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Tai-Pan
58th Post

Occasional Customer

"POW" , posted Tue 10 Jan 09:38

I just discovered this arcade game by SNK called POW Prisoner of War. I thought i knew a lot about beat em ups, but i didnt know this one. Does anyone know about any site listing every beat em up (or most of them) ever released? Im just a fan of this genre.

hayaku!!

Replies:

exodus

3205th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(1):POW" , posted Tue 10 Jan 09:40

there is no such site, though many have called for one.

POW was also ported to the NES, so you might want to check that out.

Undead Fred

2598th Post

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"Re(1):POW" , posted Tue 10 Jan 09:49

quote:
I just discovered this arcade game by SNK called POW Prisoner of War. I thought i knew a lot about beat em ups, but i didnt know this one. Does anyone know about any site listing every beat em up (or most of them) ever released? Im just a fan of this genre.

OH MY GOD... I forgot all about P.O.W. Awesome game. It was one of the ones I was obsessed with back when I was in elementary school. I saw the arcade game and got to play a little of it, and of course asked for it on the NES when it was released. GOOD TIMES

CHAZumaru

323th Post

Bronze Customer

"POW, wow" , posted Tue 10 Jan 10:49

Random trivia time: POW also featured uncanny references to the Metal Gear series, including a parody of the famed こちらスネーク trademark introduction (the hero was named Snake as well).

NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 Z80 AND SH-2 HEART ON FIRE !!

GekigangerV

1198th Post

Red Carpet Premium Member+

"Re(1):POW, wow" , posted Tue 10 Jan 11:14

I remember POW. Although I never beat it I enjoyed it. The farthest I can remember getting is a little past the helicopter boss fight.

Red Falcon

5627th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(2):POW, wow" , posted Tue 10 Jan 15:06:

Arcade version of POW is quite bad, don't bother with it. NES version is actually much better (rather unusual for those days)

Edit: Speaking of old SNK games, anyone else here a SAR fan? Wonderful game.

Best site EVER:Link Here

[this message was edited by Red Falcon on Tue 10 Jan 15:06]

Undead Fred

2600th Post

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"Re(3):POW, wow" , posted Tue 10 Jan 19:21

quote:
Arcade version of POW is quite bad, don't bother with it. NES version is actually much better (rather unusual for those days)

Well, I'd still want to play the arcade version just for old times' sake, and that I could barely get past the first few huts since I was a n00b back then.

God, this thread makes me want to find P.O.W. and Operation Wolf arcade machines to play somewhere.

Joe Randel

467th Post

Gold Customer

"Re(1):POW" , posted Tue 10 Jan 22:51

I remember POW. I remember it being so hard when I was a kid and getting really frustraited with both the NES and Arcade versions, and yet I played the game like it was going out of style.

Other favorites of mine are...

King of Dragons
Knights of the Round
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Magic Sword
TMNT + TMNT: Turtles in Time
Bad Dudes
and
Two Crude Dudes

"I can't take any more illicit drugs... I can't afford any artificial joy" - Pursuit of Happiness

simonbelmont
57th Post

Occasional Customer

"Re(3):POW, wow" , posted Tue 10 Jan 23:28

quote:
Arcade version of POW is quite bad, don't bother with it. NES version is actually much better (rather unusual for those days)

It wasn't that bad for the times. Not quite as good as Bad Dudes though. I remember back in the 80's watching some hair metal dudes play Ninja Gaiden and they bitched about how Nintendo always ruined their version of arcade games by 'puting in too much extra man shit.' Good times. I miss the days where America had lots of independent arcades everywhere.

Toxico

4126th Post

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"Re(3):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 03:10

quote:

Edit: Speaking of old SNK games, anyone else here a SAR fan? Wonderful game.

Search and Recue? I had a desktop theme of it looooonnnng ago; the 'Alien' references where neat ;)

For the record I never forgot P.O.W., and we have also discussed certain references with Metal Slug, we even concieved the possibility that Metal Slug main characters where 'inspired' in POW, I don't remember the name of the 'Hitler' in the pow game, he was bald with mustache, similar to the nemesis of Metal Slug, wasn't he called Cobra in POW? .... It's been too many years and too many drinks.

