Top 150 Arcade Games Results Thread

[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

Here are the clues to the next five games.

* Defeat The Illuminati Leader Gill

* Kinda Like Pro Wrestling, But With Giant Monsters

* Pilot The Super Ace

* Rescue The Former President From Rebels In The Fictional African Country Of Zutulu

* Stop Ms. Garra

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

King of the Monsters, and I'm guessing Bad Dudes?

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

115. King of the Monsters

King of the Monsters is a fighting/wrestling game. It was released by SNK on February 25, 1991 in Japan, with later ports for the Super NES and Sega Genesis by Takara. King of the Monsters was included as part of SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 which was released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP in 2008. Players get to choose any one of six monsters (four in the 16-bit ports) for battle, and two players can join forces to fight the monsters together. Battles end when one of the monsters is pinned for a three count or if time expires (in which case the player loses).

Monsters are:
* Geon: A Godzilla-like dinosaur.
* Woo: A King Kong-like gorilla (not available on the ports).
* Astro Guy: A typical tokusatsu superhero.
* Poison Ghost: A creature covered in toxic waste, inspired by Hedorah (not available on the ports).
* Rocky: A giant golem made of boulders.
* Beetle Mania: A large beetle-like creature, possibly inspired by Megalon.

The battles in King of the Monsters take place in seven major Japanese cities (one for each monster): Tokyo, Shinjuku, Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima. Almost everything in the stage (within the confines of the electrical barriers) can be destroyed. Vehicles such as helicopters, boats, and tanks can be picked up and thrown.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

114. ESP Ra.De.

ESP Ra.De. is an arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus in 1998. It is a vertical scrolling shooter, set in Tokyo in the year 2018. It, unlike most other shmups, has a fairly involved story and fits nicely into the manic shooter genre.

It has two sequels, Espgaluda and Espgaluda II.

The game is played as a fairly standard manic shooter: the player is faced with six stages of increasing difficulty, each one with its own sub-boss and final boss to overcome; once the game's main antagonist is defeated, an ending pertaining to the character chosen is shown. unlike the DoDonPachi series, there is not a second loop.

Each of the three characters is given a unique backstory and primary attack, varying in power and bullet spread, which is launched by repeatedly pressing the A button: holding it results in automatic fire and the character slowing down. A so-called Piercing Cannon is activated with the B button: a varying number of powerful flames are launched forward, exploding once they come into contact with an enemy, dealing large quantities of damage. The smartbomb common to the genre is replaced with the ESP Drive: when the C button is pressed, the character becomes invulnerable, a small energy arc forms in front of him/her and a brief energy blast is launched forward, disrupting enemy shots and fiercely damaging regular foes and bosses alike; if the button is held down, a shield will encircle the player character, converting every shot that touches it into bonus tokens and further increasing the attack's power. This however drains the power gauge at the bottom of the screen, which can be replenished only by death or certain bonus icons.

ESP Ra.De. is regarded as another masterpiece from Cave, and one of their first attempts at providing a fully-developed backstory for the action displayed on-screen.

By 2018, Tokyo has reached its maximum extension, therefore falling prey of common problems such as overpopulation and criminality. For this reason, an artificial island, aptly named Tokyo-2, is created just offshore, thanks to the support of the shady "Yaksa" corporation, led by elusive billionaire Ms. Garra, whose ties with the modern incarnation of Yakuza have not been proved. Another source of unstability is given by the rising number of humans exhibiting extra sensory perceptions, the so called ESPers, who are constantly hunted down by the Japanese Police force. Unknown to everyone, though, Garra herself is an extremely powerful ESPer, bent on using her influence over the government and military to replace every living being in the city with clones (disturbingly enough, these ESPers take the form of a 10 years old girl, named "Alice" and implied to originate from Garra's own DNA). Just as her plans begin to unfold, three children are forced to take action, each one for his/her own personal motives.

The story takes place in December, during a 24 hours arc: each character has a specific stage which initiates his/her storyline, then culminating with the final encounter. At the beginning of each stage, a philosophical sentence related to the overall plot is given.
* Yusuke Sagami A 17 years old high-school student, portrayed in sporting gear, whose school is suddenly attacked by Yaksa's private military force and a squad of four ESPer clones. One of Yusuke's friends is killed by the squad commander, Satoru Oumi, whose pursuit sets the stage for the entire level. When encountered as a boss, he is seen assuming the form of the boy he killed, thus fueling Yusuke's desire for revenge.
* Irori Mimakasa An 11 years old girl, daughter of a family of pacifists. After a failed assassination attempt by Yaksa's mechanized forces at the Tokyo Bay Area (a common location in japanese video games, such as Final Fight), she is compelled to bring their persecution to an end.
* JB-5th A genetically-engineered, 14 years old psychic assassin, his motives are unclear. His storyline, opening with a successful assassination attempt at a shopping mall, implies he's one of Yaksa's clones, rebelling against his creators in order to regain his freedom; his actions, though, get both Garra's forces and the military on his trail.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

113. 1942

1942 is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up made by Capcom that was released for the arcade in 1984. It was later ported to the NES, MSX, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, NEC PC-8801, Commodore 64 and Game Boy Color. It was included as part of Capcom Classics Collection for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 in 2005. 1942 is the first game in the 194x series, followed by 1943: The Battle of Midway. The NES Version was developed by Micronics.

