Games with wacky controls

[jerryjanis]

I gotta say that my favorite part of Mame and BYOAC is the games with more bizarre control methods.  I would like to compile a list of the games which fall under the "wacky controls" category.  These are the games that go above and beyond the typical...  Ikari Warriors, Karate Champ Vs., Warlords, Atari Football - these DON'T cut it...  They're not quite wacky enough.  I believe that all of these are beyond the scope of MAME -listinfo...

Here are some examples that I have discovered:

JOYSTICK + TRACKBALL
-----------------------------
SDI - (2 players simultaneous ambidextrous!!!)
Wacko
Snake Pit (really really rad game)

JOYSTICK + SPINNER
--------------------------
Tron - one button on joystick
Discs of Tron - up/down spinner + 2 buttons on joystick
Zwackery - same as Discs of Tron
Crater Raider - 2 way joy + spinner
Aztarac - Analog joy (broken in Mame, simple hack)
Kozmic Kroozer

UNIQUE
----------
720 - spinner joystick w/2 encoder wheels

DUAL JOYSTICK 3 PLAYERS SIMULTANEOUS
------------------------------------------------------
Star Guards - (broken in Mame - simple hack)

DRIVING GAMES
--------------------
Night Stocker - steering wheel + lightgun
Lucky & wild - steering wheel & 2 lightguns
Gun Buster - (2 players) * (lightgun/joystick/3 buttons)

Tin Star - 8-position switch with push-down button
Front Line - 8-position switch with push-down button
Wild Western - 8-position switch with push-down button
Dribbling - Rotary w/push down button

Stompin - Dance Dance Revolution style controls


What other games are out there with zany controls?

Thanks!

[u_rebelscum]

DRIVING GAMES
--------------------

Road Blaster, steering wheel: optical sensor like a spinner, but limited movement like a 270 POTs wheel

And are 12-way sticks unique enough?


First off the top of my head.  I'll see if my head pops any more later.

[jerryjanis]

What's this 12-way joystick business?  What game(s)?

[u_rebelscum]

What's this 12-way joystick business?  What game(s)?

Opps, meant to say 8way w/ 12 direction rotary.   You know, time solder, heavy barrel, and ikari type.  But I missed that they "don't cut it".

Forgotten world and caliber 50 used a push down spinner and 8way stick, and might make it.

Another JOYSTICK + SPINNER:
Major havoc

[Babs]

Do you mean things like Streetfighter original, with it's big pressure sensitive(if they were, it was a long time ago) rubber thump buttons, sonic blastman with the big pad you had to thump as hard as you can.

[skirge66]

what about frontlines ....with an 8 directional rotary pushbutton for shooting and 8 way stick for movement and a button for gernades?

[spidermonkey]

I've never seen a major havok cab with a joystick  The conversion kits used the existing control panels from a tempest,space deul ect... cabinet which used a typical spinner and then there was the much rarer dedicated major havok cabinet that used that green roller controller which was basically a spinner mounted on its side. I could be wrong but I don't see where there would be a need for a joystick.   Mmmmm... roller controller  drool

[spidermonkey]

paperboy
two tigers
mad planets

[b3atmania]

Funny you should ask, I was just compiling a list of stuff like this to see what control panels are worth making.

USING 49-WAY JOYSTICK

• Sinistar
• Arch Rivals
• Blaster
• NFL Blitz (not in MAME)
• NFL Blitz '99 (not in MAME)
• NFL Blitz 2000 (not in MAME)
• NFL Blitz 2000 - Gold Edition (not in MAME)
• Pigskin 612 A.D.
• Gauntlet - Dark Legacy (not in MAME)
• Gauntlet Legends (not in MAME)
• NBA Showtime - NBA On NBC (not in MAME)

USING TWO JOYSTICKS PER PLAYER

• Karate Champ
• Smash TV
• Total Carnage
• Robotron 2084
• Crazy Climber
• Crazy Climber 2
• Krull

