Article about the new Atari Asteroids Recharged arcade games. Has pictures and video

[JPF997]

2 hours ago, ledzep said:

 

Not this again.  I would "love" them if they didn't suck.  Which they do, playing those home versions in an arcade would change nothing.  But these announced arcade versions are being modified, apparently, to remove most of what sucks with the home versions, or didn't you read the list of shit that they are doing to Asteroids to make it truer to the original arcade look and feel?  I'm sure there will still be bits of it that I won't like so much (compared to the originals) but the changes as listed sound like what I was saying about the home Recharged version already.  Meaning this arcade version sounds playable and maybe even fun enough to play over and over, though I think the real fun will be playing with friends vs. solo.

 

Assuming these arcade versions are going to be much truer to their original ancestors, this will be your chance to finally play these games with the correct goddamn controllers.  From what has been stated, Asteroids will be all buttons (yay), Missile Command will have trak-balls (double yay), Lunar Lander will have the actual thruster control and the rotation buttons, this is a great start.  And the graphics will be toned down from the goofy home versions, at least from what Asteroids looks like, I hope the same is true for Centipede and Missile Command, less cartoony/childish and sluggish and more like the original versions.  I don't expect them to be exactly like the original versions because then what would "Recharged" even mean at that point.

 

I like that the power-ups in Asteroids aren't as frequent (from what little I could glean from the video) and they don't come towards you (too easy), you have to fly out to them at least (avoiding asteroid collisions) but that means you can also ignore them.  I also like the the feel of the game is much closer to original Asteroids and there're only 4 shots on screen at any one time, none of this constant mini-gun bullshit.  I'm sure there's a machine gun power-up or something (actually I hope not) but the idea that the base amount of firing is closer to the original is a welcome sign.

 

I am looking forward to huge fans of the home Recharged versions stumbling through having to use correct controllers and the games not being as easy and cartoon-based.

Ledzep sometimes when he have these arguments I start remembering those old Neo Geo boomers that constantly complained that the kids were playing King of Fighters with a Controller instead of using an official 130 dollar plus Neo Geo arcade stick like a "real" fan would 😂

( though to be fair those arcade sticks are genuinely fantastic )

 

 

 

Edited March 21 by JPF997

[Lord Mushroom]

4 minutes ago, ledzep said:

Ok, now you're describing a separate, different game.  Which could/should be made, but it's not Asteroids, right?  Asteroids "Recharged" better adhere closely to the original.

It is not called Asteroids Remastered. It is a sequel, which allows you to make changes. Even if it is not a sequel, they chould change the name and other things, and make it a sequel. The old school games from the early 80s and earlier are unpopular in FECs and barcades alike. It stands to reason that it is not a good idea to model a game closely to games that are currently doing badly.

 

11 minutes ago, ledzep said:

The home Recharged versions went way too far, I much more like the sound of these arcade specific versions already.

I like the changes Alan-1 has made too, but I like the things they haven´t changed as well. Multiplayer, power-ups and upgraded graphics are all changes from the original, and they are also improvements. Not just to me, but to the market they are trying to reach. Changes can be good or bad, not just bad.

 

21 minutes ago, ledzep said:

Apparently the prototype cabinet is a hit?

I think it is way too early to tell if it will sell well. So far the only thing I have seen is that old school gamers are positive to an old school game.

 

24 minutes ago, ledzep said:

Why do modern gamers want everything to be easier?  Where's the fun in that?  "Aw, how come I can't get to a million points within the first minute of playing?  I died?  That's not cool!"

The first rule of business is that the customer is always right. Even if the customer is an idiot.

 

27 minutes ago, ledzep said:

"Younger people" can't be bothered to play video games at home with anything other than a gamepad, what are you talking about them preferring more exotic controls. 

They play with gamepads at home because that is cheap and practical. But they would have loved to have steering wheels and gas pedals for racing games, yokes for flight games and so on. One of the reasons why they go to an arcade is that they have those kinds of controls there.

 

31 minutes ago, ledzep said:

Have you not seen those bars that have the 60-in-1 type arcade cabinets?  Joysticks with like 4 buttons, that's it.  You throw something exotic or specific at them, you get blank stares. 

I think the most popular games in barcades are games with exotic controls. Racing games and light gun games. This is even more the case in modern arcades.