1942 is set in the Pacific theater of World War II. Despite the game being created by a Japanese company and staff, the goal is to reach Tokyo and destroy the entire Japanese air fleet. The player pilots a plane (dubbed the "Super Ace", although its appearance is clearly that of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning), and has to shoot down enemy planes. Besides shooting, the player can also perform a Roll or "loop-the-loop" to avoid enemy fire.

1942 can be played in either one or two player mode. In two player mode, players alternate turns, each receiving a separate score. Under standard settings players start with three planes. An extra plane is awarded at 20,000 points, 80,000 points, and thenceforth at each following multiple of 80,000 points. The number of remaining planes is indicated by the pale blue plane silhouettes at the bottom left of the screen.

In 1942 the player receives an unlimited number of shots, without having to replenish this in any way, other than reaching the end of the stage. Standard fire-power consists of the plane firing two bullets per shot, which always travel straight ahead of the plane; up to three sets of bullets can be on the screen at a time. A player gets three rolls per plane, reset at the end of each stage - the number of remaining rolls are designated by the red uppercase "R"s at the bottom right of the screen.

Players have to travel through eight World War II Pacific locations on their journey through the game. The following locations are used: Midway, Marshall, Attu, Rabaul, Leyte, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, before reaching the ultimate goal of Tokyo, although there are no actual Tokyo stages. Note also that despite the name of the game, not all these real-life battles occurred in 1942.

The eight locations each cover four levels or stages, making a total of 32 stages to complete the game. Each stage typically increases the difficulty, and planes become more plentiful and aggressive as you move through the 32 stages. There are some exceptions to the progressively increasing difficulty, for example "Percentage and points-up" stages occur from time to time, where the enemy planes do not fire (with the exception of the bombers), thus making these stages somewhat easier.

Each stage finishes with the plane landing upon an aircraft carrier, and receiving a debriefing and a briefing for the next mission. Hypothetically the plane is also being refuelled and resupplied with ammunition at this time.

Enemy planes come in a variety of sizes, designs, formations, and flying patterns. In general small planes that require a single shot to destroy earn 50 points, although this can vary from 30 - 200 points. Larger planes requiring multiple hits earn 100 points per hit, plus a bonus of from 1,000 to 10,000 points for destroying the plane.

Some of the smaller 'large' planes require as few as four hits to destroy, while the common large bombers that appear on all levels require twenty shots to destroy. There are also rare small planes that slowly come from the bottom corners of the screen and rapidly accelerate out the top; these planes only require a single hit, but when hit they turn into a circular red figure, which earns a bonus 5,000 points when flown over.

The final enemy plane on four of the stages is the Japanese Mother Bomber or boss plane Ayako (based on an actual Japanese bomber, the Nakajima G8N), which must be shot down to complete the stage. This plane requires many hits and earns 20,000 points when destroyed on its first appearance, increasing by 10,000 points each time, up to 50,000 points on its final appearance.

Despite only requiring a single shot to destroy, the red enemy planes earn 100 points each. These planes only travel in special formations, and do not fire. Destroying a five-plane formation of these red planes will result in 500 bonus points, while a ten-plane formation earns 1,000 bonus points, and in both cases a "POW" or power-up is displayed. Flying over the POW will result in a further 1,000 bonus points and various POW bonuses, as follows:
* Double-snotters - increased fire-power, firing four bullets at once rather than the standard two. This fire-power is retained until the plane is lost, including continuing onto later stages;
* Clear screen - destroy all enemy planes and bullets on the screen, scoring the standard points for each plane destroyed;
* Sidewinders - two small side-planes which attach to the main plane, each of which fires a single bullet with each shot. The sidewinders may be lost individually, or are lost if the main P-38 plane is destroyed, but otherwise continue indefinitely, as with the double-snotters. It is possible with precision flying to allow an enemy bullet to pass between the P-38 plane and the sidewinder. Note that they do not roll with the main plane if a roll is used, and peel off before the P-38 lands on the aircraft carrier at the end of the stage, to rejoin the plane at the start of the next stage. They also peel off before the P-38 does battle with the boss plane Ayako;
* No fire - enemy planes do not fire any bullets for a short period of time;
* Free man - an extra P-38 plane is awarded;
* Rolls - replenish used rolls; Bonus points only.
Note that it is possible to combine the different power-up bonuses, for example a player with double-snotters can also get the sidewinders, leading to substantial fire-power.

The end of stage debriefing on the aircraft carrier consists of a report on the percentage of enemy planes shot down. The shooting-down percentage is based on the number of enemy planes destroyed out of the number of enemy planes that have appeared on that level.

