Top 150 Arcade Games Results Thread

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

Spy Hunter, Marvel vs Capcom and Donkey Kong coming up

I thought for sure Wrestlefest would rank higher!

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

25. Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is an arcade game that was released by Nintendo in 1981. The game is an early example of the platform genre as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging obstacles. The storyline is thin but well-developed for its time. In it, Mario (originally called Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress, Pauline, from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape went on to become two of Nintendo's more popular characters.

The game was the latest in a series of efforts by Nintendo to break into the North American market. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's president at the time, assigned the project to a first-time game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including Popeye and King Kong, Miyamoto developed the scenario and designed the game alongside Nintendo's chief engineer, Gunpei Yokoi. The two men broke new ground by using graphics as a means of characterization, including cut scenes to advance the game's plot, and integrating multiple stages into the gameplay.

Despite initial misgivings on the part of Nintendo's American staff, Donkey Kong proved a tremendous success in both North America and Japan. Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco, who developed home console versions for numerous platforms. Other companies simply cloned Nintendo's hit and avoided royalties altogether. Miyamoto's characters appeared on cereal boxes, television cartoons, and dozens of other places. A court suit brought on by Universal City Studios, alleging that Donkey Kong violated their trademark of King Kong, ultimately failed. The success of Donkey Kong and Nintendo's win in the courtroom helped position the company to dominate the video game market in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The eponymous Donkey Kong is the game's de facto villain. He is the pet of a carpenter named Jumpman (a name chosen for its similarity to "Walkman" and "Pac-Man"; the character was later renamed Mario, and made a plumber, not a carpenter). The carpenter mistreats the ape, so Donkey Kong escapes and kidnaps Jumpman/Mario's girlfriend, originally known as the Lady, but later named Pauline. The player must take the role of Jumpman/Mario and rescue the girl. This was the first occurrence of the damsel-in-distress scenario that would provide the template for countless video games to come.

The game uses graphics and animation as vehicles of characterization. Donkey Kong smirks upon Jumpman/Mario's demise. The Lady/Pauline is instantly recognized as female from her pink dress and long hair, and "HELP!" appears frequently beside her. Jumpman/Mario, depicted in red overalls and cap, is an everyman character, a type common in Japan. Graphical limitations forced his design: Drawing a mouth was too difficult, so the character got a mustache; the programmers could not animate hair, so he got a cap; and to make his arm movements visible, he needed colored overalls. The artwork used for the cabinets and promotional materials make these cartoon-like character designs even more explicit. The Lady/Pauline, for example, appears as a disheveled Fay Wray in a torn dress and stiletto heels.

Donkey Kong is the first example of a complete narrative told in video game form, and it employs cut scenes to advance its plot. The game opens with the gorilla climbing a pair of ladders to the top of a construction site. He sets the Lady/Pauline down and stamps his feet, causing the steel beams to change shape. He then moves to his final perch and sneers. This brief animation sets the scene and adds background to the gameplay, a first for video games. Upon reaching the end of the stage, another cut scene begins. A heart appears between Jumpman/Mario and the Lady/Pauline, but Donkey Kong grabs the woman and climbs higher, causing the heart to break. The narrative concludes when Jumpman/Mario reaches the end of the final stage. He and the Lady/Pauline are reunited, and a short intermission plays. The game then starts over at a higher level of difficulty.

Donkey Kong is an early example of the platform genre (it is sometimes said to be the first platform game, although it was preceded by Space Panic and Apple Panic). Competitive video gamers and referees stress the game's high level of difficulty compared to other classic arcade games. Winning the game requires patience and the ability to accurately time Jumpman's ascent. In addition to presenting the goal of saving the Lady/Pauline, the game also gives the player a score. Points are awarded for finishing screens; leaping over obstacles; destroying objects with a hammer power-up; collecting items such as hats, parasols, and purses (presumably belonging to the Lady/Pauline); and completing other tasks. The player receives three lives with a bonus awarded for the first 7,000 points. The highest recorded score was set by Billy Mitchell on June 26, 2007; he achieved 1,050,200 points.

The game is divided into four different one-screen stages. Each represents 25 meters of the structure Donkey Kong has climbed, one stage being 25 meters higher than the previous. The final screen occurs at 100 m. Later ports of the game omit or change the sequence of the screens; the original arcade version includes:
* Screen 1 (25 m)—Jumpman/Mario must scale a seven-story construction site made of crooked girders and ladders while jumping over or hammering barrels and oil barrels tossed by Donkey Kong. The hero must also avoid flaming balls, which generate when an oil barrel collides with an oil drum. Players routinely call this screen "Barrels".
* Screen 2 (50 m)—Jumpman/Mario must climb a five-story structure of conveyor belts, each of which transports pans of cement. The fireballs also make another appearance. This screen is sometimes referred to as the "Factory" or "Pie Factory" due to the resemblance of the cement pans to pies.
* Screen 3 (75 m)—Jumpman/Mario rides up and down elevators while avoiding fireballs and bouncing objects, presumably spring-weights. The bouncing weights (the hero's greatest danger in this screen) emerge on the top level and drop near the rightmost elevator. The screen's common name is "Elevators".
* Screen 4 (100 m)—Jumpman/Mario must remove eight rivets, which support Donkey Kong. The fireballs remain the primary obstacle. Removing the final rivet causes Donkey Kong to fall and the hero to be reunited with the Lady/Pauline. This is the final screen of each level. Players refer to this screen as "Rivets".

These screens combine to form levels, which become progressively harder. For example, Donkey Kong begins to hurl barrels more rapidly and sometimes diagonally, and fireballs get quicker. The victory music alternates between levels 1 and 2. The 22nd level is unofficially known as the kill screen due to an error in the game's programming that kills Jumpman after a few seconds, effectively ending the game. With its four unique levels, Donkey Kong was the most complex video game at the time of its release, and only the second game to feature multiple levels. (The first was Gorf by Midway Games.)

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

24. Spy Hunter

Spy Hunter is a 1983 arcade game developed and released by Bally Midway. It was incredibly successful initially, and it has remained popular for many years. The game's novel gameplay and addictive theme music are largely responsible for its success. It has also been ported to various home computers and video game systems.

As a cabinet-style arcade game, Spy Hunter was produced in both sit-down and standard upright versions with the latter being more common. The game's controls consist of a steering wheel in the form of a futuristic aircraft-style yoke with several special-purpose buttons, a two-position stick shift (offering 'low' and 'high' gears), and a pedal used for acceleration. It is a single player game.

Spy Hunter is an action/driving game with the player in the role of a spy driving an armed sportscar. The object of the game is to travel the freeway destroying as many enemy vehicles as possible while protecting civilian vehicles. The game is a top-down vertical scroller with a vantage point similar to that of a news helicopter.

Early versions of the game used a James Bond musical theme, but the inability to obtain the rights to use the music forced Midway to change this theme. As a result, an arrangement of the Peter Gunn theme plays throughout as background music. The use of this background music became a large part of the game's appeal[citation needed].

The game begins with the player driving the fictitious G-6155 Interceptor modeled on a contemporary sports car. The car's name derives from the date of birth of game designer George Gomez. Enemy vehicles try to destroy the player's car or to force it off the road. Each enemy vehicle has its own special feature (discussed below).

Points are scored for distance traveled (a counter increments the score while the car is moving) and for destroying enemy vehicles. There is an initial lead-in time during which the player has an unlimited supply of cars. After the lead-in time expires the player must earn extra cars by obtaining high scores. The first extra car is generally earned at a default value of 30,000 points, but this value can vary depending on settings for a given machine. Up to 3 additional cars are awarded at similar increments.

The player must be cautious to avoid harming innocent civilian vehicles. There are three types of such vehicles — two automobiles (one pink in color, the other light blue) and a motorcycle. Destroying these vehicles causes the score meter to halt for a few seconds (in effect subtracting points from the player's score) and will result in the Weapons Van arriving only once instead of twice in that sequence. It is also possible to destroy the Weapons Van itself. Doing so produces the same consequences as destroying a civilian vehicle. A very hard, direct crash with a civilian vehicle can result in the player losing a car. If the player survives long enough (several minutes), eventually civilian vehicles stop appearing and the only other vehicles on the road are the player's enemies.

The player's car starts the game with two front-mounted machine guns with an endless supply of ammunition. The machine guns and the player's driving skill — opponents can be sideswiped off the road — are the only means of defense against the enemy vehicles in the beginning stages of the game. At regular intervals, following a fork in the road the player will enter a new 'territory' also marked by a change in the environment, such as addition of snow and ice, a transition to or from water, or merely a change in the color of the terrain and vegetation alongside the road. In each new road territory, the player will pass a red tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder — the Weapons Van. The player receives additional weapons by entering the Van, which will accelerate until it reaches a point directly in front of the player's vehicle, at which time it will extend a ramp allowing the player to drive in. Three special weapons are available: oil slicks, smoke screens, and surface to air missiles. The type of weapon provided by the Weapons Van is displayed on the Van's roof rack. The Van subsequently stops briefly at the side of the road for the player's vehicle to exit. The Weapons Van can appear twice in each territory; after entering the Van the first time, the button in the middle of the steering yoke will be lit steadily as long as the player does not destroy any civilian vehicles. When the middle button is thus lit, the Van can be manually summoned by pressing it, or if the player loses a car the Weapons Van will reappear (with the same weapon) automatically.

All three special weapons can be equipped simultaneously, although this state of play is difficult to achieve. Each special weapon has a limited number of uses. For example, the smokescreen can be used only four times (three times in some game versions). The special weapons are activated via dedicated buttons on the steering yoke. In most game versions entering the Weapons Van twice in the same territory will refill the player's ammunition supply. If the player's car is destroyed, either by being forced off the road or shot, it will reappear with only machine guns. The game's dashboard shows which weapons are available, when lit.

