Top 150 Arcade Games Results Thread

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

52. Crazy Taxi

Crazy Taxi is a video game developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. The game was first released in arcades in 1999 and was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. Subsequently, it has been brought to the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube in 2001, and then Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance in 2002. Crazy Taxi is the first game in the Crazy Taxi series, and it became one of the few Sega All Stars. It has also earned Greatest Hits status on PlayStation 2 and Player's Choice status on GameCube. Sega followed up on the success of Crazy Taxi by making a sequel, Crazy Taxi 2 for Dreamcast, which included several gameplay changes.

The arcade version of the game includes one level, and an additional "original" stage was added for the console versions. Both are based in sunny coastal California locales, with steep hills and other strong similarities to San Francisco (Possibly due to the fact that Sega's American headquarters are located in San Francisco). North of the map, past the baseball stadium, a high rise city can be found for further adventure. For both levels, the player has a choice of four drivers and their cabs, each of whom has slightly different attributes: Axel is the well-balanced cab choice, BD Joe has the fastest floored speed but least controllability, Gena has the best acceleration/deceleration and braking and Gus has the heaviest cab, enabling him to drive well off-road and even onto most oncoming traffic.

The main objective of the game is to pick up customers and take them to their chosen destination as fast as possible. Along the way, money can be earned (the game is primarily a score attack title) by performing outrageous stunts such as the "Crazy Through" (near-misses with other vehicles; both risk and reward are higher when driving against the flow of traffic) and "Crazy Drift" (extended, barely-controlled skidding).

When the destination is reached, that customer's fare is added to the player's total money earned, while "Speedy", "Normal" or "Slow" ratings are awarded depending on how long the player took to complete the journey. If the player is too slow in reaching the objective and the customer's timer runs out, a "Bad" rating is given before even reaching the destination, and the customer jumps from the taxi. There is no penalty for a "Bad" rating, but time will have been wasted attempting to deliver this customer. However, there is often sufficient time available on the main clock for the player to pick up another passenger with hope to make up for their loss. On the arcade version, if a player earns a "Bad" rating, the next fare starts at $0.00.

For each level, one can play under different time conditions: three-minute, five-minute or ten-minute settings, or the "Arcade Rules" used in the original coin-op version of the game but which was also included in the home versions. In the three time-limited settings, play continues for the designated period of time, after which the cab automatically stops and no more points can be scored. Under Arcade Rules, the player starts with an initial time limit of around a minute (although in this first Crazy Taxi game it can be changed in the options screen), which can be extended through time bonuses earned for "Speedy" and "Normal" deliveries, as well as by making good use of whatever time is left over after making a delivery. Expert players, able to memorise the best route from pick-up to delivery, can thus continue playing for long periods of time - however, as time goes on, the "best" passengers will have been taken to their destinations, leaving fewer potential customers remaining, so as the game continues the challenge increases.

All versions (except the Windows version) of the game are also notable for their soundtrack featuring Bad Religion ("Inner Logic," "Ten in 2010," "Them and Us", and "Hear It") and The Offspring ("All I Want, "Change the World," and "Way Down the Line").

Console versions of the game also feature the "Crazy Box", a set of minigames that features challenges such as stopping by hitting a pole, picking up and dropping off a number customers within time limits, bowling using the taxi as a ball, and popping giant balloons in a field.

In "Crazy Box" mode, newer challenges can be unlocked by clearing three horizontal or vertical rows. Among these'unlockables' is a minigame where the player must drive through the winding lanes designed like bowling alleys, knocking down 'pins' as they drive. The player is awarded points for each knockdown, and Grand Slams for a 'strike'.

The game features fast arcade-style gameplay, along with a variety of cab 'stunts'. The first stunt is the Crazy Dash, a forward burst of speed that can be pulled off in succession. To trigger the burst, the player must shift into 'drive' and directly follow it with the 'accelerate' button. The rear of the car is forced down somewhat, lifting the front end. For multiple dashes, hit 'reverse' and then again 'drive' immediately followed by 'accelerate' (known as the Limit Cut). A variation called the "Crazy Backdash" involves performing a Crazy Dash and then shifting into reverse, so that the car reverses with a burst of speed. A side-effect of these three tricks is that the car gains massive traction and limited steering, which can be exploited by players to more easily weave in and out of traffic. It can also be exploited to do a "Crazy Stop", where after a Crazy Dash the brakes are applied and reverse gear engaged, causing the car to stop almost instantly. This causes the rear of the car to lift up, as if front wheel braking is applied. Another stunt is the Crazy Drift. This is accomplished by quickly hitting 'reverse' and then 'drive' while making a sharp turn. A final, position-specific stunt is the Crazy Jump, which goes off automatically if the player goes off ramps or other sudden inclines.