USING THREE TRACKBALLS

• Rampart
• Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade

USING FOUR TRACKBALLS

• Atari Football
• Dunk Shot

USING FOUR SPINNERS

• Warlords

OTHER

• ParaParaParadise series (uses optical sensors to register players' arm movements, not in MAME)
• DanceManiax series (use optical sensors to register player' arm and leg movements, not in MAME)
• Beatmania (III) series (uses 5 rectangular pushbuttons arranged in two rows, 2 in the upper row and 3 in the lower row. Also features a turntable which actually work very much like a spinner. The control panel is not symmetrical. Both players have their turntables on their righthand. There's also an "effect" button which toggles the use of a spatializer filter to the sound system.)
• Beatmnia IIDX series: same as regular Beatmania, but with 7 buttons. Control panel is symmetrically mirrored unlike Beatmania meaning the turntable is on the left for the left player and on the right for the right player. The monitor is widescreen (16:9) format.
• Pop'n Music series: uses 9 jumbo pushbuttons
• Dance Dance Revolution / Dancing Stage series: uses a dance platform. four switches up, down, left, right. One platform per player.
• Dance Dance Revolution Solo series (same as DDR / Dancing Stage, but with two diagonal arrows added: diagonal up-left and up-right.
• Prop Cycle: uses a analogue yoke to steer and bicycle pedals to accelerate.
• Keyboardmania series: uses an 31-key syntheseizer keyboard. One keyboard for each player.
• Typing of the Dead: uses two japanese keyboards, one for each player. It allows input of both roman letters and kana, the Japanese phonetic alphabet.
• Stepping Selection: uses dance platform with 6 panels to register player stomps. One platform for each player.
• Dream Audition: karaoke, so uses a microphone to sample players' voice. One mic for each player.
• Taiko no Tatusjin. Uses a taiko (a japanese drum instrument) and two sticks to hit the drum. The drum can register strength and position to gauge player performance.
• Samba de Amigo series: uses a set of maracass. There's some optical system that measures the position of the maracass compared to the floor. Players have to make their length known to the game for it to function correctly. One set of maracas for each player.
• Bishi Bashi series: uses 3 jumbo pushbuttons per player. Its a three player game, so nine buttons in total.
• EZ2DJ series: same controls as Beatmania.
• EZ2Dance series: dance platforms with four panels, one in each quadrant, so its bit different from DDR.
• Paca Paca Passion series: uses four pushbuttons per player.
• Metal Hawk: uses analogue joystick and a throttle to climb and descent your chopper.
• Guitar Freaks series: use a guitar with three button for strings and a fourth pick-button. One guitar per player.
• Drummania / Percussion Freaks series: use an electronic (Yamaha made) drum kit, complete with sticks and pedal.

USING TANK CONTROLS

• Vindicators
• Vindicators part II
• Battlezone
• Bradley Trainer
• Assault
• Assault Plus
• Cyber Sled

NOT SURE

• Funky Head Boxers (KLOV lists as 49-way optical. Is this correct? Game runs on Sega ST-V hardware so seems unlikely)
• Enforce: there was something special about that tank game, but can't recall...
• Rock'n Thread series: Uses a pedal, but can't remember the other controls.

[ThePunk]

What about the spring loaded analog "pass" stick in leland "quarterback".

[paigeoliver]

USING TWO JOYSTICKS PER PLAYER

• Karate Champ
• Smash TV
• Total Carnage
• Robotron 2084
• Crazy Climber
• Crazy Climber 2
• Krull

USING TANK CONTROLS

• Vindicators
• Vindicators part II
• Battlezone
• Bradley Trainer
• Assault
• Assault Plus
• Cyber Sled

For duel joy games. Add

Mars
Black Widow
Lost Tomb
Minefield
Rescue
Tutankham

For Tank controls add

Tank
Tank 2
Tank 8
Ultra Tank

[OSCAR]

I've never seen a major havok cab with a joystick  The conversion kits used the existing control panels from a tempest,space deul ect... cabinet which used a typical spinner and then there was the much rarer dedicated major havok cabinet that used that green roller controller which was basically a spinner mounted on its side. I could be wrong but I don't see where there would be a need for a joystick.   Mmmmm... roller controller  drool

The original roller was actually probably closer to a single axis trackball, but a sideways spinner is a good description, too.  


http://www.multigame.com/mh_controller.html

http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/4sale/forsale.html

[u_rebelscum]

In my books, 49 way is basically the same as a "course analog stick".   And Hall Effect sticks are just analog sticks with a different type of POT.  *shrug*

What about the spring loaded analog "pass" stick in leland "quarterback".