There are four enemy vehicles in all, each dark blue in color and possessing its own special characteristic:
* Switchblade (tagline: Never To Be Trusted) is armed with wheel-mounted tire slashers, which cause the player to veer off the road and crash if touched.
* The Road Lord (tagline: Bullet Proof Bully) is shielded by bulletproof armor plating, rendering it invulnerable to machine gun bullets.
* The Enforcer (tagline: Double Barrel Action) is a limousine featuring a shotgun-toting thug who fires at the player's car.
* The Mad Bomber (tagline: Master Of The Sky) is a helicopter which drops bombs on the player.

The Mad Bomber is the only opponent who can only be destroyed with missiles. Missed bombs leave craters which can destroy other cars or the player in most game versions.

It is possible for the player to convert his car into a cigarette boat by voluntarily driving through a special boathouse which appears infrequently at the side of the road. At certain intervals the words "Bridge Out" will appear on the screen, and the player will be forced to enter the boathouse. The boat sequence is very similar to the normal driving sequence, but it provides a break from the regular action. When in the water the three road-based enemies are replaced by two others:
* The Barrel Dumper, a speedboat which travels ahead of the player and ejects barrels into the water which must be avoided.
* Doctor Torpedo, another speedboat which launches torpedoes at the player's boat from behind.

Using the oil slick while piloting the boat releases flaming oil, which instantly destroys any boat that contacts it. There is no weapons van in the boat sequence; if the player's boat is destroyed and the player has another vehicle remaining, a replacement boat (armed only with machine guns) is towed on screen by a tugboat. At the end of the boat sequence, the player drives through another boathouse and his vehicle is instantly changed back to a car. A sequence featuring the player flying a helicopter was also planned by the developers, but it was omitted due to lack of memory.

Also, at irregular intervals the words "Icy Road Ahead" will appear on the screen. A few seconds later the background will change to a winter setting, and the road surface becomes more slippery which makes driving even more treacherous. The upside of the new terrain is that certain weapons — most particularly the oil slick — become more effective.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

23. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes is the fifth Marvel Comics-licensed fighting game by Capcom and the third to feature Capcom characters (see Marvel vs. Capcom (series)). In contrast to X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, the game features characters from numerous Capcom franchises such as Mega Man and Strider, rather than just Street Fighter characters.

Characters are:
Marvel
* Spider-Man
* Captain America
* Hulk
* Wolverine
* Venom
* Gambit
* War Machine

Capcom
* Ryu
* Chun-Li
* Zangief
* Mega Man
* Jin
* Morrigan
* Strider Hiryu
* Captain Commando

Secret characters are:
* Mega War Machine: A form of War Machine that cannot block, but also cannot be hit-stunned or dizzied. Typically called Gold War Machine by fans. His power and defense increases dramatically, but his movement speed is greatly decreased.
* Hyper Venom: A sped-up form of Venom with afterimages, called Red Venom by fans. He's the fastest character in the VS. Series itself, but he takes about two times more damage than everyone else.
* Orange Hulk: A speedy version of Hulk with his moveset from Marvel Super Heroes sans Hulk's super-armor.
* Lilith-Mode Morrigan: A form of Morrigan with Lilith's palette and moves.
* Shadow Lady: A cyborg palette swap of Chun-Li, similar in style to Shadow from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter but with a different variety of cyborg-based moves. Her speed also increases, similar to Shadow.
* Roll: She is the only secret character in this game to have her own unique sprites. She is short enough to be able to duck from most attacks. However she tends to hover in the air due to her dress and runs slowly due to her short legs. Her attacks mimic that of Mega Man, but are weaker and come out slower because of added animation of equipping a Buster weapon.

Summonable characters are:
* Unknown Soldier
* Lou (from Three Wonders)
* Saki
* Pure & Fur
* Psylocke
* Michelle Heart
* Iceman
* Arthur
* Ton Pooh
* Juggernaut
* Devilot
* Thor
* Magneto
* U.S. Agent
* Cyclops
* Storm
* Colossus
* Anita
* Jubilee
* Rogue
* Shadow (secret character)
* Sentinel (secret character)

Final boss is:
* Onslaught: Can be selected once the player completes the game once with any team of characters in the Playstation version. Unlocked on Dreamcast version after unlocking all secret characters. Onslaught is located below Wolverine.

The game takes place within the Marvel comic continuity, as Professor Charles Xavier calls out for heroes to stop him before he merges with the consciousness of Magneto and becomes the being known as Onslaught, the final boss.

While the gameplay was typical of the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Marvel vs. Capcom was distinguishable by two features: the ability to summon assist characters, and the Duo Team Attack.

Unlike the previous game in the series, the point character of a Marvel vs. Capcom team could not summon the offscreen partner for an assist attack; instead, an assist character was randomly selected before the match began. This character could be summoned a limited number of times in battle to attack the opponent in parallel. Codes could be used to force the system to select a certain assist character.

The Duo Team Attack allowed a player to control both characters on his or her team simultaneously for a brief period of time; the characters had unlimited use of their super moves during this time. Since some characters had hard-to-avoid super moves that did substantial damage if blocked, the Duo Team Attack led to tactics that were oriented around activating it before your opponent could. Since the PlayStation port only allowed one character to play a point, a Duo Team Attack would call the assist character repeatedly without cost during its duration.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

22. Daytona USA

Daytona USA is a racing arcade game by Sega. It was originally released in 1993, with a revision in 1994. The game was built upon groundwork laid by the 1992 release Virtua Racing. At the time of its release, Daytona USA was the most detailed 3D racer on the market.

The player is put behind the wheel of a stock car, with the choice of three tracks as well as an automatic or manual transmission. The player's objectives are to outrun the competing cars, and complete the race before time runs out.

Daytona USA offers multiplayer and introduced the possibility of linking four twin cabinets or eight deluxe cabinets to create an eight-player competition. Linked deluxe cabinets may also include a camera pointing towards the drivers seat, linked to a closed-circuit television to show the player on a separate screen. Even though the game was released years before the Daytona USA Museum opened in Daytona Beach, the International Speedway Corporation had already held the copyright to the name "Daytona USA." Any future game would require a license to use the name Daytona USA.

There are three race courses in the arcade version of Daytona USA.

* Beginner - Three Seven Speedway
Course Type: Speedway
Number of laps: 8 / 20 / 80 (Standard / Grand Prix / Endurance mode)
Number of Cars: 40
Course BGM: 'The King Of Speed' (alternate theme: 'Pounding Pavement')
Skill Level: Beginner
The Three Seven Speedway is a standard tri-oval speedway track in layout, based loosely on the Daytona International Speedway and Pocono Raceway. It begins with a rolling start, with the player in 40th place. The first turn takes the player past cheering crowds on the right, with a large field fronting the pit stop area on the left. The next section of track after the second turn is a straight road through a forest setting, and is dominated by three large slot machine reels embedded into a stone arch above the track. If the player presses the Start button while playing, the first reel will stop, pressing the Start button again will stop the next reel and so on; if the 3 reels match the player is awarded with extra time (7 seconds for three sevens, 5 seconds for three bars, 3 seconds for all other matches). The third turn is the setting of a large mountainside, with the image of Sonic the Hedgehog engraved into the rock. This is the tightest turn of the track, which leads to the pit road and the finish line. There are a couple of cars to watch out for to secure first place in the track: cars 20 (MISS Tea), 46 (Bird Line), 53 (OK Bike Works), 55 (Evangeline Motor Oil), and 62 (Gladner Insurance). On 1993 machines, car 20 was normally implemented to be an unfair opponent. However, on mostly all 1994 machines, car 20's AI was toned down. The Daytona USA 2001 manual states this race takes place in a city called Las Segas.

* Advanced - Dinosaur Speedway
Course type: Road course
Number of laps: 4 / 10 / 40 (Standard / Grand Prix / Endurance mode)
Number of Cars: 20
Course BGM: 'Let's Go Away'
Skill Level: Advanced
Dinosaur Canyon is a medium-length road course. From a standing start, the player heads through tough canyon terrain with many elevation changes. Notable features include a tunnel through a mountain, power generating windmills, and the words "SEGA-AM2" in the grass on the outside section of the penultimate turn. The final turn reveals the reason behind the name of the course: a large dinosaur fossil can be seen embedded in the side of the rocky terrain. There is also a hidden message from the creators of Daytona USA, present in all versions of the game: if you turn the car around after the 'GO' signal is given, and take the road heading away to the right to a tunnel in the mountainside just before the pit entrance (meaning the final turn is to your left), there is a sign at the end: 'You Just Lost Your Sponsors!' This course also has some cheap enemies: car number 16 (Tune Insurance), car numbers 12 and 13 (Starline Performance Cars), and car number 20 from the Three Seven Speedway (MISS Insurance). Proper steering and the correct speed will avoid any conflict with these cars.

* Expert - Seaside Street Galaxy
Course type: Street circuit
Number of laps: 2 / 5 / 20 (Standard / Grand Prix / Endurance mode)
Number of Cars: 30
Course BGM: 'Sky High'
Skill Level: Expert
This winding course begins with a standing start on a large suspension bridge. After crossing the water, the player is taken through several tunnels with hard turns, to emerge on a hill leading downwards alongside a residential area. The course then takes a gentle curve alongside a cliff section, where seagulls fly, horses stand in a grassed section, and sea can be seen all the way to the horizon. Next the player is directed onto the same bridge for the return stretch - after leaving the bridge, the player passes alongside a Space Shuttle readied for launch, and a galleon moored alongside a dock area - the sharpest hairpin turn in the game. After taking this turn, an onramp leads to the first section of bridge, and the finish line.

