good arcade card games?

[vestcoat]

i'm looking to make better use out of my arcade card.
i've heard the ACD Strider is pretty crappy, is that true?  how is Art of fighting, mad stalker and  Kabuki itouryodan?  any other suggestions as far as the SCD/ACD games go?
(i have Fatal fury special, FF2, World heroes 2 and Brandish and i'm not about  to shell out $450 or more for sapphire.)

[xolik]

I've got Art of Fighting and it's not too bad, except for the loading time. UGH!

[Michael Helgeson]

If you like wrestling games there are a couple that use it.I have Battlefield 94,and its pretty fun overall.Good graphics and audio also.

[pixeljunkie]

I too am curious about this...is there a list somewhere of all Arcade card games?

[esteban]

www.pcecp.com, then filter your search by "Arcade card"... there are a few hybrid games, so you might have to do two searches and then combine the list.

ACD:
       Battlefield '94 In Super Battle Dream
         Fire Pro Female Wrestling (WOWOW vs. JWP...
         Garou Densetsu 2
         Garou Densetsu Special
         Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire
         Jong Shin Densetsu
         Kabuki Itouryodan
         Mad Stalker Full Metal Force
         Madou Monogatari I Honou no Sotsuenji
         Ryuuko No Ken
         Strider Hiryuu
         World Heroes 2

ACD/SCD:
       3 x 3 Eyes Sanjiyan Hensei
      +    Atlas (The) - Renaissance Voyager
      +    Brandish
      +    Eikan Wa Kimini
      +    Formation Soccer '95
      +    J. League Tremendous Soccer '94
      +    Linda Cube
      +    Mahjong Sword Princess Quest Gaiden
      +    Popful Mail
      +    Princess Maker 2
      +    Private Eye Doll
      +    Sexy Idol Mahjong Fashion Monogatari
      +    Sotsugyou II Neo Generation
      +    Super Real Mahjong P II & III Custom
      +    Super Real Mahjong P V Custom
      +    Tanjou Debut
      +    Vasteel 2
      +    Wrestling Angels Double Impact

[vestcoat]

yeah, i've been checking out that list some, i was just wondering if anyone had any personal recommendations or a suggestion of a good game to pick up next (as long as they don't require knowing japanese)
also, is there a big difference if you use those ACD/SCD games with an ACD instead of the regular duo?  what kind of effects does it add?  i haven't noticed any difference on Brandish yet.

[Black Tiger]

i'm looking to make better use out of my arcade card.
i've heard the ACD Strider is pretty crappy, is that true?  how is Art of fighting, mad stalker and  Kabuki itouryodan?  any other suggestions as far as the SCD/ACD games go?
(i have Fatal fury special, FF2, World heroes 2 and Brandish and i'm not about  to shell out $450 or more for sapphire.)

Strider isn't as crappy as it's made out to be, but it would be substandard as a Super CD game. It doesn't have independant scrolling bg's and there is more flicker than the Genesis 'version'. However, it does use mostly the original arcade graphics as a basis where as the Genesis version is totally from scratch. So it's got a lot more detail in the backgrounds, but it wasn't touched up much. If you really like Strider(I'm not a big fan), its still the same game, but doesn't take advantage of the Arcade Card in any way.

The Neo Geo ports are all the best of the 16-bit generation. If you like any of the originals or fighting games in general, you'll be love them. If you just want a showcase for the Arcade card and/or the PCE, they'll blow you away(which you must know). Art Of Fighting is as close to the original as any of the other ports and the sprites are huge and super clean. Other than transitional scaling, its as close as you could hope for.

Kabuki Itouryoden is the best ACD game there is. The characters are super animated and detailed, it has nice SF-style gameplay and beautiful BGs. It has huge character select art on par with the Capcom VS games.

Sapphire isn't worth buying, but is worth playing as an iso/cdr.

People seem really impressed by Mad Stalker, I haven't played it enough to be. It looked like a Super CD to me during the 1st level.

I haven't been able to tell the difference in any hybrid games, ACD/SCD nor CD2/SCD. They don't make use of the Arcade Card in any noticible way. Popful Mail is a fun game regardless. You can make it through with zero japanese knowledge using my walkthrough on GameFAQs.

You already have a couple of the best ACDs, I'd just recommend holding out for super cheap copies of Itouryoden and Art Of Fighting.

Unfortunately, there's not much else out there. At least there are a handful of titles that did justify the card.

[Michael Helgeson]

Hybrid games are only improved on load times,alot of data is loaded at the begining of play.

[GUTS]

I hated Strider on Duo, it was super easy and the hit detection was all f'd up.  Plus the new level is just a super boring desert stage with a really lame tank boss.