That snap stick was used in baseball games, too.  For many of these games, the batter's snap stick was mounted raised and sideways like a right handed batter's bat.

[b3atmania]

What about the spring loaded analog "pass" stick in leland "quarterback".

That reminds me of that Sega golf game where you had a spring loaded golf club on the control panel.

[jerryjanis]

That snap stick was used in baseball games, too.  For many of these games, the batter's snap stick was mounted raised and sideways like a right handed batter's bat.

I recently told somebody that that would be one control panel that I definetly DIDN'T want to make...

A week later, I put in a bid on Ebay for $0.01 for a baseball panel and won...  Oops!

[Minwah]

• Samba de Amigo series: uses a set of maracass. There's some optical system that measures the position of the maracass compared to the floor. Players have to make their length known to the game for it to function correctly. One set of maracas for each player.

I wondered if anyone would mention this...I think the maracas use ultrasonic rather than optics.  Anyone got a DC running this in their cab??

How about Sega Bass (+Marine) Fishing, and Brave Fire Fighters?

I think the maracas are the bizarrest so far...

[jakejake28]

the banana in super monkey ball. do not forget the monkeys in airtight containers. do not forget.

[spectre]

BOONGA BOONGA! lmfao
anyone who knows this game will know what I'm talking about, HAHHAA

[b3atmania]

• Samba de Amigo series: uses a set of maracass. There's some optical system that measures the position of the maracass compared to the floor. Players have to make their length known to the game for it to function correctly. One set of maracas for each player.

I wondered if anyone would mention this...I think the maracas use ultrasonic rather than optics.  Anyone got a DC running this in their cab??

Yeah, might well be ultrasonic. Another curious thing about the game is the selectable height is 190cm max. I wonder if its some limit with the technology or just because the game targeted the asian market and they thought no-one over 190cm would ever play it.

[metaHipster]

BOONGA BOONGA! lmfao
anyone who knows this game will know what I'm talking about, HAHHAA

hahahaha.  yeah I think that a plastic finger and giant ass for your input devices qualifies as weirdest controls ever (weirder than Maracas, imho).

[MajorLag]

USING FOUR SPINNERS

    * Warlords

Not technically accurate. Warlords uses 4 paddles (which is significantly easier to interface than 4 spiners).

[Darkstalker]

There's Xenophobe as well for odd joystick controls.

Top Skater, that you actually stand on a skateboard:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=10160

I remember a snowboarding counterpart to this game as well...


There's Mocap Boxing where you hold the two boxing gloves and swing towards the screen...

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8724

Looks much more manly to play that over DDR 

The Silent Scope series, which I would guess is a 4-way joystick since it is anchored to the machine.

Not sure how weird it is, but Brace Figherfigters has two "fire hose" lightguns:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=7212

Then there was one where you are in a canoe or something, and your controls are a short set of paddles.

Xenophobe I imagine is the only game from this list emulated...Not sure if you were after MAME only, or a general list...

[Lilwolf]

As for dual joysticks... Karate fighters are dual 4 ways... if you want to seperate them.

And for weird control tops on standard controls... You have like crossbow that had a crossbow on an analog t2 type controller... 

You also have the finger up the butt game that everyones seen pictures of... but never seen one in person.  That seems like a PERFECT game to travel around the country putting it in companies for a few weeks at a time.  I know it would be packed for a few days here...

[telengard]

I gotta say that my favorite part of Mame and BYOAC is the games with more bizarre control methods.  I would like to compile a list of the games which fall under the "wacky controls" category.  These are the games that go above and beyond the typical...  Ikari Warriors, Karate Champ Vs., Warlords, Atari Football - these DON'T cut it...  They're not quite wacky enough.  I believe that all of these are beyond the scope of MAME -listinfo...

Here are some examples that I have discovered:

What other games are out there with zany controls?

Thanks!

Some of the ones I thought of (that don't seem to have been mentioned yet) are:

Mouse Trap (3 big lit square buttons, not really zany I guess)
Xybots (cool twisting joystick)   

~telengard

[KenToad]

Don't forget the "full size" motorcycle from Super Hang-On that was so cool to lean on but really was so hard to control that you lost quickly every time.

