Monday MAME Club [10/12/04] - Ninja Clowns

[Flack]

The last couple of MAME Club picks haven't had a lot of participation. We need something fun. We need something wacky. We need something violent. We need ... NINJA CLOWNS.

Ninja Clowns is my MAME Club pick of the week!
The MAME Club Pick Of The Week can always be found HERE



Download the ROM if you don't already have it, give it a spin, and respond to this topic with your review! Have you played this game before, or is it brand new to you? Do you like the genre? How did it run on your computer? Did you beat it? If so, how long did it take? What was your high score? How far can you get? Did you have any problems emulating the game? When writing your review, post it right here in the sticky topic and include any thoughts you have about the game. Remember, YOU are the reviewer. Let us know anything and everything you think about the game!

Club Members:

digitalpress (Battle Bakraid)
Gamereviewgod (ESP Ra.De.)
Wisesalesman (Waku Waku 7)
scooterb23 (I'm Sorry)
ddockery (Penguin-Kun Wars)
AlanD (Dr. Micro)
IntvGene (Strike Force)
NE146 (Portman)
jonjandran (Bronze Adventure)
Flack (Rollergames, Yie-Ar Kung-Fu, Liquid Kids, Ninja Clowns)
IGotTheDot (N/A)
zektor (Battle Bakraid, Haunted Castle)
buttasuperb (Blazing Star)
chadtower (Berkerk)
Sotenga (Caliber 50)
Stark (Mighty! Pang)
christianscott27 (Darius Gaiden)
ECWSandmanECW (League Bowling)
TripppsK (Lady Bug)
vespertillio (Rampart!)
ghsqb (N/A)
TheSmirk (Bomb Jack)
Flukkake (Elevator Action)
BHvrd (NARC)
ManekiNeko (Battle Circuit)
MarioAllStar2600 (City Bomber)
Ze_ro (Pandora's Palace)
slip81 (Biomechanical Toy)
Qbert (Mysterious Stones)
k8track (Go! Go! Mile Smile)
Hamsnibit (N/A)
Lady Jaye (Chuka Taisen/Cloud Master)
Sofa King Gud (Crossbow)
Schenley (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Kaine23 (Super Burgertime)
Arqueologia_Digital (Burgertime)
Jiscan (Withdrew)
-hellvin- (Splatterhouse)
Acidic_Pain (Armed Police Batrider)
Gamemaster_ca_2003 (Block Out)
Vigilante (Pu-Li-Ru-La)
Hovoc (D&D: Shadow Over Mystara)
Mr.FoodMonster
sniperCCJVQ
A Boy
JibbaJaba
Cauterize
youruglyclone
Ed Oscuro
Gapporin


Remember, you don't have to be a member of the club to download the game and write up a review, but by joining you get the honor of picking a game to share with the group during your week. If you would like to join, simply send me a PM and I will add you to the list!

I dropped the ball this week and forgot to remind people to give me their choices. Next week we'll be back on schedule. Until then, grab your joystick, a pair of oversized red shoes and a bowling pin, and ...

... MAME ON!

[Hovoc]

heh dropped it last week too, that was the reason for my crappy pick.

i think i submitted mine about 1 or 2 in the evening maybe we should change it to monday afternoon mame club?

downloading this one to give it a whirl

[Hovoc]

shouldnt this be stickied AND in the arcade alley forum?

[Gamereviewgod]

Just for the record, we all hate you for picking this game. You are an evil, evil person for suckering in perfectly decent people who will now be scarred for life after playing this.

[Flack]

shouldnt this be stickied AND in the arcade alley forum?

Hovoc, it gets moved and stickied every week once an admin sees it. This week is no different. Now go play a game and be good!

[Hovoc]

shouldnt this be stickied AND in the arcade alley forum?

Hovoc, it gets moved and stickied every week once an admin sees it. This week is no different. Now go play a game and be good!

k thought MODs had the ability to move and sticky stuff, sorry :P

[Ze_ro]

Is this game some kind of joke or something? I can't believe a company (even Strata) would actually release something like this into an arcade... I mean really, what's the thought process that goes on here? I can just see a bunch of execs at Strata sitting around a table... "Gentlemen; We need an idea for our next arcade game. The arcade industry is skyrocketing, and we need our piece of the pie! Now what can we do make ourself kinds of the 'cade?"... everyone around the table furrows there brow and rubs their chins, deep in thought... and then suddenly a guy near the back jumps up, points a finger in the air and yells "I've got it!! We'll do a side scrolling fighter.... with (wait for it)... CLOWNS!"... everyone just sits there for a minute in total silence... zoom in on the face of the president of Strata, whose head turns slowly to the camera... "That's BRILLIANT!"

