried these out?

 

i haven't seen any dedicated reviews yet. only short previews.

 

i'm not going to bother going over the pro's and con's or the

basic information about the games, sounds, lists, etc. as they are sometimes

personal opinions, or have already been gone over many times already.

 

 

i'm not an expert on every game, but i do know my way around them.

these are my opinions.

 

-------------------------------SKIP------------------------------------------------

 

tldr version:

==============================

controls are not arcade accurate - but actually, and surprisingly do the job for average players,

they are terrible for intermediate and expert players

 

games play near arcade accuracy - framerate, and response is decent, graphics are blocky and pixelly of course

 

 

screen angles are shallow - but are pretty vibrant enough in most cases, the vector games looked dim though

 

===========================================================================================================

 

STOP READING HERE, IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

 

 

-------------------------------SKIP------------------------------------------------

 

 

the long picky review follows:

 

i am going to go into boring gameplay details,

response times, and control mechanics for the games i know.

 

================================================================================

background -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i have been playing videogames from the days of pong, breakout and space invaders

i stopped playing them in the late 90's, and 00's when deluxe units were the norm.

 

i do know most of the atari, williams, namco, and capcom library inside and out.

 

i am NOT an expert at every game, but have played all of them either extensively

in the arcade when they originally came out, at home in MAME, and in pretty much

every port on PC, console, and remake that has come out.

 

hardware control experience

----------------------------

i have used arcade controls, buttons, trackballs and spinners since they came out.

 

i have home versions of those controls, and actually don't use dpads or analog stick

on any console unless i'm forced to.

 

my preference is always dedicated controls for arcade games

 

 

arcade gaming habits

-----------------------

i play arcade games, or ports pretty much every day, through the 80's, i stopped

in the 90's, and then picked up mame, and played it every day for a few years.

stopped again, until the 2nd year of the xbox 360. got gameroom, and pretty much

every arcade game, and port on those systems. i have continued this when ports

started showing up on the xbox one. i have played them on the playstation also,

but only the original and PS2, and now the PSP 2000.

 

lately, over the last couple of years, i have been playing arcade ports and games

everyday for a least a few hours. i usually place in the top 1-10 place on games

that i'm an expert in, and below that on other games.

 

======================================

now with that out of the way, lets get to the cabinets

 

 

time spent playing

==========================================================================

i have spent at least an hour with each cabinet, and at least 10-15 minutes

on each game, to get a good feel for them. any more than that wouldn't have

helped [except for tempest, which i sacrificed some time playing]

 

on street fighter, i spent 20 minutes with each title, trying out different

characters, and different sides to play.

 

 

atari cabinet with asteroids

==========================================================================

condition of cabinet - the control panel had the bottom portion totally

worn out from people playing, the store guy said it had been there about

a week. the buttons and the rest of the cabinet was in good shape

 

durability - the cabinets are super flimsy, and shake when you play. i barely

tapped the buttons, and the cabinet was shaking. i was playing sitting down

on a chair. which was fine for the time i played, but it just felt wrong.

there were no risers, and i missed standing up.

 

ergonomics - as i mentioned the sitting down part threw me off, but i got used to it.

 

the much bigger issue is the hands and wrists, along with the buttons and joysticks.

 

for asteroids, the buttons do click, which is fine, but annoying. i did notice the spacing,

while probably close to the arcade spacing is ok, but probably not exact or even scaled to

be accurate. if you're used to the arcade buttons, you need to get used to the spacing

and response of these buttons. there is a difference, but for the most part its ok.

 

the thing that killed my wrists, was that the nice gentle 5-10 degree(?) slope of the

arcade was gone, and now it's just this flat panel. i would definitely hike those up

somehow with supports to make it feel better. granted i didn't play that long, but i

could tell, it would be different after playing for long periods of time.

 

gameplay -

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

asteroids

=========

- managed to play to 10k, and quit, i used the saucer hunting method, and could

have played for awhile longer, but i only wanted to play to see if it worked, and if i could

do it. the buttons had a precise enough feel, and moved in increments that allowed for precision

shooting. it took a little bit of time to get used to the scale of the monitor, and a feel

for the response from pressing the button to the actual firing response.

