10. X-Men
In 1992, Konami released this side-scrolling beat-’em-up game based on the Marvel X-Men franchise. The game offered up to six simultaneous players on a multi-screen unit. The available characters Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine and the sissy Dazzler each had their own devastating mutant-attacks. Numerous games of the same genre could have made the list (TMNT, The Simpsons, Double Dragon, etc.) but we felt that the six simultaneous players gave this one the edge.
9. NBA Jam
Midway had never heard of gravity and the laws of physics when it released this game in 1993. The 2-on-2 action would let the players jump fifty feet high and perform amazing slam dunks while being on fire, literally. The colorful commentator would shout nonsense one-liners like “BOOOOM-SHAAKA-LAKAA” every time something happened. Some earlier versions of the game would allow you to play as Mortal Kombat characters or as ex-president Bill Clinton. Orienting the game towards action instead of strict rules made NBA Jam the best sports arcade game of all time.
8. Lethal Enforcers
Shooting people never gets old does it? The high-level of violence had parents complaining, but kids never cared. The red and blue Konami Enforcer guns were quite accurate and wielding both at the same time was a blast. The downside to Lethal Enforcers was definitely the friendly-fire where stupid bystanders and police officers would walk straight into our bullets… idiots! Although Time Crisis was a more immersive and enjoyable game, Lethal Enforcers appealed more to our sense of nostalgia.
7. Daytona USA
SEGA hit the jackpot big time with this game. It was one trillion times more enjoyable than SEGA’s previous Virtua Racing piece of junk. The fully textured game was running smoother, looked gorgeous and you could finally get a true feeling of speed when racing at 200+ miles per hour. With up to eight cabinets side by side, the multiplayer aspect of this game was unmatchable. The theme music was horrible and would drive you insane; fortunately this baby was always occupied!
6. Galaga
Galaga was a definitive improvement on its predecessor Galaxian, a clone of the Space Invaders game. Created by Namco in 1981, Galaga had your stuck-at-the-bottom-of-the-screen spaceship face wave after wave of insectoid-aliens. Those aliens would eventually abandon their formation and plunge straight for your vessel in a kamikaze effort to blow it up. Bonus rounds were a nice addition and so was the ability to control two ships at the same time. The left and right only controls made this game very repetitive, but back in the days we didn’t know better.
5. Mortal Kombat 2
Our first memory of Mortal Kombat’s grand beginning was walking into the arcade and seeing how every machine on the floor was unmanned except for this one. The level of brutality and violence it brought was phenomenal. Fatalities would let you perform one last act of humiliation on an already defeated opponent. Just when we thought things couldn’t get better, Midway gave us MK2 with 12 fighters, new moves and new levels. The addition of friendships and banalities babalities was kind of lame but the second iteration was without a doubt the best of the MK franchise!
4. Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution is the last “worthy of mention” addition to arcades in several years. It pioneered what would be later known as the music and rhythm genre. DDR was critically acclaimed for helping you fend off a couple of calories while having fun, something the new home consoles quickly copied. The dancing platform, with its blue and pink arrows, had kids stepping/jumping/stumping/falling/sweating on it for hours at a time.
3. Street Fighter II
Street Fighter 2 is the very best and most popular fighting game to hit the arcade, ever! It went through 6 major iterations (World Warrior, Champion Edition, Hyper Fighting, Super, Super Turbo and Hyper Turbo) and had a lifespan of 10 years. It obliterated the first Street Fighter which, to be honest, we have no memory of. People would lineup for hours for their chance to dethrone the current leader. We still think that Ryu and Ken were cheap clones though… Capcom should be ashamed for trying to pull off this quickie!
2. Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is the first platform game that we remember playing but it was also the most frustrating arcade game that we can think of. The level of difficulty was insanely elevated. Everything that moved in a level would kill you! At a point, we were even using pens to draw lines on the screen so we could figure out exactly where and when we should jump. By the way, if you haven’t seen the documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”, close your browser right now and go rent it! The film follows Steve Wiebe has he tries to dethrone the champion Billy Mitchell and will make you realize how truly crazy this game was.
1. Pac-Man
Pac-Man is to video games what Michael Jackson was to pop music. He’s the most recognized and merchandised video game character of all time. How many hours (or should we say days?) have we spent running around the same maze eating yellow pucks while keeping those four phantom bastards at bay? How it felt good to eat the pink power-pellets and gain temporary invulnerability so we could exact revenge on stupid Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. Legend has it that Pac-Man was supposed to be called Puck-Man but that the game publishers in North America were afraid that kids would vandalize the machine with graffiti, turning the Puck into F**k.