An Understanding of Arcades from an 00’s Kid
I was born in 1994, far after the death of Arcades. So, I never really understood Arcades. You have to go to a place to play small games for short periods of time paying a small amount of money each time while trying to get a high score. Why would you play a game that doesn’t progress like a story?
Then came Super Crate Box. Super Crate Box is a 2D shooter platformer in which you must collect boxes. There are enemies but they are a hindrance to getting the boxes not an objective. Killing an enemy has no consequence. Getting a box makes your score go up by 1. Fairly simple, however every time you get a box you switch weapons and you have no control over what weapon you will get. Every weapon is situationally useful however you will rarely get the weapon for the situation in which it would be the most useful.
All of this makes Super Crate Box very difficult. However mastering it is highly addictive. Balancing between retrieving the boxes and killing the enemies as well as learning the nuances for all of the weapons was extremely satisfying.
The game has an instant restart that has made me play a more than a few extra rounds. After Super Crate Box I finally understand how a person could sit and pump quarters into a machine looking for a high score for hours and hours.