2018/6/3: Saturn: F1 Challenge, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (Japan)

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Matchstick
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Re: 2018/6/3: Saturn: F1 Challenge, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (Japan)

Postby Matchstick » June 4th, 2018, 8:36 am

Cafeman wrote:
VideoGameCritic wrote:Now the question is... is it worth tracking down X-Men Vs. Street Fighter for the PS1...?


Although it has still got that Capcom SF gameplay, it isn't the same 2-on-2 tag-team gameplay from what I recall. And you'll see these two words a long time: "NOW LOADING". Actually, after owning the Saturn one, unless you want to get frustrated, stay away from it.


TRUTH!!

Seriously, Critic, do not bother with the PS1 version of this game. I have owned both versions in the past, and even did an old school "side by side" comparison years ago where I hooked up both versions of the game to two separate TVs at the same time. The PS1 version has long loading times, many missing frames of animation, noticeable slowdown with large characters on the screen, and worst of all, NO TAG FEATURE.

In the standard game, your "tag partner" could be called in for a quick assist move, and nothing more. You have to enter a cheat code to enable an "EX" mode of the game, which only allows for true tag team gameplay if both teams are made up of the exact same pair of fighters. This works OK in a two player game (provided both players like using the same two characters) but if you try to play arcade mode, the game will randomly switch out the playable characters between rounds, meaning that the team you have at the end of the game will be entirely different than the one you started off with. No thanks!

The PS1 versions of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom both had a similar "EX" feature, as well as similar lag and choppy gameplay. Neither game was as good as its Saturn or Dreamcast counterpart, and while they aren't terrible games on their own, once you compare them to the original arcade releases, all bets are off.

None of these three "Vs." games sold well on the PS1, mostly due to, if I had to guess, bad reviews and bad word of mouth. If you played the arcade versions first, the PS1 versions were a total joke! However, the low sales figures would make the games kind of rare, which explains the high price on the secondhand market.

If you want to collect them just for the sake of having all the different versions, sure, go for it. But if you're looking for the solid gameplay found in the Saturn version of X-Men vs. Street Fighter, save your money, sir. You have been warned!

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: 2018/6/3: Saturn: F1 Challenge, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (Japan)

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » June 6th, 2018, 7:37 am

F1 Challenge sounds like the fun kind of bad. Or perhaps even good for a niche crowd?

But why is it being compared to sims? It's like giving Crazy Taxi a bad review for reckless driving.

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Stalvern
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Re: 2018/6/3: Saturn: F1 Challenge, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (Japan)

Postby Stalvern » June 6th, 2018, 2:02 pm

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:F1 Challenge sounds like the fun kind of bad. Or perhaps even good for a niche crowd?

But why is it being compared to sims? It's like giving Crazy Taxi a bad review for reckless driving.

Because the game really, really thinks it's one and is drably grounded apart from the dumb arcade physics. It's also the only official F1 game on the system.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: 2018/6/3: Saturn: F1 Challenge, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (Japan)

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » June 10th, 2018, 9:43 am

Thanks for the explanation. That adds a lot of context...

But I can't hate this. It's like a sequel to Virtua Racing. Which itself felt like the heir to games like Pole Position.

I sometimes miss that old school design.

Was Sega the last developer to make arcade style F1 racers?


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