Notable features of Seaside Street Galaxy include a statue of Jeffry from Virtua Fighter, which can be found beside the track on the first right-hand bend between the tunnel section and the residential hill area. If the player approaches the statue, stops, and presses either X (Sega Saturn) or START (arcade), the statue will move and stand on its head. This feature was removed from Daytona USA 2001. Seaside Street Galaxy also sports some tough drones in all of Daytona USA: Cars 55 (Evangeline Motor Oil, the hardest opponent in the course), 51 (Bird Line), 62 (Gladner Insurance), and 16 (Tune Insurance from Dinosaur Canyon).

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

21. The House of the Dead

The House of the Dead is a first-person, light gun arcade game released in 1996 by Sega.

Players assume the role of government agents Thomas Rogan and "G" in their efforts to repel the dangerous, inhumane experiments of Dr. Curien.

The House of the Dead is a rail shooter light gun game. Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching enemies. The characters' pistols use magazines, and are required to reload once each magazine is empty. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. When a player is hurt or shoots a civilian, one of their torches is removed, signifying damage. A player is dead when all torches are lost. A player may then continue by inserting more credits, if playing on an arcade machine, and pressing the "continue" or "start" button. There are first-aid packs available throughout the game that will restore one torch. These are found either in the possession of civilians that the player has rescued or inside breakable objects. Similarly, there are also special items located in breakable objects that will grant a bonus to whoever shoots it.

Throughout the course of the game, players are given numerous situations in which their actions will have an effect on the direction of gameplay. For instance, in the beginning of the game, a civilian is about to be thrown off the bridge to his death. If players save the civilian, they will enter the house directly through the front door; however, if the civilian dies, players are redirected to an underground route through the sewers. This branching path system was also implemented in the sequels.

On December 18, 1998, AMS agents Thomas Rogan and "G" are sent on an assignment to investigate a panicked phone call from Rogan's fiancée Sophie Richards and a series of disappearances at the Curien Mansion, home laboratory of Dr. Curien, an acclaimed biochemist and geneticist. Dr. Curien was obsessed with discovering the very nature of life and death, backed by the DBR Corporation and its scientists. The nature of the experiments, however, drove Dr. Curien insane, resulting in him releasing his experimental subjects onto the unsuspecting world.

Amidst the chaos wrought by Curien, Rogan and "G" face many formidable foes, including The Chariot (Type 27), a plated undead warrior who mortally wounds Sophie), The Hangedman (Type 41), a gargoyle-like creature which sees to it that she cannot escape the mansion grounds, who even kills two DBR scientists in the grand courtyard. As well as The Hermit (Type 6803), a mutant spider crab guarding the passageway leading to Curien's restricted research area.

Upon confronting Curien, the AMS agents are treated to his greatest masterpiece, The Magician (Type 0), a humanoid creature with mastery over fire. Ironically, after he releases the creature from its incubation chamber, Dr. Curien is killed by his creation; "The Magician" seemed to have reached a state of sapience in which he feels an inferior being such as a human has no place in giving him orders. To prevent the Magician from escaping the mansion and destroying the world, Rogan and "G" are forced to confront it in one final battle. After a long and difficult battle, they succeeded in destroying Curien's creation and were given one last warning from the Magician itself, "You haven't seen anything yet!"

With those words, the Magician exploded and ceased to exist. Nevertheless, he returns in The House of the Dead 2 and The House of the Dead 4 Special, which proves the warning. Rogan and G leave the mansion, then the game ends.

There are however, alternate endings in which the camera pans to the foyer one last time, showing either Sophie alive (which is the true ending, as confirmed by the presence of Rogan's daughter in House of the Dead III.), or Sophie as one of the undead, depending on the following conditions:
* Player's score
* Number of continues

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Countdown Update:

150. Arch Rivals
149. Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
148. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
147. Super Off Road
146. Primal Rage
145. Moon Patrol
144. Mortal Kombat 4
143. Submarine
142. Big Buck Hunter
141. Toki
140. Vs. Baseball
139. San Francisco Rush
138. Sunset Riders
137. NBA Jam
136. Golden Tee Golf
135. WWF Wrestlemania
134. Hogan's Alley
133. CarnEvil
132. Kung Fu Master
131. Berzerk
130. Tekken 5
129. Puzzle Bobble aka Bust A Move
128. Time Traveler
127. 3 Count Bout
126. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
125. Mr. Do!
124. Crisis Zone
123. Captain America and The Avengers
122. Joust
121. Track & Field
120. P.O.W.: Prisoners Of War
119. Area 51
118. Virtua Cop 3
117. Dig Dug
116. Gauntlet
115. King of the Monsters
114. ESP Ra.De.
113. 1942
112. Mercs
111. Street Fighter III: The New Generation
110. Out Run
109. Mappy
108. The Real Ghostbusters
107. Street Fighter Alpha 3
106. Saturday Night Slam Masters
105. Virtua Fighter
104. Elevator Action
103. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
102. World Heroes
101. 10-Yard Fight
100. Cruis'n Exotica
99. Tetris
98. Frogger
97. Mat Mania
96. Cruis'n World
95. Defender
94. Arm Champs II
93. Centipede
92. Yie Ar Kung Fu
91. Burgertime
90. Cabal
89. Hang-On
88. Ninja Gaiden
87. Crazy Climber
86. The House Of The Dead III
85. Arkanoid
84. Race Drivin
83. Tron
82. Revolution X
81. Mortal Kombat 3
80. Golden Axe
79. Dungeons And Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara
78. Marvel Super Hereos
77. Samurai Shodown
76. Time Pilot
75. WWF Superstars
74. Paperboy
73. Star Wars
72. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
71. 1941: Counter Attack
70. Virtua Tennis
69. Die Hard Arcade
68. NBA Maximum Hangtime
67. Silk Worm
66. Dead or Alive
65. Asteroids
64. Gauntlet Legends
63. Mario Kart Arcade GP
62. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
61. Time Killers
60. Alien vs. Predator
59. Time Crisis 3
58. Space Invaders
57. Silent Scope
56. Cruis'n USA
55. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
54. A.P.B.
53. Virtua Fighter 3
52. Crazy Taxi
51. Atari Football
50. Pole Position
49. Virtua Fighter 4
48. Contra
47. Space Fury
46. Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja
45. Harley Davidson & LA Riders
44. T-Mek
43. Ms. Pac-Man
42. Sinistar
41. Magic Sword
40. Rampage
39. Hydro Thunder
38. Tekken 3
37. Killer Instinct
36. Smash TV
35. Q*Bert
34. The House of the Dead 4
33. X-Men vs. Street Fighter
32. The Punisher
31. Karate Champ
30. Time Crisis II
29. WWF WrestleFest
28. Shinobi
27. Soul Calibur
26. Altered Beast
25. Donkey Kong
24. Spy Hunter
23. Marvel vs. Capcom
22. Daytona USA
21. The House of the Dead

Here are the clues to the next five games

* Goldman Ressurects The Magician

* Released Along With Special Editions Of These Films

* Rescue Rachel McPhearson

* The Search For The Ulltimate Sword

* Tournament To Determine The Lord Of The Night

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

20. Time Crisis

Time Crisis is a video game initially available in arcades and later released for the PlayStation and cell phones.

Time Crisis is a three-dimensional first person rail shooter similar to Virtua Cop and The House of the Dead, in which the player holds a light gun and goes through the motions of firing at on-screen enemies. Unique features are described herein:
* A foot pedal which performs multiple functions: when the pedal is released, the player takes cover to conserve hit points whilst reloading the gun. While the pedal is released, the player cannot attack. In console conversions, a button command replicates the foot pedal's functions.
* A light gun (introduced in Point Blank) which utilized a special memory chip to synchronize areas of the screen's image as the player rotates the gun around. The light gun also features a blowback function which simulates real-life gun recoil.
* A countdown timer, recharged by clearing an area of enemies, as running down the clock causes an instant game over, the player must take risks, shooting enemies rapidly and hiding only when necessary. A time extension is rewarded when an area is passed.

The game was later ported to the Playstation, with the Guncon controller. As well as the arcade mode, it featured an additional multi-branched storyline exclusive to the Playstation. While the arcade release allowed the player to continue where he/she left off, the Playstation conversion required the player to start the entire area all over.

The main plot of the original Time Crisis arcade release involves an attempted coup in the fictional republic of Sercia. For a millennium, the Garo family ruled Sercia with an iron fist. In 1995, the VSSE International Intelligence Agency sent William MacPherson, who successfully toppled the Garo regime and became its first democratically elected president.

The last remaining member of the Garo family, Sherudo Garo, sought to recapture the throne from the hands of President MacPherson. He sends a mercenary named Wild Dog and kidnaps the president's daughter, Rachel. Garo demands military secrets in return for Rachel's safe return or he will kill her by sunset. VSSE sends its best agent, Richard Miller (called the One-Man Army) to invade Garo's castle and rescue Rachel.

Miller makes his way through the lower levels of the castle only to find a trap set up by Moz. After being directed to the clock tower, Richard works up through the upper levels of the castle and finds Rachel and Garo. Garo pulls out his knives and they battle, which ends when Miller fatally wounds him. However, Wild Dog reappears, kidnaps Rachel, and drags her away. Miller pursues Wild Dog, and it finally ends on a bridge just outside of the castle. Wild Dog begins detonating the castle and is planning to fly away on a helicopter. Miller shoots him, causing Wild Dog to drop his radio detonator. Miller and Rachel safely make it out as Wild Dog is engulfed in the explosion of the castle.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

19. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade is an arcade game first released in 1998. The game is a 3-D rail shooter based on the original trilogy of Star Wars films and was released along with the special editions of these films. Sega also released an accompanying pinball game. The game is not to be confused with Star Wars Arcade, another Star Wars game released to arcades by Sega in 1993.

