ARCADE WATCH
Keeping an eye on the coin-op gaming scene
Once upon a time, publishers would rush movie-licensed games to market in order to capitalise on film-studio marketing buzz, but Sega’s arcade division hasn’t always stuck to the plan. In 2008 it released Rambo, a lightgun cabinet based on First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988), and now it’s rolling out Mission: Impossible Arcade, riffing on the franchise whose first instalment hit cinema screens in 1996, the most recent arriving in 2018.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall that the game first appeared in Arcade Watch way back in E340, but the pandemic’s effect on the coin-op scene applied the brakes to its release. And Mission: Impossible Arcade is deserving of a second look regardless, not only because of its design, which is so extravagant that only the likes of Sega could pull it off.
Supporting up to four players via two screens facing each other, this is a lightgun game of unique configuration. Each participant has two guns, although the weapons are fixed to a base unit, meaning that they aim in unison, making the game as accessible as possible – albeit doubtless to the chagrin of Mr John Woo himself.