DotEmu, responsible for the great Streets of Rage 4 and soon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge; They bring Windjammers 2, a sequel to the 1994 Neo Geo game that respects its identity although it is a bit dated.
Windjammers 2 It is available for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
with summer air
After the heat wave in Argentina, what better way to spend it than playing shuffleboard on the coast. Classic “old” game. I don’t know if it will continue to be fashionable, since the person who writes to you lives in the mountains very far from the beach; but what if it comes back is Windjammers. Or the famous but arcade table shuffleboard.
The original game dates back to 1994 and could be said to be a cross between Pong and shuffleboard. Not a classic like other Neo Geo games, but it was good for getting through a couple of games when there was nothing else to do. What about the second part?
Round 1, Set, Go!
Well there is no science behind WindjammersAs I mentioned before, this sport (which seems incredible that no one has tried to recreate it in real life) is a mix between tennis and Frisbee. We have to choose 10 athletes who differ between being faster or stronger. And also in his special attacks; we’re going to get to that. It is our decision if we want to move fast on the court but have slower or weaker attacks. Or be strong and move more slowly but with devastating shots.
In the local championship mode we are going to jump to a map with a variety of scenarios, each one will be unlocked as we win the game. And what is the game about?
Each game is 15 points, the one who wins two games gets the victory. Like any game of shuffleboard we are going to have to throw the disc in the opposite zone. We can score between 3 and 5 points depending on where we put the goal; also if the disc touches the ground and the player does not reach it, it is a miss and it is 2 points. Some scenarios like the casino have different scores but the essence is the same.
Depending on our performance we will get points that allow us to fill a bar and have more lives.
The best way to get scores and achievements is to use the skills of our characters. Apart from the classic fast shots from below or above, we will be able to stop the puck and position our shot, hit it at the right time for a quick shot. Also now it is added that we can jump, grab the disk and throw it with force (something that was not in the original game).
Finally we have the special shots that we can use when charging a bar. They do not always end in both, so you have to know when to use them since they can be stopped.
Within the map there are also special levels such as a dog that runs the disk or a machine that throws disks at us as fast as it can.
When we finish the championship mode we can access this arcade mode without going through each of the scenarios. Outside of that we have the classic games vs against the AI or a second player. And also online games that have rollback netcode so that they are super fluid.
Then?. The problem of Windjammers 2 it is that the little it contributes is not up to 2022. It happens very often that games or movies rely only on nostalgia but do not bring anything new. And after a while the disc game begins to feel more of a step (something that the original suffered) and without as much extra or impressive content as if other titles like Streets of Rage 4.
those sexy contours
Without a doubt, the visual and sound section is the highlight of the game. The original version has been respected but the models in more robust drawings and with larger contours are much more similar to what Streets of Rage 4 was.
The animations are also much more characteristic and also the specials and the drawings that appear on the screen fill the entire stage with lights and colors. You can breathe that retro spirit.
Also note that each character speaks in the language to which it belongs, giving a realism to both arcade.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 7+
Processor: Intel i5+ – Memory: 4 GB RAM – Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 960 / Radeon HD 5750 or better