GAME CLEAR No. 127 -- Cannon Spike

Cannon Spike (2000, Arcade/Dreamcast)

Developer: Psikyo
Publisher: Capcom
Clear Platform: Arcade (SEGA NAOMI)
Clear Date: 3/24/23

Street Fighting Men

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of returning to Game Galaxy, an arcade in Smyrna, Tennessee near Nashville. It had been a few years since my last visit, and I was pleased to see their arcade collection remained impressive, and their pinball section had grown considerably. While there was a slightly disappointing number of arcade machines in some state of disrepair, the $10 asking price for unlimited free play all day still makes it easy to recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area.

I didn’t play though a huge slate of games like I did at Chicagoland’s Galloping Ghost Arcade, but I did manage to get through Cannon Spike on a beautiful SEGA candy cab. This is a game whose home version has been stupidly expensive for as long as I’ve owned a Dreamcast, and I could never convince myself it was worth it. Having now played the arcade original, I can say I probably made the right call. Cannon Spike is a fun enough little game to blast through with a friend, but the experience certainly was not essential.

The game is a co-op shooter somewhat similar to Smash TV. It is not, however, a dual-stick shooter, instead favoring a lock-on mechanic for mowing down enemies. It features two bespoke protagonists to choose from as well as a host of familiar Capcom characters, including Cammy from Street Fighter, whose signature move lends the game its name. My friend and I played through the game as my two most beloved Capcom characters, Sir Arthur (Ghosts ’n Goblins) and Mega Man (Mega Man). The former in particular has an incredible redesign for this game.

I remember basically nothing about the plot of this game, and a quick look at the summary in the Dreamcast manual suggests I have not forgotten much. Basically, the world is in some global economic crisis, and terrorists have unleashed evil robots on the world to presumably some end (?). Anyway, it’s the job of this assemblage of Capcom heroes to destroy these robots and stop whoever’s in charge of them. You’ll do this with your character of choice by basically holding the fire button the whole game and blowing away everything you see. Occasionally, you can pick up powerups that will allow you to perform more devastating special moves. Without the pressure of finite credits, it’s pretty mindless, but it’s fun with a buddy to enjoy it with and the ambience of an arcade surrounding you.

My one complaint is that the game does not allow you to switch characters between games over, which is strange, as it’s a pretty common feature of games of this type. I wanted to try out some of the other options, but that would’ve required another playthrough. That’s one way to squeeze some more quarters out of folks, I suppose. Each character, to the best of my ability to tell, also has their own unique ending, so if this game really grabs you, you have that to look forward to as well.

Cannon Spike ain’t gonna blow your mind, but it’s an interesting forgotten Capcom game that you should definitely give a spin if you happen to see it in an arcade or have a spare CD-R lying around to throw in your Dreamcast. It’s a little surprising to me that this one never ended up on XBLA or something like that. Would be a decent downloadable couch co-op option at the right price, but as is so often the case, I doubt Capcom sees much value in preserving an old, inessential title like this. Fortunately, I’m sure the Internet Archive does.