Normal gameplay involves the player moving a crosshair around the screen using a joystick and pressing the fire button atop the joystick to shoot. A "special event" button lights at certain points of the game and when pressed, triggers an event to happen onscreen. The game puts the player in several key battles of the Star Wars films with one mission for each original Star Wars film. The player selects which film's mission to play first and each mission has two parts.

The Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope mission has the player reenacting the final space battle at Yavin as an X-wing fighter confronting TIE fighters. The second part of the mission involves destroying the Death Star.

In the Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back mission, the player reenacts the film's opening battle on Hoth. The first part of the mission involves shooting AT-ST walkers and probe droids, and helping other snowspeeders to take down the giant AT-AT walkers. The second part of the mission has the player reenact the escape from Hoth, running through corridors of the rebel base, shooting snowtroopers and wampas while trying to get to the Millennium Falcon.

The Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi mission begins with a reenactment of the speeder bike sequence on Endor from the film, where the player must shoot stormtroopers on their own speeder bikes. The second part of the stage has the player moving towards the Empire's base on Endor, shooting any enemies on the way. The mission is the only mission in the game to have a third part, in which the player must shoot at an AT-ST walker with a blaster.

The game's final mission has the player destroying the second Death Star in an X-Wing.

The game also features several bonus stages that become available after completion of a certain number of missions. The first one has the player blocking blaster shots from Boba Fett with a lightsaber. The second one involves the player dueling Darth Vader on the second Death Star.

The game was never ported to a home console, though there were rumors of a Dreamcast port.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

18. Soul Edge

Soul Edge is the name of the demonic sword around which the story revolves.

Soul Edge is the second 3D fighter to feature characters that fight with weapons, although putting weapons in fighters was not a new concept (Samurai Shodown is an example of a 2D fighter with weapons). Apart from the aesthetic benefits, giving the characters weapons allows for a greater diversity between them, meaning there is someone for every play style. One excellent concept of weapon-based combat implemented by Namco is the major factor that range has in gameplay. The slower, longer ranged characters try to deliver their heavy blows from a distance whereas the quicker, faster characters try to get in as close as possible and deliver quick-hitting attacks. All characters have moves that work at varying ranges though, so longer ranged characters can also hit surprisingly quickly and lesser ranged characters will get in the opponent's face within the blink of an eye if the enemy is careless.

One of the series' main attractions was that it was one of the first fighting games to feature detailed accounts of the individual fighters' motivations and common relations in their quest to achieve a common goal for varying purposes. Many players appreciate Namco's ability to introduce new characters to the series with interconnected storylines such that every character is linked to another somehow, with connections growing larger as the series progresses and the characters accomplish new tasks in the events of the story.

Soul Edge was created prior to the introduction of the "8-Way Run", which allowed the player to move their character in a complete range on the Y-axis. The characters can sidestep on either side by double-tapping up or down. The jump maneuver (which in Soulcalibur is more like a hop) moves the player higher into the air, even allowing it to pass above the opponent (much like in Tekken). One of the most notable gameplay aspects is the "Weapon Gauge". This bar was found under the character's lifebar and was comparable to the equipped weapons' resistance. Each time the player blocked an attack, the bar would deplete. If the bar was totally emptied, the character would lose his/her weapon and be forced to end the match unarmed. Though this is an original idea, unfortunately the unarmed move-lists are the same for every character. Another feature that was removed from Soulcalibur's engine is when two character strike at the same time, "locking" their weapons. In those situations, those who pressed the right button would have the advantage. This aspect behaves similarly to rock-paper-scissors.

Character moves retain a feel of Namco's Tekken series. Each character has in his or her arsenal one or two unblockable attacks, balanced however because of its slow execution. Also, each character is capable of performing one or two Critical Edge attacks, which consisted of a long series of linked hits, which usually ended in a strong high attack. These moves require the input of a special combination of two parts: they're activated by pressing "A+B+K" together, and if it connects, the player has the chance of extending the combo with a character-only sequence, which must be input during the attack. This attack depletes 1/3 of the Weapon Gauge when used.

To achieve a ring out (which is a forcable maneuver that ejects the opponent from the arena and gains an automatic victory for the round), the player must be knocked outside the ring by an enemy; the player can deliberately get a ring out by hopping out of the ring.

According to a timeline released by Namco in its Soul Archive site, Soul Edge's events take place in 1584.

Soul Edge's story tells the tale of warriors searching for the ultimate sword, "Soul Edge". It has been given many names throughout the story, such as "The Sword of Salvation", "The Sword of Heroes", and "The Ultimate Sword" among others. Many strong warriors searched for years, but very few actually found it. The sword, now in the form of a twin pair of long swords, appeared mysteriously in an auction. They were taken by the dreaded Captain Cervantes. Nothing was known of his fate thereafter...

Now, nine warriors from around the world search for the sword for different reasons. Some for power, others for revenge; some believing it's a benevolent sword, searching for its support; while others knowing of its evil nature, seeking its destruction. Nothing is known for certain about the sword, except for one thing: it brings misfortune to those seeking it.

Soul Edge introduced many characters still familiar to players today, especially the series' main character--who serves as both a protagonist and an antagonist throughout the series' history--Siegfried; as well as its token samurai and ninja, Mitsurugi and Taki, respectively. The total of characters on the games is of fifteen selectable characters: eight in the original arcade release, ten in the fixed arcade version, and fifteen in the home version:

* Mitsurugi – Katana (replaced by Hwang in the Korean version)
* Siegfried – Zweihänder
* Taki – Kodachi
* Li Long – Nunchaku (possibly changed in some countries to three section staff due to censorship)
* Sophitia – Sword and shield
* Rock – Battle axe
* Seung Mina – Halberd
* Voldo – Dual katar

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

17. The House of the Dead 2

The House of the Dead 2 is a light gun arcade game with a horror theme and the second game in the The House of the Dead series of video games, developed by Sega for video arcades in 1998 and later ported to the Dreamcast, PC, and Xbox as an unlockable bonus in The House of the Dead III, and appears in the compilation The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return for Wii. The Dreamcast version became one of the few Sega All Stars titles.

The House of the Dead 2 is a rail shooter light gun game. It includes an auto-reload feature that allows players to point their guns off-screen to reload their weapons without pulling the trigger. It also incorporates a branching path system that allows players to take a variety of different routes leading to the same point in the game's story.

The game served as the springboard for the arcade, Sega Dreamcast, and PC release The Typing of the Dead, as well as the inspiration for the Game Boy Advance game, The Pinball of the Dead.

The flashbacks to the first The House of the Dead in the game's introductory sequence were recorded using the game's engine. Until shortly before the game's release, the first The House of the Dead game was to be offered as a digitally remastered extra after completing the game; however, due to bugs that would have delayed the game beyond the launch of the Dreamcast system, it was removed entirely.

The game follows the fictional events of February 26, 2000, two years after the Curien Mansion incident in The House of the Dead. The secret international agency, AMS, has launched an investigation concerning the cause of the Curien case, in order to prevent the world from experiencing a similar outbreak. Strange occurrences, however, are reported to be taking place in the city of Venice, Italy, the last known location of AMS agent "G," who has gone missing. Agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart are dispatched along with Amy Crystal and Harry Harris to investigate and evacuate the populace. Upon finding "G", alive but wounded, James and Gary are met with an undead horde developed by Caleb Goldman, the president of the eminent DBR Corporation and an expert on the genome theory who funded the late Dr. Curien's experiments.

While converging on Goldman's headquarters, James and Gary face many formidable foes, including Judgment (Type 28) consisting of an imp-like monster Zeal and his headless, axe-wielding puppet Kuarl, an aquatic beast which heads an assault on Venice's waterways and Central Plaza, The Hierophant (Type B 05), segmented serpent-like beasts stalking the sewer system known as The Tower (Type 8000), and Strength (Type 205), a chainsaw-wielding giant which wounds Harry and chases James and Gary throughout a labyrinth. Curien's masterpiece, The Magician (Type 0), is also resurrected by Goldman to oversee the birth of The Emperor (Type á), designed to "rule over nature and to destroy, and hate mankind". Being in its prototype stage, the Emperor was not as strong as Goldman would have hoped, and fell to the AMS agents, leading Goldman to commit suicide by throwing himself off the roof of his building, but not before threatening that "..in time, a successor shall come".

Players are given different endings based on the following conditions:
* If a solo game was finished as either player 1 or 2
* If both players defeated the last boss
* Number of continues
* Points earned

The players will be able to see an audience of protagonists and civilians, a zombified Goldman, or Thomas Rogan from the first game, contingent on the conditions aforementioned.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

16. Dark Stalkers: The Night Warriors

The first in the series, fully titled Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors or Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan, features ten playable characters (Demitri Maximoff, Jon Talbain, Victor von Gerdenheim, Lord Raptor, Morrigan Aensland, Anakaris, Felicia, Oboro Bishamon, Rikuo and Sasquatch) and two non-playable boss characters (Huitzil and Pyron). The game features the same gameplay system Capcom developed for the Street Fighter II series, but with several new gameplay features such as Air Blocking, Crouch Walking and Chain Combos. The game featured a Special meter similar to the Super Combo in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which the player could fill up to perform a super powered special attack. Unlike the Super Combo meter in Super Turbo, the Special meter in Darkstalkers gradually drains until the player performs their super move, preventing players from preserving their super moves for later use.

This game was ported to the Sony PlayStation.

