While gigantic arcade cabinets weren’t a new thing, it feels like it was during the mid to late ’90s that they hit their peak as the arcade world hit a high level of extravagance before ultimately dying out. Funnily enough that world is experiencing a resurgence as those who were kids back in the arcade heyday are now grown adults with disposable incomes and a thirst for adult beverages, and places like Dave & Busters are the new home of some pretty extravagant new arcade cabinet experiences. But I digress. Back in the mid-90s Namco released a quirky arcade game called Prop Cycle that had you sitting on a giant plastic bike frame and literally pedaling to make yourself go in the game. Here’s a random YouTube video of someone playing Prop Cycle in the arcade.
While I never had a Prop Cycle machine in my local arcade, we did have Sega’s super popular Top Skater and going back even further I was always a big fan of the Hang-On cabinet that featured a faux motorcycle to ride. Basically I love these big obnoxious arcade machines that offer ways to play other than a joystick and buttons. Anyway, developer Phil Stroffolino, who has most recently brought us the excellent marble roller Flicky Marble and is responsible for the Pocket Boxing series, also seemed to be a fan of such machines and is creating an homage to Prop Cycle called Bike Girl. It’s, at least at this point in time, meant to be more of a relaxing game that has you flying around on your weird helicopter bike hybrid and popping balloons. Check out how lovely it looks in this early trailer.
As Stroffolino talks about in the forum thread for Bike Girl, it’s possible that the game will end up with a more story-driven campaign or may just remain a more relaxed game that’s all about flying around and popping balloons. Or perhaps both! Whatever it ends up being, Bike Girl looks really cool in that trailer, and the developer could use some people taking it for a spin to help shape its outcome. If you’re interested in possibly partaking in a beta test then head over to that forum thread and let the developer know, and we’ll continue keeping an eye on Bike Girl as its progress continues.