Players receive bonus points depending on their shooting-down percentage, which is 50,000 points for 100% (despite the display saying 10,000 points), 20,000 points for 95%-99%, 10,000 points for 90%-94%, 5,000 points for 85%-89%, 4,000 points for 80%-84%, 3,000 points for 70%-79%, 2,000 points for 60%-69%, 1,000 points for 50%-59%, and no bonus for below 50%.

Large planes are only counted as one plane in the percentage calculations, despite requiring multiple hits to destroy. Planes destroyed by using the Clear screen POW earn the usual points awarded for destroying the plane, but are not included as having been destroyed in the shooting-down percentage calculation.

Each unused roll at the end of the level also earns a 1,000 point bonus, up to a maximum of 3,000 points.

On the Famicom (NES) version, all enemies still displayed when the plane lands on the carrier will explode and earn the player points. This is not so in other versions, such as the original Arcade version, which makes it very hard to attain 100% rating on stage completion.

1942 was one of Capcom's first breakaway hits, eclipsing the company's preceding three titles (Vulgus, Sonson, and Pirate Ship Higemaru) in popularity. While not as popular as some of Capcom's series that would debut later in the 1980s (Street Fighter and Mega Man in particular), 1942 would become one of Capcom's hallmark games throughout the arcade era.

Although not the first game to receive a sequel (with Pirate Ship Higemaru receiving a Japan-only console semi-sequel, Higemaru Makaijima, in April 1987), 1942 was the first Capcom title to spawn a successful series of sequels, with five titles in the 19XX line released from 1987 to 2000. Additionally, many of Capcom's other vertical shooters featured very similar gameplay to the series such as Varth: Operation Thunderstorm.

1942's longevity has shown through in many re-releases since its introduction, principally in Capcom Generations 1 for the Playstation and Saturn consoles. It was recently featured in the Capcom Classics Collection for the Playstation 2 and Xbox, as well as Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for the PlayStation Portable.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

112. Mercs

Mercs, released in Japan as Senjô no Ôkami II, is a 1990 top-down run and gun arcade game developed and published by Capcom for the arcades. It is the successor of Commando and will have an official sequel, Commando 3 to be released in 2008 for the Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network.

The arcade version of the game had up to three players available for play. The players are members of a covert counter-terrorist team known the "Wolf Force". The aim of the game was to rescue the former President from rebels in the fictional African country of Zutulu, which bears resemblance to the apartheid regime in South Africa. The game has six main levels, plus the final level where your mission is to rescue the president from the Hercules Transport. The game's weapons include real-world machine guns, grenades, and flamethrowers as well as futuristic plasma launchers, and several missions have pilotable vehicles available.

The Mega Drive port of Mercs featured two modes, an arcade mode, which mirrored the arcade release of the game, where the player had one "Merc" (soldier) who could pick up a variety of different weapons throughout the game; and an "original" mode, which included multiple playable characters, each with their own unique weapon. In both modes, the aim was to fight through the levels, defeating each boss at the end of every level.

Although the game is officially the sequel to Commando, the storyline makes no connections to the game being a direct sequel and acts as if it's a whole new game.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

111. Street Fighter III: The New Generation

Street Fighter III, released in 1997, was the first numbered sequel to the original Street Fighter since the first version of Street Fighter II, which came out six years earlier. Between that time, Capcom produced four subsequent versions of Street Fighter II (Champion Edition, Hyper Fighting, Super and Super Turbo), as well as Street Fighter Alpha and Alpha 2, a pair of prequels featuring characters from the original Street Fighter and Final Fight.

The first iteration of Street Fighter III, fully titled Street Fighter III — New Generation, brought back Street Fighter mainstays Ryu and Ken, who were joined by a new character roster led by Alex. The original idea for Street Fighter III was to include an entirely new character roster with Alex as the new lead character, but after negative feedback from players during the location testing phase of the game's development, Ryu and Ken were brought back too.

A significant technical addition to the games was "parrying" (referred in the Japanese version as "blocking"; in Japan blocking an attack is referred as "guarding") such that the player performing a successful parry has no "block stun". After blocking an attack, the defending player enters a brief period of block stun where they cannot immediately react with any hostile actions. However, as a defensive action, a "Red Parry" (a parry executed during block stun) can be attempted should the attacker continue their barrage of attacks.

Parrying defends against the block damage normally inflicted when blocking opponent's special attacks and Super Arts. Although reduced from its normal damage, a blocked special move or Super Art causes minuscule but noticeable block damage, allowing attackers the opportunity to at least partially punish the overly defensive player who chooses to simply block all incoming attacks, thus motivating a player to attempt a parry.

Parrying's inclusion in the fighting genre allows both players to instantly wrest control of the fight's momentum, moving it away from excessive "sitting in the corner and blocking" and "attacking relentlessly" that hinders most fighting games' restrictive combat flow. The lure of a parry's potential success or failure, offers the attacking and defending players myriad options for mind games, since at any time the player's attack can be used against the player.

Due to parrying's open ended nature, the player is enabled to freely decide the appropriate response to the parried attack given the situation. This differs from the "Just Defend" system of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, which only shortens the amount of time the player is left in block stun.