 

37 minutes ago, ledzep said:

Don't worry, the trak-ball Missile Command will be more than enough for the yout's.

You might have been joking, but the trak-ball has been obsolete for 40 years or so. A more practical control would be light gun technology.

 

39 minutes ago, ledzep said:

The Lunar Lander thruster will positively baffle their gamepad-centric minds.

I assume you are joking. I don´t see how they could make Lunar Lander successful. People don´t have the patience for such a game anymore.

[JPF997]

5 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

It is not called Asteroids Remastered. It is a sequel, which allows you to make changes. Even if it is not a sequel, they chould change the name and other things, and make it a sequel. The old school games from the early 80s and earlier are unpopular in FECs and barcades alike. It stands to reason that it is not a good idea to model a game closely to games that are currently doing badly.

 

I like the changes Alan-1 has made too, but I like the things they haven´t changed as well. Multiplayer, power-ups and upgraded graphics are all changes from the original, and they are also improvements. Not just to me, but to the market they are trying to reach. Changes can be good or bad, not just bad.

 

I think it is way too early to tell if it will sell well. So far the only thing I have seen is that old school gamers are positive to an old school game.

 

The first rule of business is that the customer is always right. Even if the customer is an idiot.

 

They play with gamepads at home because that is cheap and practical. But they would have loved to have steering wheels and gas pedals for racing games, yokes for flight games and so on. One of the reasons why they go to an arcade is that they have those kinds of controls there.

 

I think the most popular games in barcades are games with exotic controls. Racing games and light gun games. This is even more the case in modern arcades.

 

You might have been joking, but the trak-ball has been obsolete for 40 years or so. A more practical control would be light gun technology.

 

I assume you are joking. I don´t see how they could make Lunar Lander successful. People don´t have the patience for such a game anymore.

I can only speak for myself but I definitely enjoy Lunar Lander , the slow pacing that the game has only enhances the experience.

Edited March 21 by JPF997

[Lord Mushroom]

13 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

The Thrust Pedal idea, while interesting doesn't seem like it would work except for an environmental sit-down cabinet;  Otherwise you're standing on one leg trying to play the game.

It is best with a sit-down cabinet, but it could work with a standing cabinet too. The pedal could be big, so you could stand on both your feet, and only put a foot on the gas pedal when you want to use it.

[+GoldLeader]

I had one more idea,  and forgive me if it's already been said (sometimes I skim, not read everything)...Maybe include the Original Games also!  So if us old timers get tired of the pretty lights or if someone were to buy one for their home game room and wants to kick back old school,...It'd be a value added proposition!

[zzip]

1 hour ago, ledzep said:

Why do modern gamers want everything to be easier?  Where's the fun in that?  "Aw, how come I can't get to a million points within the first minute of playing?  I died?  That's not cool!"

Not all modern gamers.   That's why series like Dark Souls exist and are popular, to bring an old-school challenge and not hold your hand through the entire game.

[JPF997]

5 minutes ago, zzip said:

Not all modern gamers.   That's why series like Dark Souls exist and are popular, to bring an old-school challenge and not hold your hand through the entire game.

From my experience it's actually Millennials and Boomers who complain the most about game difficulty ( all those articles about Dark Souls needing an easy difficulty setting were written by millennials ), zoomers love a good challenge, i myself love Dark Souls and Elden Ring, I've beaten the Dark Souls trilogy and Elden Ring  multiple times already.

Edited March 21 by JPF997

[Giles N]

26 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

It is best with a sit-down cabinet, but it could work with a standing cabinet too.

Seriously; I don’t see what essentially something like a gas-pedal have to do in a space-game. 
It gives no feeling of spaceflight.

Flight-sticks and thrusters (handlers) could feel ‘natural’. Super-big panorama-screens: sure. 
But as to the gas-pedal, I’d leave that for car-games, or new type of pedal for Arcade FPS-games (not rail-shooter, but move-around in 3D first person shooter. Not sure how it would look though).

 

It’s not just enough to throw-in a physical ‘something you don’t have at home’.

 

It has to feel meaningful to the franchise and setting. Has to hang together. Even if it’s ‘just a game’, the elements used must be compatible and create the right atmosphere and right feelings, not just ‘work technically’.

