SpikeOut

Punch, Kick, Its' All In The Mind

User Rating: 8.5 | SpikeOut ARC

By tortlecar | Review Date: April 8, 2010

I'm doing something a little different. I decided to review an Arcade game. Theres tons of great Arcade games that have not been released on any consoles. And if they were, the console technology wasn't on par with the Arcades or they totally botch the conversion. SpikeOut is one of those games that has not been released on any console. There is a version that was made for the XBOX, but it is a different game. It doesn't sound as fun as the Arcade original. The reviews haven't been too favorable either. Some years after SpikeOut was released I heard there was a game called SlashOut that used the SpikeOut engine with swordfights instead of brawling. I'm not sure if this game even exists, and if it was brought to U.S. Arcades.

Well at least I got the opportunity to play SpikeOut when it was in Arcades. SpikeOut is the last attempt to advance the Beat-Em-Up genre, and I think they did a bang em up job. This time around though the fun is fully realized in hi-res 3D. When I first saw SpikeOut I had to play it. Sega was really putting in work in those days. Anyone whos played Arcade classics like Final Fight and Double Dragon know what to expect here. Select your rogue character, and hit the streets to dish out pain and punishment fisticuffs style to waves of opponents and overpowerd super charged bosses. Theres a spin on all of this though. The Arcade cabinets are designed off the idea of Arcade racing games. That means each player gets their own machine purely for themselves. You don't have to be anywhere near the other players if you're playing with someone else. This gives the game a freedom unlike any other beat-em-up. So you can link up to a 3 or 4 player game. There was at least 3 characters to choose from. There might have been 4. There were only 2 actual machines at the Arcade I was at though.

All of the areas are spacious and leave you plenty of room to maneveur. You don't ever feel confined to any certain place because you can literally go anywhere without being hindered by the screen. The fighting is much like the beat-em-ups of old. Punches and kicks mixed with timed grabs is the usual formula. Though they have improved the gameplay with some deeper combos and movesets and special grab techniques thrown in for good measure. The game is fairly difficult. Even the basic enemies put up a good fight. Too add to all this the game is even non-linear. There are certain places (doors, gates, walls) that you can break to go different routes in the game. They really did it up here.
Would I recommend it? Of courese. Its' an Arcade Machine though. So if you are rich or something like that, I would definetly track a couple of these massive machines down and buy them. The beat-em-up lives.