How many times have you walked into an arcade to check out what’s the latest in arcade hits to play just to find the DDR master ramping up 230+ Perfects on something like the cruel, cruel song The Legend of Max? Or to stretch your eyes to the sight of Street Fighter champion Justin Wong single-handedly (he might as well) pummel every single opponent daring enough to challenge him. Or maybe you are not the type to subject yourself to public humiliation. You really want to play, but you don’t want the crowd’s glaring eye to witness your utter failure as you play on Light mode in DDR or want to challenge the AI solo-style in Marvel vs. Capcom. But seeing these elite players do what they do best is what really fuels a player to want to join the ranks of the elite arcade-goers, flexing their skills to the passing crowd. Who doesn’t wish they could play like that? I am only one of the many trying to climb my way to the top.

What we see in the arcades can be achieved through rigorous training day and night at the arcade, but that is not the quickest route to victory. We want to look bad at home before we shine like a pro in the spotlight, we don’t want people to see the road in-between. No sir, because these players make it look like they were born professionals from the start. So what other option do we have to turn to but to purchase the console home version of the very game we wish to refine our skills and tactics in?

I went down to my local arcade (the only one that is good and sports a robust game selection and talented players, I should say, including Justin Wong himself) down in the Chinatown area of New York City and snapped some photos of the arcade for this article instead of using some stock images, because this is to share with you my own arcade and feeling for it. It’s not the most glamorous of arcades, it is incredibly hot and sticky, there is an inordinate amount of ballsweat at times, but hell people drop dollar bills faster than a fat kid’ll drop her pants for a big mac and fries (Only on Maury guys, only on Maury). Whichever titles are deemed to be the current heavy hitters, they accept nothing less than a crisp dollar bill for one play, and that doesn’t bother anyone. They don’t mess around here though, these heavy hitters get the royal treatment with stunning LCD screens which are sure to burn through eyeballs in a dark setting. Simply stunning, though.

Two of the main attractions currently are Street Fighter IV still, and BlazBlue (developed by ARC System Works of Guilty Gear fame) which is currently only home to arcades (and select ones, at that) until the impending joy that will be June 30, 2009. Now everyone is familiar with Street Fighter: Chun Li’s sexy thick milkshake thighs, Rufus’ jiggly jello box of obesity, and even Blanka’s electro-raving fury are present. I was never much more than a button-masher when it came to fighting games in the past, but when I really sat down and watched these players do what they do best, I was in complete awe: I wanted to play like that! So I picked it up at my local retailer with a mission in mind: Master the thighs. Well, after rigorous training sessions, I never really could master the thighs (her damn Ultra is difficult for me to pull off, I hate charging moves!) but I have improved from my peon-like button mashing “techniques.”

Tip: Playing against people via Xbox Live or PSN does NOT compare to playing one-to-one in an arcade setting. Anyone can play online; only the best bring the show to the arcade.

The game I have really gotten juiced up about is BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, which, like I mentioned earlier is an arcade-only title until later this week. Now the reason I have been so absorbed with BlazBlue is the fact that it was in my local arcade much farther in advance than its upcoming release date. That was great news to me, it was new enough that no one is professional enough for me to feel foolish enough to play against. We’re all on equal playing ground (though fighting game players tend to be good at fighters, most of the skills are transferable) more or less since no one can train for hours on end at home. So I was slipping in my dollars (Yes, it’s $1 per play! Quarters begone!) fervently at first, daring enough to take on any challenger. Embarrassed at first to look at the execution controls on the artwork of the arcade machine, I started off full-frontal experimenting while still trying to look cool doing it. I figured the typical Hadouken movement in the least, would get me somewhere to start. Let me tell you, I am hooked.

The gorgeous, vibrant imagery of the game was my intial draw to the machine. Now since not too many people are “pros” yet and we’re all just plain “decent” for now, I can sit down, put in a dollar, and not have to put another one in for a few rounds if I can successfully crush my opponents. Contrary to Street Fighter though, you actually get a good amount of play time for your dollar with BlazBlue! To win, you must successfully defeat your opponent in three rounds. Not best out of three, but you will keep playing until someone hits three wins total. After trying out most of the available characters, I found myself to be comfortable with two characters: Taokaka the cat girl with the mighty, giant paws, and Rachel Alucard, the sweet (questionable) little gothic, lolita vampire with the charming little cat umbrella. Each character has their own learning curve to follow with unique, and I stress unique, characters are not throwing Hadoukens back to back, abilities and Drive attacks. It’s going to be a lot different from Street Fighter in a sense that it is much quicker-paced and moves on the fly. Movement feels loose, free, and edgy.

I predict BlazBlue to be a huge hit especially once it hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 next week, full of online play and actual storylines for the characters (What?). With Marvel vs Capcom 2 also molding into downloadable online console play soon, I ask you to get hyped, train rigorously, and hit up an arcade near you. Then you can play with the big boys.

Feel free to check out a bunch of snapshots from the arcade below, most are shots from my BlazBlue matches. Thanks to my friend Shanis for helping take most of the shots while I was playing!

       

Tags: Arcades, BlazBlue, DDR, Fighting games, Street Fighter

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 8:46 am and is filed under Editorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.