Any good databases that REVIEW/score arcade games?
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Hey guys, so in trying to build this arcade/console emulator I've been working on, while tracking down some of the games I remember from a youth/have nostalgia for or a personal connection to, I've been looking out for other overlooked games-- besides those from developers that I generally know and trust-- that look interesting (whether on the Internet Arcade, KLOV, or just some of the ROM sites I use).
Problem is, a lot of these sites will just show you screen grabs, descriptions of the controls etc, with no scoring system, or any idea if the game is actually GOOD/fun (and I'll fully admit, I can look at a screengrab of something and-- based on the quality of the graphics-- assume that a decent amount of time went into making it and it's a good/fun game, which is pretty naive).
So what I'm asking is, are there any sites you'd recommend-- like an IMDB or AllMusic for video games-- that you go to when you wanna get an idea if a game is actually GOOD?
Cuz unfortunately I don't have a ton of time to sample a lot of these games on the Internet Arcade, watch playthroughs on YouTube etc (and I don't wanna DL something solely based on the graphics only to find out that it sucks, is boring, repetitive etc).
Case in point, I enjoyed the original Spy Hunter and thus had been planning to DL the sequel, only to see it come up on a few "worst"/disappointing lists. And while I generally enjoy shooters, games in outer space w/robots etc, it wasn't until I finally played through the entire game Side Arms (a game I remember as a kid which objectively seemed to combine all of these things) before I finally realized just how repetitive and frustrating it was. :/
Seriously, though I COULD just post a huge list here of games I'm curious about in the off chance that anyone's familiar w/em, I just thought I'd see if anyone had any site recommendations where I could do the research on my own. Thanks!!
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@mortalwombat Hi, I had the same problem as you and I'm relying on th All Killer No Filler list. It's still over 600 games long, but it's already sorted into categories (a big plus, if you don't know most of the games) and you don't have to worry about duplicates.
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@ecto hey there, appreciate the reply, unfortunately unless I missed something it looks like this is just one guy's list of a bunch of roms? The subgenres he lists above it just link back to the same arcadecontrols site.
Something you could search that includes subgenres of games but mainly just gives you a crowdsourced or rated idea of how fun, original/innovative, difficult/frustrating, repetitive etc they are would be ideal.
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@mortalwombat said in Any good databases that REVIEW/score arcade games?:
@ecto hey there, appreciate the reply, unfortunately unless I missed something it looks like this is just one guy's list of a bunch of roms? The subgenres he lists above it just link back to the same arcadecontrols site.
You can find attached batchfiles at the end of each post when you follow the links of each subgenre. You can use there files to sort through a whole romset. The batchfiles create subfolders and copy the games into those. What I really like about that is, that you have specific "vertical" subgenres, which make the arcade setup easier.
Something you could search that includes subgenres of games but mainly just gives you a crowdsourced or rated idea of how fun, original/innovative, difficult/frustrating, repetitive etc they are would be ideal.