 

everything worked out fine, didn't notice any lag. the response rate for left and right

spins with the buttons seemed to be accurate, and the framerate was ok, i was able to

maneuver pretty well, dodge asteroids, shots and ships without any issues.

 

saucer hunting worked out well. it will be interesting to see if good players can

wrack up enough extra men to go off the screen, and if the game slows down.

 

this game is playable and worked out ok. except for the missing vector glow, and the

dim graphics, this is a passable emulated version. the home version have more features,

settings, and options of course. on home consoles you can also play with buttons, and

simulate this pretty well.

 

 

lunar lander

============

- i managed to get several 5x landings, i forgot my score, but once i managed

some landings and crashes, i quit playing. i an not an expert at this game, but i find it

too boring to play for long.

 

i did play the arcade version with the big old handle to manipulate the thrust more precisely.

obviously they couldn't do that here, so you will have to make do with a less precise button

push. they might have been able to map that to the dial, but they didn't try that.

 

again, the game is playable, and the controls map over almost ok. there's not much

to this game, so there's not a lot more to say about it.

 

major havoc

============

- i got through a few levels, but that was about it. i don't know the warp codes,

and actually wasn't that good at it in the arcades. i have played several home

ports with different controls.

 

as you know, the original had a roller cylinder, which was converted over to a spinner

for conversion from a tempest machine. here of course, it is played using the dial.

 

to me, this game is nearly unplayable with the dial as it is. i have seen the mods,

and changes that people claim make the game better, but have yet to see anyone play

deep in the game with those changes.

 

for me the issue is momentum and speed with the dial. given enough time, maybe i could

get good enough to use what they've encoded to read the dial to move the character.

however, i did try the buttons also, as they alternate controls, but didn't find them

any better.

 

if anyone out there is good at major havoc, please play it and comment.

 

i can't say much more, because i don't feel the controls can be used to accurately

play to the game to any level. its fine for the shooter part, and other levels, but

even the mini breakout game is subpar, let alone the actual gameplay.

 

 

tempest

=======

this is the game i have the most experience with, i've played through it on easy settings

to the random green levels (99) and beyond. and hit about 450k (light blue levels) on defaults.

[i have videos on youtube showing playthroughs of all the levels into yellow, light blue,

invisible, and green levels, and some random ones up to 1 million plus points]

 

i played this until level 16, and about 100k points. i could have played further, but i felt

that was enough to get a good idea of how it plays.

 

the dial/spinner is inadequate for this game. the non-free spinning, and click stops alter

the gameplay a lot of the times. i say that, but it actually depends on your playing style.

 

it turns out, you don't need to do super fast spins, or quick moves, unless you play that way.

most beginners do that. but it turns out that slow calculated maneuvers, and precise movements

are the best for mid to expert levels.

 

i didn't get to the red levels, which is the first time you see pulsars. later levels will

have pulsar, and fuseball tankers and other enemies you don't see early on. guess what the best way to take those

out, is to do slow 1 segment moves to the left and right which can easily be done using this

spinner.

 

the thing that killed me the most was the response of the buttons when firing. you have

to time your shots precisely when the flippers are on you to kill them, and maybe i'm rusty,

but thats how most of my deaths came. not from the shots. it was easy enough to shoot the

stream of shots, activate the super zapper, and kill fuses, and spikes.

 

i don't think there's a lag in firing. but in the time i played it, maybe i didn't get use

to the response of this emulated version. i have no problem playing it on any of the home

console versions on the xbox 360, or the xbox one.

 

could i do better on this game, yes, but it would take a lot of time and effort.

 

i'm not sure that modding the dial would actually help, which is surprising to me.

=======================================================================================

 

 

Final thoughts

----------------

overall, i would give 1up arcades a grade of C for effort.

D for quality and longevity, B for emulation, C for graphics.

 

So an average of C overall grading, or 3/5 stars for the price.

 

Take into account the games you like, how much you will play them,

and how rough these things will be handled.

 

To me, i don't want to say they feel like they are breaking apart at any time,

because these were worn out demo units.

 

If you don't play often, these things will last and look good.