Despite being violently thrown around and not seemingly strapped into the taxi in any visible way, passengers are usually appreciative of stunts and reward the player with bonus fares upon successful execution (i.e. not hitting anything). Mastery of stunts is essential for attaining high scores in the game.

The vehicles used in the game are generic, though BD Joe's and Axel's resemble Cadillacs/Chevrolets, Gena's a Chevrolet and Gus's a 1949 Buick.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

51. Atari Football

An American football game where the player characters are represented as X's and O's on a monochrome screen. Players select either offensive or defensive plays and then control one of the characters on each team by rolling a trackball. Two versions were released; one for two players and another for two or four players.

This can be one of the most physically challenging games that was ever manufactured. Since the speed of each player depends on how fast the trac-ball is spun, your shoulders must be strong and your hands must be tough. Painfully sore palms and pinched fingers have rendered the hands of unseasoned players useless for days.
The two-player game requires one person to play offense and one to play defense. The four-player game requires two people on offense -- a Quarterback and wide receiver -- and two on defense as tackles. The four-player game is infinitely more challenging than the two-player.

Plays are chosen by the play select button, and the same button is used by the offense to pass the ball to a receiver. The Quarterback is often heard yelling 'I pushed it' immediately before getting sacked.

The offensive characters are the O's and the defensive characters are the X's. Select a play with the trackball and press the button. Roll the trackball in the direction you would like to travel. Rolling the control faster will move your X or O faster. Pass the ball by pressing the button. Tackles are made by simply touching the character with the ball.
The four-player game has an additional offensve play: Punt/Field Goal. Use the button to kick the ball.

[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

That is all for today. Join me tomorrow as I announce who made the Top 50.

Here are the clues to the next five games.

* Are You Bad Enough To Rescue The President

* Fury In Space

* IGN.com's Toughest Game To Beat

* Lei-Fei & Vanessa Lewis Are New

* Position For The Pole

[Al Wilson Lives: Thread Killer]

Bad Dudes!
Pole Position

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

ah ha now its Bad Dudes for real this time, dude.

[Gopher Mod]

Also, Space Fury, Contra, and Virtua Figher 4 are coming shortly.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

I've been missing this. Guess being at work took my attention. Have to go back and see what's been going on.


Oh man, I can't believe some of the ones I used to play and forgot about, like Ghostbusters.

I also can't remember if I voted for Captain America & The Avengers or not.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

50. Pole Position

Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. In this game, the player has to complete a lap in a certain amount of time in order to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player has to face other cars in a championship race.

For release in the United States, Namco approached Bally Midway with a choice of two games in 1982. Bally Midway chose Mappy while Atari was forced to go with Pole Position — which turned out to be the most popular game of 1983.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

49. Virtua Fighter 4

Virtua Fighter 4 is a fighting game by Sega. It is the fourth game in the Virtua Fighter series.

The game was first released in arcades on the NAOMI 2 board in 2001. A port of the game, as well as that of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution under the budget-priced "Greatest Hits" label, appeared on the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Returning characters are:
* Akira Yuki
* Aoi Umenokouji
* Jacky Bryant
* Jeffry McWild
* Kage-Maru
* Lau Chan
* Lion Rafale
* Pai Chan
* Sarah Bryant
* Shun Di
* Wolf Hawkfield
* Dural

New characters are:
* Lei-Fei
* Vanessa Lewis

Virtua Fighter 4 introduced a comprehensive training mode. The mode consisted of an encyclopedia of fighting game terms, complete character command list walkthroughs, tips on all of the games mechanics, recommended character combos, alternative options for failed combos, detailed command input timings, slow motion for frame counting and timing, and other useful training tips.