 

 

Edited March 21 by Giles N

[zzip]

Just now, JPF997 said:

From my experience it's actually Millennials and Boomers who complain the most about game difficulty ( all those articles about Dark Souls needing an easy difficulty were written by millennials ), zoomers love a good challenge, i myself love Dark Souls and Elden Ring, beat those games multiple times.

The gaming journalists do stir that pot,  and I think it has little to do with their generation and it's more 1) those articles will get clicks from annoyed players.  2) many of them are people with journalism degrees who didn't get a job at a 'real' publication and so they aren't gamers at heart and therefore struggle with tough games.

 

Elden Ring also got a bunch of game developers annoyed on twitter that the game didn't do quest design correctly or UX correctly, and yet was still a hit with a high metacritic score.  Many gamers assumed that by "correct" they meant "the Ubisoft way" of hand-holding your way through quests and other aspects of the game.

[ledzep]

3 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I like the changes Alan-1 has made too, but I like the things they haven´t changed as well. Multiplayer, power-ups and upgraded graphics are all changes from the original, and they are also improvements. Not just to me, but to the market they are trying to reach. Changes can be good or bad, not just bad.

 

I agree.  I have no problem with those changes as concepts, I thought the home Recharged versions did them really really badly (some of those versions are unplayable after 5 minutes).  These arcade Recharged versions that Alan-1 is planning look like they will make those changes much better and less severe/ridiculous.

 

5 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

The first rule of business is that the customer is always right. Even if the customer is an idiot.

 

Which customer, the one who wants the lazy home version or the one who wants an updated arcade version?

 

6 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

They play with gamepads at home because that is cheap and practical. But they would have loved to have steering wheels and gas pedals for racing games, yokes for flight games and so on. One of the reasons why they go to an arcade is that they have those kinds of controls there.

 

Right, they "love" them so much they can't lift a finger to go get them.  What do you mean cheap?  These modern consoles and games cost a lot, and many gamers buy custom gamepad controllers so they're willing to spend money, just not money on accurate-to-the-originals controller for whatever reason.

 

Wanting steering wheels and gas pedals for racing games is a no-brainer, who wouldn't want that?  Same for flight yokes.  If what you claim is true about them going to arcades for the exotic controls then classic arcade games would be more popular.  No, they want easy games with few real challenges.  They want to play for 20 minutes and just float around gaining points and "power-ups".

 

10 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

You might have been joking, but the trak-ball has been obsolete for 40 years or so. A more practical control would be light gun technology.

 

Really.  Based on what?  You think nobody uses a mouse (upside down trak-ball) anymore?

 

https://www.trackballmouse.org/trackball-mouse-aviation-military/

https://seatronx.com/products/trackballs/military-trackballs/

 

Lightguns are just as old and "obsolete" (worked off of CRT scan lines).  Lightguns would make games even easier, what is this obsession with not having to try hard to beat a game?  Do modern gamers not like hard challenges?  The trak-ball is what makes Missile Command and Centipede (and Quantum) the games that they are, unique exotic controls that are way better than joysticks or lightguns.  Are you saying you'd rather point a lightgun at an incoming missile and shoot it down that way?  How is that like an arcade simulation of a missile battery control station (the arcade game concept)?

 

12 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I assume you are joking. I don´t see how they could make Lunar Lander successful. People don´t have the patience for such a game anymore.

 

Wasn't there a Lunar Lander: Beyond game?  It was weak, but it was new and much expanded from the arcade original.  I can see a ramped back version more aligned with the arcade original, flying around landing on things, using the thruster and rotation buttons for movement.  Maybe it will never get made but I don't see why it couldn't work.

 

But I see your point, younger gamers expect the games to be easy, even a Recharged Lunar Lander would probably be too much of challenge.

[+GoldLeader]

Here's my take on a truly modern experience you can't (easily) get at home. 

 

Add a little bit of rumble,   (to be used sparingly) to the control panel. 

 

Add a nice subwoofer to the cab if it doesn't already have one.

 

Also add a small fan pointed at the player from above.

 

And add a few LEDs (let's say color changing, to the side of the control panel and maybe to the far left and right of the monitor.

