Ray's Top 50 Arcade Games - Part 1 of 2

I grew up in the 80's and my favourite thing was going to the Arcades (or Spacies as we called it then). As I parked my BMX outside I always had this great sense of anticipation, I couldn't wait to get in there. There was an Arcade called Wizards that was my favourite and it was huge (it must have contained about 200 arcade machines). As you know home consoles were a different beast altogether then, they were simply light years behind the quality of the games in the arcades.

When I walked into Wizards my ears were bombarded with hundreds of sound effects, music tracks and children's laughter - the sound of fun! If you didn't already have a pocket weighed down with twenties you went to the change booth (operated by a bored old guy). A dollar was enough to play for hours if you stuck to the games you were good at. If you had $5 you could splash out and play a few of the games that you were crap at or had never quite figured out how to play. If you had $10 then you'd be there all day! Damn it was good and I can't wait until the day when I have a bigger house and can afford a dozen or so Arcade units. Until then I will just have to make do with Mame, which is still fantastic - it will be even better when I get a proper 2-player arcade stick.


Here I will list my 50 favourite arcade games, but first are the 10 games that I most frequently play. They are not what I consider the 10 best Arcade games of all time, they are simply the games that I keep returning to out of sheer addiction!

RAY'S TOP 10 ARCADE GAMES (in random order):






SHINOBI (1987)
ACTION PLATFORMER
Collect the kidnapped girls in pink and kill everyone in sight! I have spent a huge amount of time and money on Shinobi, though I never quite clocked it. It is simply one of the best Ninja games of all time. There are a good variety of locations and baddies. Big bosses turn up every 3 levels and are all huge and cool. The bonus ninja-star-throwing stage is a nice change of pace too. Followed by the crappy Shadow Dancer, where you have a pet dog!?





KUNG-FU MASTER (1984)
BEAT-EM-UP
Your girlfriend has been kidnapped (the most over used plot in video game history!) so you need to conquer the 5 floors of the temple and get her back. Time to kick people in the face!
This is an absolute classic that I poured twenties into like there was no tomorrow. Each of the 5 levels has their own unique challenges and different end of level Big Boss. I just find it so addictive that I've never stopped playing! Though I tend to quit after I've beaten the 5 levels as they just repeat themselves and become harder and faster (cheap!). There is something compelling about the sheer never-ending onslaught of morons to beat up. They just keep coming and coming and coming...




BOMBJACK (1984)
PLATFORMER/PUZZLE
Collect the red bombs and try not to touch any of the baddies. You can collect them in order for extra points - just look out for which one's wick is burning. A very simple concept but I find it totally addictive. When you get the 'P' powerup you can eat the baddies - but be quick they'll change back soon! Come to think of it it's sort of like a Platformer Pacman hybrid.





TRACK & FIELD (1983)
SPORTS
Mash the buttons and try to break some records in six different events! This game rocks! It's an excellent 2-Player game too. Not to be mistaken for it's mediocre sequel Hyper Sports.




STREETFIGHTER II - THE WORLD WARRIOR (1991)
ONE ON ONE BEAT-EM-UP
I know it's an obvious choice but this really is the game that started the one on one beat-em-up craze and inspired hundreds of inferior copies. Great graphics and sublime controls - Street Fighter II is quite simply the best fighter out there (and I prefer not having an overwhelming amount of characters to choose from).





BANK PANIC (1984)
SHOOT-EM-UP
Help people do their banking by shooting all the outlaws. You've got 12 doors to cover so keep your eyes peeled! As with the others in my Top 10 I keep returning to this game because it is addictive. Make sure you map out your controls well because you've got 3 fire buttons and you'll have to shoot fast!




ELEVATOR ACTION (1983)
ACTION PLATFORMER
Use elevators and escalators to get down the building and collect all the documents from behind the red doors. But you'll have to do some shooting too because the building is teaming with crooks! I think this was one of the most inventive platformers of its day and it's still just as fun now as it was then. Try to shoot down a light so it lands on a baddies head!




GALAGA (1981)
SPACE SHOOTER
Space Invaders was just a little before my time and the only old-school space shooter I ever got into was Galaga. It just has a really good weighty feel to it; I can't explain it any other way. The sound effects are classic too. One innovation was how the green baddies can suck up your ship and then if you blast them, your old ship and current ship join together for double the firepower! Just don't let them suck you up if you don't have any lives remaining.




MAT MANIA/THE MAIN EVENT (1985)
WRESTLING
Possibly one of the first wrestling games that was actually any good. It has a great feel to it and some hilarious (and badly spelt) wrestlers such as Insane Warrior, Coco Savege, The Parania and Blonde Stud! I love the WWF games that came later but they just aren't as damn funny as this one! Watch out for Coco Savege, he may only be the third person you fight but he is far harder then the two that follow him.




CIRCUS CHARLIE (1984)
VARIED
This is actually very similar in structure to Track & Field - in that it is clearly separated into various events. Leap through the flaming hoops, jump those pesky purple monkeys and don't let the knife throwers get you! This game can drive me nuts sometimes but I keep returning just the same.

