Hi-Score Heroes #1 - Mutation Nation

[00:00:00] Hi there, Superstars, I don't know what to do for an intro for this but it's episode 1. So we'll just do whatever it is that we do with this. I am joined. Oh, it's Aaron, by the way, of course. Sorry, she's crazy.

[00:00:35] And I'm joined by the legendary Andre of Fine Time. See hello. Hello. How are you doing? I'm doing pretty well. I'm slamming this Dr. Pepper Man, how are you doing? Hot. I had a peps earlier, so I'm being good and I'm having a water now.

[00:00:50] And I'm ready to have a fine time with you. See what I did there? That's it. We're going on a super pod. Saga. Um... Hahaha. It was a work it in there like a madlip just jump it to let fit.

[00:01:06] The fart of what to the fart to get a fart. Oh man. Well, yeah, hi, if you're listening it's the first ever episode of High Score Heroes. Essentially we'll just... We'll play a game that's chosen by our wonderful community.

[00:01:26] It's just all sorts of different arcade games, just like Neo Geo, Psycho, Fucking Everything, and we'll play over the span of like a week as much as we want. Try to get like the highest score we can.

[00:01:40] And then we get together talk about whatever strategies we used to get as far as we did and just bullshit about the game and talk about arcade games and how much they rule and all that stuff. Yeah. Well, you came to the right person. I love arcade games.

[00:01:56] I am old. I mean, my 40s. I grew up with our kids in 80s. 90s. I played probably any of the stuff that we're going to play on this many series. I have probably played before. So, and I have definitely played mutation nation before. Nice. That's good. I'm...

[00:02:15] I've always... I was at an eye for arcade games but I haven't actually like pulled the trigger on them because for the longest time I was one of those... Those slugs that was like, um, arcade games aren't real games or only like, oh my god. Oh my god.

[00:02:30] Oh no. You're one of those people. Oh god. I know. I was like 10... Forever years ago. So long ago. I've opened my third eye to that shit though because... Okay. Fuck. I think metal slug was what did it for me because like,

[00:02:48] the whole metal slug series is just so good. We'll talk about that at another time. They were not talking metal slug. What the... Okay, well we're talking about today. Mutation nation. Actually speaking of metal slug, I'm glad that we're playing something off the beaten path.

[00:03:03] You know what I mean? I love to dig in the trenches as like going back and playing old games even stuff I played before a long time ago where stuff I never heard of. I'm gonna play stuff I never heard of.

[00:03:12] I don't want to play like, you know, if King of Fighters 95 again, all the way will, you know what I mean? There's nothing wrong with that. I love to get weird with it and I'm blabber playing mutation nation. Fuck yeah, and that's one of my...

[00:03:26] What's on my main goals with this series is to find games that I haven't touched yet that I hopefully will love. But, because I'm always also down for that whether it be arcade games indie games, modern games, I love me. I hidden jam. God damn it.

[00:03:42] This game though. If you don't mind me getting just right into it, this game mutation nation is like in that category of 90s games that you just didn't question at the time. Like I said, I'm old. So when this game came out, it was 92 so I was 10. Okay?

[00:04:00] When I was going to do their arcade, I was looking for stupid shit like this when I was a 10 year old. Okay? I love even back then before I even had a word for it, I love American motifs like express through Japanese video games. And developers and stuff.

[00:04:18] It's like one of my favorite things because it's like a window into like society in a way. I know this sounds like stupid to say but like the viewpoint of us through someone else is like fascinating to me and I love that shit.

[00:04:32] So you know, so like obviously you have like football players with like tendrils coming out of their face and like big brick walls with like graffiti and shit and like the aliens like busts a room with a foreground right and like everybody explodes in this green goo.

[00:04:48] And it just makes me think like man did Japan think we're going to be like in like 2000 x, we were going to be like this wasteland of you know? It's great. I love shit. Like this is a 90s baby. I tell you what.

[00:05:01] Dude for a really can tell by the way that all the characters are dressed and oh man, it's that's wild that you said you were 10. I was I was one. This wasn't on your radar except Teddy milk. You were in a diaper.

[00:05:20] I was at the arcade playing mutation nation I guess. This is this is an awesome one though. I am I'm going to admit right away. I didn't get like very far in the game but it was it was still pretty fun.

[00:05:36] Like I forgot how much how much beat them up. I forgot how just stupid fun beat them up are to just like run up to anybody and just do like a three-hit combo and then grab them and throw them into a fucking trash can or something. So great.