If you do play often, they WILL wear out, the buttons, the controls, etc, eventually.

 

They should have some kind of riser, or you are really missing out on the arcade

feel of it.

 

Modding the buttons and dials, will do some good perhaps, but in the end,

its probably a placebo, unless you are an expert at major havoc. Tempest

is playable if you can alter your playstyle.

 

A valiant, but in the end subpar experience, unless you're going for nostalgia,

and love asteroids or lunar lander, and are ok with the compromises.

 

I will do a separate in depth review of the Street fighter 2 cabinet also.

 

later

-1

[negative1]

Can you get spinners and trackballs for playstation and xbox? And can you adjust the sensitivity in software for these controllers.

 

We already know there are better and cheaper ways to emulate these games. If you don't have an xbox or playstation, most would have a PC or several PCs capable of emulating with mame. This is about having a turn-key, inexpensive arcade-like machine.

 

Question about Arcade1up Tempest: how many tempest grid positions does the character move for one complete 360d spinner rotation?

1) yes, yes, and yes, you can use trackballs, spinners, and pretty much any controls you want working

with the xbox one, 360, and ps3/4, using the cronus max pro, or XIM adapaters

 

2) there is no way to figure out how many grid segments it spins, because the spinner only does one segment at a time and clicks.

you would have to mod the spinner to move freely, and then figure out much it moves. you could figure out a number,

but it wouldnt be very useful.

 

as it turns out, unless you are an intermediate to expert player, you will NOT be spinning the dial

quickly, and instead doing short segment moves.

 

here's some emulated gameplay of the hardest levels (green) from the xbox 360 versions.

notice the movements.

 

 

later

-1

Edited October 18, 2018 by negative1

[mr_me]

With Tempest, turn the spinner 360d (one full rotation) and count how many tempest grid segments the character moves.

[+frankodragon]

Saw 4 on the shelves at Wal-Mart today, 1 Capcom and 3 Atari. The cartons looked pretty beat up for some reason - bashed in corners and what not.

Same at the local Walmart here with four units. I feel the $300 is pretty steep with only four games per cab and controller issues. Maybe if they were MAME cabs with many games installed, I'd probably purchase one.

[Flojomojo]

Thanks for posting detailed impressions, negative1.

 

These sound like they would be a great holiday gift for a kid -- maybe a somewhat spoiled one (or with a gamer parent), with a big finished basement -- exactly the same kind of "amateur game room" stuff for toy pool tables, toy pinball machines, toy air hockey tables. The same parents who buy their kids motorized toddler cars knowing the child will outgrow this or tire of it would be good targets for this.

 

I still want to lay my hands on one of these in person. I didn't know there were ThinkGeek physical stores but there isn't one near me. I'll have to pop into Gamestop and see if they've set one up.

[PlaysWithWolves]

Well, I tried the polish kit. It did little-to-nothing for the scratches, unfortunately.

 

Well, that's too bad. I bought mine when I was restoring our childhood Pachinko to clean some of the acrylic that had become cloudy, as well as cleaning the other plastics like the white marble tray (only used #1 & #2). But it did wonders when my wife knocked our bedroom LED TV off the dresser and it had a huge scrape. It took some scrubbing with #3 (and I think it only works if you do it perpendicular to the scratch). But my wife couldn't believe it saved the TV.

 

Anyway, I hope they resolve the issue. It seems some of their choices are "penny-wise, pound-foolish".

 

Before/after shots. It's hard to tell, but in the lower right below the name and above the handle the acrylic glass had become nearly opaque and yellow from age. It cleared up nicely with Novus.

 

[Flojomojo]

our childhood Pachinko

 

 

That's a nice restoration job. That machine, where was it designed to be used? It seems like a "barcade" kind of tabletop size. I can't tell if it takes coins or is intended for home use -- or in the context of this thread, whether or not it was built as a durable, public thing (like an arcade game), or a sturdy but meant for household use (like a toy air hockey table, or maybe a better version of the 1Up cabinets).