Sapphire is AWESOME but not really worth the amount of money it goes for, it's definitely worth playing though.  I'd say its the best vertical shooter on duo.

Mad Stalker SUCKS ASS.  It has these huge, full screen cinemas of people just talking, and the actual game is boring as hell.  Imagine Kung Fu but with street fighter II style moves and only 1-2 enemies on screen at once.  The graphics are pretty nice, but I think the arcade card was mainly used in the cinemas.

[msb_1971]

Ok so here is my short list of Arcade Card hits.

First off I’m with Black_Tiger Strider is not crappy.
It does suffer from flicker problems and it is not as sharp in the control department as the Genesis version, but it’s a great game. I like it a lot if you are a Strider fan I think it is well worth the investment, the music is great and there is at least one totally new, and fairly long, stage that is not in any other version.

I also love Kabuki. It is my current favorite PC Engine game; it is so fast and fluid. Play Street Fighter Champion Edition after playing Kabuki the controls feel clunky and the reaction time seems off. This game is great If you have an Arcade Card Get it!

I also would like to mention Fatal Fury Special. It is awesome it is the closest exact arcade-to-Pc Engine conversion I have seen. You have to like fighting games to enjoy it but again awesome game. Have an Arcade card? Get it you will not be disappointed.

I am getting Art of Fighting and World Heroes 2 and I’ll let you know about them next week.

All in all if you love your Duo the Arcade card is the right thing to do. The three games I mentioned above make it worth it for me.

[Liquid Snake]

Strider isn't as crappy as it's made out to be, but it would be substandard as a Super CD game.

The Neo Geo ports are all the best of the 16-bit generation. If you like any of the originals or fighting games in general, you'll be love them. If you just want a showcase for the Arcade card and/or the PCE, they'll blow you away(which you must know). Art Of Fighting is as close to the original as any of the other ports and the sprites are huge and super clean. Other than transitional scaling, its as close as you could hope for.

True.  I love Strider very much, especially for the intermissions.

AOF is another good port.  It contains voices not found on Neo original.

[vestcoat]

well, i recently purchased Art of Fighting and Kabuki Itouryodan and my Sapphire reprint is coming in the mail.   Kabuki Itouryodan is awesome.  it's a shame that they never made more arcade card games.  there were only a couple stupid wrestling games (which i haven't played and call them stupid only because they're wrestling games), 2 Mahjong/rpgs (does anyone know anything about these?), 4 Neo Geo ports, Sapphire, Kabuki Itouryodan, Mad Stalker and a new version of Strider.  That sucks.  So basicly, there were 3 ORIGINAL games that were made for the arcade card with the potential to be cool:  Sapphire, Kabuki Itouryodan and Mad Stalker.  Gives me the feeling that this last little upgrade card could have done a lot more.

finally, i have a couple stupid questions...
1)  what does Mahjong mean?  pcecp keeps listing it as a genre.  as near as i can tell they're like Adult/Dating/Sim games?
2)  What does ISO stand for?
thanks!

[Keranu]

Mahjong is an ancient and very popular kind of game in Japan (and I assume China as well?) in which you have these little tiles with pretty artwork and symbols on them and play against an opponent. I have no clue how it works even when I tried learning it online once. Yeah I understand my description is not the best, but that is what Google and Wikipedia are for .

[nodtveidt]

I can play Mahjong, although not very well. It's a very complicated game, but the closest relation I can give it to any western game is that it's a bit like rummy.

[akamichi]

www.pcecp.com, then filter your search by "Arcade card"... there are a few hybrid games, so you might have to do two searches and then combine the list.
ACD/SCD:
       3 x 3 Eyes Sanjiyan Hensei
      +    Atlas (The) - Renaissance Voyager
      +    Brandish
      +    Eikan Wa Kimini
      +    Formation Soccer '95
      +    J. League Tremendous Soccer '94
      +    Linda Cube
      +    Mahjong Sword Princess Quest Gaiden
      +    Popful Mail
      +    Princess Maker 2
      +    Private Eye Doll
      +    Sexy Idol Mahjong Fashion Monogatari
      +    Sotsugyou II Neo Generation
      +    Super Real Mahjong P II & III Custom
      +    Super Real Mahjong P V Custom
      +    Tanjou Debut
      +    Vasteel 2
      +    Wrestling Angels Double Impact

Just right off the top of my head I know that Flash Hiders, Emerald Dragon, and Asuka 120% are hybrid games.   The hybrid games don't seem to add anything other than reduced load times when used with Arcade Card.  Not that reduced load times isn't good, but it'd be cool to have bonus features or something.

However, 3x3 Eyes adds a lot more frames of animation in the various cutscenes, especially the intro.