I loved the arcade game POW sound effects, whenever you killed an enemy there it was a loud punching sound that was quite neat ;) I even imitate it some times when someone saids something stupid (meaning that 'I punched them to death' due to their stupidity).

See??? He is a God...

Undead Fred

2601th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(4):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 05:17

quote:
For the record I never forgot P.O.W., and we have also discussed certain references with Metal Slug, we even concieved the possibility that Metal Slug main characters where 'inspired' in POW, I don't remember the name of the 'Hitler' in the pow game, he was bald with mustache, similar to the nemesis of Metal Slug, wasn't he called Cobra in POW? .... It's been too many years and too many drinks.

I loved the arcade game POW sound effects, whenever you killed an enemy there it was a loud punching sound that was quite neat ;) I even imitate it some times when someone saids something stupid (meaning that 'I punched them to death' due to their stupidity).

Heh heh. I keep wanting to say his name had "Panther" in it or something... I was only able to see him in the NES version since I didn't get to play the arcade version much and wasn't very good at it.

Oh yeah, P.O.W. featured the first "CONGRATURATION!!" I can remember in a video game.

Ishmael

2336th Post

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"Re(4):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 05:30

quote:
Arcade version of POW is quite bad, don't bother with it. NES version is actually much better (rather unusual for those days)

That's interesting. While the arcade POW game did a good job of recreating the sensation of weakness and sluggish movement that would come from being interred by enemy forces that unintended bit of realism didn't help me enjoy the game. If the NES version tightens things up, however, I may have to check it out.

quote:
It wasn't that bad for the times. Not quite as good as Bad Dudes though.

Bad Dudes was better? Ack, on second thought maybe I won't check it out.

quote:
God, this thread makes me want to find P.O.W. and Operation Wolf arcade machines to play somewhere.

I played Operation Wolf on that Taito compilation that was recently released and was surprised at how well it held up. Operation Thunderbolt, however, felt like a bizarre showcase for 1980's excess. A movie review I once read noted that the 1980's was the decade of the uzi since you couldn't have a proper action movie from that time period without someone shooting off one of those guns. Nowhere is that spirit more apparent then in Operation Thunderbolt where you can mow through thousands of soldiers and casually shoot down jet planes all with your trusty uzi.

Red Falcon

5628th Post

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"Re(5):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 06:00:

When I say POW is bad, I mean it was a sub-par beat 'em up even by the standards of the day. It had absolutely no variety in terms of enemies and very little in terms of other things to keep it interesting. It least it was short. The NES version added a lot more interesting stuff to the game, and was a definate improvement. The only thing better about the arcade version was that it was two player. (SNK used to do pretty good stuff with the NES, I wonder what happened later?)

Edit: And yes, Bad Dudes is good. :D Poor Data East... Speaking of "Dude" themed games, anyone here familiar with the bizarre "Two Crude Dudes"?

Best site EVER:Link Here

[this message was edited by Red Falcon on Wed 11 Jan 06:01]

exodus

3207th Post

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"Re(6):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 06:04

quote:

Edit: And yes, Bad Dudes is good. :D Poor Data East... Speaking of "Dude" themed games, anyone here familiar with the bizarre "Two Crude Dudes"?

Yeah...that game was most curious. If I had piles of money I'd totally revive Data East. I hear a cranky old man is sitting on all the licenses right now though, and asking for boatloads of money.

Gojira

1917th Post

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"Re(7):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 09:45

I think I played every arcade game back then. It was like my goal to beat every beatable game in the arcade whether I liked the game or not.

I remember POW, sort of. I hated it. The graphics were pretty bad, and it wasn't as fun a beat-em-up as Double Dragon and not as fun a shooter as Contra. And both of those were pretty old by the time POW came out.