A Sega 32X port was announced for a 1995 release, but it was never published.

Story - Demitri Maximoff, the Vampire lord, decides to hold a tournament to see which of the world's greatest monsters is worthy of the title "Lord of the Night".

Playable characters are:
* Anakaris
* Bishamon
* Demitri
* Felicia
* J. Talbain
* Lord Raptor
* Morrigan
* Rikou
* Sasquatch
* Victor

Non-playable bosses are:
* Huitzil
* Pyron

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Countdown Update:

150. Arch Rivals
149. Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
148. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
147. Super Off Road
146. Primal Rage
145. Moon Patrol
144. Mortal Kombat 4
143. Submarine
142. Big Buck Hunter
141. Toki
140. Vs. Baseball
139. San Francisco Rush
138. Sunset Riders
137. NBA Jam
136. Golden Tee Golf
135. WWF Wrestlemania
134. Hogan's Alley
133. CarnEvil
132. Kung Fu Master
131. Berzerk
130. Tekken 5
129. Puzzle Bobble aka Bust A Move
128. Time Traveler
127. 3 Count Bout
126. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
125. Mr. Do!
124. Crisis Zone
123. Captain America and The Avengers
122. Joust
121. Track & Field
120. P.O.W.: Prisoners Of War
119. Area 51
118. Virtua Cop 3
117. Dig Dug
116. Gauntlet
115. King of the Monsters
114. ESP Ra.De.
113. 1942
112. Mercs
111. Street Fighter III: The New Generation
110. Out Run
109. Mappy
108. The Real Ghostbusters
107. Street Fighter Alpha 3
106. Saturday Night Slam Masters
105. Virtua Fighter
104. Elevator Action
103. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
102. World Heroes
101. 10-Yard Fight
100. Cruis'n Exotica
99. Tetris
98. Frogger
97. Mat Mania
96. Cruis'n World
95. Defender
94. Arm Champs II
93. Centipede
92. Yie Ar Kung Fu
91. Burgertime
90. Cabal
89. Hang-On
88. Ninja Gaiden
87. Crazy Climber
86. The House Of The Dead III
85. Arkanoid
84. Race Drivin
83. Tron
82. Revolution X
81. Mortal Kombat 3
80. Golden Axe
79. Dungeons And Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara
78. Marvel Super Hereos
77. Samurai Shodown
76. Time Pilot
75. WWF Superstars
74. Paperboy
73. Star Wars
72. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
71. 1941: Counter Attack
70. Virtua Tennis
69. Die Hard Arcade
68. NBA Maximum Hangtime
67. Silk Worm
66. Dead or Alive
65. Asteroids
64. Gauntlet Legends
63. Mario Kart Arcade GP
62. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
61. Time Killers
60. Alien vs. Predator
59. Time Crisis 3
58. Space Invaders
57. Silent Scope
56. Cruis'n USA
55. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
54. A.P.B.
53. Virtua Fighter 3
52. Crazy Taxi
51. Atari Football
50. Pole Position
49. Virtua Fighter 4
48. Contra
47. Space Fury
46. Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja
45. Harley Davidson & LA Riders
44. T-Mek
43. Ms. Pac-Man
42. Sinistar
41. Magic Sword
40. Rampage
39. Hydro Thunder
38. Tekken 3
37. Killer Instinct
36. Smash TV
35. Q*Bert
34. The House of the Dead 4
33. X-Men vs. Street Fighter
32. The Punisher
31. Karate Champ
30. Time Crisis II
29. WWF WrestleFest
28. Shinobi
27. Soul Calibur
26. Altered Beast
25. Donkey Kong
24. Spy Hunter
23. Marvel vs. Capcom
22. Daytona USA
21. The House of the Dead
20. Time Crisis
19. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade
18. Soul Edge
17. The House of the Dead 2
16. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors

Here are the clues to the next five games

* Blinky, Pinky, Inky, & Clyde

* Defeat Abyss

* Defeat Shang Tsung

* Marian Is Kidnapped

* Watch Out For Insect-Like Aliens

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

15. Galaga

Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game and the sequel to Galaxian. It was released by Namco in 1981; the US version was released the same year under license to Midway.

Like Galaxian, the player controls a spaceship referred to in-game as a Fighter (which can move only right or left) and shoots at swarms of incoming insect-like aliens that fly in formation above him and occasionally swoop down to bomb him in a kamikaze-like dive. The enemies in the top row will sometimes dive with one or two escorts. Enemies that survive a dive will rejoin the formation from the top. When all enemies are destroyed, the player moves on to the next level. The game is over when the player's last ship is destroyed or captured. Or if the player manages to make it past level 255 (which is level 0) where there is nothing but the player's ship flying in space.

The game differs from Galaxian in several ways:
* Two player shots can appear on the screen simultaneously.
* At the beginning of each level, enemies fly into the formation in groups, which the player can shoot on their way in. In later stages, extra enemies in each group break off and dive at the player.
* Boss Galagas (green-and-yellow aliens that replace the Galaxian Flagship) take two hits to destroy. They also occasionally stop in mid-dive and attempt to capture the player's Fighter with a tractor beam. See Captured Fighters below for more information.
* Galaga introduces a bonus stage, referred to as a Challenging Stage, in which a set of 40 enemies (including 4 Boss Galagas) fly in predetermined patterns. The player's goal is to destroy all 40 enemies before they exit the playfield.
* Once you collect 3 ships in the original game, the score multiplies by 2 for the remainder of that round.
* Starting on Stage 4, a single non-boss enemy splits into three special enemies (referred to in Namco Museum as "Fish"), two of which exit the playfield if not destroyed first. Destroying all three of the split enemies yields extra bonus points.
* When destroyed, the player's Fighter emits a much more realistic explosion sound effect than the effect heard in Galaxian.
* The game keeps track of all of the player's shots and displays the player's "hit-miss ratio" at the end of the game.
* In two-player mode, it is possible for an experienced player to play an entire game before the second player gets a first turn.

Perhaps the most famous element of Galaga is the ability for the player's Fighter to be captured by the enemy. Boss Galagas (the green enemies at the top of the formation) occasionally stop mid-dive and attempt to capture the player's Fighter with a tractor beam. If the Fighter is captured, the boss carries it back up into the formation. If the captured Fighter is the player's last Fighter, the game ends.

The captured Fighter acts as an escort to the Boss Galaga that captured it, and dives down simultaneously with the Boss Galaga. To free the Fighter, the player must destroy the Boss Galaga in mid-dive — if the Boss Galaga is destroyed in the formation, the captured Fighter will attack on its own and leave the playfield, returning with another boss Galaga in the next round.

If the player successfully frees the captured Fighter, the two Fighters join together side-by-side, moving and shooting as one and effectively doubling the player's firepower. If one of the Fighters is hit, only that Fighter is destroyed and the player continues with the surviving one. Because of the obvious benefit of double firepower, a common Galaga strategy is to purposely let a boss Galaga capture a player ship early in the game, then immediately free it.

Contrary to rumor, the double ship cannot be recaptured and released to form a "triple ship". Boss Galagas only attempt to capture when a single player ship is in play. However, the triple ship is a feature in the sequel game Galaga '88.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

14. Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (a.k.a. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or MvC2) is the fourth and final game in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games. With the final installment of the series, Capcom simplified the engine so that it would be more accessible to casual players, in order to bring in new players. Changes were made to the air combo system and the button configuration was trimmed down to 4 main buttons and 2 assist buttons. The game also features 3 on 3 tag, compared to the 2 on 2 tag from previous games in the series. It is the only game in the series to use the NAOMI system, which is used mostly for 3D games. It is mainly seen in this game in the backgrounds and system effects, as well as Abyss's sphere. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was later ported to the Dreamcast, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.

The PlayStation 2 and Xbox ports of this game saw a limited print run due to Capcom losing the Marvel license. While these versions are merely uncommon, high demand has caused their prices to skyrocket both in stores and online. The Dreamcast version is the closest of the three home console ports to the arcade version, due to its hardware being similar to that of a NAOMI, and at the same time it is the cheapest due to a higher number of copies produced.

This is the first and only Marvel vs. Capcom game without character-specific endings, as one will get the same end regardless of the characters one uses or how quickly one defeats the final opponent.

When the earth and everything on it begins to die, Ruby Heart traces the source to an evil being known as Abyss, the Armor of Erosion. She summons the greatest heroes to her airship to find the being. Ultimately, its source of power is revealed to be a mysterious black metal ball within its center.

The ending suggests that the sphere may be worthless now given the massive crack in it; Ruby holds it in her hand and regards it briefly before throwing it over her back into the water, letting it sink to the bottom. It is not stated if Abyss could return or not.

Players select three fighters from either Marvel or Capcom games and fight one-on-one until one of the teams have no remaining players. Each character has at least one super combo and the entire team shares a single super meter. The characters can draw on this (at a minimum cost of one super meter level) to perform their super combos or other special super moves.

Control is similar to the previous Marvel vs. Capcom games, which itself derives from the Street Fighter games, except that the screen is now wider. The major difference is that instead of three punch/kick attack strength, there are only two, with the last two buttons being replaced by assist buttons. Most often, a weak attack can chain two different hits. The second is a medium attack which was featured in the previous games.

The player can also call in an off-screen character to do a selected special move by pressing the corresponding assist button. Each character has three assist types which cause them to execute different special moves (or in some cases, a regular move); this is chosen before the match. The player can call an assist at any time, except during a super jump or when executing special or super moves, and the assist character is vulnerable to attack or even death. The characters receive double damage than normal when attacked during an assist.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 introduces the ability to force an opponent's teammate into the fight with a move commonly called a "snapback", which requires one super meter to execute. The character will flash for a moment and do a normal attack which will knock the opponent out of the playing field if it's not blocked. If successful, the current character will be knocked out of play and the next available partner will enter the fight on their behalf. If the move connects with both the active and an assist character, it introduces the possibility of the assist character being knocked out without the opponent being able to defend him/her.

