DrRyanSkelton on Nostr: Alien vs Predator arcade is a game about picking up weapons and sometimes you get to ...

Alien vs Predator arcade is a game about picking up weapons and sometimes you get to fight aliens. Honestly, it's a stupid idea to make an AvP beat-em-up, but not only does Capcom nail it, it is probably one of their best arcade beat-em-ups. Really expanding on Punisher quite a lot. They REALLY nailed the movesets. Great variety in the characters, lots of good options, the recharging gun gives you a second attack button in combat and all your moves are useful. Even the fact that the theme of the franchise means the only enemy types can be the alien, humans, and maybe a single predator, the game still does a lot to give variety. The various colored aliens meet all the beat-em-up standbys without feeling contrived and all having character enough that you can eyeball their gimmick by sight, and since they're all the fucking xenomorph repeated, that's a hell of an accomplishment.

Problem is the back half of the game is pretty bad. The humans ALL drop weapons, ALL of them, and you can't fight while standing over a weapon, you'll just be swapping it all day like you're in a Three Stooges routine. In addition, the last stage manages to feel like some of the absolute most padded bullshit I've seen in a Capcom beat-em-up. It NEVER ends and wrecks the pacing of the game, the same two bosses are reused like six times in the stage, and the final boss is some fat hyper armor alien that can just walk up to you and hit you for 75% of your health like every single bad arcade stereotype. A truly excellent game let down by a garbage final stage. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is still the king of Capcom's output that I've played.