I came across a game called "Mecha Dinosaur Showdown" today. Guys, don't laugh. The name sounds pretty cool, but I clicked on it and played it. Hey, it's really awesome. To be honest, these days, there are not many games that a 35-year-old like me would be willing to download. This game is not big in package size, but its content is surprisingly solid.
You said that those "AAA masterpieces" now have dozens of Gs at every turn. They will give you the entire novice tutorial for two hours. The plot and animation are longer than the movie. As a result, the core gameplay is automatic path finding + automatic combat. Where is the fun in that? It's really not as fun as fighting with your friends over the controller when you were a kid.
This "Mecha Dinosaur Showdown" is different. It doesn't have any bells and whistles. The core is to collect dinosaurs, assemble parts, and equip skills, and then compete with others. The most exciting thing is that you can assemble the dinosaurs freely. I think the "Gundam" models were not so flexible back then, right? From the head to the tail, from the teeth to the claws, everything can be replaced. At first, I randomly made a short-legged tyrannosaurus, which ran slower than a turtle. I was kited to death by a pterosaur on the opposite side. I was so angry that I almost dropped my phone - but looking back, isn't this the same feeling as a child when Gulie in "Street Fighter" kept sending waves that disgusted me? 😂
The skill combination in the game is also very particular. If you want to play the tank style, add armor and counter damage, and if you want to play the fast attack style, add agility and combos. The balance is pretty good, and it's not a pure krypton gold crushing thing. The key point is that the charging mode of this game is 0! Yes, you read that right, free! And it's not the kind of fake free that “gets in for free and costs $999”. At least I haven't felt forced to spend money after playing for a few days. Parts and dinosaur eggs can be earned by playing in the arena, and the rhythm is very comfortable.
What I feel most emotional about is that when I open the app store now, the screen is full of advertisements that say "Start with a sword, and all the equipment depends on cutting". Each one has a more dazzling picture and a larger memory than the other one. But if you think about it carefully, is there anything new in the gameplay? It's all a skin change. On the contrary, this kind of small-scale turn-based strategy game with pure gameplay allowed me to find the same research enthusiasm as when I played "Heroes" on Wenquxing.
The only shortcoming of this game may be that the name is too down-to-earth, making it easy for people to mistake it for a browser game for younger audiences. But my dear friends, listen to my advice, put down those "movie simulators" with tens of gigabytes, and try to fight dinosaurs on your own. Maybe you will be like me, cursing "what the hell is this combination" while playing, and then can't help but change parts and fight again.
There were no smartphones at that time, so we stayed in front of the TV and never got tired of playing a game over and over again. Nowadays, there are hundreds of masterpieces stored in mobile phones, but they often become boring after five minutes of opening. I think it's not that we have changed, it's that some games have lost the “fun” in special effects and payment. There are very few games like "Mecha Showdown" that allow you to do things by yourself, think by yourself, and compete with others by yourself.
Okay, no more talk, I just developed a "Heavy Armored Spinosaurus" play method and took a walk. If you meet someone with the ID "Old Driver, Take Me" in the arena, remember to give me some face and don't break my wings! 😎