[00:05:55] There are people who don't get beat them up though, you know? There are those people and I get it look not every genre is everybody of course but like they just think like oh man you just press this one punch button or jump button and that's it.

[00:06:08] Like how was this fun? And it's like I'm telling ya there's something to it. Yeah I promise. But as far as like you didn't get too far in this game neither did I because like to score attack.

[00:06:20] You know, I'm just assuming we're doing that someone credit because that's how you get a good score. Mutation nation only gives you a one life. So you better make that shit count. Now this is one of those few beat them up like you're a one life wonder.

[00:06:34] So it's tough to get a high score in this game. Yeah and I don't recall if I did one credit or not I might have done like maybe two or three but I I cheesed a lot.

[00:06:48] Oh man did I chees I uh well we'll save the the scores were like the very last but like a lot. Okay.

[00:06:56] I was like I would just kick a dude all the way to one side and if they're other dudes I would just do my super upper cut and just not come off the opposite side.

[00:07:06] And then just continually beat the other guy on the opposite side like into the into the fucking void and every time I saw his like feet come in I just keep kicking him back in.

[00:07:16] Yeah that's what you got to do man look beat them up throughout to fuck you okay they are they are called quarter mentors for a reason back in the day right we know you really set to a little bit more.

[00:07:27] And then I said I was gonna go to the other team that is a little bit more and I'm not gonna go to the other team that is a little bit more than I would see anymore but that's what they were called you know like gave one a jur money and this game was going to get it you know and unless you practice like we have the luxury at home now it's been in a 799 US dollars on arcade archive scheme right which is fantastic even like when the switch first came out.

[00:07:45] And like on the eShop there is like neoturf masters now called big turn make all the numbers like middle so like three and there was like king of fighters 97 or whatever and I was like this is going to be the best system of all time sure enough at damn near is anyway.

[00:07:59] And I would get as far on one life I could get as far as like the zappy zappy guy in area two he's wearing like a big suit and he has like these big like for

[00:08:12] Zett like electricity things almost like a little like a big tuning for it I guess is the best way could say that's as far as I could get on my one life which I was pretty proud of myself for doing nice I.

[00:08:26] And I think I beat the first boss I'm pretty sure what the fuck was even what was the first box he was a big Viking tall ass Viking thing and then like halfway through his life bar he'd like.

[00:08:40] Bash a ground and then you'd fall down to the underground and keep fighting him or something. Oh, whatever that sounds right I know. I'm pretty sure I beat him and then I got like a little bit further into the second level and I stopped.

[00:08:58] You got stopped for the most part though is pretty sweet like I didn't know like at the time but like those little spheres had different.

[00:09:07] Like after I played the game for a little bit and they read about the game on Wikipedia I saw like the different spheres were like different.

[00:09:14] different elements and shit like that so we're holding on down the attack button for like on accident and letting go of my dudes like zoom around the screen at mox speed and then just. And then we're in the end.

[00:09:28] How does that kill everybody? I don't know shuggish holders just just go with it. Don't worry about it they're all dead okay.

[00:09:36] That's cool so that's a little bit of variety to the game but yeah usually the super attacks in beat them up aren't like too notable and they also take away your life but if you have those powerups they really they don't take away your life you get to do like a cool screen clearing attack which is fun.

[00:09:55] You know what's funny though Neo geo. I mean anyone feel free to correct me from wrong there's not a whole lot of beat them up on the o geo.

[00:10:04] It's not something they're particularly known far now obviously there's some I mean we're playing mutation nation I can't think of burning fight there's robo army but like outside of those I don't it's just not a genre they do.

[00:10:20] Which is kind of I don't know it's just something that occurred to me while playing this I guess. That sounds right though I can't think of any notable ones because like I could name like fucking 20 fighting games.

[00:10:33] Yeah are the fighting fatal fury king of fighters Samurai showed down this single goose whatever yep. Yeah there's a lot.

[00:10:45] Yeah I can't think of another galaxy fight I remember like galaxy fight by Sunsoft who is weird to have like weird scale in scale out effects almost like Samurai Shadow and Artified but it.

[00:10:56] The you better play against a friend though because the computer was so fucking ruthless like forget about it like there you had no chance anyway but.

[00:11:06] Yeah I is something I noticed they don't have a whole lot of beat them up so one thing I want to say I love to judge beat them up by the quality of.

[00:11:16] The go prompt to go forward prompt the graphics of it if it's an arrow if it just says go the sound effect and all that that's very important right.

