I've already counted down and reviewed my favorite Classic Arcade Games, but what about the modern ones?
I chose 1984 as the cutoff year for the classics, as that was when the Great Depression of videogame history occured, the Videogame Crash, followed by a renaissance of home consoles, starting with the Nintendo in 1985. A new age was upon us, an age of home consoles. But arcade games weren't dead yet! The Cade got a second wind in the nineties. In order to compete with awesome consoles like the SNES, PlayStation and N64, arcade games had to offer something you couldn't play at home. Thus, we got massive machines with innovative mechanics, great multiplayer opportunities with strangers, and of course, more high scoreboards to put your TAG on!
Space-shooters were out. New genres were in: fighting games like Street Fighter II (1991) and Mortal Kombat (1992), beat-em-ups/hack 'n slash games like the 6-player X-Men game (1992) and the personal-password progress-saving Gauntlet Legends (1998), steering wheel-operated racers like Virtua Racer (1992) and the Cruis'N series (1994-present), sports games like NBA Jam (1993) and the Golden Tee series (1989-present), light gun shooters like Virtua Cop (1994) and the Big Buck Hunter series (2001-present), and rhythm games like the Beatmania/DDR series (1997-present).
Here are, in my opinion, the only modern arcade games that rival the classics:
#5: The Lost World: Jurassic Park
1997
One of my life goals I've yet to accomplish is to get some action in a Lost World jeep. The machine that supported this game was the coolest console ever designed: it was built to resemble the interior of a jeep in which two players could fit comfortably inside, along with two light guns, a 50" screen and curtains that you could pull shut to reduce glare (and increase privacy). Get a load of this badboy:
Sexy, eh? The game itself ain't bad, either. The Lost World is a thrilling, two-player rail shooter in which you (and a friend) must escape Jurassic Park, all the while shooting the shit out of angry dinos -- literally; one humorous scene has you getting shat on by a Bracheosaur. Other highlights include a jeep chase with a T-rex, fighting a cool, chameleonic "Carnotaur" that can camouflage itself, and a Simon-esque mini-game that requires you to memorize and repeat the sequence to lock a security door -- how many shooters have you ever seen that randomly feature a cool mini-game? The Lost World boasts superb animation, running at 60 frames per second, and it was also the first game to ever run a million polygons per second! This game was so high-caliber, I actually like it more than the film it's based on. But beware: the demo screen demands $1.00 to play, when you only actually need to insert $.75. Those sneaky Sega bastards!
#4: On the Ball
1989
This game's a ball! It was tough deciding between this and Super Monkey Ball. They're both neo-arcade games with nearly identical concepts, and although Monkey Ball had 3D graphics and a banana-shaped joystick, I found On the Ball was much less frustrating. Also, it predated Monkey Ball by a whopping eleven years. On the Ball is a quirky mix between a racing game and a puzzle game. Your goal is to guide a little, blue ball through a maze, but get this: you don’t control the ball, you control the maze. The ball is in a constant state of freefall, and by rotating a dial left and right, you spin the maze around it. Anyone remember those 3D ball-in-a-maze puzzles set inside transparent plastic shapes, like Perplexus? Yeah, picture that, only the mazes in On the Ball are filled with obstacles and a variety of blocks. Some blocks are breakable if the ball is moving fast enough, other blocks can add or subtract precious seconds to your timer, and some blocks can stop time momentarily. You can also "jump" if you have no momentum, or hold down the jump button for greater speed. There are twenty-eight levels, all accompanied by a lovely, chill techno soundtrack. This is one of the very few games of its kind (along with Monkey Ball and Puddle), and to me, it's the most overlooked arcade game of all time. Perhaps its lack of success can be attributed to its original title, "Cameltry." WTF? Despite its relative unpopularity, you can find ports on the Super Nintendo and the Taito Legends 2 collection, available on PS2, XBox and PC. Fans of this game should also be sure to check out Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube, which almost made this list before it got blue-balled!
#4: On the Ball
1989
This game's a ball! It was tough deciding between this and Super Monkey Ball. They're both neo-arcade games with nearly identical concepts, and although Monkey Ball had 3D graphics and a banana-shaped joystick, I found On the Ball was much less frustrating. Also, it predated Monkey Ball by a whopping eleven years. On the Ball is a quirky mix between a racing game and a puzzle game. Your goal is to guide a little, blue ball through a maze, but get this: you don’t control the ball, you control the maze. The ball is in a constant state of freefall, and by rotating a dial left and right, you spin the maze around it. Anyone remember those 3D ball-in-a-maze puzzles set inside transparent plastic shapes, like Perplexus? Yeah, picture that, only the mazes in On the Ball are filled with obstacles and a variety of blocks. Some blocks are breakable if the ball is moving fast enough, other blocks can add or subtract precious seconds to your timer, and some blocks can stop time momentarily. You can also "jump" if you have no momentum, or hold down the jump button for greater speed. There are twenty-eight levels, all accompanied by a lovely, chill techno soundtrack. This is one of the very few games of its kind (along with Monkey Ball and Puddle), and to me, it's the most overlooked arcade game of all time. Perhaps its lack of success can be attributed to its original title, "Cameltry." WTF? Despite its relative unpopularity, you can find ports on the Super Nintendo and the Taito Legends 2 collection, available on PS2, XBox and PC. Fans of this game should also be sure to check out Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube, which almost made this list before it got blue-balled!