VF4's training mode consists of three sections:

* Command Training- A complete run through each move, one-by-one. The command for the move is displayed and the player executes the command--moving to the next one. VF4 allows the option to skip the current command, view the move (computer controlled), enable advice.
* Free Training
* Trial Mode

Virtua Fighter 4 became much more streamlined and user friendly than its predecessors, while expanding on old ideas and adding new techniques. The evasion system was revamped from Virtua Fighter 3, the evade button was removed, and evades were split into two types, successful and unsuccessful. When evades were not performed with the proper timing, they were unsuccessful leaving the fighter vulnerable. The evade + throw escape option select, which was an advanced technique discovered in Virtua Fighter 3, was expanded upon. Virtua Fighter 4 allowed the player to escape as many throws as they could, and lengthened the window for performing a successful throw escape during an [unsuccessful] evade. A new move type called a Sabaki was added; an attack that also doubles as a reversal versus one or more move types.

The two new characters, Vanessa Lewis and Lei-Fei, had moves that employed these properties significantly more than the returning cast, and were quite experimental for Virtua Fighter characters. Vanessa Lewis is an American Vale Tudo/Muay Thai kickboxer with two completely separate moves sets that can be switched between on the fly, and Lei-Fei, a Shaolin monk, employs many stances that flow into one another.

Taka-Arashi, one of the new characters added to Virtua Fighter 3, was omitted, apparently due to the developers not being able to make him work properly with the Virtua Fighter 4 system mechanics.

The fighting arenas reverted back to the old Virtua Fighter style of flat and square, as opposed to Virtua Fighter 3's wild and undulating stage designs. The reason behind this was to make the game less random, and more balanced and competitive in nature. Walls, however, were kept and expanded upon with a wall stagger/juggle system and several wall types including high + unbreakable, low + breakable, and low + unbreakable + open corners.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

48. Contra

Contra, released as Gryzor in Europe and Oceania, is an arcade game released in 1987 by the Konami corporation. The player controls a commando who battles waves of enemies including humans, machines, mutants and aliens to reach his ultimate goal. Much of the game's popularity came from its two-player simultaneous gameplay, which was an uncommon feature in video games at the time of Contra's release. While successful in the arcades, the game became and remained widely popular and remembered when it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988. Contra was voted #1 by gaming website IGN.com as being the "Toughest Game to Beat".

The player takes control of an armed commando named Bill Rizer, or his partner Lance Bean, as they are sent to infiltrate the island headquarters of an alien army calling themselves Red Falcon and thwart their plot to invade the Earth. The backstory differs slightly between sources. The original Japanese promotional flyer for the arcade version places the game's setting specifically on the month of December 2633 A.D. and cites the movies Rambo, Commando and Alien in its blurb. The Famicom version released in Japan features an intro which fleshes out this plot. The aliens are revealed to have arrived in a meteor that fell into the fictional Galuga (or Galga) archipelago near New Zealand two years prior to the event of the game.

When the NES version of the game was released in North America, the opening intro was removed and the game's manual changes numerous details. The game's setting is moved from a fictional Oceanian island in the distant future to an unspecified region of Central America near the ruins of a Mayan civilization in the present day. The main characters retain their given names, but are now referred by the codenames of "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion". The name "Red Falcon" also became the name of the alien entity Bill and Lance fought, rather than the name of the terrorist organization itself. The meteor is stated to have arrived fifty years earlier as well. This discrepancy with the game's setting between Japanese and American sources would cause the subsequent Contra games to follow a different continuity in each region. It wasn't until the English localization of Contra: Shattered Soldier that the series would follow the original Japanese continuity in North America.

When Contra was covered in the debut issue of Nintendo Power magazine, the original Japanese plot was used for the article. Probotector, the PAL version of the NES game, also follows the Japanese plot in its manual, but replaces all references of Bill and Lance with the Probotector robots RD008 and RC011.

The player's character is equipped with a rifle with an unlimited amount of ammunition and can jump, move and fire in eight directions. The protagonists can move and jump simultaneously while firing. Coordination of the character's movement is essential, as a single hit from any enemy, bullet, or other hazard will instantly kill the player's character, and also discard the current weapon from the player's inventory. It is not unusual for the screen to be occupied with several enemies and dozens of bullets moving in different directions all at once in the game's eight stages.

Contra also features simultaneous two-player cooperative gameplay. Both players occupy the same screen and must coordinate their actions. One player lagging behind can cause problems for his partner, as the screen will not scroll onward. For example, a slow player can be fatal to his partner's attempt to complete a jump over a chasm. In the vertical levels, one player can scroll up far too quickly and inadvertently kill the other player in the process, as the other player would literally have the ground beneath him disappear.

Contra has two different types of levels, both of which are third-person. There are side-scrolling levels and over the shoulder, simulated 3D levels. Furthermore, some of the scrolling levels are vertically oriented, while the majority scroll horizontally. In the arcade version, the last four stages (the Snowfield, the Energy Zone, the Hangar and the Alien Lair) take place continuously. The NES console port depicts these stages individually.

