FATAL ATTRACTOR: The Art & Spirit Of ATTRACT/TITLE/GAMEOVER

[BIL]

^ the feels ambush that is that film.

"Keep a memory of me. Not as a king, or a 'hero...' but as a shumps farmer. Fallible, and flawed."

And yes! THE LONG DISTANCE is a powerful tune! A martial beat driving a hook that tells of outrage and rising vengeful fury! With the story demo's sepia image of Musashi cradling his dying master continuing the Attract's spartanly impactful ethos.

(;｀ω´;) Sadness and Revenge
The Story Of Arcade Action Gaming (｀ω´メ)

Also a strong contender for the Evocative VGM titles thread. Apt summary of Joe's understatedly mammoth trek across land, sea and air. The game's cinematic continuity is underrated, imo. There's always a plausible explanation for Joe being wherever he is (he's an efficient traveler and likes to annihilate ranking ZEED targets while passing through, ala st4's Terminator and st7's Godzilla... I presume st2 and st6's ninja bosses are ambushes swiftly struck down). And more often than not, you can infer if not outright see your next destination from the backdrops (st5's highway is seen from st4's junkyard; st7-2's battleship is moored at st7-1's docks).

As is the game's reserved, gunmetal/asphalt near-future style, it doesn't draw attention to itself, but it's most certainly deserving of it.

Lots of great stuff posted here. I got a lot of giffing to do! Something this thread has emphasised is the critical role of sound in these things... but it's nice to have a quick visual reference.

Attract modes are a lost art. Splatterhouse 2's scrolling pan of the West Mansion estate, corpses wrapped in burlap sacs hanging from the trees, dark clouds covering the sky, wicked Halloween funhouse music, and the sinister laugh of that awful mask.

Classic. Content aside, the uncompromising pace really stuck with me as a kid. A long, uneasy buildup panning across the countryside, finally a bloodening glimpse of horror... and then death stretches on, and on, and on - to the point I was less curious about the bodies, more WTF sort of pixel Jonestown aftermath I was witnessing. And at the very end, bracing for something to scroll by too close for comfort™, a brief glimpse of a horrendously disfigured but quite dead face with an inscrutable expression and CUT.

Hmm. Well, that was certainly thought-prov

Spoiler

Oh fuck you, mask.

Super Contra
WHAT IS THIS PLACE? KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED! *hiss* rat-ta-ta-ta!

Special mention also to Super Contra's COIN IN sound effect, the screech of a mortally wounded alien drone getting a coup de grace to its shiny black dong-dome from BIRU RIZER himself. As if the intro wasn't hint enough that this is one mean flame-belching coin-operated motherfucker!

What a hellacious step up from the first game's humble "woop woop" coin in sound. :O Gun Frontier's (heard briefly in the OP post link) is very cool too, a resonant chord straight out of the mercurially longing/raging OST to come.

I've grown fonder of Shadow Dancer MD's minimalist yet ninja as fuck attract sequence. I used to find it overly spare - yo, where are my shaweet dashing ninja boots ala NES Ninja Gaiden?! - but having gained an appreciation of "missing" frames and implied movement, it's easily interpreted as a superhuman burst of speed and precision from Hayate.

Spoiler

Bam! You are already dead! Works particularly well as a lynchpin for otherwise icily controlled movement.

Aria of Sorrow's Game Over screen has always felt like it's referencing something. It's incredibly well done, regardless. Darkly alluring enigma.



I wish it had received a stand-alone illustration. Can be found in even more brutally-compressed form within the game, specifically adorning a wall in the otherwise dull Dance Hall area. The combination of repose and uneasy stare amidst abominable horror reminds me of FC Super Contra's endboss, Beast Kimkou. Maybe that was it?

[Zen]

"Keep a memory of me. Not as a king, or a 'hero...' but as a shumps farmer. Fallible, and flawed."

Oh, fuck!


