The Asskickers, DRM free approach with a beat 'em up side scroller

[mjmacky]

I'm a huge fan of side scrolling beat 'em ups, I buy nearly every one that comes out on XBLA. Here's a new one for PC/Mac and digital distribution only. You buy it, download it, no DRM system involved. So what do you guys think, I love when a company does this, but can this game champion the cause? Has anyone played it?

From their FAQ section:

Q: Is The Asskickers protected by some kind of DRM or anti-piracy system?
A: No, we believe that such systems are more of a nuisance for the people who decided to support us and lawfully purchased our game.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A4JuuRbe3E

I don't know why they made the launch trailer so hard to see actual gameplay, maybe it's terrible and they're embarrassed to show it?

[Cabalo]

Reminds me of the good ol' Target:Renegade on my ZX Spectrum. Oh the memories...

[mr. nails]

what do i think?

i wouldn't spend money on it.

as for beat'em ups. if u like them like u say u do then search for the Streets of Rage Remake (PC). that's tons better than the video u've shown here.

[mjmacky]

I've owned every rendition of SoR series possible through emulators and XBLA, and I never knew about this SoR Remake project, thanks for the info!

If they made SoR Remake $15 DRM free, would you consider that worth it?

[mjmacky]

The Streets of Rage Remake is AWESOME! In case no one has heard, it has the following:

-Every map + extra from all SoR series
-Every character from the series + bonus, with move complexity leveled up to SoR3
-A cheat system based on points earned each time you beat the game.
-Name and color editors for characters and enemies
-Multiple paths to take, from beginning to end of game
-And on top of that, it works brilliantly, no complaints about the collision detection from me.

I only played it a couple of hours, trying out the characters, levels, moves, etc. I beat it once and was rewarded some points at the end to buy cheats. These cheats include infinite health, swords become lightsabers, unlock extra characters, double bosses and about 20 or so other extras! I'm an avid game cheater, so I just edited the hex values of the game save file to give myself a shit load of points to buy cheats. I love cheating, it's probably my favorite part of gaming.

[mr. nails]

i'm glad u enjoyed it. had a friend come over and we coop'd it and enjoyed the hell out of it.

[mjmacky]

i'm glad u enjoyed it. had a friend come over and we coop'd it and enjoyed the hell out of it.

My thumbs are sore and raw now, trying to beat every route, playing nearly as every character. Rudra is my favorite. Discovering Max's powerbomb was a treat. Yeah my left thumb needs to go into recovery mode.

[mjmacky]

I did end up later marking out to the DRM free approach, when the game price dropped to $5. However, The Asskickers was so terrible, I would really have to hate you to recommend you even downloading it for free. It was just that bad. Very poor collision detection, repetitive, boring, just so boring, and on top of that it crashes easily. Actually, crashing easily is probably a benefit, to avoid the chance of abusing yourself any longer.

[mr. nails]

you can also look for Golden Axe Myth.

imma huge GA fan, but i tried this and couldn't get it to work "properly". you can have ur go @ it if u like.

[mjmacky]

I actually did get into the whole OpenBOR project and tried a bunch of games (Nightslashers, Shiva & Lisa, GA Myth, something with Street Fighter, etc.). They all kind of felt the same, there's just something weird about the movements and hit detection for all of them and it really all feels very repetitive. The grab mechanics are one of the more notable shortcomings I felt, with the exception of Nightslashers those were satisfying grab maneuvers. The SOR 4 HD felt and looked the best, but it was only a demo, don't know if they'll ever complete it. The biggest thing though is they all need to work on gamepad implementation, keyboard isn't at all a satisfying beat em up experience, the gamepad use for OpenBOR feels really off.