 

Now imagine the player's death.  Say you were thrusting toward the right side of the screen when you die.  Your ship blows apart with debris heading to the right (with momentum, ideally) before fading.  The cabinet rumbles like a subwoofer when this happens giving a low ominous bass rumble from the speaker.  The LEDs flash from white to red as the fan revs giving a quick burst of light air...

 

Lesser rumbles/lights could be used when shooting down UFOs...

 

Now imagine an evil mothership is on the screen;  Yes I'm saying maybe throw in a boss battle (But try to keep things random and interesting;  not too linear).  Attacking the Mothership could be just like the player's death sequence, except with LEDs flashing from white to green and a "happy" sound synth rumble when it is destroyed!

[Giles N]

30 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

From my experience it's actually Millennials and Boomers who complain the most about game difficulty ( all those articles about Dark Souls needing an easy difficulty setting were written by millennials ), zoomers love a good challenge, i myself love Dark Souls and Elden Ring, I've beaten the Dark Souls trilogy and Elden Ring  multiple times already.

…way back in dem days when I was a hopping youngster in my boys’ room, I could get through Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts … on highest difficulty, using only one life. 
Now I cannot praise save-states enough …

 

15 minutes ago, zzip said:

hand-holding your way through quests and other aspects of the game.

… ok, so as to where we are now in the debate as to which age-groups always enjoy the most those hard-as-nails games…

 

…I now feel really old and young …

Edited March 21 by Giles N

[Giles N]

13 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

Now imagine the player's death.  Say you were thrusting toward the right side of the screen when you die.  Your ship blows apart with debris heading to the right (with momentum, ideally) before fading.  The cabinet rumbles like a subwoofer when this happens giving a low ominous bass rumble from the speaker.  The LEDs flash from white to red as the fan revs giving a quick burst of light air...

…yes to all that, but you forgot the electric chair …

Edited March 21 by Giles N

[Lord Mushroom]

An alternative to the gas pedal could be to move the yoke forward.

 

Another alternative is to thrust your pelvis into the cabinet. Relax, I am only yoking.

[+GoldLeader]

10 minutes ago, Giles N said:

…yes to all that, but you forgot the electric chair …

 

That's only in the Deluxe model...Asteroids Deluxe?  Now I am cracking myself up!

[zzip]

21 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

Now imagine the player's death.  Say you were thrusting toward the right side of the screen when you die.  Your ship blows apart with debris heading to the right (with momentum, ideally) before fading.  The cabinet rumbles like a subwoofer when this happens giving a low ominous bass rumble from the speaker.  The LEDs flash from white to red as the fan revs giving a quick burst of light air...

Can we also make the screen shatter and the cabinet shoots a rock at the player for better immersion?   Maybe a NERF rock to keep the lawsuits at bay  

[Giles N]

20 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

Relax, I am only yoking.

We understand you’re only yoking, but you must find proper ways to control it, and more thrusters and handlers  won’t help your open yoking … 

 

Edited March 21 by Giles N

[Giles N]

 

52 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

Also add a small fan pointed at the player from above. wanted fans and followers… hoped for a rock-stadion to some day cheer at me…

Sure I’ve always wanted my personal fan-club… really like 10000 fans in a rock stadion cheering at me…

 

…but heck, I take what I get:

a personal AI fan-bot shouting ‘man, you rock at Asteroids’, ‘yeeahh, you’re doing Asteroids on steroids!’ - sure, why not… 

 

But why does my own personal, single fan for the game-session have to be small…too?

 

Like it isn’t enough it’s only one… single fan; he or she has to be small also….?

 

Like, the Arcade being really, really dead honest with just how many fans and followers the gamers really deserves: 1… and it must be small one too…?

Edited March 21 by Giles N

[Giles N]

19 hours ago, Jimmy Wicker said:

How about Berzerk? 

In the same manner that you removed this grid-graphics(overlay) in Asteroids, I think several color-settings needs to be set differently in a Arcade version of Berzerk:Recharged, in order to make it look and feel more ‘throwback’ to the original.

(But as I mentioned, please keep a lot of bullet-action and weapon-upgrades in there. Just make the aim and movement of the player a bit tighter/precise).