The Air Block, which was introduced in the Alpha series, was removed in order to keep with the differing rhythm of the game, and to limit defensive options while airborne.

The Super Arts system is similar to the Super Combos in Super Turbo and the Alpha series, where attacks inflicting damage and those that miss completely, allow the player to build enough meter until it is full. However, in Street Fighter III, the player selects one of three Super Arts before a match starts, this causes for a more specific direction to be taken with how players plan to play their character. Each Super Art has its own meter length, and amount of "stocks" it can hold. Other Street Fighter games tend to have one static meter length to equate that enough meter has been acquired to use any of the multiple "Supers" available to that combatant. While this may seem less restricted due to the larger amount of attack options this opens up, enabling too many moves actually confines a defending player due to their increased vulnerability. While some Super Arts take a longer time to charge up, and can only be stocked once, some accumulate stocks quickly and allow for up to as many as three consecutive executions of that Super Art.

Additionally, the Super Art meter can be partially spent to execute "EX Moves" (a.k.a. extra specials, similar to the "Enhanced Specials" introduced in Darkstalkers), which are powered up versions of character's special moves. Although not as strong as a Super Art, a portion of the Super Art meter is consumed when using an EX Move. The acknowledged upside to an EX Moves lies in their utility to further attack variability when coupled by alternating strength of special moves, as all of which are performed to varying degrees of fierceness, using the three levels of attack buttons present in every Street Fighter game. For example, when performing Ken's Rising Dragon Punch, pressing "Jab", the fastest attack button, executes a version of the special move which: covers less distance, does less damage, but executes more quickly than a "Strong" or "Fierce". The EX move version travels the farthest distance, does the most damage and causes additional hits.

A regular special move can be turned into an EX by pressing two punch or kick buttons simultaneously, while performing the same directional motions the move requires normally. EX Moves allow the player to choose between Super Art conservation for sudden, devastating Super Arts (such as Chun-Li's infamous Houyoku Sen) or a barrage of EX attacks.

Characters are:
* Alex - The new main character of the SF3 series who fights with close-range wrestling and quick rushing attacks. His goal is to avenge the defeat of his friend Tom at the hands of Gill.
* Dudley - Voiced by Bruce Robertson in Street Fighter III and Second Impact, and by Francis Diakowsky in Third Strike. A dandy British boxer who is trying to retrieve an antique car that Gill has stolen. He is a homage to the anime series Ashita no Joe and Hajime no Ippo. He is also based on real life boxers Jack Johnson and John L. Sullivan.[citation needed]
* Elena - An African princess who uses the fighting style of capoeira. She seeks to make new friends.
* Gill (final boss. Selectable only in console versions. Although Twelve can use his Super Art X-Copy to transform into Gill when fighting against him.) - The leader of the secret organization known as the Illuminati, he wants to restore balance to the world. He can manipulate fire and ice.
* Ibuki - An aspiring ninja whose fight in the tournament is part of her final exam. She is very quick and agile.
* Ken (returns from Street Fighter Alpha series) - Knowing that Ryu has entered the tournament, Ken enters to test his strength against his old friend.
* Necro— Voiced by Michael X. Sommers in Street Fighter III and Second Impact, and by Lawrence Bayne in Third Strike. Necro is a Russian man who was kidnapped and experimented on in the Illuminati's "G-Project". In 2nd Impact, he finds a companion named Effie who follows him and mimicks his actions. Despite his Russian origins, in Third Strike he speaks with an English accent.
* Oro — Voiced by Kan Tokumaru in Street Fighter III and Second Impact, and by Takashi Matsuyama in Third Strike. A sennin who seeks a fighter worthy to inherit his fighting style. He binds one arm while fighting, to keep from accidentally killing his opponent (except when performing specific special arts).
* Ryu (returns from the Street Fighter Alpha series) - As usual, Ryu enters the tournament to better his skills and find worthy opponents.
* Sean - A young Brazilian fighter who is being trained by Ken, Sean wants to improve his skills and prove his ability.
* Yang - Voiced by Koji Tobe in Street Fighter III and Second Impact, and by Masakazu Suzuki in Third Strike. Yang is a Kung Fu expert from Hong Kong, and the twin brother of Yun. Yang is identical to Yun with regards to gameplay in Street Fighter III, but gameplay differences between the two were introduced in Second Impact.
* Yun - A cocky fighter who, along with Yang, protects his hometown in Hong Kong. He's a happy-go-lucky person who likes to do things his own way.

[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

Here are the clues to the next five games.

* Guide A Police Mouse Through A Mansion Of Mewkies

* ISMs

* Jumbo Flapjack & The Scorpion Are Bosses

* Race With A Vehicle That Looks Like A Ferrari Testarossa

* Who Ya Gonna Call?

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

Sounds like....Mappy (ugh I used to hate that game), Saturday Night SlamMasters and Ghostbusters are coming up

[Sajoa Moe]

The Ferrari sounds like Cruisin' USA.

