In which I sift through the arcade titles I’ve got on my Steam Deck and decide what’s worth keeping and what needs to go, in order to curate a set perfect for couch gaming when friends come over.
Andro Dunos
SNK side-scrolling shooter with an interesting weapons gimmick; players can shift between primary weapon types freely, and power them up separately. Graphics aren’t bad, game has some strategy, but it’s just on the side of too difficult for me to find fun after a stage or two. Pass.
Anteater
Oft forgotten classic, an archetype in itself: you stick your tongue down into the anthill to eat bugs and their eggs while trying to protect the tongue itself. Not a bad game, but not what I’d consider a couch game. Pass.
Aqua Rush
Now this is an interesting Tetris variant… rather than rotate pieces, you use the buttons to “grow” the play piece to fit the geography you’re rising into. Has two player simultaneous play, worth keeping.
Arabian
Another obscure game coming at the tail end of the golden age. Run around stages collecting the letters in ARABIAN while jumping over – or kicking – enemies. Unfortunately, like Anteater, features alternative multiplayer and it’s just not exciting to watch. Pass.
Arabian Fight
Historical beat-em-up with a few nice features that play with perspective as enemies crawl into the screen to come at you. Gameplay feels a bit shallow unfortunately, pickups are lacking, and it doesn’t “feel” good to play. PASS.
Arch Rivals
Two on two basketball that incorporates punching. Has appealing cartoony graphics. It’s no NBA Jam, but I’ll include it for now… if I decide I don’t need so many basketball games, it’s on the chopping block.
Armored Warriors
Very interesting beat-em-up that has the players piloting giant mecha. Interesting upgrade system that has players using the fallen limbs of defeated opponents, supports 4 player action. Keep.
Art of Fighting 3
Most playable of the balls-hard Art of Fighting series with some of the smoothest pixel art animation that I’ve seen in a fighting game. Might not be up there with Street Fighter in terms of gameplay or character design, but it’s good enough to include as an underdog. Keep.
Asteroids Deluxe
1981 sequel to Asteroids that improves on the original in a lot of ways, but not enough to be competitive with other ’81 releases like Donkey Kong or Frogger. I’d keep it around if one of those improvements had been simultaneous play, but it isn’t. Pass.
So. Keeping Aqua Rush, Arch Rivals, Armored Warriors, and Art of Fighting 3, passing on Andro Dunos, Anteater, Arabian, Arabian Fight, and Asteroid Deluxe.
