My Top Ten Video Arcade Games.
Jul 25 '02
The Bottom Line This is my Top Ten Favorite Video Arcade Games. What's yours?
I’ve noticed there are a lot of Top Ten lists in the movies category but not in many other places. I thought it would be fun to write one of my own, but I wanted to do one about my favorite Top Ten arcade games. This list is in no way a definitive listing of the ten best video games. These are just games that I love to play, even after all these years.
My arcade game playing pedigree goes back to when I was 9-10 years old when the local corner store (called Denley’s Market) got a Donkey Kong machine. I played my first quarter, loved it, and I was hooked after that. Since that time, I played arcade games at every possible chance throughout my teenage years. I even worked at a pizza parlor with a huge arcade just so I could get free games. I stopped playing games religiously around 1994, so that’s why my list doesn’t include any newer games. I still go to the arcade on occasion, so I’ve played the newest games but I still find myself going to the classics for the most fun.
So without further ado, let’s get to the list.
(Dates and company info was found at www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/categories/arcade/)
10. Donkey Kong (1981, Nintendo)
This was the first upright arcade game I ever played. It’s funny to look back now and see the blocky graphics and hear the cheesy music and remember how I used to enjoy picking up that mallet and smashing those errant barrels. Ahh, memories.
9. Elevator Action (1983, Taito)
This was another simple platform game, but this time you were a secret agent after some pretty important documents in every building you went to. Luckily the documents were only kept in rooms with red doors so you didn’t have to waste time searching every room! All the while the bad guys were after you, in their black suits and fedoras. Of course you’re a secret agent so you’re armed with a trusty pistol to take the bad guys out and still make it to the get away car. Man, who couldn’t like a game where you could smoosh the bad guy standing in the elevator shaft with the elevator.
8. High Impact Football (1991, Williams/Midway)
This game was a favorite of us employees at the pizza parlor. With 4 players we would have some vicious football games. Why vicious? Because the referees turned a blind eye to every late hit you could get in. Running someone over 30 seconds after the whistle was blown was a riot. While a sports games on a console are fun because they keep track of statistics and you can play long seasons, arcade sports games needed to provide instant gratification and HIF delivered that in spades.
7. Spy Hunter (1983, Bally Midway)
Another secret agent game, this time you drove around a car (it was a Porsche 911 in my mind) that would make Bond proud. (Ok, he drove an Aston Martin back then, but who’s counting?) This shooter was fast paced and the sit-down version of the game was a blast. With and endless supply of ammo, I don’t think anyone who played this game ever took their finger off the trigger. You could either blow the baddies away with your machine gun or run them off the road. Either way, making road rash was the name of the game. The music was great, too.
6. NBA Jams (1993, Midway)
“He’s heating up!... He’s on fire!” Here’s another sports game that I sunk way too many quarters into. Being able to control Shaquille O’Neal (in a Magic uniform no less) was great. The monster dunks and commentator yelling “Boom-shalaka!” made this game a lot of fun. My favorite dunk will always be the cannon ball from the free throw line when your on fire. Watching the trail of smoke as you wildly spin through the air was breath taking.
5. Street Fighter II – Champion Edition (1991, Capcom)
One of two fighting games that I love. Street Fighter II was a great game but SF II Champion Edition made it much, much better. Being able to play Ken vs. Ken was great. My favorite character by far was Zangief. Grabbing someone and then driving their head into the ground with a spinning pile driver was good-hearted fun.
4. Mortal Kombat II (1993, Midway)
I was going to say Mortal Kombat I was my favorite because it was a welcome change from the Street Fighter II series but I went with Mortal Kombat II for one reason in particular: it was the first game where you could be good at it and be cool at the same time. It legitimized arcade gamers. Before MK II, if you knew all the secret levels and all the different button/joystick combinations you were a geek or didn’t have a life. After MK II was a hit in the mainstream, the more people you could beat the cooler you were. I remember the lines of quarters on the game screen as players got in line to play the winner. When I would show up at the arcade with the latest printout of moves I gleaned off Usenet everyone would tear through the pages looking for all the new moves. Thank you Mortal Kombat II for making us geeks cool!
3. Smash TV (1990, Williams)
“Big Money, Big Prizes, I love it!” Smash TV was gratuitous violence at its best. You were a game show contestant in the future where you lose when you die. You would enter each room and be instantly attacked from all sides, as scores of baddies would pour in. They ranged from gangsters with clubs to robots. You of course had an array of weapons and power-ups that would show up as you played. My weapon of choice was the grenade launcher. You could rain down some serious bombs and create some serious carnage along the way. Along with power-ups you were also rewarded with stacks of cash and prizes like “A Brand New Toaster” (this was a game show, after all) Then each level ended with the big boss after which the loot was tallied up to see how much crap you accumulated. This game was cool because there were two joysticks, one to control your movement and one to control your gun direction. That made game play hard to get used to at first but once you mastered it you could be running from the bad guys all the while filling them full of lead. This game was a great stress reliever. Blow stuff up and get cash, what more is there to life?
2. Ironman Ivan Stewart’s Super Off Road (1989, Leland)
I’ve never been good at driving/racing games (that’s why there isn’t any in my top ten) but this game was different then the first person simulation games. This game gave you a 3/4 view of the whole track and control was much more forgiving then regular racing games. You could pick a dune buggy or an off road 4x4, and most people went with the truck (myself included). You could win money by winning races (and picking up money bags along the way) to soup up your truck with better tires, shocks, etc. You could also by nitro packs that would give you that extra turbo boost to take over first place. This game was fast paced and fun to play. Nitro blasting all the way around the track was only doable by the best off roaders. Yes, I was most certainly one of them!
1. Galaga (1981, Namco)
By far the coolest game of all-time in my book. Galaga is in a class all by itself. No fancy 3-D graphics or Dolby surround sound. No eleven button sequence to remember to pull off that special move. Just you at the bottom of the screen versus all the alien bad guys you could handle. Level after level of swarms would attack, but you could handle it. If by chance you get captured by one of the bosses, rescuing your ship gave you double the fire power! Even today, twenty-one years after it was first released I still play this game on a regular basis. I can’t get enough of it. Galaga to me is what an arcade game should be. It’s challenging but fun. It’s addictive but simple to play. It’s all that and more. Here’s to hoping it’s around another twenty-one years.
So that’s my top ten. If you agree or disagree or decide to write a similar list, please drop me a note, I’d love to read it and see what other people played. There were many other games I wanted to include but my list would have ballooned to thirty or forty games. So I narrowed it down and these are my favorites. Someday I hope to own my very own copy of each one of these arcade masterpieces.
Thanks for reading!
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Member: Tony Rice
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