issue 16 / volume 42 9 Comic Corner: | Long live the arcade! This year’s greatest video arcade games A totally bogus trip ‘Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen: Stop the Luftwaffe, Win the War’ review Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor OOOO Today I bring you a new series from Marvel, Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen: Stop the Luftwaffe, Win the War. Written by Gary Friedrich with art by John Severin, Dick Ayers, and Jim Mooney, this comic is nothing more than bunk propaganda. The story follows a cast of G.I. Jims and Johns as they fight the Nazis. Pretty simple, right? That’s because this story is about as overdone as you can get. There’s nothing interesting or exciting here. Marvel tried to jazz up the look a bit to trick the kiddos with a lot of guns and explosions into thinking all this pro-war, pro- Americana stuff is good. But all it does is imply its readers are brainwashed into thinking America’s the hero in some global epic and Germany’s the big bad monster hiding in the shadows waiting to snatch our glorious freedom. In that aspect, this comic book is just one big stereotype with a too familiar plot and a bunch of two-dimensional characters. Saying I dislike this comic book would be an understatement. It is probably one of the worst comics I have ever read. Even this short introduction into Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen made me loathe the idea of continuing to read any more from this series. That is, if Marvel decides to continue this series at all. Art-wise, Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen looks just like every other comic book released by any company since the ’50s: heavy inks, thick lines, and a severe attachment to primary colours. This means that any colour used in the comic book will be black; one of three intense versions of red, yellow, or blue; or a combination of those bright colours. Would I recommend this comic book? Absolutely not. pate Uae eee en mey ce) aus COMBAT KELLY iit THEY LAUGHED \ AT THE DEADLY GOTEN HLF Ou == LET Image via the Marvel Database Adam Tatelman Staff Writer There was a time when arcades were just places for kids to blow all their parents’ spare change on pinball, pizza, and pool. But that time is past, dig? This is the future! We pinball kids have quarters of our own now, and brand-spanking-new video arcade machines to spend them all in. Every year, a host of new arcade games muscles their way into the local arcade scene—everything from racing to boxing titles. This year was one of the best we’ve had so far, so let’s count down the five supreme quarter-crunchers of 1976! Breakout This one’s almost like tennis for one player—with cannonballs. The object of the game is to bounce a ball between your paddle at the bottom of the screen and the three layers of bricks lining the top. Hit a brick and you break through it, but your ball speeds up. The faster it goes, the harder you have to work to keep it bouncing. Ifyou let the ball hit the bottom of the screen, you lose a turn. You get two extra balls though, so make them count! Death Race This one’s not for kids—but that won’t stop you from playing it! Based on the hit David Carradine film Death Race 2000, the object of the game is to run over as many gremlins as you can. Players use the steering wheel on the cabinet to drive the car. Hitting the gremlins causes them to disappear and be replaced with tombstones. If you hit a tombstone, it’s game over! That’s what’s so incredible about this game—it gets harder as your score gets higher! Blockade This one’s a game for two players, so bring your pals with you and go head-to-head! Each player controls a snake that gets longer over time. The longer you get, the easier it is to block your opponent with your tail—but be careful! If you let your snake get too long, you might run into your own tail and lose a turn. If you like high-risk, high-reward competitive gaming, then take this one to the max! Heavyweight Champ This one’s for all the kids who want to be boxers without getting a busted face. Each player grabs a lever that pumps in and out of the machine, so you've actually got to punch to play! You can also shift the lever up or down before punching to make your boxer on the screen punch for the face or the body. If you and your pals missed the fight last night, re-enact the highlights on this machine—the very first game to feature hand-to-hand combat! Moto-Cross The game so nice Sega branded it thrice! That’s right, Moto-Cross, Man T.T., and Fonz are really all the same game in different arcade cabinets. They all have the same handlebar controls. Pull up a chair and grip the handles, and you'll feel like youre really riding Fonzie’s motorcycle. Steer the handlebars to avoid obstacles and drive as far as you can to get the high score. If you crash, the controls actually rumble in your hands! That’s the miracle of haptic feedback, baby! Let’s face it. If you're not in the arcade on the weekends, youre as square as geometry class. The arcade is the new pool room and, as long as we have our quarters, the pastime will never die. The only way anyone could possibly outdo the arcade is if they found a way to put video games in people’s houses—but we all know that’s impossible! So save up those quarters, take the wheel, and say it with me: long live the arcade! Screenshot from the games