No sorry, I don't know something like that. But simmering down the MAME set to about 600 games is a start. ;)
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@ecto yeah ideally I'm looking for a resource where I don't have to DL/test anything to find out if it's good... oh well, for anyone else who may be familiar with these games (or have any single sites where I can search em to get an idea of they're keepers or not), here's my list:
• Acrobat Mission (1991/UPL, overhead shooter)
• Air Duel (1990 overhead shooter)
• Alien Challenge (1994, tourney fighting)
• Alligator Hunt (1994/Galeco, POV shooter
• Arcadia (NMK 1994 overhead shooter)
• Back Fire (1988/Tecmo side shooter)
• Bakutotsu Kijuutei: Baraduke II (1988 SideArms-like shooter)
• Bang Bead (2000/Visco Games, dodgeball-style competition game)
• Baryon: Future Assault (1997 overhead shooter)
• Beraboh Man (side-scrolling beat em up)
• Best of Best (1994 tourney fighter)
• Biomechanical Toy (platform shooter)
• Black Heart (1991 cartoony shooter)
• Blasted (Midway shooter)
• Block Block (Arkanoid-type game)
• Block Hole (puzzle shooter)
• Block Out (3D Tetris puzzle game)
• Blue Hawk (overhead shooter)
• Bomb Kick (cartoonish platformer)
• Bonze Adventure (Taito platformer)
• Brain 1986 Section-Z like shooter
• Brute Force (overhead beat em up)
• Bucaneers (platformer)
• Bullet (Sega 1987 2-joystick shooter)
• Burning Force (racing/shooter)
• B-Wings (1984 Data East overhead shooter)
• Caliber 50 (rotary game)
• Cameltry
• Carrier Airwing (Capcom shooter)
• Challenger (old school shooter)
• Charlie Ninja (platformer)
• Chimera Beast (monster side-scrolling shooter)
• Chinese Hero
• Colt (POV shooter)
• Cosmic Cop (shooter)
• Cosmo Gang The Video (Galaga-like shooter)
• Cotton (Sega witch shooter)
• Crater Raider (1984 Bally Midway overhead shooter)
• Cute Fighter (cartoonish tourney fighter)
• Cybattler (1993 Jaleco overhead shooter)
• Cyberbots
• Cyvern (shooter)
• Daioh (overhead shooter)
• Dangerous Seed (mech. animal overhead shooter)
• Danger Zone (1st person shooter)
• Dark Seal (1990 Data East)
• D-Con (1st person shooter)
• DD Crew (beat em up)
• Dead Connection (Taito)
• Delta Command (1988 overhead shooter)
• Denjin Makai (beat em up)
• Desert Breaker (Sega Mercs-like shooter)
• Dino Rex (tourney fighter)
• DJ Boy (beat em up)
• DonPachi (shooter)
• DonDonPachi (shooter)
• Double Dynamites (2-player ver. of Dynamite duke)
• Double Wings (overhead shooter)
• Downtown (overhead fighting game)
• Dragon Bowl (cartoonish version of Ninja Gaiden, same moves)
• Dragon Master (tourney fighter)
• Dragon Saber (overhead dragon shooter)
• Dyger (overhead shooter)
• Dynamite Dux (cartoony beat em up)
• E.D.F. Earth Defense Force (Jaleco side-scrolling shooter)
• Eight Forces (overhead shooter)
• Empire Strikes Back
• Enduro Racer
• Evil Stone (overhead platformer)
• Exed Exes (shooter)
• Explosive Breaker (overhead shooter)
• Exzisus
• Fantasy Land (cartoony platformer)
• Fever SOS (overhead shooter)
• Final Blow (boxing)
• Fighter & Attacker - Namco (1992) overhead shooter
• Fighting Hawk (overhead 1943-like shooter)
• Final Star Force (1992 Tecmo overhead shooter)
• Finest Hour (1989 Namco Contra-like shooter)
• Flying Tiger (overhead shooter)
• Funky Jet (flying beat em up) -
• Gaia The Last Choice of the Earth (overhead shooter)
• Gain Ground (Sega overhead shooter)
• Galactic Storm (POV shooter)
• Galaxy Fight
• Galaxy Gunners (shooter)
• Galaxy Force 2 (first person shooter)
• Galmedes (overhead shooter)
• Gang Wars (SNK, beat em up)
• Gate of Doom
