EAG 2020 – Bandai Namco Is Bringing These Games To The Arcade

Bandai Namco brought a variety of arcade games to London’s Entertainment, Attractions, and Gaming International Expo, with lots of racing and shooting

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The 2020 Entertainment, Attractions, and Gaming International Expo was recently held in London and TheGamer was in attendance to try out the games that could be coming to arcades, malls, and theme parks near you.

Like Sega’s showing at the event, the Bandai Namco booth had lots of racing and shooting games with a focus on cabinets with physical feedback. The arcade cannot match the home market in terms of visuals, but the force effects and sensation of being in the game that many modern cabinets offer are hard to duplicate cheaply, so there is still some life left in the arcade.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

Bandai Namco demoed the offline version of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, which offers single players or groups the chance to race against each other in life-sized Karts. Mario Kart Arcade GP DX has a selection of old and new tracks from the series, along with characters from outside of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, including Pac-Man and Don-chan from Taiko no Tatsujin.

The mechanics of playing Mario Kart using a physical vehicle are much trickier than using a controller, as the item activation button is away from the wheel and the pedals are used for drifting, which can be difficult to perform repeatedly in succession. With that being said, the game is still a ton of fun to play, especially when competing against other players. Mario Kart is meant to be frantic and chaotic, and the physical attributes of the cabinet mean that a lot more goes into playing it than with a controller. The main way in which the game could be improved would be with an option to disable the annoying voice actor, as his narration of every action quickly becomes grating.

Big Buck Hunter – Reloaded

The original Big Buck Hunter is like a realistic version of Duck Hunt that just makes people sad for the animals that they are shooting. Big Buck Hunter – Reloaded is a more comedic game that pits the players against zombies and undead animals.

The gimmick of the Big Buck Hunter – Reloaded cabinet is that the cabinet uses a pump-action gun, which limits the player to one shot before they need to reload. The problem with this gimmick is that the player can overcome this restriction by repeatedly pumping and shooting, which then limits the rate of fire to how long it takes before their arm gets tired. The game itself is just a regular shooter with some redneck comedy elements thrown in.

Nerf Arcade

Nerf Arcade is a shooter that is intended for kids, as most arcade games in the genre involve shooting humans or human-like opponents (like robots or zombies). The game comes with two oversized blaster guns and the aim of each game is to strike targets that are worth points. Nerf Arcade isn’t particularly complicated and there isn’t as much content as in similar arcade shooters, but it will be fun for its intended audience.

Superbikes 3

Superbikes 3 is a racing game with a focus on the bike component of the cabinet. The player needs to push the bike in different directions in order to move their in-game racer, which is a ton of fun in practice. The special effects of the cabinet weren’t the most impressive we saw at the show (as ATV Slam from the Sega booth takes that prize), but Superbikes 3 is still an enjoyable racing game with awesome physical feedback from the machine that enhances the experience.

Halo: Fireteam Raven

Halo: Fireteam Raven is a shooter that allows up to two players to take on the Covenant with a range of weapons from the Halo video game series. The cabinet comes with two massive guns that allow for a number of options, such as reloading or using secondary items. The problem with the game is that it feels too much like a regular shooter and doesn’t use the Halo license effectively. The player repeatedly faces the same mobs of enemies who stand out in the open and rely on personal shields to keep them safe, so the combat doesn’t feel satisfying. There is some frantic fun to be had in its dogfights, but it feels like it could have accomplished so much more.

Space Invaders Frenzy

Space Invaders Frenzy certainly had the most impressive looking screen at the show, as it was a massive LED board that used individual lights to create the sprites of the Space Invader enemies. The objective of the game is to protect cannons at the bottom of the screen from the encroaching alien hordes and this is not an easy task. The aliens come in thick and fast, with huge boss monsters taking up a portion of the screen, while smaller enemies dash down to try and reach the cannons as quickly as possible. The game is brutally hard and not for the faint of heart, especially when playing alone, but it looks incredible, the huge blaster guns feel satisfying, and there is never a dull moment while facing the invaders

Hot Wheels – King Of The Road

Do you remember the classic 16-bit Micro Machines racing games? Hot Wheels – King of the Road feels like a vertical version of those games. There are four player and six player versions of the machine and they come with steering wheels and pedals that the player needs to use to keep their toy car on the track. The wheel felt stiff and unresponsive compared to some of the other racing games we tried, but that added to the chaotic fun of trying to reach first place. This is a game that’s definitely meant to be enjoyed with friends to get the full experience.

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider is a shooter that is based on the reboot series of games and up to four players can help Lara Croft on her adventures. The gimmick of the guns in Tomb Raider is that they are slide lock pistols, which means that the player needs to pull the mechanism on top of the gun in order to reload. This gimmick is fun the first few times that the player needs to do it, but it quickly becomes tiresome, especially as the regular pistol weapon only holds a few rounds. The levels are also full of treasure that the player needs to shoot to collect, so there is always a need to reload. If the player’s wrist can handle it, then there might be a fun shooter buried somewhere in here.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/eag-2020-bandai-namco-is-bringing-these-games-to-the-arcade/