I just took part in a Jail Break. It was very traumatic and I murdered many innocents but it’s OK, I was a cop so its allowed (bit political?). Of course I am talking the fictional video game Jail Break of which I just recieved the PCB from my good buddy Pinge.
The game is HARD, not hard… HARD! I was talking to another owner of said board and we both agree the game is brutal, mostly due to the isometric styled gameplay when it comes to shooting, or more often dodging bullets sent your way. Despite this I absolutely loved playing the game. Hard games are something I approve of though it depends on why its hard. If the gameplay isn’t at fault then to me its just something I have to learn and practice with but I will admit that on occasion I can see why someone would dislike this kind of hard. Not all things are for everyone I say and that is perfectly fine.
So, Jail Break is an action shooter video game developed and published by Konami on arcade platforms released in 1986. The plot is simple enough, as simple as my employment of copy-pasta from the Konami Wiki. A mass prison breakout has occurred and the prisoners have escaped. They have captured the prison warden and are creating havoc in the town. The player, a police officer, has the duty to restore order and kill or capture and bring back the prisoners to jail and rescue the prison warden. This is where I, or you, come in and start shooting the bad guys, and if not used to the mechanics, the good guys too…
The player starts off with a humble pistol, that is probably the best gun in the game as it fires fast and never seems to run out or need a re-load, always handy in a gun! There is also a Bazooka and a Tear Gas gun that literaly kills. Perhaps its more Mustard Gas than Tear? Either way its lethal. The Bazooka is great for freeing Batman from a barrel… Yes, you read that correctly! Oh, when shooting prisoners peeking from building windows with the tear gas gun, some will transform into naked women. If only fiction was real life eh?
The game despite its learnable issues with the isometric styled bullet dodging is certainly fun. It plays fast and furious and I imagine back in the Arcade days this made it highly unpopular for its coin eating abilities! Those that can stick with it though will attain a level of Arcade Godliness that will make them stand out from the crowd. One day you will (maybe) see the word HIT on top of that high score table as I try to reach those giddy heights though this may require me to have my arms replaced with Robot ones and my reactions boosted with A.I.
If you have this board or can play via Mame etc I highly recommend it, then pop in my stream and tell me how much you hate me! Other PCBs I recieved on the same day include Bubble Bobble, Ghosts and Goblins and Slap Fight but we shall talk about those in other posts. Gotta milk that content, ya know?
Hitch streams over at: https://www.twitch.tv/retrohitch if you ever want to see him struggle with games like Jail Break in real life!