• Genpai (horror side-scroller)
• Gigandes (Gradius-like shooter)
• Giga Wing (Capcom overhead shooter)
• G-Loc Air Battle (After Burner-like shooter)
• Godzilla (tourney fighter)
• Great Guns (siege/battle game)
• Guardians of the Hood (Pit Fighter-like fighter)
• Guardian Storm (overhead shooter)
• Gulf Storm (boat shooter)
• Gulf War 2 (overhead shooter)
• Gunbird (overhead shooter)
• Gunbuster
• Gun Frontier (Taito shooter)
• Gun Master (platform shooter)
• Gunnail (overhead shooter)
• Hammerin' Harry (Irem platformer)
• Heated Barrel (Heavy Barrel-like 4 player overhead shooter)
• Heavy Smash
• Heavy Unit (side-scrolling shooter)
• Heavyweight Champ (Punch-Out-like 1st person boxing)
• Heavy Smash (sports game)
• Hebereke no Popoon (puzzle)
• Hot Blocks: Tetrix 2
• HotDog Storm (overhead shooter)
• Hydra (1990 aquatic POV shooter)
• Hyper Crash (Roadblasters-like racing)
• Hyper Duel (shooter like SideArms)
• Hyper PacMan
• Insector X (sidescrolling shooter)
• In The Hunt (aquatic shooter)
• Ironclad (shooter)
• Judge Dredd (platformer)
• Jumping Pop (cartoonish Bubble Bobble-like shooter)
• Karate Blazers (beat em up)
• Kingdom Grandprix (overhead spaceship shooter)
• Knights of Valour 2 (beat em up)
• Knuckle Bash 2 (Fight Final-like beat em up)
• KnuckleHeads (tourney fighter)
• Knuckle Joe
• Kozure Ookami (fighting)
• Kuhga - Operation Code 'Vapor Trail' (overhead shooter)
• Lady Master (like Kung Fu Master but w/a woman)
• Laser Ghost (shooter)
• Last Hope (side-scrolling shooter)
• Led Storm Rally (racing)
• The Legend of Silkroad (1999, beat em up)
• Legionnaire (beat em up)
• Lethal Justice (POV shooter)
• Lock-On (1986 Data East, After Burner-like)
• Lord Of Gun
• The Lost Castle in Dark Mist (overhead shooter)
• Mad Motor (racing/combat game)
• Mad Shark (overhead shooter)
• Magic Bubble (puzzle)
• Main Event, The (Konami pro-wrestling game)
• Marchen Maze (overhead shooter)
• Martial Masters
• Master of Weapon (overhead shooter against aliens)
• Meikyu Jima AKA Kickle Cubicle
• MegaBlast (1989 side-scrolling shooter)
• Mega Twins
• Meta Fox (overhead shooter)
• Metal Black (side scrolling shooter)
• Metal Saver (Bubble Bobble w/guns)
• Mighty Warriors (tourney fighter)
• Mirai Ninja (fast-moving platformer)
• Mirax (Space Harrier-like shooter)
• Mission 660 (Taito overhead space shooter)
• Mug Smashers (Final Fight-like)
• Mutant Fighter (Data East beat em up)
• Nightmare in the Dark (like Bubble Bobble)
• Ninja Clowns (cartoony beat em up)
• Ninja Kazan (platformer)
• Ninja Kids (Taito beat em up
• Nostradamus (overhead shooter)
• Nunchackun
• NY Captor (Taito POV shooter)
• Opa Opa (Fantasy Zone sequel)
• Ordyne (side-scrolling shooter)
• Oriental Legend
• Parodius Da! (cartoony shooter)
• Perfect Fighter (robot fighter)
• Pipe Dream (puzzle game)
• Pirates (1994 combat)
• Plus Alpha (overhead shooter)
• Pollux (overhead shooter)
• Power Drift (racing)
• Prehistoric Isle AKA Genshi Tou (shooter)
• Prehistoric Isle 2
• ProGear (aquatic-themed side-shooter)
• Psycho Nics Osc (platformer)
• PuLiRuLa (beat em up)
• Puyo Puyo (puzzle)
• Q-Berts Qubes -
• Rabio Lepus (cartoonish side-shooter)
• Rad Action
• Racing Hero (Sega, like Hang-On)
• Rail Chase (POV shooter)
• Ragnagard (tourney fighter)
• Rambo III (shooter)
• Repulse (1985 Sega shooter)
• Rezon (organic side-scrolling shooter)
• Riddle Of Pythagoras (Arkanoid-type game)
• Ring Of Destruction: Slam Masters 2 (Capcom sequel)
• Riot (1992 shooter)
• Riot City (Sega beat em up)
• RoadWars (1988 Space Harrier-type shooter)
• Rohga Armor For… (shooter??)