The arcade version features an "experience" system which unlocks hidden characters after a certain number of experience points are earned. This system was removed in the console versions in favor of the "Secret Factor" menu, where the player can unlock hidden characters, backgrounds and artworks using VS points.

Playable characters are:
* Akuma
* Amingo
* Anakaris
* B.B. Hood
* Blackheart
* Cable
* Cammy
* Captain America
* Captain Commando
* Charlie
* Chun-Li
* Colossus
* Cyclops
* Dan
* Dhalsim
* Doctor Doom
* Felicia
* Gambit
* Guile
* Hayato
* Hulk
* Iceman
* Iron Man
* Jill
* Jin
* Juggernaut
* Ken
* M.Bison
* Magneto
* Marrow
* Mega Man
* Morrigan
* Omega Red
* Psylocke
* Rogue
* Roll
* Ruby Heart
* Ryu
* Sabretooth
* Sakura
* Sentinel
* Servbot
* Shuma-Gorath
* Silver Samurai
* Sonson
* Spider-Man
* Spiral
* Storm
* Strider Hiryu
* Thanos
* T.Bonne
* Venom
* War Machine
* Wolverine (Bone Claws)
* Wolverine (Adamantium Claws)
* Zangief

Boss is:
* Abyss
Abyss was responsible for a mysterious wind that spread across the world, killing plant life in its wake. This phenomenon prompted numerous heroes and villains to band together and investigate. He's something akin to entropy incarnate, a fabled monstrosity that would bring the world back to primordial times, killing all life in the process.

Abyss's true form is apparently that of a large glowing sphere that hovers around in the background. Abyss changes into three different forms when fighting.

In the first stage of the battle the metal sphere surrounds itself with a giant suit of armor which is slow moving with powerful attacks. The fight takes place in a large temple like structure, presumably underground.

After this form is defeated, the armor melts into the floor and the temple crumbles, leaving the fighters standing in a green pool of slime. The abyss sphere floats in the background as the second form reveals itself: A small green humanoid capable of creating paralyzing bubbles, shooting fire and energy beams, and sinking into the floor to avoid attacks.

After this form is destroyed, the green slime turns orange and a large demonic beast forms around the Abyss sphere. This third form attacks with powerful energy attacks and sheer brute strength. If this form is defeated the sphere apparently loses its power and the cave and island the monster inhabits begins to sink.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has only one ending, which all the characters share. In it, the various fighters celebrate their victory over Abyss on the ship of the pirate, Ruby Heart. Although this varies on which version the player is playing at: in the home console the characters that are available in the beginning celebrate only where as in the arcade version more characters are shown with a few changes to some scenes. At the start of this sequence, Ruby is seen holding Abyss's cracked sphere, which she drops into the ocean, and it sinks into the depths.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

13. Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was the first entry in the famous and highly controversial Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway Games, released in arcades in 1992. It was later picked up by Acclaim Entertainment for the home version, then later returned to Midway. It centers on the first Mortal Kombat tournament and the ultimate defeat of the evil Shang Tsung by the monk Liu Kang.

Originally, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias wanted to create a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a digitized version of the action star fighting villains. Unfortunately, Van Damme was already in negotiations with another video game company (that game was never realized either), so they decided instead to create a game loosely based on Enter the Dragon. Van Damme's likeness is still clearly seen in the character of Johnny Cage; a Caucasian Hollywood martial arts movie star who performs a split punch to the groin (inspired by a scene from Bloodsport).

The game was a response by Midway to Capcom's successful Street Fighter II, which spawned a number of fighting games. However, it used a distinctly different fighting system from the Street Fighter formula, which was used in all subsequent sequels until Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The controls consisted of five buttons arranged in an "X" pattern: a high punch, a high kick, a low punch, a low kick, and a block button, as well as an eight-way joystick.

If the two fighters were standing next to each other, hitting any of the attack buttons would result in a modified strike: a low punch turned into a throw, a high punch turned into a heavy elbow, head butt, or backhand, and either kick turned into a knee strike. Crouching and hitting either punch resulted in an uppercut, which was the most damaging attack of the game. Jump kicking and crouch-kicking were executed in a similar fashion to Street Fighter, although leg sweeps and roundhouse kicks were performed by holding away while pressing the appropriate kick button.

The blocking in Mortal Kombat by itself greatly changed the flow of fighting in comparison to contemporary games which used Street Fighter conventions. Characters do not block while retreating or crouching, but only block when the block button is pushed. Even then, characters take (reduced) damage from any hit while blocking. However, successfully blocking moves is simple – a crouching block can successfully defend against all moves, even aerial attacks such as jump kicks – and blocking characters give very little ground when struck rather than sliding backwards. This style of blocking rewarded dodging to avoid damage but also made counterattacks much easier after a successful block, and the ultimate result was an environment which rewards a more furtive playing style than contemporary games.

Each of the seven playable characters move and fight in the exact same fashion, which led to complaints that the characters lacked distinction. However, each character's moves differed in their hit detection, speed, and damage. (For example, Kano's crouching kick dealt more damage than other characters' crouching kicks, while Raiden's jump kick had a longer range than other jump kicks.)

The game retained a similar scoring system (based on successful hits, the Test Your Might minigame and other bonuses) to those games; this would be dropped in later entries to the Mortal Kombat series in favor of counting wins.

Another of the game's innovations was the Fatality, a special finishing move executed against a beaten opponent to kill them in a gruesome fashion. For example, one character (Sub-Zero) would grasp a defeated opponent by the head, then rip out the head and spine while the body crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood.

Mortal Kombat also introduced the concept of juggling, an idea so popular it has spread to many games and even other genres. Juggling takes advantage of the fact that when a character is knocked into the air, that player is unable to control his or her character and is still vulnerable to other hits, until he or she lands and gets up again. The idea behind juggling is to knock the enemy into the air and then follow up with other combat moves to keep them there. Theoretically, one could juggle one's opponent to death without ever taking damage, though this was difficult to accomplish in practice. In early versions of the game, juggling was extremely easy because the physics caused characters to fly upwards when hit; by version 5.0, however, characters reacted with somewhat more realism, and also fell more rapidly with successive hits, effectively limiting juggles to 3 hits under normal circumstances.

Mortal Kombat also changed the way special moves were performed. Street Fighter (and many other fighting games) performed most special moves in fractions of circles (usually full, half or one-quarter) on the joystick followed by a button press (such as a quarter-circle forward, plus punch). Mortal Kombat was the first to introduce moves that did not require a button press (such as tap back, tap back, then forward), and only a few of the special moves required circular joystick movement.

Finally, Mortal Kombat was the first versus-fighting game to feature a secret character (Reptile).

Playable characters are:
* Johnny Cage – Daniel Pesina
* Kano – Richard Divizio
* Liu Kang – Ho Sung Pak
* Raiden – Carlos Pesina
* Scorpion – Daniel Pesina
* Sonya Blade – Elizabeth Malecki
* Sub-Zero – Daniel Pesina
* Reptile (Secret character) – Daniel Pesina

Boss and sub-boss are:
* Goro – Stop-motion model by Curt Chiarelli
* Shang Tsung (boss) – Ho Sung Pak

Test Your Might is the minigame that is featured in Mortal Kombat as an interlude between battles, similar to breaking. The minigame would consist of the player's character standing above one of five blocks of increasing hardness, depending on how far the player has progressed in Test Your Might. The player would have to hammer multiple buttons until the gauge next to their character passed a certain point, and then would have to press the Block button to strike. If they were above this point, their character would break the block in front of them. Otherwise, their hand would bounce off the object sitting in front of them. The player starts off on wood, and after breaking it would move up to stone, steel, ruby, and diamond, then back to wood after diamond is broken. The breaking point on the gauge is raised with the increasing hardness of each block.

The minigame appears at different intervals depending on whether the game is played in one-player or two-player mode. In one-player mode, it appears after every three battle victories, no matter how many battles take place.

However, since the one-player mode ends after the twelfth battle victory (against Shang Tsung), this mode gives players only three chances to test their might before their game is over. This means that the two hardest blocks of the five (ruby and diamond) are reachable only after a player wins at least two "Test Your Might" minigames in two-player mode. The minigame also appears after every five consecutive two-player battles, with each player's progress maintained individually.

The Test Your Might minigame was not used in the subsequent Mortal Kombat games until 2002's console-only Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, where it returned with improved graphics, a similar but longer block sequence (bamboo, coal, oak, brick, redwood, marble, iron, then diamond), and another minigame, Test Your Sight. Whereas in Mortal Kombat Test Your Might was there to earn points, it is in Deadly Alliance to earn "Koins" with which to unlock special features. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, the minigame appears whenever the player needs to perform some feat of strength, and at times, even during specific parts of boss battles.

There are a total of seven different backgrounds to fight on:
* The Courtyard
* Palace Gates
* Warrior Shrine
* The Pit – When an opponent is defeated on this stage, he/she can be uppercut off the bridge where they will land on a bed of spikes. Although the announcer doesn't acknowledge it, this would be the series' first stage fatality.
* Throne Room
* Goro's Lair - The only arena where you will fight Goro
* The Pit Bottom - Versus Reptile only

Goro lives...

A 2,000 year old half human dragon Goro remains undefeated for the past 500 years. He won the title of grand champion by defeating Kung Lao, a shaolin fighting monk. It was during this period that the tournament fell into Shang Tsung's hands and was corrupted.