[00:11:27] To me anyway because I'm a dork and mutation nation has a good one it has that spray painted G and O it has an arrow to and has like this weird like whistly sort of two sort of leisurely sound effect when it says go I like it is a good.

[00:11:43] That's a good one to let you know when to go like the the one for not not bring it metal slug again play the one for metal slug is constantly permanently spray painted on my brain where it's like you want new what and it's.

[00:11:55] Yeah yep I always think of maybe it's because no I understand exactly which mean me and maybe it's because like it's the first game of its type ever played but final fight is like permanently imprinted because it has like go in an arrow it like flashes back and forth and then it has a very.

[00:12:11] That's a very like bizarre like blank blank blank blank like when it flashes back between go and arrow yeah see that's it's very important right like honestly I know it sounds goofy but like that it that's like part of the beat them up experience you need that little those little things absolutely.

[00:12:28] And and how much you can cheese yeah yeah there weren't very many times where I felt overwhelmed with mutation nation because I just did the same thing all the time I just would push everybody like I would just shove everybody to one side of the screen and then just.

[00:12:47] Spam like the jump kick or the. I like uppercut special move and then I was good and I got to the boss and it was like oh yeah I can't do that with that's not going to work yeah we don't want to funny is that like you think.

[00:13:02] That that wouldn't work because all beat them up have a time limit you know where you will like basically just lose all any any and all health and lives that you have if you run out of time because they don't want to hold up the machine forever if someone abandoned it right so.

[00:13:19] I obviously mutation nation as a site has a time limit as well but you'll never run out all the time limits and beat them up so long so it seems like your cheese strategy which takes forever wouldn't actually work.

[00:13:32] But that time it's very very generous so I guess you can do that it's it's not a threatening time limit.

[00:13:39] Even though I didn't get very far I still best of luck did it was still pretty fun beat them up so usually usually pretty good like there's there's some stankers but this one was pretty fun and everything was.

[00:13:51] Typical neo go fashion was slick like all the sprites and animations were were super fluid and yeah that was cool something I talked about on fine time before with.

[00:14:32] it's a few buttons on a joystick, right? But you know what I mean. Like it's good to have that kind of thing. It's interesting that that was a mandate of the Neo Geosystem.

[00:14:41] That's yeah. That sounds yeah. Exerber a lot of the one of the different cabinets we usually have on the I guess on like the blood and pads, whatever the hell you would call it, they're they usually

[00:14:52] have the how to play there but yeah. Yeah. That brings to my level. When we when we got into the fighting game era, the the border of the screen would be littered with like special moves list.

[00:15:03] You know like all sorts of LK find the character you're okay here it is yeah. I'm hoping that we do get some fighting games because though as I can like a play for a good long time

[00:15:14] in the me too. I guess should we should we say our scores is it time? It is time yeah what's uh do you want to start or should I?

[00:15:22] Um oh oh go first okay. So the highest score I could get like I said I got to the Zappies Happy Guy in Stage 2. I got 113,000 points. Oh my god. Oh no did I that I blew your way? I got maybe half that I got 50,900.

[00:15:42] Okay you know my first couple runs were we're about that too. See I feel like if you had tried a few more I bet you could get to where I was getting. It just takes a little bit of practice or maybe I just

[00:15:52] have old man fighting game fighting game beat them up acumen at this point? I don't know but yeah 103k and I was I feel like it was lucky to even get that so yeah 130k.

[00:16:08] All right that's all for now did you have any of the closing remarks or statements or anything for now? No that was I like mutation nation it's good to pop a few quarters into just as a general

[00:16:18] recommendation if you enjoyed talk if you enjoyed listening to us rather talk about this it is a worthy game go on go and arcade archives has been your eight bucks it's it's eight dollar worthy.

[00:16:30] All right we have what uh did you you want to I don't know yeah we we didn't plug your show if you want or I can just leave it in the description. I'll give all say it real quick I do a show

[00:16:40] called fine time a video game podcast we talk about whatever we're playing that could be something brand new like final fantasy 16 it could be something very old like the mutation nation right whatever into that's what we're gonna talk about we talk about industry stuff too

[00:16:56] we love dunking on like Microsoft and the academic ambition merger and shit we love making fun of that shit but you also play silly games silly quiz games and stuff like it we just have fun

[00:17:08] so come have a fine time with us oh that's good man go on a saga with super pod saga fuck no that's actually bad that's actually not bad that's actually not bad that's kind of a keeper

[00:17:23] there we go talking to the pocket buy it one all right see you later