Behind-the-player levels: The two Base levels take place in interior environments. Gameplay is shown from a behind-the-player third-person perspective, although all the gameplay mechanics are kept intact. Each level is composed of approximately five to six rooms (In the NES port, Base 1 consists of 5 rooms, and Base 2 consists of 8) . The goal of each room is to blow up the power-core which eliminates an electric field barrier that prevents the player(s) from proceeding. Initially, only a few enemies or stationary turrets are present. In later rooms gun emplacements must be defeated in order to uncover the room's core. Also Arkanoid like tubes will roll across the floor in different patterns, causing death to the player. Powerups come in the form of a red soldier who will make repeated short jumps across the screen, from right to left. Upon defeating all of the enemies and gun turrets in any given room, the power-core will eventually fire upon the player until it is destroyed. The boss of each of these levels is the same; a six-cored boss that has a swarm of troops and turrets initially followed by an alien creature. These types of level makes a return in Contra 4.

The main characters begin the game with a simple rifle. Special weapon power-ups can be collected to increase the speed, damage, or size of the main characters' shots. This makes it easier to shoot enemies, but these power-ups are lost every time the player loses a life. The player's character respawns with the starting weapon. Each power-up is represented by an icon that resembles a red falcon. Most commonly power-ups appear via flying 'balloons', but they also appear in fixed locations as metal boxes emblazoned with the same logo. In the arcade version, the Machine Gun and Laser Gun are designed differently.

The arcade version was followed by a single sequel titled Super Contra in 1988. An NES version of Super Contra was released in the 1990, under the shortened title of Super C in North America.

The NES versions of Contra and Super C were the first of many console-based games. The two games were followed by a spinoff titled Contra Force for the NES, as well as an original Game Boy installment titled Operation C. The Super NES-based Contra III: The Alien Wars was one of the most highly acclaimed titles for Nintendo's 16-bit console, due to revolutionary graphics including level bosses taking up large parts of the screen and Mode 7-effects never previously seen. Later the Sega Genesis got its fill of Contra with Contra: Hard Corps, which is widely considered as one of the best of the series. The Sony PlayStation installments Contra: Legacy of War (also released for Sega Saturn) and C: The Contra Adventure, developed by Hungarian company Appaloosa, are generally considered the most disappointing of the series, being completely in 3D and sporting awkward controls. However, the series saw a revival on the PlayStation 2 with Contra: Shattered Soldier and its follow-up Neo Contra which were both developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. Contra 4, released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS, is the latest game in the series.

The first level theme in the NES port of Contra remains one of the most recognizable pieces of video game music ever created. In the early 2000s, several bands started performing live and studio renditions of the song. The Minibosses as The Advantage too, covers the song along with several other classic tunes such as the theme from Metroid. A band has recently formed and started touring called Contraband; two of the members of the band play the NES version of Contra in a speed run fashion, while the other members of the band perform a live rendition of the song. A projector screen showing the gameplay action is superimposed on stage. Also, the main theme played at the title screen is used in the beat for the Madlib-produced track "2 Brothers from the Gutter" by Percee P featuring Diamond D.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

47. Space Fury

Space Fury a multi-directional shooter arcade game created by Sega on June 17th, 1981. The player controls a spaceship battling alien spacecraft. Like other early similar arcade games, it is controlled by four buttons: rotate left, rotate right, thrust and fire. The game was particularly unique in that the player could choose different upgrades for the first three levels. One upgrade would allow the player to shoot in a three-way pattern, another would allow the player to fire forward and backwards, and the third would allow all the firepower to be concentrated in the front.

At the conclusion of the following round, the player would then pick up another shell, although multiple ones could not be used together. The different firing patterns made each round seem slightly different. Between rounds and during the attract mode, the alien commander would taunt the player through the use of synthesized speech. The spacecraft would initially appear separated and would not be able to shoot if some of the pieces were annihilated before they converged, but would try to ram the player's ship at an increasingly faster velocity. The game continues indefinitely but stops calculating the score after the completion of level four.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

46. Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja

Bad Dudes is a 1988 arcade game by Data East, known also as Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, and simply Dragon Ninja in Japan and other home ports.

The game acquired a cult following based on its unintentionally humorous scenario, including a now-legendary introduction by a Secret Service agent: "The President has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?"

