Ludicrous gimmickry is one of the best things about the arcade experience. It’s been more than two decades since arcade machines could provide graphics and sound years beyond home consoles, so the only option is a bit of razzle-dazzle in controllers and cabinets.
Star Wars has been ahead of the game on this for decades, with the 1983 arcade cabinet letting players get their hands on the controls of an X-Wing and take on a wireframe Death Star run. That kicked off a loose evolutionary line encompassing Sega’s Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Racer Arcade, and finally, Bandai-Namco’s 2014’s Star Wars Battle Pod.
This thing is a behemoth, with its most prominent feature the gigantic wraparound dome-shaped screen that aims to envelop you in the action. That sense of immersion is underlined by you having to clamber inside the pod and close the door, which lets you actually hear the game’s audio over the usual arcade din.
I’ve dabbled in this thing a few times before at the much-missed Namco FunScape on the South Bank, so was very pleased to see it at Newbury’s High Score. This newly opened arcade charges a tenner an hour and all the machines are on free play. Though the selection isn’t exactly comprehensive it’s got some great deep cuts – and anyway, everywhere else I’ve seen it Battle Pod is an eye-watering £2 a go.
On free play it took me twenty minutes to beat the game’s five levels but, despite the simple thrill of being inside a giant piece of Namco-branded plastic, it’s fairly obvious that Battle Pod is skating by on that big screen rather than any gameplay merits.
Though the controls would lead you to believe you’re piloting Star Wars‘ iconic ships, the reality is a very tightly choreographed rail shooter. Enemy craft buzz onto your screen and you simply target them and blast away, with bigger craft requiring the use of the special weapon. It’s really more of a ride than a game, a quick shot of entertainment is what players are going to expect.
Thing is, Battle Pod doesn’t really take advantage of that ginormous screen at all. All the actual gameplay takes place in a circular frame in front of you, with anything else relegated to your peripheral vision (which you’ll naturally ignore). The big screen does give you slightly more immersion, but it never quite delivers on the promise. Plus (and perhaps this might be simply the hardware aging) the screen is quite washed out and low res, like a 1990s projection TV.
All the above was true in 2014, but in 2022 games have evolved enough to render Battle Pod almost entirely obsolete. What the wraparound screen is trying to achieve has now been done far better by VR, with the killer idea of putting you in the cockpit of Star Wars ships done an order of magnitude better by Star Wars: Squadrons.
Compared to Squadrons, Battle Pod may as well be that creaky old wireframe game from the 1980s. Having said all that, I did like that I finally got to enjoy it without it steadily draining my wallet, but 20 minutes is all you need to see everything this has to offer.
Pixel Hunted 