It was a pretty productive and busy Saturday as I started things off with a nice workout then my lady had a geek girl brunch thing at The One Up in Sherman Oaks. Enlisting a fellow arcade game loving friend we set out to do some brawling while the ladies did their thing. Jameson and Ginger Beer beside me, I hit Start on Capcom's Knights of the Round from 1991 and away we went. The game sees wizard Merlin sending King Arthur and his two knights Lancelot and Perceval on a mission to take out evil king Garibaldi in order to unite England. Like Final Fight you have three types of player to choose from. Arthur is like Cody, well rounded in the strength and speed department while Lancelot is Guy, being faster and a touch weaker while Perceval is your Haggar, big and slow but strongest of the trio. Opting for Lancelot with his beautiful mane of Fabio-esque hair, we mashed buttons taking out soldiers and thieves with hack and slash spin moves. Tigers are your enemy, sorry Tony while you can jump on horses and hack from above. Health replenishment comes in the forms of salads and cheese plates. Knights is cool because you level up after taking out so many baddies and picking up treasure so you gain a shoulder pad, a breast plate, a bigger sword, a gold suit of armor etc. After 7 levels of medieval mayhem, we defeated Garibaldi and united the realm.
Next up was another side scrolling beat'em up from Capcom, 1993's The Punisher. Here you can only choose Mr. P. himself Frank Castle or former Howling Commando turned head of SHIELD Nick Fury. Unlike Knights or Final Fight where each character is a little different, The Punisher and Fury are basically the same in the speed and strength department. While Punisher does a low spinning sweep special move, Nick Fury whips off his belt and goes around the world. What's great about this game is how violent it is, plus Fury smokes a stogie the entire time. Besides punching, kicking and jump side kicking, you can pick up lead pipes, samurai swords, throw knives and blast fools dead with pistols and M-16's. Oh yeah, you also grab flame throwers and set peeps on fire. You also pick up grenades and explode your enemies whenever necessary. Surprisingly violent, there's blood splatters from the sword slashes, bullet hits and in one scene, Punisher grabs a punk and shoots him under the chin! The food selection here is great, giant roasts, Swiss cheese, flan and hot dogs! This would have been prime time Jim Lee Punisher: War Journal days but I couldn't remember what villains he went up against there besides some ninjas and Bushwhacker. Luckily the blond buzz cut with gun hands Bushwhacker showed up as a boss before we fought the Kingpin. The cool thing about The One-Up is that games are on free play so who knows how many quarters it would have taken to beat these games otherwise. When we defeated Data East's Captain America and The Avengers in Salt Lake City, it took a good $10 for two of us if I recall correctly.
Still on the hunt for Capcom's brawler Alien VS Predator and Data East's run and gun G.I. Joe game. Until then, keep mashing!
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