Bad Dudes puts players in control of two street-smart brawlers named Striker and Blade, bent on saving then-president Ronald Reagan from the ninjas who kidnapped him. After the rescue is successful, Reagan appears in the Oval Office and delivers the following line:

"Hey dudes thanks, for rescuing me. Let's go for a burger... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha"

The game is a scrolling fighter typical of the genre and era. It was seen by many, at the time, as Data East's answer to the Technos Japan hit Double Dragon. The player uses a combination of kicks, punches and jumping to defeat the enemies (a single hit of any kind is enough to defeat most common enemies).

Along the way, the player will come across several power-ups. Some are weapons, such as nunchaku and knives, some recharge a player's health, such as a soda, yet others add a few seconds to the remaining time.

There were only two types of weapons, a knife and a nunchaku, and both had their advantages and disadvantages. The knife offered faster hit time, but was smaller in reach, whereas the nunchuk offered the ability to hit enemies from further away, although was slower. Obtaining either of the weapons also enabled the player to turn quicker, noticeably removing the transition frame when the player character would turn around.

The various types of enemies encountered in the game, including ninja women and attack dogs, have their own means of attack. The normal ninja directly charge the player, while some leap with their swords, or throw makibishi caltrops.

Each level contains a boss that needs to be defeated to progress to the next level. The level bosses also have special attacks (Karnov, for example, can breathe fire at the player). At the successful completion of each level, the dude(s) strike a "bad" pose and proclaim, "I'm bad!"

[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

Here are the clues to the next five games

* Control A Hovering Tank

* Defeat Drokmar

* Get Yourself A Harley

* Ghosts After A Woman

* Watch Out For The Skeletal-Looking Boss

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

45. Harley Davidson & L.A Riders

Harley Davidson and LA Riders is a motorcycle game where players attempt to ride their Harley Davidson motorcycles to various places during different stages. In stage one, for example, riders attempt to make it to Los Angeles International Airport. Players sit on a motorcycle seat and use motorcycle-style handlebars to accelerate, brake, and steer. Players have the option to use a motorcycle with an automatic or manual transmission. If the manual transmission is chosen, players will also have to use the clutch on the left handle grip and the gear shift near the right foot.

They can choose from several styles of Harley Davidson motorcycles including a police chopper, a classic roadster, and a late model custom-built hog. Players can also choose to play as a male or a female rider. Each bike and each rider has strengths and weaknesses. During game play, riders can pick up bonuses and power-ups. Floating arrows point out the route for each rider to take on the way to his/her goal. Players can drive through fields to get power-ups or take a shortcut, but the bike's speed is reduced. The goal of Harley Davidson and LA Riders is to complete each level before time expires. In multi-player mode, the Arcade will have two machines linked together. Players compete against each other to attain bonuses and power-ups.

Harley Davidson and LA Riders is the offspring of games like Outrun, which are less about racing and more about skilled driving. In Harley Davidson and LA Riders, you race against the clock, but the real game is to steer your way through the maze of city streets.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

44. T-Mek

T-Mek is a two-player, sit-down, virtual reality fighting arcade game manufactured by Atari Games in 1994. Each player can choose their MEK (a hovering tank with special weapons and abilities). One player can play against 6 AI players and the occasional Boss, or two players can play against each other and 4 AI players. There is a special Tournament mode where two players can go one on one. Up to three T-Mek cabinets can be linked for six-player competitions. T-Mek was later ported to DOS and the Sega 32X; rather than linking multiple systems together, the home versions featured split-screen multiplayer for two players. The 32X version was poorly reviewed, while the DOS version was met with fair reviews.[citation needed]

Atari could not compete with the Japanese game manufacturers in hardware development, so T-Mek did not offer a great leap in graphics or computing capability. As a result, T-Mek was one of the first arcade games to offer an effective surround sound solution, which Atari euphemistically named "CAGE Audio". Each player's station had 4 fairly-high quality speakers; two in front and two behind the player, and a subwoofer mounted directly below the seat, which was quite effective in rattling a player in battle. T-Mek has no background music soundtrack, which was a departure for "deluxe" arcade games in the coming-of-age era of digitally-sampled audio, and instead relied upon the sound to help aid the player in finding enemies.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

43. Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licenser Namco as an official title. This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs, and several minor gameplay changes over the original game.