Mortal Kombat featured two bosses. One was a sub-boss, which was a four-armed Shokan warrior named Goro, a half-human, half-dragon beast. Goro was a great deal stronger than the other characters, and was impossible to grab. However, he moves a lot slower due to his size.

Upon Goro's defeat, the player would then face the game's main boss, Shang Tsung. Despite the sorcerer's old age, he moves with incredible speed and summoned skull fireballs at will. Shang Tsung's darkest magic empowered him to steal the souls of fallen adversaries. Due to this sorcery, he also had the ability to morph into any character of the game, including Goro, and assume their appearance and their special abilities. Upon defeat, the many warrior souls that Shang Tsung used during battle would leave his body and then he would be engulfed in flames.

There is a rumor of a secret code to unlock "Bill Gates" as a boss fighter, though only player 2 can control him. He is mostly just photos of him with sub zero's moves. Though this Rumor has yet to be seen.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

12. Pac-Man

Pac-Man is a Japanese arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. Upon its release, the game became a social phenomenon that sold a bevy of merchandise and also inspired, among other things, an animated television series. It also inspired the Buckner & Garcia single Pac-Man Fever, which in the first half of 1982 became a #9, million-selling pop single.

When Pac-Man was released, most arcade video games in North America were primarily space shooters such as Space Invaders, Defender, or Asteroids. The most visible minority were sports games that were mostly derivative of Pong. Pac-Man succeeded by creating a new genre and appealing to both males and females. Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history, and is among the most famous arcade games of all time. The character also appears in more than 30 officially licensed game spin-offs, as well as in numerous unauthorized clones and bootlegs. According to the Davie Brown Index, Pac Man is still the most recognized video game character in the United States, even more famous than Mario.

The game was developed primarily by Namco employee Toru Iwatani over 18 months. The original title was pronounced pakku-man and was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic phrase paku-paku taberu, where paku-paku describes (the sound of) the mouth movement when widely opened and then closed in succession. Although it is often cited that the character’s shape was inspired by a pizza missing a slice, he admitted in a 1986 interview that it was a half-truth and the character design also came from simplifying and rounding out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi as well as the basic concept of eating. Iwatani's efforts to appeal to a wider audience — beyond the typical demographics of young boys and teenagers — would eventually lead him to adding elements of a maze. The result was a game he entitled Puck Man.

When first launched in Japan by Namco, the game received a lukewarm response, as Space Invaders and other similar games were more popular at the time.

The following year, the game was picked up for manufacture in the U.S. by Bally division Midway, under the altered title Pac-Man. American audiences welcomed a breakaway from conventions set by Space Invaders, which resulted in unprecedented popularity and revenue that rivaled its successful predecessor, as even Iwatani was impressed with U.S. sales. The game soon became a worldwide phenomenon within the video game industry, resulting in numerous sequels and merchandising tie-ins. Pac-Man's success bred imitation, and an entire genre of maze-chase video games soon emerged.

The unique game design inspired game publishers to be innovative rather than conservative, and encouraged them to speculate on game designs that broke from existing genres. Pac-Man introduced an element of humor into video games that designers sought to imitate, and appealed to a wider demographic than the teenage boys who flocked to the action-oriented games.

Competitors and distributors were taken completely by surprise by Pac-Man's success in North America in 1980. Marketing executives who saw Pac-Man at a trade show prior to release completely overlooked the game (along with the now classic Defender), while they looked to a racing car game called Rally-X as the game to outdo that year. The appeal of Pac-Man was such that the game caught on immediately with the public; it quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry before. Pac-Man outstripped Asteroids as the greatest selling arcade game of the time, and would go on to sell over 350,000 units.

Pac-Man went on to became an icon of video game culture during the 1980s, and a great deal of Pac-Man merchandise was marketed with the character's image, from t-shirts and toys to hand-held video game imitations and pasta. The Killer List of Videogames lists Pac-Man as the #1 video game of all time on its "Top 10 Most Popular Video games" list. Pac-Man, and other video games of the same general type, are often cited as an identifying cultural experience of Generation X, particularly its older members, sometimes called Baby Busters.

For the North American market, the name was changed from Puck Man to Pac-Man, as it was thought that vandals would be likely to change the P in Puck to an F, forming a common expletive. Puck Man machines can be found throughout Europe.

When Midway released Pac-Man in the United States, the company also redesigned the cabinet's artwork, as the Namco-style artwork was more costly to mass produce. Puck Man was painted overall white featuring multicolored artwork on both sides with cheerful Pac-Man characters in different poses while Pac-Man was painted yellow, with very simple and easy-to-stencil artwork on both sides front and back.

The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating pac-dots. When all dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage. Four ghosts (known to most gamers as Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde) roam the maze, trying to catch Pac-Man. If a ghost touches Pac-Man, a life is lost. When all lives have been lost, the game ends. Pac-Man is awarded a single bonus life at 10,000 points by default, and then at 30,000. DIP switches inside the machine can change the required points or disable the bonus life altogether.

Near the corners of the maze are four larger, flashing dots known as power pellets that provide Pac-Man with the temporary ability to eat the ghosts. The ghosts turn deep blue, reverse direction, and usually move more slowly when Pac-Man eats a power pellet. When a ghost is eaten, its eyes return to the ghost home where it is regenerated in its normal color. Blue ghosts flash white before they become dangerous again and the amount of time the ghosts remain vulnerable varies from one board to the next, but the time period generally becomes shorter as the game progresses. In later stages, the ghosts do not change colors at all, but still reverse direction when a power pellet is eaten.

In addition to pac-dots and power pellets, bonus items, usually referred to as fruits (though not all items are fruits) appear near the center of the maze. These items score extra bonus points when eaten. The items change and bonus values increase throughout the game. Also, a series of intermissions play after certain levels toward the beginning of the game, showing a humorous set of interactions between Pac-Man and Blinky (the red ghost).

Initially, Pac-Man’s enemies were referred to as monsters on the arcade cabinet, but soon became colloquially known as ghosts.

The ghosts are bound by the maze in the same way as Pac-Man, but generally move slightly faster than the player, although they slow down when turning corners and slow down significantly while passing through the tunnels on the sides of the maze (Pac-Man passes through these tunnels unhindered). Pac-Man slows down slightly while eating dots, potentially allowing a chasing ghost to catch him.

Blinky, the red ghost, speeds up after a certain number of dots are eaten (this number gets lower in higher levels). The accelerated Blinky is unofficially called Cruise Elroy, although opinions differ on the origins of this term.

Ghosts are:
* Shadow aka Blinky
* Speedy aka Pinky
* Bashful aka Inky
* Pokey aka Clyde

A ghost always maintains its current direction until it reaches an intersection, at which point it may turn left or right. Periodically, the ghosts will reverse direction and head for the corners of the maze (commonly referred to as "scatter mode"), before reverting to their normal behavior. In an interview, Iwatani stated that he had designed each ghost with its own distinct personality in order to keep the game from becoming impossibly difficult or boring to play. However, while players generally agree that the behaviors of each ghost add depth and challenge to the game, no consensus has been reached on exactly how to describe those behaviors.

Despite the seemingly random nature of some of the ghosts, their movements are strictly deterministic, enabling experienced players to devise precise sequences of movements for each level (termed "patterns") that allow them to complete the levels without ever being caught. A later revision of the game code altered the ghosts' behavior, but new patterns were soon developed for that behavior as well. Players have also learned how to exploit other flaws in the ghosts' behavior, including finding places where they can hide indefinitely without moving, and a code bug occasionally allows Pac-Man to pass through a non-blue ghost unharmed. Several patterns have been developed to exploit this bug. A common rumor speculates that this only happens when Pac-Man's mouth is completely closed.

This game technically has no end; the player will be given new boards to clear as long as he or she retains at least one life. However, due to a bug in the subroutine that draws the fruit, the right side of the 256th board becomes a garbled mess of text and symbols rendering the level unplayable. Normally, no more than seven fruits are displayed at any one time, but when the internal level counter (stored in a single byte) reaches 255, the subroutine erroneously "rolls over" this value to zero while drawing the fruit, causing it to attempt to draw 256 fruit. This corrupts the bottom of the screen and the whole right half of the maze with seemingly random symbols.[23]

Through tinkering, the details of the Split-Screen Level can be revealed. As playable through arcade game emulator MAME some ROMs of the game are equipped with a "rack test" within the DIP switches that will automatically clear a level of all dots as soon as it begins. This method not only makes reaching the 256th board easier (thus making detailed analysis possible), but also allows for a demonstration of what happens after the board has been cleared. If the board is cleared, the game loops back to the first level. The fruits and intermissions display as before, but the ghosts retain their higher speed and immunity to power pellets from the later stages.

However, because of the corruption on this board, there are insufficient dots available for Pac-Man to eat in order to progress. A few edible dots are scattered in the corrupted area, and these dots reset when the player loses a life (unlike in the uncorrupted areas). Pac-Man and the ghosts can move freely throughout the right half of the screen, barring some fractured pieces of the maze. While there are claims that someone with enough knowledge of the maze pattern could play through the level, it is generally considered impossible to clear via legitimate means. As a result, enthusiasts usually refer to this board as the "Final Level", the "Split-Screen Level", or simply the ending, and it is known more generally as a kill screen.

