You heard about one of the legendary Beavis and Butthead arcade cabinets resurfacing, right? Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois , found the ninth one. After some time, effort, and finding 3DO components inside, the arcade owners got it working. It’s now one of quite a few prototypes at the arcade, the others being Primal Rage II and Judge Dredd .
Now, don’t be too jealous about this next part, but I was able to play it. Galloping Ghost brought Beavis and Butthead and Primal Rage II to the 2016 Midwest Gaming Classic, and it was set to free-play. What followed wasn’t exactly what I expected. It actually played like a pretty complete product. This is a game that probably should have been released, because it worked so well.
Remember The Simpsons arcade game? Well, the Beavis and Butthead arcade game is rather similar, only without the combo attacks. Here, Beavis and Butthead go through areas, beating up opponents. The stage I was playing was set in some sort of club area. There were bouncers in suits and what I’d like to think was a lounge lizard (though he could have been a sharply dressed dinosaur). Beavis and Butthead would beat up on all enemies for money, naturally, with crude attacks inspired by burps and farts. Basically, exactly what you’d expect from a game based on this particular cartoon.
In the mini-game I played, it turned into a 2D fighter. It was Beavis against Butthead, with flatulent attacks again. This time, both had short shorts on, and their shirts were rolled up to look like bras. The actual mechanics remained largely the same as in the beat’em up portion of the game, only here I was using them against the other player.
While I only went through two areas, as to allow more people a chance to play the machine, I did see some people fight through a school area, take part in one game that seemed to involve throwing things out of a window, and another circus location. It was an amazing experience with a game that seemed pretty polished for what it was. Also, it was incredibly true to the source material, with every character behaving as it did in the show.
It gets you thinking what other hidden gems could be waiting in the wild, perhaps in a shop, storage unit, or home. The Beavis and Butthead arcade game works so well, despite being in the state that it’s in, as does the Primal Rage II machine. We’re still discovering gems like this, years after their creation. It’s exposing people to the glory of arcades and prototype games. Who knows what unknown, nearly complete arcade game could surface next?
In the meantime, at least Galloping Ghost has Beavis and Butthead, Judge Dredd, and Primal Rage II for us.