The gameplay of Ms. Pac-Man is largely identical to that of the original Pac-Man. The player gathers points by eating dots and avoiding ghosts (contact with one loses a life). Power-pellets or energizers change the ghosts which reverse their course and can be eaten for bonus points (200, 400, 800, and 1600 points if all 4 are eaten before they change back to their normal colors). Fruit bonuses can be consumed for increasing point values, twice per level. As the levels increase, the speed and difficulty increase as well.

There are, however, some notable differences:
* There are now six different mazes (four styles, with 5 colors), and "filled-in" walls (compared with the original Pac-Man's hollow walls). Each maze has two pairs of "warp tunnels" connecting the right and left sides of the maze (except for the third maze design which only has one set of tunnels). The maze is changed after each intermission.
* The ghosts have pseudo-random movement, which precludes the use of pre-set movements (patterns) to beat each board.
* Instead of appearing in the center of the maze, "fruits" enter the maze through one of the warp tunnels and bounce around the ghost pen. They eventually leave through another tunnel if not eaten. The point values increase through the banana (5,000 pts), after which fruit appears in a somewhat random pattern.
* nThe orange ghost's name changed from Clyde to Sue. (Sue would later become a purple female ghost in Pac-Land, appearing alongside Clyde.)
* The three intermissions have changed to follow the developing relationship between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (from when they first meet to having a stork drop off their baby.)

Like Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man has a bug in the fruit-drawing routine, which renders the 256th board unplayable. While it may be possible to reach the 256th board using the "rack test" cheat available as a DIP switch (usable through MAME or other arcade emulator), the actual arcade hardware will crash at or around the 134th board. At this point in the game, a bug in the code causes invalid data tables to be used for a subroutine which is supposed to draw invisible characters which slow down the ghosts in the tunnels. On level 142, a similar bug causes a corrupt value to be loaded into the pointer to the maze data, causing the screen to turn black. Although the ghosts and Ms. Pac-Man are still visible, the game becomes unplayable.

Ms. Pac-Man was originally conceived as a bootlegged hack of Pac-Man called Crazy Otto, created by programmers employed at the General Computer Corporation (GCC).

The programmers, surprised at the quality of the game they had created, showed it to Midway, Namco's American distributor of the original game. Midway had become impatient in waiting for Namco to release their next Pac-Man game (which would be Super Pac-Man), and were enthusiastic that such a game had come to their attention. They bought the rights to Crazy Otto, changed the sprites to fit the Pac-Man "universe," renamed the game Ms. Pac-Man and released it into arcades. The game is considered by many to be Midway's answer to the question of how they could get girls to play their games.

After the game became wildly popular, Midway and GCC undertook a brief legal battle concerning royalties, but because the game was accomplished without Namco's consent, both companies eventually turned over the rights of Ms. Pac-Man to the parent company, fearing a lawsuit. Nonetheless, Ms. Pac-Man was the first of a series of unauthorized sequels that eventually led to the termination of the licensing agreement between Namco and Midway.

Ms. Pac-Man was later released on the third Namco Museum game, however there is no mention of it in Namco's official archives (including the archives on all of the Namco Museum releases).

In 2001, Namco released an arcade board featuring both Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga in honor of the 20th anniversary of both games. It also features Pac-Man as a hidden bonus game. The later 25th Anniversary Edition allows all three games to be selected at the main menu.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

42. Sinistar

Sinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. It belongs to a class of video games from the 1980s called "twitch games". Other "twitch games" include Tempest, Defender, and Robotron: 2084. Sinistar was developed by RJ Mical, Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, and Noah Falstein. Sinistar's voice was supplied by John Doremus.

The player pilots a lone fighter ship through a quadrant of the galaxy, initially blasting away at drifting planetoids to "mine" Sinisite Crystals from them, which, when harvested, create Sinibombs. Sinibombs are the only weapon capable of damaging Sinistar. The fighter's bomb bay can hold 20 Sinibombs.

The player creates Sinibombs by shooting at the drifting planetoids and catching the crystals released. Each shot makes a planetoid shake, and if too many shots are fired at a planetoid at too fast of a firing rate, it will cause the planetoid to explode and no crystals will be released. At the same time, a planetoid must shake a certain amount to actually release any crystals. It normally takes between 3 to 6 shots (depending on the size of the planetoid) to release between 1 and 10 crystals. Additional crystals can also be obtained from the same planetoid, as long as the number of shots and firing rate do not cause it to explode.