15 MORE ARCADE FAVOURITES:





BAD DUDES vs DRAGONNINJA (1988)
SIDE SCROLLING BEAT-EM-UP
"Ronnie, the President of the United States has been kidnapped. Are you bad enough to save him?" Be an 80's type dork and beat up an endless supply of incompetent ninjas! OK I'll admit it, I have a thing for ninja games... ninjas are cool! A solid and attractive - albeit mindless - fighter. "I'm bad!".





BLACKTIGER/BLACK DRAGON (1987)
ACTION PLATFORMER
This game stood out with it's unique look and cool music. A fairly standard platformer I guess, but it is well made, has a strange collection of characters and a dark brooding atmosphere. Plenty of different weapons adds some variety. I love any game where you can go to a shop and buy powerups!





CHELNOV - ATOMIC RUNNER (1988)
ACTION PLATFORMER
This one almost made it into my Top 10. It is unusual in that your character is constantly running and you have to press a button to change between facing forward and back. It's this strange concept that makes the game stand out for me. Also there are many different gun powerups which all drastically alter how the game plays. Varied level design adds lastability too.




DOUBLE DRAGON (1987)
SIDE SCROLLING BEAT-EM-UP
Your girlfriend has been kidnapped (of course) and now you need to walk slowly down the gang infested streets and beat up everybody to get her back. For me, Double Dragon is the definitive side scrolling beat-em-up. Some might argue Final Fight is better but I never liked its huge sprites and repetitive level design. Double Dragon has good variety (for a game of its sort) and plenty of Big Boss fights. Some fairly mean moves are at your disposal - there's nothing better then grabbing someone's hair and kneeing them in the face five times! The first sequel still has the same look but is far too difficult. Part 3 looks totally different(worse in my opinion) and feels heavy and slow.




THE FINAL ROUND (1988)
BOXING
This is an excellent and hard hitting boxing game. I never liked boxing games that were side on, this one took a better approach and it payed off. The punches have great impact and the training sequences rock!





NINJA GAIDEN (1988)
SIDE SCROLLING BEAT-EM-UP
Like I said I love ninja games. Ninja Gaiden was well presented, had good sound effects and responsive controls. I liked the ability to run up walls and flip off them. One of the few ninja games to capture the gymnastic quality that ninjas have. It has one of the best continue screens of all time - your character is tied down and a huge spinning blade is coming closer and closer, put in a twentie quick before he gets it!




GHOSTS'N GOBLINS (1985)
ACTION PLATFORMER
What a classic! I love this game. Every fish and chip shop should have one! Surprisingly your girlfriend has been kidnapped... shock horror. So chuck on your suit of Armour and kick some ghosts'n goblins butt! A fairly difficult game (especially frustrating as when you die you are respawned further back), but it's worth playing through for the unique atmosphere and variety of locations and weapons. Look out for the daggers, they are the best weapon (avoid the sucky fireball weapon). Followed by an excellent sequel imaginatively called Ghouls'n Ghosts.




GUN SMOKE (1985)
VERTICAL SCROLLING SHOOTER
This is a little like a cowboy version of the extremely difficult Commando. Except I always liked this better because you had 3 fire buttons, enabling you to walk in one direction and fire in another. Gun Smoke is one fast, exciting and difficult game.





GYRUSS (1983)
SPACE SHOOTER
Gyruss almost made it into my Top 10. What makes this an unusual game is that your ship circles the screen and you fire inwards towards the enemies. Gyruss also has a really nifty 'classical' soundtrack. Not to mention you can visit Uranus!




JUNGLE KING/JUNGLE HUNT (1982)
VARIED
Your girlfriend has been kidnapped (yawn), now it's time for some Tarzan type action! Leap between the vines, murder some poor crocodiles, jump the rather unconvincing boulders and finally avoid the naughty natives! Games don't get much more amusing then this.




THE LEGEND OF KAGE (1985)
ACTION PLATFORMER
Your girlfriend blah, blah, blah... Once again a favourite of mine that is a ninja game, but this one is seriously worth checking out. It has particularly pretty graphics and sound, and the main character has possibly the largest jump in game history. Look out for the magic flute at the end of level one. Kage is pronounced "Kaa-gay".





MARBLE MADNESS (1984)
ROLLERBALL PUZZLE
Roll the marble through the maze to the finish before the timer runs out. While I never played this in the arcades I had it on my Amiga and now rediscovered it through mame. I love the simplicity of it, I just wish I had a rollerball!




MORTAL KOMBAT (1992)
ONE ON ONE BEAT-EM-UP
After the success of Street Fighter II it was inevitable that other companies would try to cash in on this Fighter craze. Midway's effort was one of the better ones in my opinion. The digitized graphics and sound really made it stand out, not to mention the incredible amount of gore and the nifty fatalities. Also what distinguished it was the controls, which were quite different to Street Fighter II. It is of-course followed by many sequels but the fundamentals of gameplay never changed. "Finish him!".




MOON PATROL (1982)
SHOOT-EM-UP
This side ways scrolling hybrid shooter always stood out to me because of it's innovative mixture of jumping and shooting elements. The look is just classic and it has one catchy tune! Watch out for the ships that blow holes in the ground!




NBA HANG TIME (1996)
SPORTS
Clearly another Midway game using their digitized style. It’s about as far from reality basketball as you could get, but who cares when it’s this much fun! Hold down turbo and slam some dunks… or something.

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