Round1 Arcade Visit Feb 3, 2024
This was the first time going to an arcade in years and this was amazing. I made the stupid decision to spend some credits on claw machines because "that is what you do at arcades, right?" Fuck that. These games are so much better and are legitimately calling me back. The arcade was pretty dense and very loud, more of a sensory overload than what I remember from the last arcade. The atmosphere was also more positive than I remember, especially in the rhythm game section. There was one guy absolutely tearing it up on DDR and everyone that was in line was cheering him on. When I stepped up for Dancerush Stardom, my friends were also cheering me on. The rhythm games were particularly uplifting. I have never touched the genre, but the energy and rush are going to keep me coming back.
Here are some thoughts on the individual games.
Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade was the same thing as the arcade mode in the home release, so I likely won't play it again at an arcade because I already have the game, but playing on an arcade stick was the highlight of the visit. It was so much more intense and more of a workout than I expected. Playing on a stick demanded both physical dexterity and strength to move it around as fast as possible. The buttons were similar too; going for longer combos felt extremely taxing since the buttons altogether were about three quarters the length of my keyboard. I might not play it an arcade too much, but I will definitely look into buying an arcade stick for home.
Dancerush Stardom was by far the most surprising game. It has a brutal learning curve. I thought it was just DDR with no buttons, but the footsies required to actually dance your way through a song is remarkably intense. Wearing Doc Martens was the wrong decision, the heel of the boot registered as another foot, so it was like I had four feet on the pad at the same time. That being said, this was so damn fun. When I figured out that I had to shuffle and bounce, I started to move a lot more and actually dance rather than just stomp where I needed to. The free flowing expression of the levels of Dancerush add a level of personability to each dance. Watching other people play was quite fun as well. They all moved completely differently. It is a rhythm game, but to succeed, each dancer needs to find their own rhythm.
Dance Dance Revolution A was kind of underwhelming. The cabinet was sandwiched between the much larger Dancerush and DDR 20th Anniversary machines. It was also much quieter, so I really struggled to get into the music. The absurd force required on the pad and bad picture quality overall made it kind of lame by comparison. I am not going to write off the entire franchise, but this machine was a lowlight from today.
Music Diver is also pretty fresh. I love doing fake air drums with my fingers, so playing on a dishwasher/speaker hybrid looking machine with notes rushing by had me locked the funk in. This game is pretty great. The screen was the best out of every game, this thing was like looking into an abyss of raw music and weeb energy. It also made me feel the "best" in the sense that I felt like Andrew at the end of Whiplash even if I was only playing on regular difficulty. The sticks were crazy responsive; it felt extremely seamless. Even if it is restrictive of player expression in comparison to the finger dancing of Chunithm, DDR or Dancerush, the game still massively succeeds in putting me in conversation with the music.
Chunithm is like a dancing game, but for my fingers. The piano touch screen paired with the motion sensors on the side enabled a unique kind of expression that felt somewhere in between an orchestra conductor and anime Beethoven. The noise cancelling on the cabinet is insane. The machine's footprint is designed to lead in around your head and block out external sound. And it works surprisingly well. Paired with the lights firing off all around the piano screen and the entire arcade falls around the player. The gameplay itself is similarly smooth, effortlessly lifting off the piano and bringing it back down to continue the combo adds a layer to gameplay that enhances the immersion by bringing the player further into the urgency of the song. The lack of an English translation on this game in particular was a hurdle, but good the particularly clean UI design did not hinder the ease of use or the glassy personality of the machine.
Initial D Arcade Stage is kind of special. Racing games with personality are few and far between and I have been playing some absolute bangers lately, but Initial D just gets down to racing in the purest most competitive form moreso than a lot of other racers. Furthermore, it matches the energy of the anime by making the various tactics of the racers game mechanics; you can do the gutter technique, jump off the edge of steep hairpins or use the grip of FF cars to rocket through corners. Of course, Eurobeat helps a lot too. The soundtrack to Initial D has always been iconic and it is a running joke that listening to Eurobeat makes you a faster driver in real life and other video games. So listening to those beats in an AE86, on Akina, racing against the RedSuns is a dream. These Initial D cabinets were the first thing I saw when I walked in and the first thing I played. It sucks that there is only one race per credit, but the rush of racing and letting reality slip away to focus only on drifting in some of the coolest cars on some of the coolest tracks is unforgettable.
