Ken McKown writes: I am a huge Mortal Kombat fan; have been since the original appeared in arcades back in 1992. When I heard a compilation of the first three games was being released, I was ecstatic. I grew up in arcades playing mostly MK and Street Fighter, and some of my fondest gaming memories are dropping endless quarters into the MK2 machine at my local mall. Nearly twenty years later I can now relive those memories with the Mortal Kombat Kollection, for a paltry $10. The question is, do these games live up to my childhood memories or simply fail to recapture the glory days of my youth?
A look back at a key moment in one gamer's life at the local video games arcade.
Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR. All ages till 4 or 5 I think and then 21 and over at night. Full bar, top floor is all pinball machines, lower floor is stand ups.
10 minute walk from my place downtown and I'll easily spend $20
Those parties were the best. I remember something similar where myself and a few friends finished Die Hard Arcade. Good write up. You have got me pining for the good old days
Back then it was about trying to get the top score and having fun hanging out with your mates and no one cared about how many pixels a game had
Jack and Geoff face off in various Mortal Kombat themed titles, Geoff picking Jack's character and vice-versa. Who will win?
This week Fred and Jam are throwing around fighters of the 90s (that aren’t Street Fighter II or Tekken, we did a show for those already). In the 1990s, the fighter genre was the most popular type of game available (like First Person Shooters today), and among those that have withstood the test of time there were plenty of others that played the field. From Mortal Kombat to Soulcalibur you had plenty of arcades (and home ports) to drink your quarters in arcades.
Im a big fan of 3 genres in the arcade. SHMUPS, Racers and fighting games. From playing games like 1943 to Daytona to fatal fury and everything in between.
big respect for SF2 and what it did for bringing the fighting games out of obscurity (ye ar kung fu, pit fighter) and into the main stream. It is the Neo Geo that did it for me personally. Art of fighting, Samurai Shodown, world heroes and the eventual annual release of king of fighters.
Those were the days.
Just for easy finding, if anyone is interested in our Street Fighter and Tekken ep (not the game Street Fighter X Tekken, but rather an analysis of both franchises) is here: http://gaminghistory101.com...
One of my favorite genres, along with shmups, in gaming.