The actual fighting mechanics of this game are rather mediocre... a decent number of moves and powerups and such, but certainly nothing that other games weren't already doing at the time... The theme also isn't all that great. I mean, you have the whole clown thing going, but that alone isn't strong enough to carry it (Unlike that crazy-ass Pu-Li Ru-La game a couple weeks back). The only exceptional feature of this game are the above-average graphics, which are actually quite high-res for a 1991 game. Strata isn't known for being an amazing company or anything, but Peggle is a good example of a decent game by them... much better than this one anyways.

--Zero

[ddockery]

Alright, there was a SNES game called Boogerman, and you're questioning a clown fighting game???

I'll be sure to check this out tonight.

[Gamereviewgod]

Oh, I don't think he's arguing that a game with Ninja Clowns could be fun. But, I'll just wait until you come crying back.

[Flack]

Remember, esteemed fellow MAME Club Members, the fun (and point) of the MAME Club is to play the game of the week, and offer up your thoughts. This thread has 110+ views, and about 2 comments. C'mon guys -- this is YOUR Club!

And with that ...

To be completely honest, I picked this game totally off the name. I thought it would be much more fun than it really is. From what I can tell, it's a beat-em-up with about as much strategy as Double Dragon. And don't get me wrong, I love Double Dragon, I love clowns, and I love ninjas -- of course, I love deep fried catfish and chocolate ice cream too, but that doesn't mean I like them together.

For a clown, your basic attacks seem to be limited to a punch or a clown shoe kick, although weapons such as a big bopper and an oil can are easily found. I thought level one was pretty boring, but level two made me laugh as I begun being attacked by Elvis impersonators, chattering teeth, fat bearded ladies, and other oddities.

Speaking of oddities, the big boss at the end of level one is a big huge bowler, who throws big balls at you (bowling balls, you pervs). What this has to do with anything, I have no idea.

And really, what any of it has to do with anything, I have no idea. Whatever the story to this game is, I'm lost. Why clowns would be walking down the street at night beating up business men with briefcases and dirty car mechanics is more than odd. While the graphics on this game are outstanding for its time, it seems to be more of a cut-and-paste job of whatever characters were left over from other games.

As far as strategy goes, well ... button masher deluxe.

[ddockery]

C'mon, everybody knows that clowns are a bunch of deliquent bullies! This game is spot on. As for the bowling boss guy... don't clowns juggle bowling pins? Is that a connection if they do? I have to play all the way through this just to see if it gets any more bizarre.

[kainemaxwell]

But is this game more fun then listening to Insane Clown Posse? :P

[Gapporin]

But is this game more fun then listening to Insane Clown Posse? :P

Yes. Definitely.

[Flack]

But is this game more fun then listening to Insane Clown Posse? :P

Shoving an entire Ninja Clowns arcade cabinet up my ass would be more fun than listening to Insane Clown Posse.

I played through level three last night and got tired of continuing so I quit.

[kainemaxwell]

But is this game more fun then listening to Insane Clown Posse? :P

Shoving an entire Ninja Clowns arcade cabinet up my ass would be more fun than listening to Insane Clown Posse..

I think that'd be as painful as listening or watching them play.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Oh yeah, I'm picking the game for next week. I'll decide tomorrow or something.

[sniperCCJVQ]

I already send mine just in case.

[Ze_ro]

For a clown, your basic attacks seem to be limited to a punch or a clown shoe kick

Actually, there ARE other moves, although the game doesn't exactly go out of it's way to let you know how to do them... it's been a few days since I played it (and frankly, I'm not likely to be going back to it anytime soon), but from what I remember if you hold Down/Right or Down/Left and hit kick, you'll do some rolling kick thing... if you hit Punch and Kick together, you can do a jump kick, and if you hold Up (or Up/Left Up/Right) while hitting kick, there's another attack too... I forget what that one is though. There might be more stuff too, but I couldn't figure it out. I thought I figured out how to throw pies, but I think that was the result of a powerup or something.

Anyone suffered through this game long enough to tell us who the final boss is? I'm guessing it's going to be some giant evil clown.

--Zero

[Gamereviewgod]

Do any of those moves matter when the hit detection is this awful?

[ddockery]

OK, yeah, it sucked.

The music was bad, the gameplay was bad... I guess the graphics were alright. The concept could have been fun though.