Primal Rage 2 Arcade Game Appears Online

By Rob Gordon 16 March 2017

• pc
• arcade
• atari

For many gamers, the 1990s were the heyday of the one-on-one fighting game, with arcade classics such as Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat ruling the roost in arcades around the world. One such game that unfortunately never made it to release was Primal Rage 2, but thankfully the game has been resurrected from the dead courtesy of a newly-available playable build.

This build comes courtesy of a specifically-designed version of the arcade machine emulator MAME, named MAME4RAGE2 and built by YouTube user Gruntzilla94. This design of MAME works only with the cancelled Primal Rage 2, but its singular purpose serves to allow arcade and fighting game fans a chance to see what they missed out on with the cancellation of the title.

As it turns out, this emulated version of the game is actually not all that bad to play. Although there are still some signs that the title was still a work-in-progress, and a fair few bugs to navigate, the core design and gameplay is still there for all to see. Those interested in checking out Primal Rage 2 can have a look at the video below, courtesy of YouTuber owlnomynous.

For the uninitiated, the original Primal Rage was an arcade title that caught the eyes of gamers through its stop-motion characters and violent gameplay. The game was eventually ported to several home systems with mixed results, but Primal Rage holds a place in the heart of many gamers who remember the era well.

It’s interesting to see the direction that Atari was going in with this sequel, as it does deviate a little from the core gameplay of the original Primal Rage. For starters, players now choose a human character to fight as, who then has the ability to change into one of the series’ trademark monsters – a mechanic which was implemented very successfully by Bloody Roar just a few years later.

Unfortunately, Primal Rage 2 would never truly have a chance to shine. The game was cancelled by Atari late in its development cycle, and in the end there were only rare rumors and whispers of the game’s board making it into a couple of arcades here and there. Thankfully, interested parties are now able to have a look at exactly what the gaming world missed, courtesy of this emulated version of the title.

Source: Kotaku