MMMC - Assault

[scooterb23]

OK, we've had a couple quiet weeks. I hope we can get a little more participation this time.

This week's game is called Assault, a tank game, with dual joystick controls that seems to have many similarities to a top down shooter. I've never played this, so I have very little to add.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_de...p?game_id=6934



I will post the ROM a little later, but you'll find it at drop.io/dpmameclub

Remember, all you have to do is download the ROM, and play the game...it's simple. So come play this week!

[Lerxstnj]

Great game! This is my type of game and the first time I'm playing it, so thanks for the recommendation! But a few issues...

I'd describe it as a fantasy / unreal / over-the-top Battle Zone with a top-down view. Your tank will do incredible moves that could never happen in real life.

The enemy AI seems difficult, I guess that's why there's a continue feature. I doubt many will get very far without it. They really fire all they've got at you & quickly! There are also quite a lot of obstacles to get around. Arrows help out to know where to go.

I really like the originality though...
There is a jump feature where you drive onto this platform and it boosts you up high in the air where you can drop bombs on the enemies. That's great because they can't shoot you while in the air as far as I can tell, but it is for a limited time. The other great thing is the barrel roll. This is a great maneuver to get away from enemy attacks. (Both sticks left or right). I found myself using this quite a lot!

Unless you have a good control set up, most will find this unplayable. I used a X-Arcade dual stick, which was fine except it was a bit hard to hit the fire button while keeping both hands on the sticks. I have the same issue with Battle Zone.

Only played 2 levels so far. I'll play some more to see what the later levels bring.

[scooterb23]

Yeah, I took the control issues into consideration, but decided to go ahead an let it ride. I'm wondering if a PS2 style gamepad with shoulder buttons would be a good alternative? use the d-pad and face buttons to move, shoulders to fire?

I'll have to give that a try tonight, and post results.

[Lerxstnj]

Also, it reminds me a lot of Commando by Data East, (which is a favorite of mine) and came out 3 years earlier.

[scooterb23]

OK, I'm having a blast with this game. It's very unique, although you are correct that it's probably not the best game for this MAME Club as the controls are a bit of a kludge. I can't find my joypad, so I set up keyboard controls... ESDF on the left hand, and the arrows on the right, using W to fire. The way I use the keys, that's the best set up I've found.

I do have to say I love the tank's barrel roll when you push both sticks left or right.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I have a Dual Shock type joypad I'm playing with, and it's a little bit of a challenge. I've made it to the second stage, but was killed by the fortress. I like the game, and would like to play this on a dedicated machine. I configured each of my joysticks to control the tank treads. I'll invariably hit the joystick at a wrong angle trying to out maneuver a tank, and then I'm only driving on one tread. The problem is the analog sticks... it appears that this was originally used 2 4-way joys so I guess that's where the problem lies.

It's pretty playable with a joypad, but I wonder how much easier it is with 2 4-ways? I do like the ability to kill enemies that aren't on screen, it helps level the playing field with as many enemies you encounter.

[jb143]

Finally got a chance to try this out and I pretty much agree with what everyone is saying. Looks to be a great game but hard to control with a keyboard. It was actually a lot better than I was expecting. I'm sure the rotating backgrounds really wowed people playing this in the arcades in 1988.

[stargate]

I remember when this game was first released in the arcades back in the day. It was somewhat rare, but I was lucky to have it in my hometown arcade. It had a unique control sceme, but it worked VERY well on the original arcade machine. I played this one a lot and always had a blast (no pun intended).

The MAME version suffers from controls, as stated. However, I am using a standard controller. I may have to bust out my dual joystick Hotrod, but even then the fire buttons were mounted on the joysticks so it still might be a problem.

Great game !!

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey, I think this is one of my suggestions, cool!

seems to have many similarities to a top down shooter.

Well, that's 'cuz it is one.

This and Aurail are two of the standout examples (imo) in this specific genre, with other games like Atari's Vindicators coming close. It's not as straightforward a scoring-based arcade shooter as SNK's TNK III or the scoring-centered Guardian Force (the Success tank game), but figuring out how to deal with enemy defenses is pretty satisfying and mixes a bit of puzzle into the dodging reflexes. Due to the twin joystick setup and custom tilemap 3D chips of this game (limiting it to 1P at a time), it probably was a harder sell to arcade operators. It's still pretty fun though.

I'm not sure that the tilt-back mortar attack was very useful in the levels I played; but it might be. The roll action is pretty awesome and constantly useful, though. It's pretty tough to play this one on many setups, though. I don't remember what my preferred setup was, probably my 360 pad (which is probably not close to perfect).

[Fontaine Le Funk]

WOW! What a fantastic game. I love the vibrating camera when you roll over a crater and the destructable environment. This really needs alien infantry to squish ala Jackal, haha. Perfect with a Sunday afternoon beer.

And the level two 'now-the-game-begins' music kicks! But why the two credits to start?
Damn, is the tank made of paper mache? One hit kills a tank? Really!?
My dualshock2 worked great with a shoulder button to fire btw.

[scooterb23]

OK, update time.

I now have a job. Today was my first day, and it kicked my butt pretty hard. So, I'm going to call a time out...since I have 4 more butt kickings ahead in a row.

Since there were kind of low turnouts the past few weeks, maybe everyone can go back and fill up those older threads a bit more?

What I'm planning on doing is starting to post these on Sunday, since it looks like Mondays are going to be bad for me for the forseeable future.

Thanks for understanding, and have a good week. I'm going to sleep now.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Congrats (or maybe not) on the job Scooter! I have absolutely no problem bumping the old threads, although I'm the last poster in quite a few of the recent ones. It's always a little quiet in arcade alley, sometimes I wish there was more going on in here.

[scooterb23]

Thanks, it is a good thing...although I did have a lot of good times in the last year and a half. I definitely needed to work again, it takes some time to adjust to things again...

[stargate]

OK, update time.

I now have a job. Today was my first day, and it kicked my butt pretty hard. So, I'm going to call a time out...since I have 4 more butt kickings ahead in a row.

Since there were kind of low turnouts the past few weeks, maybe everyone can go back and fill up those older threads a bit more?

What I'm planning on doing is starting to post these on Sunday, since it looks like Mondays are going to be bad for me for the forseeable future.

Thanks for understanding, and have a good week. I'm going to sleep now.

I often wonder if we should switch to a MONTHLY MAME CLUB. It would give people more time to sit down and play the games and we may get more participation. Every week seems too frequent and we don't seem to be getting a lot of involvement.

[scooterb23]

An interesting idea, I would counter that if we had just one game for an entire month that people might not have a lot of interest after a while, and people would stop playing...I do appreciate the input.

I don't know, maybe it is meant to be a small group, with a select group of hardcore followers? I would like to think there are more than 6-8 people that would take a little time out of their week to play an old game.

I will say that I will do my part to keep things running (with apologizes for the random off weeks from time to time) as long as people keep participating.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Yeah this section is always more overlooked than other areas. I agree with keeping it a weekly thing... at most maybe every other week. It'd be cool if more people played MAME- it's free for Christ's sakes. If it stays a small group well that's fine too... I like being exposed to games I might not otherwise play. If I miss a week I try to come back and post when I go get a chance to play it.