 

Here’s a rough take on the direction I think could it should look more like:

 

 

[JPF997]

20 minutes ago, Giles N said:

In the same manner that you removed this grid-graphics(overlay) in Asteroids, I think several color-settings needs to be set differently in a Arcade version of Berzerk:Recharged, in order to make it look and feel more ‘throwback’ to the original.

(But as I mentioned, please keep a lot of bullet-action and weapon-upgrades in there. Just make the aim and movement of the player a bit tighter/precise).

 

Here’s a rough take on the direction I think could it should look more like:

 

 

Wow you're version looks so much better,   the original Berzerk Recharged is considered to be  the  weakest entry in the Recharged series for a good reason,  this is how it should have looked  like from the beginning.

Edited March 21 by JPF997

[Giles N]

Having tested the Recharged titles, my first impressions are:

 

-Asteroids does a good job of sticking to the classic roots, with new things feeling in place and properly balanced. Fun, but I miss ‘checkpoints’

 

-Berzerk: plays and sounds well, needs some polish to palette (darker floors, more electro-shiny metal walls, as attempted illustrated), and again checkpoints or small breaks. Gameplay needs ever-so slight fine-tuning. 3 player could be cool here.

 

-Black Widow: fun top-down single screen shooter, but with some many neo-vector-styled insects on screen, I sometimes loose sight of my spider - which should’ve sort of visually stuck more out. It can get crowded and messy/confusing. But fun stuff. Just need to see where my character is on the screen.

 

-Breakout: I usually have zero patience for this genre. Usually I test it and put it away. 
This was a very positive surprise (I played using mouse). 
Almost for the first time in my life I had fun playing a pong-off-those -pesky-bricks types of games. 9/10

 

-Caverns of Mars: must get to grips with it. I was tired last night when I tried to test it, and I just spectacularily crashed into everything on Mars. Need to teet more.

 

-Centipede: well, given that its obviously meant to look neo-vector-stylized: fun shooter. I liked the power-ups and controls. 
If this will come into a Arcade cabinet, please remove this grid layer-thing; here it was distracting. Think you could add 5-player simultaneosly here on giant Arcade with a huge screen, and make it more fun as long as the centipedes just comes in waves. Haven’t played it long. Any giant Boss-Centipede anywhere? If not; could use that every xx-round the player(s) completes.

 

-Gravitar: must play more. Felt a bit clueless to win-objective here. Felt a bit chaotic both to arsthetics and whats what: your bases, enemies etc. Whats going on here? 
 

-Missile Command: fine stuff. Played with mouse. Nothing to complain about, but no big surprises so far.

I believe the 2600 or 5200 version have levels counting up status, and giving you back some bases.

If this isn’t included, include it: the player needs to feels a wave is done completed and needs ways to rebuild bases and use points of credit-money to boost weapons and bases and shields. That shouldn’t estrange it from its arcade world.

 

- Yars: a thoroughly positive surprise on every game-element. Fitting graphics, loved your Space-Bee-something. Loved the action packed yet strategical hammer-shooting at enemy hive-structures. Loved the game-mechanic that you need to risk getting close to scoop-up ‘space-honey’ enough to get big canon readied for firing at the center-enemy.

I’ve tried old, original Yars games for arcade and Atari systems and they feel wierd, messy and not much fun.

This had a very clear ‘arcadey how-to-win-scene’ intro, and everything were brilliant playing it on PC. 9,5/10 

Whether it’s a natural choice for Arcade I dunno.

 

-Quantum: this is leap in game-mechanics experimrntation. Cool that core gameplays are still getting very new takes. With mouse on PC it was fun as new take on action-puzzlers.

Felt like a very novel take on QUX types of games: complete a line and conquer. I believe this one can br tough to ‘sell’ to Arcade-gamers, unless it starts waaay slower, have much clearer graphics for ‘what is you’ and what are …things to encapsulate.

 

- - -

 

I would say: Missile Command, Yars, Centipede, Breakout, Berzerk and Black Widow… with some tweaking of details mentions, will make for fine NeoRetroCade-games.

Edited March 22 by Giles N

[+GoldLeader]

8 hours ago, zzip said:

Can we also make the screen shatter and the cabinet shoots a rock at the player for better immersion?   Maybe a NERF rock to keep the lawsuits at bay  

 

I think we could do a Graphic of the screen shattering,  oh,  side note:  What game did that?  Oh Battlezone, OK,   I answered my own question!..