[Deadman Luke]

Jun 11, 2008 15:04:31 GMT -5 Sajoa Moe said:

The Ferrari sounds like Cruisin' USA.

Or OutRun. The car in the game is indeed a Testarossa.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

110. Out Run

Out Run (also spelled OutRun and Outrun) is a 1986 game designed by Yu Suzuki and Sega-AM2 for the video arcade market. In retrospective interviews, Yu Suzuki has classified Out Run not as a racing game, but as a "driving" game.

The player controls a man behind the wheel of a car popularly perceived to be a Ferrari Testarossa convertible who is driving with his girlfriend in the passenger's seat (unlike Out Run 2, released less than two decades later, this game does not have an official Ferrari license). Starting at a coastal area (entitled "Coconut Beach" in Sega Superstars Tennis), he must pass through four checkpoints between five laps within a set time limit.

The other cars that you pass while driving in this game are:
* 1972 Volkswagen Beetle
* 1971 Chevrolet Corvette
* 1985 Porsche 911
* 1985 BMW 325i Cabriolet E30
* There is also a generic truck.

At the time of its release, the game was unique in that it was possible to choose the stages in which the race took place, save for the initial one. Before every checkpoint, there was a fork in the road, allowing the player to enter one of two different environments. (A similar branching system was also used in the 1983 Atari/Tatsumi racer TX-1, though in that game the choice of fourth stage determined the fifth stage as well.)

There were two upright and two sit-down arcade cabinet designs. All were equipped with a steering wheel and stick shift (instead of a joystick and buttons) plus acceleration and brake pedals. The sit-down versions looked roughly like a Testarossa and used a drive motor to move the main cabinet. These machines turned and shook according to the action onscreen, much like Sega's After Burner II. There were two versions of the sit down: the Deluxe featured a 26-inch color monitor and a custom molded seat, while the Standard featured a 20-inch color monitor with a more simplified design. The upright also came in two versions: normal and mini. Not to be outdone by the sit-downs, the upright also featured a DC motor that would shake the steering wheel violently when the player hit a car or drove off the road.

The game was a major hit with arcade-goers. Its popularity can be attributed to the innovative moving cabinet, to the choice in both soundtrack and route, and to the graphics. Many previous racing games had an overhead perspective, as if watching the player-controlled car from a helicopter. Like other Sega games of the time, such as After Burner, Space Harrier, and Power Drift, it made use of a sprite-scaling technique called 'Super-Scaler Technology' to achieve its 3D effects. Along with Space Harrier and After Burner, Out Run was famed for its ability to give players the sensation of forward motion in a video game long before true polygonal 3D was possible. The price arcade operators charged for a credit highlights the significance of the advancements in technology at the time. Out Run was one of the first games to cost more per play than other arcade games, often requiring three or more tokens.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

109. Mappy

Mappy is a 1983 arcade game by Namco. In the U.S., it was manufactured and distributed by Bally/Midway. Mappy is a side-scrolling platformer that features cartoon-like characters, primarily cats and mice. The game's star character itself is a mouse. Mappy runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware, modified to support horizontal scrolling.

The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats called Mewkies (Meowky in the U.S. version) to retrieve stolen goods. The player uses a left-right joystick to move Mappy and a single button to operate doors.

The mansion has six floors of long hallways in which the stolen items are stashed. The items are:
* Radio (100pts)
* Television (200pts)
* Computer (300pts)
* Painting (400pts)
* Safe (500pts)

The items come in pairs; should Mappy get paired items one right after another, the points value of the second matching item gets a multiplier. The more the player retrieves matching items without dying, the bigger the multiplier gets. Therefore, ideally a player will start with the lowest value item (100 + 100 × 2) and proceed to the highest value items (500 + 500 × 6) in order to get the highest value items with the biggest multiplier, for a total of 8500pts. The second item of a pair will blink if retrieving it will yield a multiplier.

In addition to Mewkies, the boss cat Nyamco (Goro in the U.S. version) also roams around. He is faster, but less aggressive, than the Mewkies. Should Mappy recover an item which Nyamco is hiding behind, the player gets a bonus of 1000 points for having caught Nyamco in the act. He only hides behind an object for three seconds, though. Nyamco is always a single cat in each level, but the Mewkies appear three to a group for the first set of levels before the first bonus stage, four to a group for the next set of levels in between bonus levels, five to a group for the next set of levels, and so on.

A level is completed when all the loot is retrieved. If Mappy tarries too long, a "Hurry" sign appears after which the music and the cats speed up, and more Mewkies are added (two will appear ready to drop as the Mewkies normally do immediately following the hurry message, and more Mewkies can arrive later on). If the player waits too long after this, the "Gosenzo" coin (a disk shape with Nyamco's face on it) will drop onto the top-middle platform and chase Mappy in a manner similar to the Mewkies, but more effectively.

Mappy and the cats move between the floors by bouncing on trampolines at various places in the house. Mappy can land on a floor on the way up, but not on the way down. When they pass in the air, Mappy is unharmed by the cats, but should Mappy run into a cat anywhere else, he will lose a life. The "Gosenzo" coin can harm Mappy even if he is in the air.