Cheers,
KenToad

[DarkBubble]

There's Mocap Boxing where you hold the two boxing gloves and swing towards the screen...

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8724

Dodging and swinging with those gloves'll put you on your butt if you're not in the best of shape or have bad joints.  The "gloves" themselves are pretty heavy.

Konami's also got a police-themed lightgun game that uses the same hardware and motion sensing setup.  It's great to dodge behind scenery to avoid the slow enemy fire.  It's like Time Crisis without the pedal with real-time dodge and hide thrown in.  Been waiting for games like that for too long.

Don't forget The Grid, a Quake III Arena-style arcade FPS.  It used a trigger stick and a trackball. 

http://klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8010

I seem to recall another game that was either also by Midway or just used the same hardware, but in place of one of the controls (I can't remember which), it had PC-style keys.  Sound familiar to anyone?

[Kremmit]

Beachead 2002 uses a nifty headset with trigger grips.  There's a screen inside the headset that the player looks at; the big monitor on the cab is just for onlookers.  Look up, look down, turn around, and the view moves with you.  Your view is down the barrel of a great big fricking gun emplacement, and when you pull those triggers, whatever you're looking at wishes you hadn't.

The old version just used a trackball. 

[Gunstar Hero]

Forgotten Worlds with it's funky combo spinner/button... and was the up/down/spinner from Discs of Tron mentioned yet?

Oh yeah, kudos to the Crater Rader mention. I remember that game, not so much for the controls, but the screen had a freaky lens to make it feel "3D".

I used to rock that game too.

[StuckInJapan]

Some of the weirdest control schemes I've seen have been on Japanese sports games...
The volleyball game "Ace Attacker" had a hand-shaped lever to simulate arm movement for serves/spikes, a rotary dial to set strategy, a "block" button, and a trackball for player movement.
Jumbo Ozaki Super Masters Golf had a dial to determine shot direction, two buttons for choosing your club and stance, and a spring-loaded thingy for actually hitting the ball, sort of like some baseball games.
Both are MAME'd, but I have no idea how they play.

[cw]

this is a strange one...


http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=P&game_id=12775

[jimjim]

I remember a game that I had to look up called submarine.  You would launch torpedoes at battleships.

A cool game that Sega made for the Dreamcast and was in the arcades is Virtual On.  It used two joysticks.

[clhug]

I remember a game that I had to look up called submarine.  You would launch torpedoes at battleships.

That sounds like Sea Wolf.  One of my favorites as a kid and definitely an odd control.  It basically mimicked looking through a periscope in a submarine and could move it back and fourth and pressed a fire button the handles of the periscope to launch your torpedoes at the right time.  Very simple game but looking through the periscope somehow added another dimension to it.  I suppose today you could mimic the play with a rotary stick or even a trackball, but it just wouldn't be the same without actually looking through the periscope.

[PetitMorte]

Mad Planets uses a Tron setup.  trigger stick + a spinner to aim.

Also, my local Gamewerks has a nifty fighter game where you stand against a blue-screen and have to *actually* jump, throw punches and kicks, and move forward and back to control your character.  ...My wife regularly kicks ---my bottom--- at that game.  She's figured out how to do the "little girl" character's killer move.  It's emberassing.   

[StuckInJapan]

Tracked down pictures of "Inu No Osanpo" by Sega,
a dog-walking game where you had to actually walk on a treadmill
while using a leash-shaped controller to guide your dog through
various obstacles.

[danny_galaga]

youd have to say dance dance revolution has pretty funny controls (",) and whats that game where you wave your hands to music? theres also the game where you hold a boxing glove and punch into the air to hit your opponent...

[trcroyle]

Arm Champs I and II. Arm wrestling games with a fake arm controler.

[Gunstar Hero]

Hey, what about Quarterback/Team Quarterback/World Series's bizarre little springy "throwing" sticks?

[missioncontrol]

wasn't there an arm wressling game popular in the early-mid 80's that had a plastic arm you had to pin?

[Minwah]

Sorry haven't read the whole thread but don't think Sente's 'Off the Wall' is mentioned - that uses a joystick & spinner.

[Forces21]

I know that this is different, not odd but I haven't seen it done on any other cab since, but what about Luna Lander with it's large Thrust lever?