Here are some thoughts on the individual games.
Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade was the same thing as the arcade mode in the home release, so I likely won't play it again at an arcade because I already have the game, but playing on an arcade stick was the highlight of the visit. It was so much more intense and more of a workout than I expected. Playing on a stick demanded both physical dexterity and strength to move it around as fast as possible. The buttons were similar too; going for longer combos felt extremely taxing since the buttons altogether were about three quarters the length of my keyboard. I might not play it an arcade too much, but I will definitely look into buying an arcade stick for home.
Dancerush Stardom was by far the most surprising game. It has a brutal learning curve. I thought it was just DDR with no buttons, but the footsies required to actually dance your way through a song is remarkably intense. Wearing Doc Martens was the wrong decision, the heel of the boot registered as another foot, so it was like I had four feet on the pad at the same time. That being said, this was so damn fun. When I figured out that I had to shuffle and bounce, I started to move a lot more and actually dance rather than just stomp where I needed to. The free flowing expression of the levels of Dancerush add a level of personability to each dance. Watching other people play was quite fun as well. They all moved completely differently. It is a rhythm game, but to succeed, each dancer needs to find their own rhythm.
Dance Dance Revolution A was kind of underwhelming. The cabinet was sandwiched between the much larger Dancerush and DDR 20th Anniversary machines. It was also much quieter, so I really struggled to get into the music. The absurd force required on the pad and bad picture quality overall made it kind of lame by comparison. I am not going to write off the entire franchise, but this machine was a lowlight from today.
Music Diver is also pretty fresh. I love doing fake air drums with my fingers, so playing on a dishwasher/speaker hybrid looking machine with notes rushing by had me locked the funk in. This game is pretty great. The screen was the best out of every game, this thing was like looking into an abyss of raw music and weeb energy. It also made me feel the "best" in the sense that I felt like Andrew at the end of Whiplash even if I was only playing on regular difficulty. The sticks were crazy responsive; it felt extremely seamless. Even if it is restrictive of player expression in comparison to the finger dancing of Chunithm, DDR or Dancerush, the game still massively succeeds in putting me in conversation with the music.
Chunithm is like a dancing game, but for my fingers. The piano touch screen paired with the motion sensors on the side enabled a unique kind of expression that felt somewhere in between an orchestra conductor and anime Beethoven. The noise cancelling on the cabinet is insane. The machine's footprint is designed to lead in around your head and block out external sound. And it works surprisingly well. Paired with the lights firing off all around the piano screen and the entire arcade falls around the player. The gameplay itself is similarly smooth, effortlessly lifting off the piano and bringing it back down to continue the combo adds a layer to gameplay that enhances the immersion by bringing the player further into the urgency of the song. The lack of an English translation on this game in particular was a hurdle, but good the particularly clean UI design did not hinder the ease of use or the glassy personality of the machine.
Initial D Arcade Stage is kind of special. Racing games with personality are few and far between and I have been playing some absolute bangers lately, but Initial D just gets down to racing in the purest most competitive form moreso than a lot of other racers. Furthermore, it matches the energy of the anime by making the various tactics of the racers game mechanics; you can do the gutter technique, jump off the edge of steep hairpins or use the grip of FF cars to rocket through corners. Of course, Eurobeat helps a lot too. The soundtrack to Initial D has always been iconic and it is a running joke that listening to Eurobeat makes you a faster driver in real life and other video games. So listening to those beats in an AE86, on Akina, racing against the RedSuns is a dream. These Initial D cabinets were the first thing I saw when I walked in and the first thing I played. It sucks that there is only one race per credit, but the rush of racing and letting reality slip away to focus only on drifting in some of the coolest cars on some of the coolest tracks is unforgettable.
6 Games
