Defunct Games vs. SNK Minis 3

No, it's not a prequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but rather a return to the crowded vertical 2D shoot-em-up genre. This 1985 hit is a lot like Namco's influential masterpiece, Xevious. You fly a spaceship around an Earth-like planet shooting bad guys in the sky and dropping bombs on gun turrets on the ground. The game rotates through a number of mostly good looking backgrounds, including forests, water and weird religious temples. HAL 21 is the kind of game that gets so close, but doesn't quite stick the landing. Even with fast action and a cool boss fight, there's not enough here to recommend. There are no power-ups, the stages tend to repeat a bit too much and I got sick of the one boss rearing its ugly head over and over. Even more frustrating is how pedestrian the whole experience feels, especially when compared to Vanguard from 1981.

With the possible exception of Athena, the final two SNK games are definitely the best known of the bunch. Up first is Ikari Warriors, an overhead action/shooter that apes Capcom's Commando. You play an Arnold Schwarzenegger-style action star that gets dropped behind enemy lines to kill everything in sight. Along the way you'll be able to pick up new weapons and even pilot a tank, all while working side-by-side a second player. In case you aren't familiar with the arcade cabinet, Ikari Warriors features a unique rotary control. This arcade joystick allowed players to turn in eight directions, imitating a dual-stick shooter (without worrying about a second stick). There are a number of ways SNK could have handled porting this control scheme, but they chose to use the right and left shoulder buttons to rotate the player. Ikari Warriors is the better of the two war shooters, thanks in large part to the interesting level designs and harder difficulty.

Apparently somebody at SNK spent a lot of time playing Pac-Man, because Marvin's Maze is about as close as you can get without being sued. Instead of being controlling a pizza-shaped hero, you are a weird alien dude who looks a lot like Q*bert. You roam around a maze picking up red dots and power pellets, all while avoiding robot-like enemies who are after the poor alien. What sets this game apart from other maze games is the use of two-story levels. Instead of just one maze to worry about, players are forced to contend with an upper and lower section. I love that there are so many different mazes to conquer, but it would have been nice if things sped up as you went along. Still, don't let these minor gripes keep you from enjoying this addictive maze game. You're definitely getting your money's worth with this PSP Mini, even if you already own Pac-Man Championship Edition.

This rare 2D shooter is making its first console appearance thanks to this SNK batch of PSP Minis. This is a wave-based vertical shooter not unlike Space Invaders; only this time around players have a life bar and boss battles. Unfortunately this Minis port suffers from a few technical problems that bog down the action. Even with only three or four enemies on screen at once, characters have a tendency to literally disappear and reappear without warning. This isn't a big deal when the baddies are at the top of the vertical screen, but it can be real frustrating when your spaceship accidentally crashes into an invisible enemy. The end result is interesting enough to check out once or twice, but probably won't be something you come back to on a regular basis.

Never heard of Sasuke vs. Commander? Don't worry, you're not alone. This ultra-rare shooter somehow missed a stateside release, making this the first time it's found its way to an American home console. But don't hold that against it, because Sasuke vs. Commander is secretly the best game of the bunch. It's basically a re-skinned version of Centipede (which also came out in 1980), only SNK wisely swapped out bugs for kickass ninjas! You run around at the bottom of the screen dodging ninja stars and shooting down ninjas. The action moves fast, which I wasn't expecting at first. It takes a few tries before you get the hang of it, but once you've mastered Sasuke's movements it's easy to rack up high scores. Even with its imperfections, Sasuke vs. Commander ends up being an incredibly addictive 2D shooter.

Street Smart takes a lot of cues from another Capcom hit, Final Fight. However, instead of being a side-scrolling brawler, players are forced to fight one bad guy at a time while onlookers cheer on the violence. A lot of the tenets of the fighting genre are represented in Street Smart. You go around the U.S. fighting unique challengers (each with their own unique fighting style) and there's even a button for punches and kicks. Unfortunately the limited move set and poor controls brings this unique fighter to its knees. Getting knocked out is never a big deal, since you can continue the game in mid-fight. And since you can't bring in a second player (a limitation of PSP Minis), the easy single-player story mode is the only thing to do. You can thank Street Fighter II for stopping the Street Smart franchise dead in its tracks.

Forget Ikari Warriors of Guerilla War, T.N.K. III is the overhead shooter SNK should be remembered for. While every other SNK game was ported to the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, T.N.K. III was left to sit in virtual obscurity. Thanks to Sony's PSP Minis initiative, T.N.K. III is given a second chance. In the wrong hands all this could have gone horribly wrong, yet somehow T.N.K. III works flawlessly. The game has a fair health bar, which means that players can make good progress no matter what skill level they are. Best of all, you won't have to use the shoulder buttons to aim your weapons. Don't let the stupid name fool you, T.N.K. III is one of the best SNK Minis currently available on the PSN store.

Vanguard doesn't get the amount of respect it deserves. This thirty year old shoot-em-up does a lot of enormously influential things for the very first time, yet it's rarely referenced. Not only is this a competent horizontal shooter, but it's also a great vertical shooter. That's right, Vanguard manages to fit both types of shooters into one game, all while introducing the world to the concept of dual-stick shooter. It's a dizzying amount of new ideas, many of which are still trendy all these years later. Unfortunately the game can be a little too easy at times, but not to the point where it takes away from the enjoyment of this influential shooter. Vanguard is definitely worth the three dollars.

The original Vanguard is a genuine masterpiece. When I reviewed this 1981 shooter in the last batch of SNK Minis, I was blown away by the innovative game mechanics. While most games make you choose between overhead and side-scrolling perspectives, Vanguard let you have both. This early shoot-em-up actually switched between perspectives on the fly, something you don't see a lot of in the genre. Beyond the boring stages, I found myself constantly fighting the game's tricky control scheme. The original game worked so well because of the elegant gameplay, but the same can't be said about this sequel. Here's a perfect example of a company fixing what wasn't broken. With the possible exception of later Samurai Shodown sequels, Vanguard II is SNK's most disappointing arcade sequel.