[John Stamos Mullet]

These sound like they would be a great holiday gift for a kid -- maybe a somewhat spoiled one (or with a gamer parent), with a big finished basement -- exactly the same kind of "amateur game room" stuff for toy pool tables, toy pinball machines, toy air hockey tables. The same parents who buy their kids motorized toddler cars knowing the child will outgrow this or tire of it would be good targets for this.

Affluent suburbanite helicopter parents churning out tiresome completely spoiled Montessori larva.

 

little snots with names like Brayden and Jasper.

[Flojomojo]

I don't want to get into some kind of class warfare argument, let alone literal name-calling. I want to put it into context. You don't have to like it, but people buy stuff like this.

 

This is what I was thinking

 

 

• Single child ride on can be operated by foot pedal accelerator and steering wheel and by remote
• Attractive and fun exterior, 14" traction wheels with spring suspension system, non-toxic plastic body, adjustable seatbelt, gear shift, and LED lights
• 12V motor with 3 speed options: high, medium and low speed adjustable by a remote controller
• Dual option music: enjoy a fun sing-along with built-in musical tunes and radio, or plug in your own playlist with an included AUX cord
• Overall Dimensions: 45"(L) x 31"(W) x 31"(H); Weight Capacity: 65 lbs.; Recommended for ages: 3 - 8 years

 

or this one for a bit more

 

 

• SINGLE CHILD RIDE ON: Perfect for one kid, aged - 2 - 6 year old or younger but under Adult Supervision only. COOL EXTERIOR & DESIGN: LED headlights, tail lights and fog lights. PU Leather Seat and Stroller Seatbelt
• ADVANCED SECURITY FEATURES: 2.4 Ghz Parental Remote Control, Integrated with real engine sounds, a horn, a seat belt for safety
• HIGH PERFORMANCE: 3 speeds and 2 motors. Maximum Speed: 3 - 6 Mph. Reverse and forward switch
• FUN ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM: Built-in MP3 Player, Plays files from Micro SD card or USB Flash Drive. Horn and Music sounds on the steering wheel.
• ADD ONS: Electric brake system, reliable braking and gradual acceleration, Rubber Traction Band integrated wheels for a smooth and safe ride, REALISTIC openable doors and windows, Floor Mat kid’s electric car to ride on.

 

A little arcade game can be used year-round, and last for years, if it somehow sustains a child's interest.

[PlaysWithWolves]

 

That's a nice restoration job. That machine, where was it designed to be used? It seems like a "barcade" kind of tabletop size. I can't tell if it takes coins or is intended for home use -- or in the context of this thread, whether or not it was built as a durable, public thing (like an arcade game), or a sturdy but meant for household use (like a toy air hockey table, or maybe a better version of the 1Up cabinets).

 

Thanks!

 

They were re-purposed from Japanese Pachinko parlors, as Japanese law only allowed them to be used for so long. The certification/inspection sticker is still attached in the lower-right of the playing field. I guess the balls would be purchased like one would buy poker chips, then turn in any winnings for cash or whatever is allowed in Japan. Ways for parlors to game the systems would be to nudge the brass pins above the flowers (or whatever they are called) closer to each other or make it so the handle has less play and always shoots fast. I'm not sure if that was common--I just remember my dad widening the pins so we could hit more jackpots. haha. Ours came with some metal feet, not attached in the pictures.

 

The background graphic was much more vibrant and water-stain-free (see below from a site that sells vinyl reproductions), but would require a lot of work to replace. We never had the light kit. I always wanted one as a kid, so as part of the restoration I put in a battery-powered LED kit. I believe I spent around $150, including the polish and four panes of acrylic glass. I only needed two panes, but it was the minimum order. Sadly, these things only get about $150 cleaned-up on Ebay. This was more about bringing back a childhood memory to life, though.

 

They were sold at JC Pennys, Famous Barr (midwest dept. store chain) and even a business called "Pachinko Factory" like where we probably got ours.

Below is an actual local ad about the time we bought it. $29.95!

 

[Flojomojo]

That's cool. I chuckled at "hold your ears."

$29.95 in 1976 = $130.76 in 2018 ... or one third of a 1UP mini

[Tanooki]

Oooh pretty. I miss my parents old pachinko machine from that era as it was fantastic. They thought it was broken, but as a kid I snuck into their room and fixed it over time, but kept quiet about it not to get in trouble. (big mistake I guess as they gave it away.)