At the same time that the player is trying to get crystals, the "worker" ships are also trying to take the crystals. They use these crystals to create Sinistar, the skeletal-looking boss who is trying to destroy you. At the same time that all of this is going on, other ships (called "warrior ships") are trying to shoot the player's ship, and the warriors can also been seen shooting at planetoids to mine crystals when they aren't trying to attack the player or guard the Sinistar.

If the player's ship is destroyed before the Sinistar is formed, the game shows how far along the worker ships are in building the Sinistar. The workers must harvest 20 crystals before the Sinistar is completely formed. Once it is completely formed, a digitized voice says "Beware, I live". While he is trying to collide with the player's ship in order to eat it, he says further things. His seven sayings are "Rawr!!!", "Beware, I live!", "I am Sinistar!", "Run! Run! Run!", "Beware, coward!", "I hunger!" and "Run, coward!". If the Sinistar succeeds in colliding with the player's ship, the ship spins out of control and then the Sinistar eats the ship, which also causes the ship to explode.

A total of 13 Sinibombs are required to destroy a fully built Sinistar (one Sinibomb for each of the twelve pieces, plus an additional Sinibomb for the entire face). Each Sinibomb attempts to target and hit the Sinistar, but each Sinibomb can also be intercepted by a collision with a worker, warrior, warrior shot, or a planetoid. If the player's ship is shot by a warrior or eaten by the Sinistar, the status screen will show the number of Sinibombs remaining and the number of Sinistar pieces remaining.

There are four zones that repeat over and over again. You move from one zone to the next after you have defeated the Sinistar. These zones are Worker Zone, Warrior Zone, Planetoid Zone, and Void Zone. The first three zones have more workers, warriors and planetoids, respectively. The Void Zone is especially difficult because it has almost no planetoids. A partially destroyed Sinistar can also be rebuilt, starting with the Worker Zone and continuing for all subsequent zones.

Because the game came out relatively close to the video game crash of 1983, it became a somewhat hard game to find. For similar reasons, Sinistar also was not widely ported. It was commercially available in the mid-1990's as part of Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and PC. (On the PC, the collection's title was Williams Arcade Classics, and there were separate versions for DOS and Windows.) It is also available as part of Williams Arcade Classics for the Tiger Game.com, Midway Arcade Treasures, which was released for the Xbox, GameCube and PS2 in 2003, and for the PC in 2004, and part of Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play for the PlayStation Portable, in late 2005.

Sinistar represented a number of firsts in game design. It was the first game to use stereo sound (in the sitdown version), with two independent front and back sound boards for this purpose. In addition, Sinistar was the first game to use digitized speech as successfully as it did. It was also the first to use the 49-way, custom-designed optical joystick that Williams had produced specifically for this game.

In July 2000, Midway licensed Sinistar, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Macromedia Shockwave for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the shockwave web content platform, entitled Shockwave Arcade Collection. The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse. It is currently freely available to be played within the shockwave web applet.

Like most arcade games of the era, unofficial clones were made for home computers. One of the best was Peter Johnson's Deathstar for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron which was published by Superior Software in 1984. The quality of the clone is not too surprising as it was originally developed as an official port to be released by Atarisoft but they decided to abandon the BBC platform while a number of games were still in development. Atari also programmed a version for the Atari 2600 console that was never officially offered for sale.

The line "Run, coward!" was named the fourth best game line ever in the January 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

A 3D pseudo-sequel was released for the PC in 1999, Sinistar: Unleashed. The original authors were not involved in the development of this game.

Sinistar was released as part of Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits on the Game Boy Advance. However, many popular features were removed. Sinistar no longer has glowing eyes and his mouth no longer moves (except for the game over screen). Many of his phrases have been omitted, leaving just "I Am Sinistar!" at the opening, "I Hunger!" upon pressing start, "Run! Run! Run!" during the game, and "Beware! I live!" when the user receives a game over.

Many of Sinistar's iconic quotations have been included in subsequent video games.

In the game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the neutral hero Firelord's birth sound is him saying "Beware, I live." Also, the Dreadlord hero occasionally says "I hunger," when clicked. World of Warcraft paid tribute to the same quote: The boss enemy Reliquary of Souls shouts it when freed. "Beware - I live". This boss strongly resembles Sinistar.[1]

In Telltale Games' Sam & Max episode "Reality 2.0", one of the C.O.P.S. computers is an arcade machine referencing Sinistar, including his catchphrase "I hunger!"

In tribute to Sinistar, the entire game was cloned as the public domain Xenostar, released for the Amiga computer in 1994.