The trampolines will break if Mappy bounces on them four times in a row. The trampolines change color depending on how many times Mappy has used them without a rest: green (zero bounces), blue (one bounce), yellow (two bounces), red (three bounces). A red trampoline will break if Mappy attempts it again. If a trampoline breaks and there is another trampoline below, Mappy will live. If there is either nothing or a floor under the broken trampoline, Mappy will lose a life. To reset a trampoline, Mappy must touch a floor. Bouncing on a trampoline is worth 10pts.

Many of the hallways have doors which Mappy can slam open or shut to temporarily knock out the Mewkies or Nyamco. Some of these are special "microwave doors" which release a wave which sweeps away any cat in its path off the edge of the screen and out of the house. The first two Mewkies are each worth 200 points, and each additional Mewky beyond the second is worth 400 points; Nyamco counts as a Mewky plus a multiplier of two. Any cat that is swept away reappears after a short while, jumping from the top center opening in the roof.

The third level and every fourth level after that is a bonus round. Mappy, unbothered by the cats, must bounce across a series of trampolines, popping fifteen different suspended red balloons along the way. A bonus is awarded if all the balloons are popped before the music ends, at which time the level will end as long as a player has not previously fallen through a trampoline onto nothing, which would abruptly end the bonus level then. It is possible to pop the Nyamco balloon and collect all of the balloons, even if there is one balloon above him, because Nyamco will break any trampoline and will grab one balloon above him for Mappy. In addition to 10 points for each trampoline bounce, each red ballon is worth 200 points, the large blue Nyamco balloon is worth 2,000 points, and collecting all of the balloons is worth a bonus of an additional 5,000 points.

The eighth to tenth levels have bells, which Mappy can hit so that it temporarily freezes any cats below, for 300 points each (1,000 points for stunning Nyamco). Starting from these stages, the "Hurry" sign will also appear earlier and earlier.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

108. The Real Ghostbusters

The Real Ghostbusters was an arcade game based on the cartoon series of the same name released by Data East in 1987. The game was later ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum. The game is known in Japan as Meikyuu Hunter G. Up to three players can control members of the Ghostbusters. The characters are only differentiated by the colors of their uniforms, no effort is made to identify them, although the game's marquee art shows the characters from the cartoon.

The Ghostbusters fight off hordes of nightmarish creatures with energy guns which reduce the monsters to harmless ghosts which can then be captured with beams from their proton packs. Power-ups available included stronger basic shoots, a force field that makes the Ghostbuster invincible for several seconds, and an item that summons Slimer to throw himself in the way of attacks.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

107. Street Fighter Alpha 3

Fighter Alpha 3, known as Street Fighter Zero 3 in Japan and Asia, is a fighting game by Capcom. It was released in 1998. The gameplay received a complete overhaul with the addition of three selectable fighting styles based on Street Fighter Alpha (A-ism), Street Fighter Alpha 2 (V-ism), and Super Street Fighter II Turbo (X-ism), new stages, and for the first time since the original Street Fighter II, new music.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 features 3 selectable Super Combo gauges, called "ISMs", with each one having different usages and features. The ISM modes also change the movesets of some characters.
* X-ISM characters are based on their Super Street Fighter II Turbo counterparts. Their attacks cause more damage than usual, but they can't air-block or Alpha Counter and have only one Super Combo.
* A-ISM characters are based on their Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold counterparts, meaning a 3-level Super Meter and multiple Super Combos.
* V-ISM characters often have all the moves they have in the other modes, and can use a heavily modified version of the Custom Combo system previously featured in Street Fighter Alpha 2, called Variable Combo. V-ISM characters do not have the option of using Super Combos.

Unlike its prequels, this game is mostly based on attacking rather than positioning, mostly because the special moves were weakened while the normal moves were given more priority. Throws were improved by changing the method behind them (players now had to press two punch or kick buttons to execute a throw when in proper range as well as including more significant "tech" evades; also many characters gained Air Throws when they previously did not have them). Alpha Counters now required the player to press two attacks of the same strength as well as pushing forward against the opponent's attack to block and counter an attack.

A new feature added to the game came in the form of the "Guard Impact Meter"; a bar sitting beneath the characters' vitality bars. The bar decreases with each successful block until it is empty at which point the character enters a "break" state (a brief period where they cannot move and are open to attack, though shorter than a full-fledged dizzy). After recovering the meter is shortened for the remainder of the round (this shortening also occurs after performing an Alpha Counter). The meter varies depending on the ISM used and the purpose is to deter players from relying on constant guarding (called "turtling" in fighting game terminology).

As with the previous Alpha titles, several characters were added to the game: R. Mika, a female Japanese wrestler whose idol is Zangief, and Karin, Sakura's rival who was first introduced in the Masahiko Nakahira manga Sakura Ganbaru. Juni and Juli, who are basic sprite swaps of Cammy and M. Bison's personal bodyguards, were also introduced. They were boss characters in the 1-Player mode and were only playable through a code. Cody from Final Fight, who was transformed from a vigilante into an escaped convict, makes his Street Fighter debut.