 

That Novus kit is fantastic. I've used it on 2 pinball machines to polish up the plastics, playfield(carefully), various metals, and other stuff on there and arcade too and it works wonders. I've used it on some consoles, handhelds, and other home electronics with mostly good effect on nice restoration with it rubbing away using a micro fiber cloth it came with as I bought it from marco specialties pinball.

[PacManPlus]

...and finally, my cover for the circuit board:

 

The paddle caps can be printed also (not mine):

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:21854

 

I'm very happy with this. It works, and looks ok. Works MUCH better that what Arcade 1Up did.

.STL file attached.

 

 

Bracket Top for Arcade 1UP Asteroids Spinner.zip

Edited October 18, 2018 by PacManPlus

[NE146]

I’m disappointed.. I was at Walmart buying spray paint and took a look for the cabinets there but there was none in stock. Then I went to the game stop next-door and they didn’t have any either. The guy said someone at their store had pre-ordered one but they have not received yet. Guess I’ll still have to wait to see one of these

[negative1]

...and finally, my cover for the circuit board:

 

I'm very happy with this. It works, and looks ok. Works MUCH better that what Arcade 1Up did.

.STL file attached.

excellent work. since you have a free spinning one. can you

spin it 360 in tempest, and not how many segments it travels.

 

thanks.

 

later

-1

[negative1]

ok people, here we go with part 2,

 

the street fighter 2 at gamestop. capcoms classic fighting game

that defined an era, and led to multiple series and spinoffs.

 

yes, there are tons of reviews out there, but have any gamers,

and i mean dedicated, real, or expert gamers tried these out?

 

i haven't seen any dedicated reviews yet. only short previews.

 

i'm not going to bother going over the pro's and con's or the

basic information about the games, sounds, lists, etc. as they are sometimes

personal opinions, or have already been gone over many times already.

 

 

i'm not an expert on every game, but i do know my way around them.

these are my opinions.

 

-------------------------------SKIP------------------------------------------------

 

tldr version:

==============================

controls are not arcade accurate - they just barely do the job for average players,

they are terrible for intermediate and expert players

 

games play near arcade accuracy - framerate, and response is decent, graphics are blocky and pixelly of course,

however, there are emulation issues in both super versions.

 

 

screen angles are shallow - but are pretty vibrant enough in most cases, contrast and color saturation are ok.

 

===========================================================================================================

 

STOP READING HERE, IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

 

 

-------------------------------SKIP------------------------------------------------

 

 

the long picky review follows:

 

i am going to go into boring gameplay details,

response times, and control mechanics for the games i know.

 

background -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i have been playing videogames from the days of pong, breakout and space invaders.

i was late to the street fighter 2 party. at my university it was a huge hit.

and there were always lines for the original one. i waited and watched it for

about a year before i finally played it. it was 50 cents to play, and 25 cents

to continue, so that's why i never wanted to play by myself.

 

also, the players got really good, so a new player wouldn't have any chance, and

didn't get to play against the computer. sometimes the winner would let the poor

player win, just so they could get another round of play.

 

anyways, all my friends were hooked on it, to the point of going out in the middle

of the night to convenience stores to play it without having to wait for the lines

to die out.

 

fast forward to later when this champion edition came out.people always wanted

to play the boss characters, and of course to balance the gameplay, they were

toned down, but stil fun to play. i got decent at this version, and have played

pretty much every sequel, mod, and bootleg up to street fighter 5, but i'm not

good at 4 or 5 though.

 

when it finally came to the home versions, i got the genesis versions, and some

of my friends got the super nintendo version. well, i was at a huge disadvantage,

because i had an arcade stick for the geneis. but to play on the super nintendo,

had to use the stupid pad, with the shoulder buttons which was terrible. so

i always got beat pretty much.

 

i can beat the computer using ken, ryu, guile and chun li, i'm not good with the

other characters, but can do all the special moves. i can do basic combos, but

not the frame accurate combos or counters. i can beat the game on default,

but not hard settings. i'm not as good on super, or super turbo though.

