While arcades are dying or dead in the west, the crowds at Japan Arcade Expo (JAEPO) show that the genre is alive and kicking here in the land of the rising sun. Normally, few western outlets cover this event, but seeing as GamerHeadlines has someone that’s in Japan anyway, we’ll be covering a tiny portion of the convention. Follow me after the break for real Pokemon fighting, first person Luigi action, and a baby’s first mech as I explore JAEPO 2015.
Now, to be clear, the con isn’t just about arcade games. There’s claw machines and various kinds of gambling-esque games. Arcades here are quite different from what you may expect! That being said, there are still the tried and true arcade games westerners are familiar with.
Like last month, Pokken held a public test of the game. I once again needed a ticket to get in the door, but figured I’d try my hand at Tekken 7, to make a quick comparison. I haven’t played Tekken since the fourth one hit arcades and remembered how limited I usually am by arcade game set-ups due to my wrist problem.
Just the same, I decided a quick game would remind me a little of the series and how Pokken differs from it, but I suppose it’s obvious: the Pokemon fighter is much more casual. Despite all the fighters, Tekken 7 really limited my character selection time, though perhaps this was due to it being part of the show. That is, if you lost your matches (first to 3 victories wins), you left, but if you were the winner, you got to stay and fighter the next challenger.
If it was only a demo, it certain was an impressive one, having what seemed like the full roster (no secret characters of course) and many levels. There was no control cheat sheet handed to me prior to my fight either; I was sent in to play a guy who had beaten 11 guys before me, and since the timer ran out, I selected the same character as he was using. Suffice to say, I lost three out of three games, but not as badly as I feared I would.
The “problem” was that just looking at the controls on arcade machine made my head dizzy with combos in tiny print. I knew how to block and move, but fine control was not something I had time to learn. Just the same, I was able to juggle my opponent a bit if I knocked him down, especially if he bounced. The environmental changes, such as being knocked into a different arena or a volcano forcing combatants to change scenes between rounds was interesting, but from what little I could see, it didn’t feel very new to me.
Immediately the differences stood out. I remember feeling like I couldn’t really juggle in Pokken. Oh, you can get in some good hits as people go down, but the prone state seemed to leave you invulnerable for a longer period of time. The animations also felt more cinematic; I could tell when I wouldn’t be able to block or dodge anymore, and there were a few moves that did this. It could be annoying to some people, but it gave me a chance to gather myself up and plan my next move.
I was able to play two times, as both Machamp and Suicune. Last time, I used Gardevoire, and still feel she’s more of a technical character. I also still feel the game isn’t a button jammer, though friendlier to it than Tekken 7 was. Unlike last time, we weren’t playing against people in Osaka, but people right next to us, so I could peak at my opponent’s screen to see his results. In addition, because it was an arcade expo held on Valentine’s Day, there certainly felt like there were more women, plus children. I noticed a bit more confusion among the crowd of players this time. A mom’s very young child wanted to play the game, but the kid really didn’t understand the basics. Mom really had to hold back when fighting the kid, who really couldn’t control the character well. I saw a few girls trying to button mash as well, and though they giggled, they spent the next round looking at the moves more; their initial button mashing hadn’t been fun to watch, and I think they felt the same.
Once again, I felt my performance mostly rested on my ability to guess blocks, grabs, and block-breaking attacks and counter with the correct move. It sounds simple, but with the different animations, it can be difficult to judge at first.
For Machamp, the character hits rather hard, but this may just be from what I could see of Pikachu (my opponent) and my past experience with Gardevoire. He is, however, slow with many of his attacks, which often leave him open. His lack of projectiles and range is a major weakness. He does have a projectile, but I wasn’t able to recall how to use it, especially since a slow fighter like Machamp didn’t perform well against the quick ‘chu. My charge attack had a bit of a start up delay that made it tough to land, and in the field move, felt like a liability. In the dual mode, though, it was a bit more useful. I lost my match 2/2 times, but interestingly, I got 3.5 stars, the same as my opponent. I had countered some of his moves, but often, Pikachu could stay at range in field mode and was left trying to close the gap.
Suicune, on the other hand, felt like a good mid-range fighter. His moves aren’t as quick as Pikachu, but packed more of a punch. His aerial game isn’t too bad either, in that I could knock an opponent off their feet, up into the air, and then back down with moves that were easy enough to learn but had a start up that my opponent could learn to dodge. However I felt that, if an opponent was too close, my attacks hit for less and didn’t give me the space they normally granted when I struck at mid range. What was very interesting though was that, even though I lost, I had a perfect 5/5 stars on my performance, while my opponent had 3.5. Even if you lose, you can do well. Sadly though, the demo was not set up to test the Bana card I received last time, so I didn’t get to see how that works yet.
As for support pokemon, I’ve noticed that the Emolga and Fennekin set are more friendly to new players, simply dealing damage on call, while Lapras and Snivy are a bit more technical. Snivy hold enemies in place, allowing you to use a slower move more easily, though to be honest, most damaging hits do a bit of this anyway. Lapras, on the other hand, charges forward and then circles the arena. I often saw Lapras get dodged, and had the same thing happen to move, but one smart player I saw then forced his opponent against the wall and moved them back towards Lapras, hitting them from behind.
That wasn’t the only arcade game put forth with Nintendo characters though. Luigi’s Mansion is getting some special treatment from Capcom as a first person, two player rail shooter.
Sadly, the demo for this kind of game was long, so the lines were often closed, and due to the nature of the game, photography was not allowed. I was, however, allowed to watch players and take notes. Both players are Luigi, but in cut scenes, you only see one. The second player is Luigi in an inverse color outfit (green suspenders, blue hat/shirt), but I only saw him on the score screen at the end. Players are moved through the level, sucking at furniture with your ghostbusters inspired vacuum for coins, and fighting ghosts, which need to be hit with a flashlight, then vacuumed. Some ghosts require both players to vacuum it at the same time to defeat, while others (especially large groups) require you to use a “Strobe bomb” rather than your usual flashlight. The game could be a fun, cheap Wii U port, but I didn’t see anything that made me feel like it would be ported to the west.
Capcom also made a “big announcement” for arcades which they had been teasing at: an Attack on Titan game. That’s pretty much all the news there is at the moment, though. No gameplay was shown at all. The anime and manga are at least popular in Japan, but I’m not sure if the news will mean much to most mainstream gamers, which is why you won’t hear other outlets mentioning it.
The event had other things, like a Star Wars pod shooter, Jurassic Park rail shooter, and some digitally enhanced card games, but I was unable to test them due to lines and other restrictions, such as being an adult.
The robot you see here is actually pretty big. The cockpit, which you can see through the window, is big enough for a small child to comfortably stand in (which means it’s still too small for me to enter). As the robot walks in circles the child is playing a joystick controlled point and shoot game, somewhat like asteroids from what I could tell. The child had a good enough time, and the mom was thrilled with the photo-op session (and comfortable enough to allow a foreigner to stand around, check out what the kid was doing, and laugh at the situation along with everyone else).
JAEPO certainly isn’t an event for hardcore gamers. A few arcade games make it an interesting experience, and Japan’s test location gimmick for arcade games does help bring a crowd, but most of what I experienced felt like too much PR for gamers, similar to 2014’s Tokyo Game Show. If you like medal machines, claw games, and can speak Japanese well or don’t mind standing in huge lines, JAEPO is a fun way to spend a day, but otherwise, it may be best to wait on reports from people willing to suffer to satisfy your curiosity.
Original Author: Laguna Levine