Cammy, who was previously featured the console-exclusive Alpha 2 Gold, makes her official Alpha debut in the game along with several characters from Street Fighter II including E. Honda, Blanka, Vega and Balrog. As with Juni and Juli, Balrog is a boss character who is normally not selectable by default.

Unlike the first two games, M. Bison is the last boss of the game for every character except himself (in his case, Ryu serves as Bison's last boss). For this reason, a more powerful version of M. Bison appears in this game, who fights using an alternate X-ism style that replaces his regular Super Combo (the "Knee Press Nightmare") with an overpowered "Psycho Drive Crusher".

Characters are:
* Adon
* Akuma
* Birdie
* Cammy
* Chun-Li
* Dan
* Dhalsim
* Gen
* Gouki
* Guy
* Ken
* M. Bison
* Nash
* Rolento
* Rose
* Ryu
* Sagat
* Sakura
* Sodom
* Zangief
* Evil Ryu
* Shin Akuma (Hidden)
* Balrog
* Blanka
* Cody
* Dee Jay
* E. Honda
* Fei Long
* Guile
* Juni
* Juli
* Karin
* R. Mika
* T. Hawk
* Vega
* Shin Bison (Hidden|Boss)
* Eagle (From Street Fighter/Capcom VS SNK 2)
* Ingrid (From Capcom Fighting Jam)
* Maki (From Final Fight 2/Capcom VS SNK 2)
* Yun (From Street Fighter III)

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

106. Saturday Night Slam Masters

Saturday Night Slam Masters, released as Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion in Japan and Asia, is a 1993 pro wrestling arcade game released for the CPS hardware by Capcom. The game features character designs by manga artist Tetsuo Hara.

The game was followed by an upgraded version titled Muscle Bomber Duo in 1993, and a sequel called Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II in 1994.

The original Slam Masters plays like a traditional wrestling game, only the game used a view similar to that commonly used in the fighting game genre. The game uses a three button configuration (grab, attack, and jump).

Each character has two special attacks: a non-grappling technique and a finisher. When an opponent's life meter is depleted, he must either be pinned for a three-count or forced to submit. Defeating all of the other wrestlers results in winning the championship belt, which must then be defended against the entire roster.

There are two game modes: Single Match, where the player fights in a series one-on-one matches against the CPU; and Team Battle Royale, where the player and another partner (controlled by another player or by the CPU) competes in a series of two-on-two matches. The game can be played by up to four players.

The original Slam Masters is the only game in the series released for home platforms: it has been ported to the SNES, Sega Genesis and FM Towns Marty. The SNES version retains the Team Battle Royale mode (which can be played with the multitap for up to four players), while the Genesis version replaces it with an exclusive Death Match mode.

Fighters are:
* Biff Slamkovich
* Gunloc
* The Great Oni
* Titanic Tim
* El Stingray
* Mike "Macho" Haggar
* Alexander the Grater
* King Rasta Mon
* Jumbo Flapjack
* The Scorpion

[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

Here are the clues to the next five games.

* Agent 17 Codename Otto

* Defeat Dural

* Difficulty Levels Are High School, College, Professional, Playoffs, And Super Bowl

* Ratio System

* Tournament Of Various Fighters Throughout All Of History

[Al Wilson Lives: Thread Killer]

Time Killers?

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

105. Virtua Fighter

Virtua Fighter is a 1993 fighting game developed for the Sega Model 1 arcade platform by AM2, a development group within Sega, headed by Yu Suzuki. It was the first game in the Virtua Fighter series, and the first 3D-based fighting game (4D Sports Boxing was released few years earlier, but belongs to slightly different genre). It has been ported to several home video game consoles including the Sega Saturn and Sega 32X. A port with enhanced graphics was also released for Microsoft Windows.

The Virtua label indicates that the onscreen action takes place in 3D. The Saturn technology and the NV1 architecture relied on quadratic surfaces rather than the polygons used in modern 3D graphics. The images were created using wireframes and flat-shaded quads. Beyond 3D, it retained the staple of multiple characters, each with their own distinctive moves.

Unlike other fighting games of the time (such as Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat), the game relied on a control stick and only three buttons, Punch, Kick, and Guard although different situations and button combinations led to a vast variety of moves for each character.

The game is highly regarded for its in-depth fighting engine and real world fighting techniques, and was considered revolutionary when it first came out.