 

 

hardware control experience

----------------------------

i have used arcade controls, joysticks and buttons

 

i have home versions of those controls, and actually don't use dpads or analog stick

on any console unless i'm forced to.

 

my preference is always dedicated controls for arcade games, and i own several fight

sticks with arcade buttons. i have bat and ball style joysticks too.

 

 

arcade gaming habits

-----------------------

i used to play all 3 of these games in the arcades, so i know the original versions.

i'm only good at the champion version, and am passable on super and super turbo.

 

i have played pretty much every port, and compilation that has these games on it.

 

i just got the xbox one Capcom 30th anniversary compilation recently, and having

been playing through all those versions recently too, with an arcade fightstick.

 

 

================================================================================

time spent playing

==========================================================================

on street fighter, i spent 20 minutes with each title, trying out different

characters, and different sides to play.

 

 

Street fighter 2 variations

==========================================================================

condition of cabinet - again, the control panel had the bottom portion totally

worn out from people playing, the store guy said it had been there about

a week. the buttons and the rest of the cabinet was in good shape

 

durability - the cabinets are super flimsy, and shake when you play.

at first i played it by kneeling on the floor and playing that way for

about 5 minutes. then the clerk brought me a chair, and i played the

rest of the time sitting down. again, it just felt wrong.

there were no risers, and i missed standing up.

 

ergonomics - just like the asteroids cabinet, as i mentioned the sitting down part threw me off,

but i got used to it. the much bigger issue is the hands and wrists, along with the buttons and joysticks.

 

here the biggest problems are the ball and stick joysticks, which are not the original bat style,

(yes, they can be modded and replaced, but i'm going with the stock for now). the buttons are

also non standard, and click. the spacing of them is ok, but not quite arcade standard.

(and again, those can be replaced also).

 

the thing that killed my wrists, was that the nice gentle 5-10 degree(?) slope of the

arcade was gone, and now it's just this flat panel. i would definitely hike those up

somehow with supports to make it feel better. granted i didn't play that long, but i

could tell, it would be different after playing for long periods of time.

 

gameplay -

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

street fighter 2 : champion version

=====================================

this is the first and most basic version of the game, only including the 4 boss characters

for the first time, and also allowing mirror matches.

 

i did not have time to finish any of these games with one character to see the endings.

but did get to the bonus stages. so those looked correct.

 

my timing on the games is good, but not great. i can do basic 3 hit combos, and special

moves for all the characters. when playing guile i was able to land the overhead hit,

sweep, flashkick combo, and sometimes i could dizzy the computer. sonic booms came

out, as did chun li's fast kick and helicopter moves.

 

getting used to the twisty ball stick was tough. i picked ken as my standard character

for all versions, and also played other characters from both the left and right side

of the control panel.

 

i was able to execute all the fireballs, helicopter kicks, and uppercuts, but did miss

a few. my problem was that i started on the left side. i can only do my moves from the

right. so i played for awhile until i lost a round, and then switched over to the right

side, where i was able to get most of my moves out about 75% of the time.

 

i really miss the bat sticks. so that affected gameplay. i didn't notice any lag.

but in order to do frame accurate combos, such as cancels, specials, chains, and hit stuns.

[info from http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Street_Fighter_2:_Champion_Edition]

you need to be able to accurately and quickly do these moves, i think so far the emulation

is passable, and does encompass that.

 

i was not able to try out any glitches, but depending on the rom revision, these should still

be in there:

====================================

Secrets

----------

Beating the game without lose a single round: after the char ending, you'll get a demo mode when each fighter

destroys a crate or an oil drum using one of his/her signature moves, along with aliases and caricatures of the game devs.

 

Konami Code: strangely enough, the Konami Code can be used in the arcade version of SF2CE.

If you pull the sequence up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right and press MP then LP on controller 2

during the attract mode, you'll get screen info like: number of coins deposited, number of times a certain char was used,

etc.

 

Bugs

-------------------------

SF2CE known bugs include:

 

Bonus Stage infinite hits: This bug freezes the game. Here you can see Honda, Blanka and Vega doing it intentionally.