I am Gunner . . . Bomber . . . Laser . . . Focus.
I am the Autofire in the Darkness, the Bullet in the Night.
Mine is PCB . . . and RGB . . . and Second Loop!
I AM FARMER!

[BIL]

"Of course. The WRs. And you hold, what was it, twenty?"

"Nine."

"Last time it were three!"

[llaoyllakcuf]

Ninja Master's Haoh Ninpo Cho has one of the coolest opening demos of Neo Geo games and is a favorite of mine along with FF3 and "Do I have to go back to the hell again?"

Also I like the game over screen of Viewpoint, with the crashed ship's opened hatch/ejected pilot detail:

[BIL]

"Do I have to go back to the hell again?"

Aww yeah! NAM-1975, the ultimate straddling of the ridiculous and the sublime! The sulky way he delivers that line, like a teenager being ordered to put the bins out... then "RUUUOOOAAAHHH!!!" Keeps the B-Kubrick crazy going right to the end too.

"Too late! You are NOT the enemy for my new weapon!"

With no exaggeration, st3 has one of the most intense BOSS APPROACHING sequences ever. I'm not even going to attempt giffing it, the bloodcurdling klaxon is simply too integral. Dunno if it preempted voiceover, or if the director knew those expressions of utter horror would only be diminished by speech... either way, it's a cracker. Boss itself ain't much but man, what an entrance!

EVEN PILOT-SAN IS AFRAID

Also I like the game over screen of Viewpoint, with the crashed ship's opened hatch/ejected pilot detail:

Plus one of the genre's cutest takeoff sequences, with the stubby little ship blasting off into the clouds as st1's jaunty beat drops!

ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
HIT

[llaoyllakcuf]

I still find it impressive that NAM '75 was the launch title of the system, even though my first exposure to Neo Geo was with Samurai Shodown back in the day. Absurd yet badass cross-hair shooter in homage to one of the best Vietnam War movies ever made

Plus one of the genre's cutest takeoff sequences, with the stubby little ship blasting off into the clouds as st1's jaunty beat drops!

ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
HIT

Right on! Those neat designs combined with that groovy soundtrack create a really charming STG. It almost makes up for that tricky isometric angle referenced in the title. (I can still enjoy it regardless, but it's definitely one of those acquired tastes.)

[BIL]

OMEGA FIGHTER SPECIAL



UPL's stirringly adroit, apocalyptic, game-length take on the HUGE BATTLESHIP concept. A desperate last-ditch fight to take down the big horrible fucker and its onslaughts of support craft, before it can do this. Now that's what I like in my action gaming premises: crisis. Such style and character in these guys' works!

Game is bangin' too. 80s simplicity meets ripping ferocious 90s firepower with an addictive buzz system on top.

[floralcateyes]

A desperate last-ditch fight to take down the big horrible fucker and its onslaughts of support craft, before it can do this.

I would have believed it if I had been told that that Game Over animation came from Space Phallus.

On the doujin front, I quite like the intro of Battle Traverse. Gets itself out of your way quickly enough while managing to be memorably endearing. Further shout-outs to its game over screen, which is similarly paced yet punchy.

[BIL]

I would have believed it if I had been told that that Game Over animation came from Space Phallus.

EXACTLY. (■｀W´■) Domination at its most wanton.

[Ruldra]

I absolutely love the attract mode of D&D Shadow Over Mystara. A quick glimpse of what each character can do and then showing their stats sheet. The Dwarf one ending with him rolling under the manticore and shoryuken'ing it from behind is a work of art.

[it290]

Not an arcade game, but if you love the attract loop for Mystara then Dungeon Explorer 2's attract loop should be right up your alley. It pretty much does the same thing with way more detail. I love games that describe the quirks of each character since SFII's useless but awesome blood type descriptors. Probably kinda useful when E. Honda goes into cardiac arrest from eating all them ramen bowls and Dhalsim has to act as a donor after a bout!

[BIL]

On the subject of NAM-1975 and the pricelessly batshit B-Kubrick exploits of Senior Lieutenants SILVER & BROWN (and their buxom, kill-crazed ladyfriend CHRIS HELPER) - I wonder if ADK might've been involved in its development, however tangentially.

