Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Underappreciated"

Licensed games normally suck and it's not hard to see why: licenses cost money, but so does good development and when you don't have unlimted money you can't have both.

There is an exception when it comes to arcade games. Licensed games abound but they tend to be pretty good: Terminator 2, X-Men, TMNT and The Simpsons and Capcom's vs series were all very fun and worthy quarter munchers. In fact I can't remember a licensed arcade game that was atrocious. Even Moonwalker was pretty fun.

Capcom's Aliens vs. Predator manages to take that tradition to new heights. AvP came out when beat-em-ups were on the decline - being replaced by Street Fighter II and its "sequels" (Super, Hyper, Hyper Super, Hyper Super Turbo, etc.) Capcom decided to incoporate Streetfighter-esqe moves into each of the playable characters. The result are combos and air juggling that Dante and Kratos would envy.

Consider Linn Kurosawa - the most agile of the 4 player characters. In the hands of a skilled player, a room full of xenomorphs has her jumpkicking one, stabbing another, airthrowing a third into enemies 4-7 and then jumpkicking #8 just before she hits the ground. The room is cleared in short order. No hits taken and more time is spent airborne than on the ground.

The game is generous with weapons that you can pick up. While they're all useful and fun to use (especially the Marine's pulse rifles and smartguns) they can't be incorporated into any combos. If you're in the zone, you're probably going to want to pass them up. Besides, the game gives each character an unlimited sidearm that is powerful enough in its own right.

As with all beat-em-ups, the real joy is playing cooperatively with others. Even though the other player characters are tanks compared to Linn, as she does her airshow and the predators rain down explosives, the game doesn't fail to thrill. My only wish is that they included a mode when you could mess with your friends. After all, the only thing better than playing with others is kicking the sh!t out of them.

Good luck trying to find this game at the local arcarde. That is assuming you're lucky enough to still have a local arcade. Fortunately MAME makes this gem available to all.