Arcade games were the very first exposure I ever had to video games. Games like Asteroids, Stargate, and Tempest dominated the local arcade scene. Those were great games for the time, but I was a kid when they were popular and I totally sucked at playing video games in general. Hell, the only game I could beat anybody at was Joust. Mostly, I thought those games looked pretty on the screen, but blew ass in gameplay because I could never knew how to play them.
In those days it seemed you either knew how to play a game or you didn't bother trying. But I always tried--if I had the quarters. My parents would never give me more than dollar, if anything, to play arcade games. Usually my father would always tell me 'no,' and if he did give me anything, it wouldn't be without the usual ridicule,"for poking quarters down a hole, huh? There's a good use of money." I didn't have the balls to stand up and say it was for 'entertainment' or 'shut the fuck up' (my personal favorite). All kidding aside, my Dad was, at least, always a good sport about things and let me "poke quarters down a hole" as long as I had money to do so, and never beat me (though he should have, at times).
My Dad still hates video games to this day--ever the motivation to do it more, right? I think it was only when I started making more than $50k a year before he ever respected what I was doing. I'll always love my Dad, he's just the old-OLD school. :)
It wasn't until I was a little older, around 1988, that I was able to kick ass at almost all arcade games I played, and draw every gamer's fantasy--the spectators who look on in awe and cheered at how well you're playing the game. This was the culture of the arcades back then that will never be repeated. *sigh*
With that (sad) note, here are my top ten most influential arcade games of my life:
10.
Tron - Bally Midway
- This was an incredible arcade game that offered four completely different gameplay modes. Some followed the movie, most didn't. It didn't matter, however, we were always looking forward to the light cycle challenge, right? ;)
9.
R-Type - Irem
- In 1988, I had already
played side-scrolling shooters; what I hadn't
played, was R-Type. This game ultimately defined how the genre was to be done: colorful graphics, flickable controls, and powerful upgrades that actually work.
8.
Cadash - Taito
- I'm not sure if this arcade title had perfect timing with me (my draw towards fantasy) or if it was actually an incredible game. Either way, it remains one of the
few fantasy arcade games that combined (albeit, watered down) role-playing aspects of games.
7.
Legend of Kage - Taito
- Kage came out of the blue during the height of the eighties fascination with martial arts, ninjitsu. It was a really good game that featured lots of tree jumping, shrieken-throwing,
kusari-gama wielding action. Good stuff.
6.
Operation Wolf - Taito
- There was never a game that generated more excitement in our little Texas town than the game that let you "fire an Uzi." The arcade machine that simulated (lol, simply vibrated) the firepower of an automatic weapon was a total quarter-sink.
5.
John Elway's Quarterback - Leland
- Arcade football games of the time really sucked. Quarterback was great because it not only had great football gameplay, but because they actually
backed up your initials and statistics so that you could pick up where you left off the next day after the arcade pulled the plug on the machine. Or, better yet, you always contended with other football players from week to week.
4.
Gauntlet - Atari
- At the height of the Dungeons & Dragons epidemic that spread through me, my brother, and our cousins, Gauntlet, however simplistic, seemed to embody all that we thought was awesome fantasy gameplay. On a side note, me and my good friends stayed up all night playing
Gauntlet II, in an attempt to fully complete the game. We were under the assumption that something would happen after level 99. Something did--level A0. The hexidecimal notation was enough for us to give up and go to bed.
3.
Commando - Capcom
- This is one of the hardest games I've ever played, yet one I always came back to. I don't know if it was the premise or just a challenge, but Commando was a lot of fun. The mechanics of running around shooting people and throwing grenades were sheer inspiration for me later in life--videogame life anyway. :)
2.
Galaga - Namco
- The ultimate arcade game for the early years of arcades was Galaga. Galaga was not only fun, but very creative. As a top down shooter you could recover your fighter ships that had been captured and fly with two ships at once! Also, there were periodic "challenge" stages that were simply meant for you shoot as many enemies as you could, with no danger to yourself. Brilliant.
1.
Double Dragon - Taito
- This is the greatest arcade game of all time. Period. Double Dragon defined the cooperative side-scrolling action game. You could pick up whips, clubs, barrels, and use them all against your enemies--or your friend. The best memory of the game had to be upon beating it with a friend, in the end you had to each fight to the death. There can only be one winner. Classic.