I know their name is on Magician Lord, which of course is renowned for its own mush-mouthed craziness. Unfortunately its staff are credited entirely in Japanese. EDIT: oh, duh. It's got an English release, of course. Looks like no shared personnel with NAM. The latter does have lots of names credited as "New Faces" (alongside Yoko O "Beautiful!" and E. Kawasaki "GOD!").

EDIT2: you know what, fuck that. On closer inspection NAM's staff roll looks decidedly pseudonymtastic. I was gonna let YOKO O on music slide, but now I'm wondering about that too, you Beatles-wrecking hussy! Case remains open for now imo.

Thought about this while watching a 1CC of ADK's Gang Wars from a few years earlier. The aesthetic (questionably digitised portraits and speech, leering B-flick mood, quotable Engrishy quotes galore) is unmistakable. Maybe SNK were just influenced?

EVEN THE PUNKS ARE NOTORIOUSLY INCOMPETENT

That replay makes the game look boring as all hell, but I wonder if that's just the superplay syndrome that tends to affect simpler brawlers (and even some more sophisticated ones). Regardless, that arm drag finisher is killer. I wish more beaters had included vicious judo stuff like that. Maybe I should look up the ten million Neo beltscrollers I've ignored until now.

[copy-paster]

MS1's mission 5 attract mode is super rad like you mentioned before, felt like it was played by superplayer.

Right now I like 19XX's introduction/title/coin sounds and the way the sun reflects after you insert coin. Too bad attract mode is just shown very brief of gameplay.

[BIL]

MS1's mission 5 attract mode is super rad like you mentioned before, felt like it was played by superplayer.

Indeed, that one is absolutely superb! Sharply demonstrates how to misdirect enemy fire, critically important with Slug's four-way attacks, as well as the "Gordian Knot" philosophy of the game's larger melees. Sometimes you need to go full Human Buzzsaw. Or Human Tactical Nuke.



It looks great too, of course. I distinctly remember the first time I saw it in a random chip shop. I'd seen still photos and heard about the animation, but seeing it in motion was stunning.

Nazca always seemed to make an effort with their demo plays - Kaitei Daisensou and Metal Slug X look great too, and while the players get zombified in Metal Slug 3's st2 demo, it's clearly to demonstrate the way the transformation works, with a horde of enemies promptly obliterated in a torrent of gore.

STOCK SOUND EFFECTS ROCK/BLUUUARGH




^ really important to pile in VS machetes as shown, due to their reach you'll hit the shield while they cut you down otherwise.

LIVIN ON THE DECK ♫

[Squire Grooktook]

Shameless self advertising

I eventually want to maybe have an intro in the the style of Mars Matrix's stylish information overload, replacing the cyberpunk datastream with a rush of stone age lovecraftian cave paintings and medieval astronomical doohickey's.

[BIL]

Bit of a Metal Black thing going on with the rise from the depths, very chill! It'd go great as the coda to an MM-styled violent information blitzkrieg.

Happened across in a random Mikado stream, KING OF THE MONSTERS. Holy fuck! Brutal! Those early Neo releases were going all-out to impress.

[GaijinPunch]

Happened across in a random Mikado stream, KING OF THE MONSTERS. Holy fuck! Brutal! Those early Neo releases were going all-out to impress.

Japanese video game commentators never case to amaze. The manager of the arcade I used to play VF4 was the commentator on VF5's VF Net. Having a hard time finding any on YT.

[BIL]

Was recently enjoying Mikado's universally intelligible enthusiasm for a tough NOOO MISSUUU!!! (headphones warning) GANBATTE! GANBARE! NO-MISSU! ABAREEE!