I enjoyed a lot of games back then: Time Soldiers, Ring King, Speed Rumbler, Rolling Thunder, Super Spy, Vigilante, Xybots, Ninja Gaiden, Renegade, Xenophobia, Tapper... I remember Bad Dudes too, but I'm sure I spent more time with Super Spy. Arcades were so damn huge to me back then.

Variable Savior

329th Post

Bronze Customer

"Re(8):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 10:08

Back in the day I liked the arcade POW so I bought the NES version. After playing through the port I found it was incredibly dull and repetitive (and the fact that I recall it being repetitive in an era where most games were by nature repetitive is saying something). Seeing how I never got that far in the arcade version I have to ask what they added to the NES version that actually made it better??

quote:
Arcades were so damn huge to me back then.

Same here. I remember Bad Dudes with a great deal of fondness (and Two Crudes Dudes with a little less...). Anyone ever play Crime Fighters?? It was a four player sidescrolling beatem-up by Konami and has to be one of (if not the) ultimate token eating game of all time.

quote:
I think I played every arcade game back then. It was like my goal to beat every beatable game in the arcade whether I liked the game or not.

Again, I know how you feel. Ever play through Downtown? It was a two player vertically scrolling beatem-up with the directional joysticks (ala Ikari Warriors or Time Soldiers). Good Lord that game sucked....

Blood marks heaven's path

gorgeous
43th Post

Rare Customer

"Re(5):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 10:41

quote:
Oh yeah, P.O.W. featured the first "CONGRATURATION!!" I can remember in a video game.

Yeah, that was great. The ending is a screen of the dude punching a guy in the head with the word "CONGRATUATION". Or was it him hoisting a gun?

Now, what was the game that featured a "CONGRADURATIN"? Because that's the best misspelling of the word ever. I remember the spelling letter for letter, yet the game name eludes me.

Red Falcon

5628th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(9):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 10:42

quote:
Seeing how I never got that far in the arcade version I have to ask what they added to the NES version that actually made it better??

Bottom line: if you think the NES version is repetetive, I can tell you hadn't gotten far in the arcade version. None of the interesting bosses or other types of enemies (say, the divers) are in the arcade version. Just the same kind of soldier over and over. No items like the brass knuckles and such, either.

Also, as Gojira said: ". The graphics were pretty bad, and it wasn't as fun a beat-em-up as Double Dragon and not as fun a shooter as Contra. And both of those were pretty old by the time POW came out. " It was really a pretty shoddy effort, there was vastly superior arcade fare around at the time. I don't care one way or the other about graphics, but POW really was just very bad, especially compared to many of SNK's other arcade games of that period.

Best site EVER:Link Here

simonbelmont
58th Post

Occasional Customer

"Re(9):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 12:59

quote:

Anyone ever play Crime Fighters?? It was a four player sidescrolling beatem-up by Konami and has to be one of (if not the) ultimate token eating game of all time.

Crime Fighters was great! Vendetta was a good one too. I liked how all the playable characters looked like 80's icons (Hulk Hogan, Mike Tyson, Mr. T, and Van Damme).

I miss beating up green haired mohawked punk rockers. That's one of the problems with beat em ups today. I'd much rather beat up Guns N Roses wanna be's, punk rockers, and various other 80's losers than the thugs of today. I suppose beating up RUN DMC lookalikes that carry huge boom boxes on their shoulders would be pretty fun too.

exodus

3209th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(6):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 16:01

quote:

Now, what was the game that featured a "CONGRADURATIN"? Because that's the best misspelling of the word ever. I remember the spelling letter for letter, yet the game name eludes me.

well, the internet's tim rogers claims it to be P.O.W.
and who wants to argue with him!?

Undead Fred

2604th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(6):POW, wow" , posted Wed 11 Jan 18:11

quote:
Yeah, that was great. The ending is a screen of the dude punching a guy in the head with the word "CONGRATUATION". Or was it him hoisting a gun?

If I remember right, he's standing with some girl and the rest of the troops giving the camera a thumbs up.... not sure if it's different on the arcade version or not.