-Can be beaten in 45 minutes or less.
-Has numerous pieces of music that aren't repeated too much and don't loop a thousand times per instance (I really tried to sell them on Journey to Silius, but following deeper inspection of a gameplay run through, we realized that it kind of breaks this law. Double Dragon games can be a problem here. Blaster Master is an unfortunate no-no for sure).
-Doesn't require Yngwie Malmsteen or Michael Angelo Batio to be a member of the band in order to pull off (cancels things like CV3 and Ninja Gaiden 2).
-The music is rad.
-Is fun, on some level, to watch in addition to listen to.
Contra works for Bit Brigade because the music rips ass, the gameplay is fast-paced, and it's challenging enough for Noah that it's fun to watch. MM2 isn't similarly challenging (until, arguably, some sections of the castle), but it's visually gorgeous and the music is as great as legend deems it. Ninja Gaiden is, as far as we can tell, the greatest vehicle for what Big Brigade does: killer music, fast-paced action, crazy story with a million cutscenes, tons of individual pieces of music, and a high level of difficulty which further engages the audience.
Lots of people requested Duck Tales at MAGFest. It's not difficult at all (would it be fun to watch?) and it's a tough sell to Bryant and Mike because of the cartoonishness of some of the music (all of which I love, and which people seem to want to hear...)
My first big idea was to do Punch-Out!! but with different great brawler tunes (or other appropriate music: Tetris 'B' theme for Soda Popinski, etc.) in place of the regular Punch-Out!! fight music (saving that one for Tyson himself). However, I quickly realized that Punch-Out!! is NOTHING without the sound-effects, which we really have no way of inserting without trying to find a guy who wants to sit off-stage with a sampler, firing off punch sounds and "talk" noises in real time...an almost unreasonable thing to request of anyone).
So I feel kind of stuck, and I'm wondering if you guys have any fantasies or bright ideas. CV1? (The potentially hard-sell-to-the-other-dudes idea of) trying something from another system entirely?