Characters are:
* Akira Yuki -- Birthdate: September 23, 1968 -- Kung fu teacher from Japan, fights with Hakkyoku-Ken (Bajiquan)
* Pai Chan -- Birthdate: May 17, 1975 -- Martial arts movie star from Hong Kong, fights with Ensei-Ken (Mizongquan)
* Lau Chan, Pai's father -- Birthdate: October 2, 1940 -- Cook from China, fights with Koen-Ken (Tiger-Swallow Fist)
* Wolf Hawkfield -- Birthdate: February 8, 1966 -- Professional wrestler from Canada, fights with Professional Wrestling
* Jeffry McWild -- Birthdate: February 20, 1957 -- Fisherman from Australia, fights with Pancratium
* Kage-Maru ("Kage") Hagakure -- Birthdate: June 6, 1971 -- Ninja from Japan, fights with Ninjutsu
* Sarah Bryant -- Birthdate: July 4, 1973 -- College student from San Francisco, CA, fights with Jeet Kune Do (Sega changed her fighting style to "Martial Arts" in Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution)
* Jacky Bryant, Sarah's older brother -- Birthdate: August 28, 1970 -- Race car driver also from San Francisco, fights with Jeet Kune Do
* Dural, A gynoid-like creature. Dural is the game's boss character. She is also, somewhat inexplicably, Kage's mother. She fights with a mix of all the other characters styles. Dural's a secret character in the series.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

104. Elevator Action

Elevator Action is a 1983 arcade game by Taito. It debuted during the "Golden Age of Arcade Games". Innovative in gameplay, this game was fairly popular for many years. The musician was Yoshino Imamura. The game was followed by a sequel, Elevator Action II (also known as Elevator Action Returns).

The player assumes the role of a spy who infiltrates a building filled with elevators. He must collect secret documents from the building and traverse the 30 levels of the building using an increasingly complex series of elevators. The player is pursued by enemy agents who appear from behind closed doors. The player must outwit them via force or evasion. Successful completion of a level involves collecting all the secret documents and traversing the building from top to bottom. In the lower floors of the building, the elevator systems are so complex that some puzzle-solving skills are needed.

The game cabinet was a standard upright. The controls consisted of a 4-way joystick and two buttons, one for "shoot" and the other for jumping and kicking. The graphics are extremely simple, 2D color graphics. The maximum number of players is two, alternating turns.

The player assumes the role of Agent 17, codename: "Otto", a secret agent for an unspecified organization or government. As Otto, the player must "acquire" (steal) a series of secret documents from a tall building which Otto enters from the roof. Otto must traverse the building's numerous levels via a series of elevators and escalators while acquiring the documents. After retrieving all the documents, Otto must escape via the getaway car at the bottom of the building and thus progress to the next level of the game.

The documents are located behind red closed doors which the player enters to retrieve. Enemy spies appear from behind some doors and the player can evade them or attack them in a number of ways. Using his gun he can fire at them or use it to sever a hanging light above their head, dropping it on them. The player can also kick the enemies (by jumping into them) or attempt to crush them with an elevator Otto is riding. The player loses a life if hit by enemy fire—physical contact with the enemies themselves will not affect him. Otto may jump over low enemy fire or duck to evade higher enemy bullets. The environment itself also lends itself to some danger for Otto; the player will lose a life if he falls into an empty elevator shaft, or is crushed between a descending/ascending elevator and the floor/ceiling. However, these hazards also threatened enemies; slaying hostile agents using the elevator scores large bonuses.

The upper levels of the buildings are fairly easy to traverse and sparsely populated with enemies. As the player progresses downward, enemies become more numerous and some escalators appear for travel between levels. In the lower floors of the buildings (which, since the building is traversed from top to bottom, is actually further into the level), the elevator system becomes very complex and traversal more difficult. On these floors, not only does the player need to manage to get to the bottom floor, they must at the same time evade or dispatch the numerous enemy agents attempting to apprehend them. Traversing these lower floors requires some puzzle-solving skills and this novel gameplay added to its appeal.

There is a sequel to Elevator Action called Elevator Action II, also known as Elevator Action Returns. It updates the graphics and includes a more in-depth storyline than the original, including multiple players. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan as a console game and is also included in the Taito Legends 2 compilation for the Sony Playstation 2, PC and Xbox.

The Killer List of Videogames includes this game in its list of "Top 100 Video Games".

A port to the original Game Boy included the ability to acquire different weapons, such as a machine gun that fired more rapidly.

An enhanced remake of Elevator Action, titled Elevator Action EX, was released on the Game Boy Color in Japan. The game was released in the United States with a Dexter's Laboratory licence, under the title Dexter's Laboratory: Robot Rampage.

There is also another enhanced remake on the Game Boy Advance, called Elevator Action - Old & New, which was released only in Japan.

In 2005, Elevator Action was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, and the PC as part of Taito Legends.

The title of the dojin game ElePaper Action is a parody of Elevator Action's title. The game's credits sequence features a mini-game similar to Elevator Action.

Some of the chapters in the Hellsing manga are named Elevator Action.

On March 5, 2007, the NES port of Elevator Action was released on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Two games for Palm OS, Agent Z and its sequel, Agent Z 2 by Ellams Software, are based on Elevator Action.

The "Nintendo punk" band 14 Year Old Girls did a song about this game; the song is also called "Elevator Action".

In 2007, 505 Games released a game similar to Elevator Action for the Wii. The North American release is called Spy Games: Elevator Mission. It is called Elevator Action for the European release.