However, if you're on a 2-player game, the other player remains fully operational, and can cancel the bug just hitting

the frozen opponent.

 

Vega backflip bug: an old known bug occurs whenever Vega does his backflip move underneath the oil drums at

the third bonus stage. It doesn't interfere in the game.

 

Corner bug: when one of the players is cornered, the game messes the controllers up whenever the

opponent jump at him turning a reversal attack or even a simple blocking into a guessing game.

The japanese version doesn't have this bug.

 

 

thoughts on this game

----------------------

gameplay response was decent, but the balltop joystick and the subpar clicky buttons

made it a chore to play, and execute moves. yes, i could get use to them, but if i wanted

to play seriously, i would switch everything out.

 

i did not get a chance to play any 2 player games at all, but even if i did, the thing was

stuck in a cramped corner in the front display, so there wouldn't have been much room

at all to play.

 

overall, this is the best game emulation out of the three, with the least issues,

including sound and graphics.

 

i felt that due to the subpar controls, that this game is adequate, but overall

not a very good representation of the arcade version.

 

 

super street fighter 2 : new challengers

=========================================

at this point, most of friends had quit playing fighting games. even in the

arcades things were dying out. but i kept playing, and mostly on home versions,

since it was easier to play, and cheaper.

 

for super, the new challengers they added 4 new characters, cammy, dee jay, fei long,

and t hawk. i liked cammy and dee jay, but couldn't really play fei long or t hawk.

 

again, you could select boss characters, and do mirror matches with a lot more colors.

 

the speed of this game is greatly slowed down, but matches champion edition. people that

played hyper didn't care for the slowdown though.

 

i can't finish this game, unless its on easy, and since you have to beat more characters

that would take longer. i played ken, ryu and cammy. again, i was able to execute all

the special moves, and do some basic 2-1 and a few 3 hit combos.

 

i didn't notice any lag, or too many difference. but as pointed out the sound is lacking,

due to some lost sounds on the mono speaker, and same with some music samples.

 

the AI is smarter on the default so i was only able to make through a few characters,

and also i switched over to the right side, in order to do uppercuts, and special kick moves.

 

thoughts on this game

----------------------

my feelings are this is a much deeper game than the champion edition, and there

is a ton more strategy to learn, and harder gameplay

 

however, due to the poor controls, joystick and subpar buttons, its a chore playing

this also. that in addition to the lack of certain sounds and music make the emulation

seem somewhat broken.

 

overall, i would rank this as a subpar translation of the game, and not a good

represntation of the arcade game.

 

super street fighter 2 : turbo

==============================

again, this game was brought out to prolong the incredibly long wait for street fighter 3.

 

so, due to players wanting more options, they added a turbo option, super combos

(which are super moves), a super bar meter, and increased difficulty.

 

super street fighter 2 turbo is still played competively in competitions to this day.

it has great balance, superior game depth, multiple match ups, hidden character, and

original characters within the game.

 

i was not able to try any of the special things, which can be found here:

http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Super_Street_Fighter_2_Turbo

 

they list how to play as the hidden character akuma, and get the original

versions of the many other characters in the game.

 

again, i played ken, ryu, and guile. the speed on this turbo version is set to 2.

 

it is way too fast. the game is super hard, and unless you know what you are doing,

or play cheesy, you will die super fast against the computer. i was able to build

up my super meter, and get off a few super moves, but that was about it.

thats one notable thing about this game, that is not in any prior edition.

 

i only got through a couple of characters, switched sides, lost and gave up.

 

its going to take people a lot of time to get through this game, and guess what.

if you do it without losing a round, you get to play akuma, who is super hard,

and even more challenging then bison at the very end.

 

i don't know if i will ever get good enough to get that point without savegames,

or using the 2 player cheat, and just continuing.

 

anyways, the game played well enough, but still had the emulation issues

with sounds missing, just like in the regular version.

 

thoughts on this game

---------------------

broken record, here.

 

my feelings are this is a much deeper game than the regular edition, and there

is a ton more strategy to learn, and even harder gameplay

 

however, due to the poor controls, joystick and subpar buttons, its a chore playing

this also. that in addition to the lack of certain sounds and music make the emulation

seem somewhat broken.

