In the summer of 2000 Capcom rleased Cannon Spike for the Sega Dreamcast. If you were playing games at this time, you were eagerly awaiting the release of this game. The game was set to come to American shores early in the dreamcasts life but was halted by poor game and cosole sales alike. Finally, it was released, but was it worth the wait?

Cannon Spike is a top down view, insane shooter that does not require the player to pilot a vehicle. Instead you select from one of seven Cacom exclusive fighters to take down the endless waves of monsters, robots, and giant bosses. I am not the biggest shooter fan, but with the ability to choose from Arthur (Ghosts & Goblins), Mega Man, Cammy and Charlie (Street Fighter), B.B. Hood (Darkstalkers),and three other Japanese Capcom characters is what drew me into this one. As with all arcade style shooters your character has a main attack coupled with a screen clearing Mega Attack. Cannon Spike adds another simple ranged attack as well as character specific attacks. There is also a targeting feature using the R trigger to lock on to enemies. This added feature allows the player to attack enemies while trying to evade all types of projectiles. This plays out to be an invaluable gmeplay feature.

Cannon Spike is one of the best “hidden gems” for the Dreamcast. It takes the frantic action of a great arcade shooter and melds it with classic Capcom characters. If you are a shooter fan and need a break from space and flying vehicles or are just drawn to increasingly hard shooters this may be the game for you. Graphically the game stands up for the time it was created and surprisingly there is little to no slow down. And for those of you who still are wondering what a quarter eater is, here you go. Back when arcades still had great games, (and customers), Capcom, Data East, and Konami were notorious for releasing insanely difficult games. Games such as Final Fight, TMNT, P.O.W, Double Dragon and Contra where you were killed by one hit or given a ridiculously small health bar. Remember folks there are no free continues in the arcade. The player was given one guy with the option to receive another by achieving a certain score. The only problem was completing the first stage usually cost two to five bucks depending on your skill. Hence the name quarter eater. Now you got it and hopefully aren’t cringing in your seat remembering how much money you spent beating TMNT the first time.