QCF: Windjammers

hile Nintendo is a brand that will forever be synonymous with video games, there are a few other Japanese names that have attracted a dedicated following, particularly one best known for delivering intense arcade action—SNK and their platform, Neo Geo.

Most may only know them as the house that built King of Fighters these days, but the passionate affection that the brand can still command even after all these years is still palpable, especially for one particular title that has managed to obtain a cult-classic status with those in the competitive gaming scene.

Spinning a casual beach sport into high-powered contest, Flying Disc Game-Windjammers was a gem that managed to spawn its own culture of versus action. The eccentric Frisbee-tosser was not only novel, but addictive, and frenetic, allowing it to endure on in an environment that was dominated by the fighting game genre for years on end, only to slowly drift into obscurity as the day of the arcade slowly came to an end.

That is until now; Dot-Emu has managed to secure the rights to publishing a remastered version of it for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on PSN, and thankfully, the experience is just as incredible, if not more so than it was twenty years ago in that dingy pizza parlor that your family used to drag you to during the weekend.

In all honesty, the term “remaster” should be used very loosely here as the visual and audio elements in this iteration of the game are more upscaled than they are enhanced. The pixel standard for Neo Geo clocks in at 320×224 with progressive scan in 4:3 ratio; Dot Emu was able to increase the pixel count without any significant artifacting via pixel density, or compromise to the scan effects when scaled to the 16:9 ratio, all in glorious 1080P resolution.

The package also allows for nostalgic graphic filter options for those who want to recreate the display of the buzzing CRT monitor, but only on the console PS4 version as the Vita port is defaulted to the standard upscaled display without any sort of scanline or smoothing options available.

Sound wise, the emulation of the Neo Geo’s trademark Yamaha soundboard is done artfully well, remaining faithful to the upbeat tunes and synthesized banter that Windjammers is famous for.  In spite of the clean sound design, there’s nothing new added to the audio in terms of an arranged soundtrack, or redbook  option, which is pretty disappointing when you think of all of the graphical work that was done on this version. To make matters worse, the sound output is marred with numerous glitches that can vary anywhere from minor soundtrack hiccups that blare the track out at a low, bellowing pitch anytime a round is paused, to switching in and out of Stereo or Mono sound, or even cutting out altogether.

Aside from the different enhancements within the presentation, there’s one other huge addition to the title that fans have been clamoring for since Dot Emu first announced the re-release, and that’s online multiplayer, and thankfully, the studio was able to execute the feature wonderfully. The netcode at work perform marvelously as there were hardly any issues of lag, or input delay to make note of in the time I spent challenge other “jammers” online, delivering the same sort of responsive and frenetic experience that you’d expect out of a local game. The two available options are your typical casual or ranked modes of play, and both of them are able to maintain the volume of players steadily without there ever being much of a delay between matches. It also bears mentioning that Dot Emu applied some extra attention to detail within the matchmaking system in ranked mode made it so that the opponents that I got paired with were apropos to that of my own skill, and never once felt imbalanced in my time with it.

So some of you may be thinking “Alright George, we get it; the remastered presentation and online modes are cool and all, but what about the game—does it still hold up?”

Well, if you didn’t already know, then sure, I can break it down for you…

Yes, it does, in fact, I’d go as far as to say that Windjammers still stands to be one of the best games released in the last twenty years.

There are plenty of reasons about why I think it’s so great, but there’s one indistinguishable quality that it just gets right more than anything else, and that’s its level of accessibility. Data East’s neon-soaked Disc shooter is a back-and-forth contest of goaltending, as you vie for points by launching the Frisbee into the other players goal,  bearing in mind if they don’t catch it, and try to do the same to you. Borrowing elements from Frisbee-golf, and Tennis respectively, the core-gameplay is accentuated with ricochet-friendly physics that play off a player’s ability to delegate between trajectory, and velocity in their throws, encouraging players to play both tactically, and reflexively.

The various nuances between characters and courts add even more layers, offering a roster of competitors that each specialize in specific areas of skill like strength or technique, alongside their respective playing fields that’re also arranged with different obstacles that bear one of those areas of expertise more so in their design. For as simple as the concept is, the amount of depth that these modifiers can contribute allow each round to be just as fresh as the last, and at times insatiably addictive when you play with the right group of players.

Whether you’re considering the PlayStation 4, or the surprisingly exquisite Vita version, you can’t go wrong with Dot Emu’s take on the cult classic, especially if you’re in the market for a good party game that anyone of your friends can enjoy.