 

 

OK But yes we should Totally do the NERF rock thing!  Just launch it at the player's smirky mug,  especially hard the first time it happens, with an option at the end of the game to buy a pic of the face you make when it happens!  That'd be Hilarious!

[Lord Mushroom]

11 hours ago, Giles N said:

Seriously; I don’t see what essentially something like a gas-pedal have to do in a space-game. 
It gives no feeling of spaceflight.

Flight-sticks and thrusters (handlers) could feel ‘natural’.

Lunar Lander had it, and I think that is one of the key reasons why it succeeded. A lever would be more authentic, but your hands are already busy steering, shooting and warping.

[+CyranoJ]

Slap BigPEmu in there with Rebooteroids.  I'll licence it to you

[ledzep]

On 3/20/2024 at 8:33 PM, Jimmy Wicker said:

How about Bezerk?  Our creativity is our only limitation. 

 

I'm not sure what kind of special cabinet would work with this, so I won't go into that (all I can think of is a neon glowy Tron type interior).  As for the game itself, looking at the home version -

 

 

Having the walls angled "back" sucks.  Because the angle is so severe it's misleading when an enemy robot seems to walk horizontally right through the end of a vertical wall or shoot you when that end would block the shot in the original version, but since everything is leaning back, visually, at like a 30 degree angle, the robot is actually just past the edge and can actually shoot you.  I would make the walls like they were in the original arcade version, or if you insist on angling them back, make it much less  of an angle.  It was always a cool strategy to be just below the edge of a wall end and then pop out to shoot the robots, I don't see how you do that horizontally with the Recharged version since it's never obvious where the actual edge is.

 

As usual working from the home Recharged versions, make the game less cartoony.  Lose the bouncing running for the player, make the robots more like the originals (menacing, not cute).  I suppose for multi-player the movement to the next room would have to be handled sort of like Gauntlet?  Meaning whoever leaves through a door first forces everyone else to only be able to go through that same door (the other doors would close?) so that the group sticks together.  Either that or if the other player leaves out a different door he reappears on that side in the next room?  Probably the rooms can have more walls and more ways to move around the rooms, hopefully some dead ends or maybe even diagonal sections?  I can't tell if the Recharged version even has electrified walls but, if not, bring those back too, including the section glowing when you're almost touching it (as a warning).  A nice low subwoofer hum would be a nice touch.

 

I hate the robots' shots looking like glowing balls, they should go back to the short lines of the original (it helps to tell which direction they're travelling in a room filled with robots and shots).  And keep the sound effects closer to the original, too!  The shots sounded cool, the exploding robots sounded mean (more bass!).  I like the addition of the remote guns in random areas, an actual good idea from the home Recharged version.

 

I would add new ways for the robots to kill you and some power-ups (that only last a few seconds, like 10 seconds or less) -

 

1) Maybe they can fire proximity mines onto the ground near the player that have to be avoided (if the player gets too close they burst and if he's in the blast radius, bye bye, back up and shoot them so they explode, sort of like the mines in that Nomad level in Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator from SEGA).  This should probably be a separate type of robot with a noticeably different shape.

2) An obvious power-up would be a gun that can shoot out a wall section so the player can run through it (or help a co-op player escape if cornered), maybe it takes more than one shot, but have limited time (color change or something to indicate if it's still active).

3) A temporary shield power-up.

4) Shots that bank off the walls from a special gun power-up.

4) Maybe also a power-up shot that short-circuits a robot and makes it start attacking other robots?

5) Have a few boss robots that can grab the power-ups and use them against the player.  I'm assuming the power-ups would be like your arcade Asteroids Recharged, meaning they just sit there and the players have to go get them.  So the boss robot might get one first.  That thing should also take 2-3 shots to kill as well.

 

I don't think the Frenzy approach of walls made out of balloons or whatever that can be easily chopped through like a Space Invaders shield would add to the game.  Maybe have a few skinny wall sections that appear and disappear sort of like in the higher Tempest levels?

 

Keep the original controls, if possible.  Twin-stick makes it too easy, it should be harder to line up a shot, like the original version.  it makes it more of challenge to have to stop, even for a moment, to shoot back or diagonally in the opposite direction you're running.