Arcade Answers (Mano a Mano)

Answers for the fifth quiz!

Do yourself a favor and don't look at the answers before you sample the questions.

Mano a Mano 1 - Popeye


I wasn't the best at this game, but it was still pretty darned fun. You could eat your spinach and punch the crap out of Bluto, but more satisfying to me was to punch a barrel that would fall on the peabrain's head.


Mano a Mano 2 - Punch-Out!!


One of my all-time favorite games. It had some awesome voice samples and nice gameplay. The second guy, Piston Hurricane, would often kick my ass. Still, a great game.


Mano a Mano 3 - Double Dragon

One of the few games I can say I mastered. And it was all due to this elbow move.


You could pick up the occasional whip or baseball bat to pummel people with, but the elbow was always the sure bet.

Like many games of its type, the purpose of your hunky protagonist was to rescue a ravishing damsel in distress. The opening to this game was a little disturbing, in that not only did the bad guys steal your girl, they first punched her in the gut.



Not nice, bad guys of Double Dragon! Not nice!


Mano a Mano 4 - Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja


This game is very similar to Double Dragon. It was probably trying to capitalize on the success of the earlier videogame. I don't think it came close to matching Double Dragon's popularity -- probably because it was missing the elbow move and the gut punch to an attractive lady. The game at the Spaceport arcade where I played this would occasionally freeze. I would then go tell the attendant about the problem in order to get reimbursed. He would ask what game had the problem, and I, a reasonably grown man, would have to respond, "Bad dudes."


Mano a Mano 5 - Mortal Kombat


Ah, the first in a long line of fighting games that I have no hope to master. You can do a large variety attacks with combinations of joystick moves and five(!) buttons. I prefer Sub-Zero, 'cause that's how I roll.


Mano a Mano 6 - Karate Champ - Player Vs Player


Another game I sucked at that I still liked to play on occasion. The controls were unusual -- two joysticks and no buttons. You could do different karate moves depending on the directions you pulled the joystick. Some nice sound effects, especially the referee saying "full point" or "half point". I never could figure out how to avoid getting stomped by the bull in the bonus round. Stupid bull.