Model example: UWAAAA! Yo, the feels of taking a counter-Shoryu square in the grill

[6t8k]

I dig the Eliminate Down intro sequence - appropriately highlights the badass constitution of your ship (noteworthy for that somewhat distinct focus btw!, also the ship has a HEART OF FLESH AND BLOOD akin to the R-90 Ragnarok of R-Type 3 ) - but it's a tad lengthy especially for a gif so I tried to gracefully cut it down a bit )

NOOO MISSUUU!!! (headphones warning) GANBATTE! GANBARE! NO-MISSU! ABAREEE!

Awesome!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Continue countdown screen of the PS1 game of Success' Starfighter Savein (circa 2000) is quite cool with it's graphical design aesthetic going on. Too bad that it didn't get a proper Taito G-Net G-Card release though.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[6t8k]

You have the privilege to
continue this battle.
Complete the following
conditions before
END OF COUNT.

[bottino]

Great thread.

There's no way I can not bring this one right here:



Dramatic
As a little kid, this game cemented my love for arcade games and I'm deeply grateful for the people who created this game for that.

[Imhotep]

The Gun Frontier trilogy intros (including Metal Black and Dino Rex) are among my favorites.
https://youtu.be/sOpVAbj0YHg

Pulstar skillfully copied Metal Black's emergency staircase running.

Vertexer has a great cockpit mounting scene.
https://youtu.be/K-lVyYtkgRY?t=188

Last Blade II has brief stage introduction animations that are very effective in creating a romantic and melancholy atmosphere.

[Sumez]

I don't recall Pulstar lady being on a staircase?

[6t8k]

@bottino: profound example, dramatic reminds me of Pitan/Peetan (GB, 1991, Kaneko)
It's a port of a 1984 MSX game of the same name that plays a little bit like Pooyan reversed.
As a hen you have to save your chicks from a wolf/dog who tries to snatch them, by laying eggs on seesaws, catapulting the chicks upwards to you.



It's a very cute game, but if you clear it on normal difficulty, they cold-heartedly lynch the canine at the end!

Life ain't easy for the likes of us these days

[Imhotep]

I don't recall Pulstar lady being on a staircase?

true, it's just the rushed airship boarding that they have in common.

[FinalBaton]

It's a very cute game, but if you clear it on normal difficulty, they cold-heartedly lynch the canine at the end!

Life ain't easy for the likes of us these days

Holy fuck I didn't expect this cutesy game to be as kvlt as this :v

[BIL]

I dig the Eliminate Down intro sequence - appropriately highlights the badass constitution of your ship (noteworthy for that somewhat distinct focus btw!, also the ship has a HEART OF FLESH AND BLOOD akin to the R-90 Ragnarok of R-Type 3 ) - but it's a tad lengthy especially for a gif so I tried to gracefully cut it down a bit )

Nicely edited! I gave it a try before buggering off to do other stuff ( ), but that's the result I was hoping for!

I always loved the little readouts - the sort of fine-brush detailing seen all over this game.



<--blasphemous inverse color edit!

The Continue countdown screen of the PS1 game of Success' Starfighter Savein (circa 2000) is quite cool with it's graphical design aesthetic going on. Too bad that it didn't get a proper Taito G-Net G-Card release though.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Sanvein's OP and general aesthetic is so rad. Instantly recalls its Success stablemate Psyvariar, another that marshals its limited G-NET polys into an icily controlled riot of colour and sound.

To Escape From Our Utopia

I'm quite fond of the game itself too... could easily see it annoying some with its "ice rink" handling, but I think that careening sensation works perfectly with the time-attack ethos.



^ dunno if that's actually Sanvein-related, think it may be a doujinshi? Sure fits the intro's look, though.

[reckon luck]

Actual footage of 7 year old me experiencing the jump from Mega Man 4 to Mega Man X:

Spoiler

[6t8k]

FinalBaton: Yep, after playing through the game, you don't expect such a dose of spite - gallows humour, literally.

BIL: Sanvein is absolutely brimming with 90s flair I'm finding the gameplay only so-so, although certainly innovative, and the production values, for being a budget title, are quite robust!

reckon luck: love that maxell spot