 

overall, i would rank this as a poor translation of the game, and not a good

represntation of the arcade game.

 

=======================================================================================

 

 

Final thoughts

----------------

overall, i would give 1up arcades a grade of C- for effort.

D for quality and longevity, C- for emulation, C+ for graphics.

 

So an average of C- overall grading, or 2.5/5 stars for the price.

 

Take into account the games you like, how much you will play them,

and how rough these things will be handled.

 

To me, i don't want to say they feel like they are breaking apart at any time,

because these were worn out demo units.

 

If you don't play often, these things will last and look good.

If you do play often, they WILL wear out, the buttons, the controls, etc, eventually.

 

They should have some kind of riser, or you are really missing out on the arcade

feel of it.

 

Modding the buttons and joysticks, will do some good perhaps, but unless you're

an expert, you might not even notice the difference in stick/bat and button styles.

i would give it a slightly higher rating if they had used better controls, but

they opted out of that.

 

i love street fighter 2, (maybe not as much as virtua fighter), but as 2d goes,

i don't think it can be beat. its just sad and unfortunate it didn't get treated

very well with this adaptation. there's just too many missing things, not being

to control it properly with the stock controllers leads to a lot of frustration.

i'm not sure which rom revisions they used for each game, but i'm assuming they

are the latest for each one, with the appropriate fixes for each one.

 

A valiant, but in the end a very subpar experience, unless you're going for nostalgia,

and love street fighter 2, and are ok with the compromises.

 

so far arcade 1 up is 2 for 2 for subpar experiences.

i'm pretty sure the other 3 (gauntlet, centipede, and deluxe) will all fare

equally bad or worse.

 

galaga, pac-man, and space invaders have a small chance of being

decent, but at this rate, there's not much chance of that either.

 

later

-1

[F34R]

...and finally, my cover for the circuit board:

20181018_173804.jpg

20181018_173813.jpg

20181018_173819.jpg

20181018_173828.jpg

 

The paddle caps can be printed also (not mine):

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:21854

 

I'm very happy with this. It works, and looks ok. Works MUCH better that what Arcade 1Up did.

.STL file attached.

 

 

Who did that solder job? I wanna come to you and clean that up lol.

[negative1]

super quick look at galaga, looks right, and sounds right,

hate the clicky buttons though.

 

 

later

-1

[PacManPlus]

Who did that solder job? I wanna come to you and clean that up lol.

That was direct from the factory; I didn't touch it, although I should have.

 

 

 

excellent work. since you have a free spinning one. can you

spin it 360 in tempest, and not how many segments it travels.

Thank you.

On the very first board (the circle), one 360 degree turn makes the player travel 1 1/3 times around. Also, you can't spin it too fast, otherwise the signals will confuse it and the player will travel the opposite direction.

Edited October 19, 2018 by PacManPlus

[mr_me]

Assuming the dial diameter is similar to the arcade I think that means it's moving 4x faster than the arcade. Might help since this spinner is stiffer. The spinner reversing at high speed could be a software problem, hard to say. Lowering sensitivity in the emulator could fix that. Hardware or software it's a bug that should be fixed.

Edited October 19, 2018 by mr_me

[NE146]

Yeah.. that's pretty bogus. I noticed that in some vids where the guy would try to rotate quickly and the ship would hesitate and sometimes go backwards. In the arcade machine you could spin fast in either direction and reverse on a dime smooth as can be.

[Cynicaster]

Dial controls and trackballs are manufactured for things other than retro arcade games and not all applications require the quality and precision called for in game controls. So as part of the design, the A1up crew probably just searched for cheap, mass produced components that could be, conceptually at least, adapted to a game emulator. They probably focused more on "can we get this cheap dial to make stuff move on the screen?" than they did "can we make this cheap dial deliver a serviceable game experience?"

For comparison, here is the Ultimarc Spin-Trak that is installed on one of my cabinet's swappable control panels. Smooth as butter, with adjustable inertia weight. To be fair though, this thing cost me about $85 (CDN). You get what you pay for, I suppose. Apologies in advance for the gross looking dust that is illuminated by the camera light.

IMG_3691.MOV