In Team Fortress 2, the Heavy Weapons Guy says the phrases "I Live!" and "Run, Cowards!"

In the freeware game I Wanna Be The Guy, Sinistar is shown to be one of the original "guys".

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

41. Magic Sword

Magic Sword is a side-scrolling arcade game released by Capcom in 1990. The game casts the player as a hero who must journey to and fight his way through a mystical tower in order to confront the dark lord, Drokmar, and destroy a magic orb which he plans to use in order to rule the world. The player can use a sword or magic, and can also rescue potential allies of various character classes, each of which has his own special abilities. A port of the single player game was released for the Super NES and it was also included in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed for PlayStation Portable and Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

The allies who can join the player during the quest include

* Amazon: Her crossbow launches fast but weak volleys of two bolts.
* Ninja: Fast but weak; throws 2-5 throwing stars that bounce off floors, walls, and ceilings to hit enemies.
* Priest: Slow and weak; launches holy bullets that seek enemies and double damage to the undead.
* Thief: Armed with a dagger and 1-3 bombs; can detect treasure chests that are hidden or booby-trapped.
* Wizard: Has the strongest attacks but is slow and prone to damage; creates magic missiles that rotate in a barrier around him and can be launched in multiple directions.
* Big Man: A strong ally. He uses a slow but powerful boomerang-axe that returns to him when thrown.
* Lizardman: Strong and quick; typically an enemy that can be made into an ally only if the player has a diamond ring as their special item; throws 3-4 swords that pierce through enemies.
* Knight: Strongest ally; throws 1-3 spears that pierce through enemies; found in the upper levels of the tower.

The game has been suggested as a spiritual successor to Black Tiger.

It was also considered one of the first video games to feature a Chimera.

After defeating Drokmar, the player is able to choose whether or not to use the magic orb to become evil, giving the player a choice of two endings. Taking the orb results in the "bad" ending, where the hero becomes the new Dark Lord, while choosing not to take it shows a scene where the hero destroys the orb and defeats Drokmar once and for all, restoring peace to the land.

[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

Here are the clues to the next five games

* Defeat Eyedol

* Defeat Ogre

* George, Lizzie, Or Ralph

* Power Boat Racing

* Total Carnage, I Love It

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

40. Rampage

Rampage is a 1986 arcade game by Bally Midway. The player(s) take control of gigantic monsters trying to survive against onslaughts of military forces. Each round is completed when the particular city is completely reduced to rubble.

Up to three simultaneous players control the monsters George (a King Kong-like gorilla), Lizzie (a Godzilla-like dinosaur/lizard), or Ralph (a giant werewolf), created from humans who were mutated by various methods. They need to destroy all buildings in a high-rise city to advance to the next city. On their way they can destroy helicopters, tanks, taxis, police cars, boats, and trolleys, as well as eat people.

The monsters can jump and climb buildings, and attack enemies and buildings with punches. Buildings also take damage when jumped on.

The player receives damage from enemy bullets, grenades, shells and so forth, and from falls. Damage can be recovered by eating the right food such as fruit, roast chicken, or soldiers. If a monster takes too much damage, it reverts back into a naked human and starts walking off the screen sideways covering their private parts with their hands. While in this state, the player can be eaten by another player. If the player continues, the human will mutate back into the monster (or fly in on a blimp if off screen when the player restarts) with a full life bar.

Smashing open windows generally reveals an item or person of interest, which may be helpful or harmful. Helpful items include food or money. Dangerous ones include bombs, electrical appliances, and cigarettes. Some items can be both, for example a toaster is dangerous until the toast pops up, and a photographer must be eaten quickly before he dazzles the player's monster with his flash, causing it to fall. If a monster eats a toilet, they immediately go into a humorously animated choking fit.

When a civilian is present waving their hands out a window signalling for help, a player's points meter begins to rapidly increment when the civilian is grabbed. This was said to be an undocumented trick that allows for exceedingly high scores in the game. The only problem is that each player can hold only one type of person. George can hold women, Lizzie can hold men, and Ralph can hold businessmen.

Rampage takes place through 128 days through cities across North America. The game starts in Peoria, Illinois and ends in Plano, Illinois. In Plano, the characters get a mega vitamin bonus which heals all the characters and provides a large point bonus. After this, the cities continue again. This cycle of cities repeats five times. After 768 days, the game resets back to day one.

In terms of points, the point meter only goes up to 9,999,999. After that, the meter resets back to one million.