A perfect Pac-Man game occurs when the player achieves the maximum possible score on the first 255 levels (by eating every possible dot, power pellet, fruit and ghost) without losing a single life, then scoring as many points as possible in the last level.[22][24] As verified by the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard on July 3, 1999, the first person to achieve the maximum possible score (3,333,360 points) was Billy Mitchell of Hollywood, Florida, who performed the feat in about six hours.[25][24]

In December 1982, an eight-year-old boy named Jeffrey R. Yee supposedly received a letter from U.S. President Ronald Reagan congratulating him on a worldwide record of 6,131,940 points, a score only possible if the player has passed the Split-Screen Level.[24] Whether or not this event happened as described has remained in heated debate amongst video game circles since its supposed occurrence. In September 1983, Walter Day, chief scorekeeper at Twin Galaxies, took the U.S. National Video Game Team on a tour of the East Coast to visit video game players who claimed they could get through the "Split-Screen." No video game player could demonstrate this ability. In 1999, Billy Mitchell offered $100,000 to anyone who could provably pass through the Split-Screen Level before January 1, 2000; there is no evidence that anyone could.

On June 5, 2007, the first Pac-Man World Championship was held in New York City, which brought together ten competitors from eight countries to play the new Pac-Man Championship Edition just prior to its release on Xbox Live Arcade. The top two scorers, Robert Glashuettner of Austria and Carlos Daniel Borrego of Mexico, competed for the championship in a single five-minute round. Borrego was named Pac-Man World Champion and won an Xbox 360 console, specially decorated with Pac-Man artwork and signed by Toru Iwatani.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

11. Double Dragon

Double Dragon is a 1987 beat-em-up developed by Technos Japan Corporation and distributed in North America and Europe by Taito. The game is a spiritual and technological successor to Technos' earlier beat-em-up, Renegade (released in Japan as Nekketsu Kôha Kunio-kun, the first game in the Kunio-kun series),[citation needed] but introduced several additions such as two-player cooperative gameplay (hence the title) and the ability to arm oneself with an enemy's weapon after disarming them. Double Dragon is considered to be one of the first successful examples of the genre, resulting in the creation of two arcade sequels and several spinoffs.

Home versions of the game were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Boy, Genesis/Mega Drive and Atari Lynx, among other platforms during the series' height of popularity. An enhanced remake titled Double Dragon Advance was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. It was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on April 28, 2008 at a cost of 500 Wii Points.

The kanji characters in the game's title literally reads Sôsetsuryû, which roughly means "Twin Intercepting Dragons", a reference to the game's title as well as a reference to "Sôsetsuken", the fictional martial art style used by the Lee brothers. However, both the game and series are known as "Double Dragon" even in Japan.

The story of Double Dragon is set in a post-apocalyptic version of New York City, five years after a nuclear war, where gangs and criminal organizations have taken control of the city. The protagonists are Billy and Jimmy Lee, the titular duo and the successors of a fictional martial arts style known as Sôsetsuken (loosely based on Jeet Kune Do). One day, Billy's girlfriend, Marian, is kidnapped off the street and the Lee brothers receive a message from her captors, the Black Warriors, demanding to know the secrets of Sôsetsuken in exchange for her safety. The Black Warriors are the largest criminal organization in the city, led by machine gun-toting crime boss Willy Mackey. In the NES version of the plot, Willy is apparently only a figurehead, while Jimmy is the true leader, the Shadow Boss.

This is the basic premise of the first game as originally established by Technos Japan, although certain details of the plot change between versions of the game and publishers. The actual game has no in-game plot and the opening merely depicts Marian being knocked unconscious and carried off by the Black Warriors, with Billy and Jimmy emerging from the garage in the background shortly afterwards.

The arcade version's control configuration is composed of two attack buttons, punch and kick, as well a jump button to fight against enemies or overcome obstacles. The player has access to a repertoire of techniques by pushing these buttons individually or in combination. The most notable of these techniques is the Elbow Punch, which the player can use to knock down enemies coming from behind. Because of its effectiveness (the move leaves the player temporarily invulnerable to attack during its animation), the Elbow Punch was easily abused by players to complete the game and its effectiveness was reduced in later games in the series. Pressing jump and kick makes the player perform a jumping backward kick, which wasn't as effective as the elbow. After the player has punched or kicked an enemy two or three times, the enemy is left in a stunned position, allowing him vulnerable for an uppercut, roundhouse kick or a hair grab. While in a hair grab, the player can knee the enemy repeatedly in the face or perform an over-the-shoulder throw. Linda, Abobo and Bolo cannot be grabbed; Linda falls without a "stun" period, while Abobo and Bolo are far too large for the player to manhandle in such a fashion.

Certain enemies carry melee weapons such as baseball bats and whips, as well as throwing knives and dynamite sticks. They can be disarmed and the player can then pick up the weapon and use it against them. There are also large objects (namely oil drums, cardboard boxes and rocks) that can be used in combat, either by physically hurling them at enemies, or kicking them into oncoming "traffic."

There are a total of four stages, or "Missions" as they're referred within the game: the city slums, a factory, a forest and the hideout of the Black Warriors. The first three stages are actually set in one large area, in which after mission is clear, the player's character will simply walk directly to the next stage during an automatic transition period. It isn't until the fourth stage in which the game switches to a new level. Some of the stages have traps that the player must overcome, typically pitfalls such as a broken bridges, conveyor belts and spiked beds that can kill the player instantly if they fall over. The final stage has more elaborate traps such as moving wall tiles that push the player and minotaur statues that stab the player (as well as enemy characters) with their spears.

There are four "underling" characters the player faces during the course of the game: Williams, a thug who wears jeans and tank tops; Roper, a thug who wears matching-colored pants and vests, as well as spiked shoulder pads; Linda, a female thug who is often armed with a whip; and Bolo, a bald strongman who has the ability to toss the player's character around. There are also three boss characters: Abobo, a head swap of Bolo with a mohawk who moves faster than his counterpart and has a two-hand slap attack; Jeff, a head swap of the player's character who possesses many of the same technique; and Willy, the final boss, who is armed with a machine gun that can kill off the player with a single bullet.

One unique aspect of the game was its ending. Normally, if a single player defeat Willy alone, the rescued Marian will walk over to the character (whether it be Billy or Jimmy) and give him a kiss, followed by the ending credits. However, if the player finishes Willy off with a partner, then the game will force both players to fight each other off. The player who remains alive will win over Marian's affection and get a kiss from her.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Countdown Update:

150. Arch Rivals
149. Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
148. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
147. Super Off Road
146. Primal Rage
145. Moon Patrol
144. Mortal Kombat 4
143. Submarine
142. Big Buck Hunter
141. Toki
140. Vs. Baseball
139. San Francisco Rush
138. Sunset Riders
137. NBA Jam
136. Golden Tee Golf
135. WWF Wrestlemania
134. Hogan's Alley
133. CarnEvil
132. Kung Fu Master
131. Berzerk
130. Tekken 5
129. Puzzle Bobble aka Bust A Move
128. Time Traveler
127. 3 Count Bout
126. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
125. Mr. Do!
124. Crisis Zone
123. Captain America and The Avengers
122. Joust
121. Track & Field
120. P.O.W.: Prisoners Of War
119. Area 51
118. Virtua Cop 3
117. Dig Dug
116. Gauntlet
115. King of the Monsters
114. ESP Ra.De.
113. 1942
112. Mercs
111. Street Fighter III: The New Generation
110. Out Run
109. Mappy
108. The Real Ghostbusters
107. Street Fighter Alpha 3
106. Saturday Night Slam Masters
105. Virtua Fighter
104. Elevator Action
103. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
102. World Heroes
101. 10-Yard Fight
100. Cruis'n Exotica
99. Tetris
98. Frogger
97. Mat Mania
96. Cruis'n World
95. Defender
94. Arm Champs II
93. Centipede
92. Yie Ar Kung Fu
91. Burgertime
90. Cabal
89. Hang-On
88. Ninja Gaiden
87. Crazy Climber
86. The House Of The Dead III
85. Arkanoid
84. Race Drivin
83. Tron
82. Revolution X
81. Mortal Kombat 3
80. Golden Axe
79. Dungeons And Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara
78. Marvel Super Hereos
77. Samurai Shodown
76. Time Pilot
75. WWF Superstars
74. Paperboy
73. Star Wars
72. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
71. 1941: Counter Attack
70. Virtua Tennis
69. Die Hard Arcade
68. NBA Maximum Hangtime
67. Silk Worm
66. Dead or Alive
65. Asteroids
64. Gauntlet Legends
63. Mario Kart Arcade GP
62. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
61. Time Killers
60. Alien vs. Predator
59. Time Crisis 3
58. Space Invaders
57. Silent Scope
56. Cruis'n USA
55. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
54. A.P.B.
53. Virtua Fighter 3
52. Crazy Taxi
51. Atari Football
50. Pole Position
49. Virtua Fighter 4
48. Contra
47. Space Fury
46. Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja
45. Harley Davidson & LA Riders
44. T-Mek
43. Ms. Pac-Man
42. Sinistar
41. Magic Sword
40. Rampage
39. Hydro Thunder
38. Tekken 3
37. Killer Instinct
36. Smash TV
35. Q*Bert
34. The House of the Dead 4
33. X-Men vs. Street Fighter
32. The Punisher
31. Karate Champ
30. Time Crisis II
29. WWF WrestleFest
28. Shinobi
27. Soul Calibur
26. Altered Beast
25. Donkey Kong
24. Spy Hunter
23. Marvel vs. Capcom
22. Daytona USA
21. The House of the Dead
20. Time Crisis
19. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade
18. Soul Edge
17. The House of the Dead 2
16. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
15. Galaga
14. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
13. Mortal Kombat
12. Pac-Man
11. Double Dragon

Here are the clues to the next five games

* Defeat Mr. Sandman

* Get The Statue Of Liberty Back

* Introduced Akuma

* Outworld Tournament

* Rescue Princess Daphne From Singe

[Gopher Mod]

So, Punch Out!, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Dragon's Lair are coming....