I just updated MAME and noticed that now what what MAME considers the default build of Primal Rage is a so called "new build" of 2.3, which features simplified inputs and some missing specials.
I recently noticed that what MAME now considers the default build of Primal Rage is a so called "new build" of 2.3, which mirrors the version that was included in Midway Arcade Treasures 2, and AFAIK was never even in arcades.
This version of the game features simplified inputs and some missing specials, doing away with the control scheme that set the arcade game apart from other "mainstream" fighting games.
Contrarily to SF, MK and most others, where special moves are performed by a directional sequence and one or more buttons at the end, the specials in Primal Rage were performed by holding two or more buttons and then doing the directional moves.
In this "new build", however, the commands for special moves are replaced with standard Street Fighter-style inputs of directional sequences with a button at the end.
As an example, Armadon's Iron Maiden move, which originally was 2+3 A, U, T (holding 2 buttons and doing a half circle forward but done on the upper part of the joystick), is changed to B,D,DB + 3 (a backwards dragon punch move with a single button at the end).
For reference, here's guides with the two entirely different control schemes:
Original:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/58 ... e/faqs/757
MAT2:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/xbox/9199 ... faqs/32920
Now, are we sure we want to make this build the one to remember by making it the official one, while burying the one that's historically been in arcades by making it a clone and labeling it as an old build and a clone of this so called "new build"?