• R-Shark (overhead space shooter)
• Ryu Jin (overhead ship vs. aliens shooter)
• Same! Same! Same! (plane shooter)
• SAR: Search and Rescue
• Schmeiser Robo (tournée robo fighter)
• Scramble Spirits (overhead shooter)
• SD Fighters (cartoonish tourney fighter)
• SD Gundam Psycho (robot platformer)
• Shadow Force
• Shogun Warriors (tourney fighter)
• Silent Dragon (beat em up)
• Silver Millennium (manga overhead shooter)
• Skull & Crossbones (beat em up)
• Sky Alert (1992 overhead shooter)
• Sky Lancer (SideArms-like game)
• Sky Robo (1989 shooter)
• Sky Smasher (overhead shooter)
• Sky Soldiers (overhead shooter)
• Slither (Centipede-like game)
• Solitary Fighter (tourney fighter)
• Sonic Boom (overhead shooter)
• Sorcer Striker (overhead shooter)
• Space Gun (shooter)
• Space Lords (Atari POV shooter)
• Spark Man (Contra-like shooter/platformer)
• Spinal Breakers (Dynamite Duke-like shooter)
• S.P.Y. Special Project Y (side-scrolling beat em up)
• S.S. Mission (overhead shooter)
• Stagger I (overhead shooter)
• Stargate (sequel to Defender)
• SD Gundam Neo Battling (overhead shooter)
• Steel Force (overhead shooter)
• Storming Party (Taito, Ikari Warriors-like)
• Strike Fighter (Sega, like After Burner)
• Street Fighter Alpha
• StrikeForce (1991 Midway side-scroller)
• Strike Gunner S.T.G (overhead shooter)
• S.T.U.N. Runner (racing)
• Success Joe (Punch Out-like boxing)
• Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix
• Super Bagman (never have played Bagman)
• Super Dodge Ball
• Super Real Darwin (overhead shooter)
• Super Soldiers (tourney fighter)
• Super Spacefortress Macross (overhead shooter)
• Super Spacefortress Macross 2 (overhead shooter)
• Super Trio (platform)
• Super-X (overhead shooter)
• SWAT Police (shooter) -
• Tac/Scan (Sega 1982 Tempest-like shooter)
• Thundercade (Taito overhead shooter)
• Thunder Ceptor (Space Harrier-like shooter)
• Thunder Cross 2
• Thunder Dragon (overhead shooter)
• Thunder Dragon 2 (shooter)
• Thunder Force AC (side shooter)
• Thunder Fox (Contra-like side-scroller)
• Thunder Heroes
• Thunder Hoop (platformer/shooter)
• ThunderJaws (platformer)
• Thunder & Lightning (Arkanoid-like)
• Tokusyu Butai (1987 overhead shooter)
• Toppy & Rappy (cartoony Contra-like shooter)
• Tower of Druaga (Namco puzzle)
• Transformers Beast Wars 2
• Trio The Punch (platformer)
• Truxton
• Tumble Pop
• Turbo Force (overhead shooter)
• Turkey Shoot (Williams)
• Turtle Ship (overhead shooter)
• Twin Action (cartoony side-scrolling shooter)
• Twin Eagle (overhead shooter)
• Twin Falcons (1989 side shooter)
• UFO Senshi Yohko Chan (platformer/shooter)
• Ultra Balloon
• Ultra Toukon Densetsu (Ultraman beat em up)
• UN Defense Force (overhead shooter)
• US AAF Mustang (side shooter)
• Valkyrie no Densetsu (shooter)
• Vamf X 1/2 (manga beat em up)
• Van Dyke (Ikari Warriors-type overhead)
• Varia Metal
• Vastar (Section Z-like side-scrolling shooter)
• War of Aero (overhead shooter)
• Welltris
• Wing Force (overhead shooter)
• Wonder Boy in Monster Land
• Wonder Momo (platformer)
• Wrestle War (wrestling beat em up)
• X-Multipy (shooter)
• Zero Team USA -
Shoot, well I dug a little deeper into the KLOV site, and it looks like there are some reviews on there after all (not many tho, and several games simply aren't reviewed at all). But PlayRetroGames.com and Adb.arcadeitalia.net seem to be other sites that have some occasional reviews (as well as IMDB itself, since let's face it, some actors are now appearing in video games). So I feel bad about the massive list, but I may leave it up for a bit, just in case anyone here is at all familiar with any of those games, who knows...
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