#3: Dance Dance Revolution
1998
DDR is the greatest "workout game" of all time, and also one of the most entertaining games to watch people play. The uber-popular dance game is played on unique "step pads" that have four arrows: up, down, left and right, which the player must step or jump on in sync with scrolling arrows on-screen. It was like Guitar Hero for chicks:
No, I'm not gonna lie, I got into the DDR craze, too, and I'm about as manly as they come. It was a refreshing change of pace to play a game with your feet instead of your fingers. Every "step" is graded on how well you time it, so you'll need fancy footwork to get your TAG on the high scoreboard, and it's GREAT exercise; I can't play more than three songs in a row without getting all gross and sweaty, even on the normal difficulty. On several occasions I've seen crowds gathered around these machines as a pair of pros (usually teenage Asian girls) wowed them with their well-rehearsed and rememberized dance moves. My favorite thing to see is two players who could actually swap between step pads mid-song. Dance Dance Revolution really did start a revolution: there are dozens of sequels. I highly recommend getting one of the DDRMAX games for PS1 or PS2, along with a pair of plastic step pads -- unless you have neighbors below you. You don't wanna get noise complaints.
#2: Bubble Bobble
1986
Aww, Bub and Bob are just da cutest widdle dwagons! Yes dey are! Wookit how dey spit bubbles instead of fire! SO CUE-WIT! Okay, so I'm not quite "as manly as they come" after all. But don't be fooled, dudes: this is a hardcore action game in an adorable disguise, making it easy to convince your chicks to play through it with you. Although it's really oldschool, Bubble Bobble did come out after 1984, so I couldn't include it on my list of classic arcade games. Here's the story: If Bub and Bob ever wanna joystick their she-dragons again, they'll have to rescue 'em from the Cave of Monsters. You defeat your enemies by first blowing bubbles at them, and after they're captured inside of said bubbles, you can POP! them with the spikes on your back. It's indescribably fun. Every level has a vastly different design, there are "secret" moves to discover like bouncing off your bubbles to reach higher platforms, and there's an arsenal of fun power-ups to aid you on your quest. The two-player mode is PHENOM; one of my favorite co-op games EVER. But the thing I love most about Bubble Bobble, and a clear indication that it was indeed an early new-wave arcade game, is that you can actually beat it! Instead of simply aiming for a high score in an endless series of levels like all those classic arcade games, the 100th level of Bubble Bobble features an excellent boss battle, and there are even three different endings. The game has a great soundtrack, or should I say, a great song. It’s the same track in every level (except the hundredth), but it’s so darn catchy that it never gets old, much like the game itself. Once you pop, the fun don’t stop! Ports are available on the NES, Game Boy, GBC, PC, XBox, PS2 and Wii.
#1: Time Crisis II
ACTION!
Time Crisis II is like a friggin' bazooka that makes all other shooters look like squirt guns. I’m not even a big fan of shooters, but I still play this one every time I see it in the lobby of my local movie theater. I often sacrifice seeing the opening of the film I came to watch just to get on the high scoreboard for TC2. The second installment took the brilliant formula from the first game and just ran wild with it. The series throws you into super-intense, fast-paced shootouts, battling both an army of terrorists and the clock to save the world. The levels are impeccably designed with over-the-top production values to make you feel like you’re the star of an action movie. Despite many follow-ups, the second game in the series was never topped. My favorite levels included a boat chase through Venice, a gunfight set between speeding trains and a helicopter, and the final boss, who uses, for lack of a better term, "the princess" as a human shield. In addition to the light guns, the series also featured a unique foot-pedal system. Holding down the pedal made you emerge from cover, while letting it go allowed you to hide from enemy fire and also reload your weapon. The game's nine levels are all tied together with the kind of cutscenes that make porno dialogue look good, but at least you can shoot the screen to skip the story. TC2 introduced two big improvements over the first game: the "crisis flash" which gave you a helpful "heads up" if you were about to catch a bullet, and a two-player co-op mode. You and a partner each play on two, side-by-side 50" bigscreens that offer two completely different angles during gunfights. Whenever I'm playing this at the theater (with the pink gun, of course), some dude always ends up picking up the blue gun and joining me for a couple levels. Time Crisis II got a perfect (if not superior) port on the PS2. It's a must-have for fans, along with the Guncon 2 gun accessory. You can even play two-player at home, although it requires having two TV's, two copies of the game and two PS2's hooked together with an iLink cable. Anyone who thinks that sounds like more trouble than its worth clearly hasn't played the game!
Time Crisis II is like a friggin' bazooka that makes all other shooters look like squirt guns. I’m not even a big fan of shooters, but I still play this one every time I see it in the lobby of my local movie theater. I often sacrifice seeing the opening of the film I came to watch just to get on the high scoreboard for TC2. The second installment took the brilliant formula from the first game and just ran wild with it. The series throws you into super-intense, fast-paced shootouts, battling both an army of terrorists and the clock to save the world. The levels are impeccably designed with over-the-top production values to make you feel like you’re the star of an action movie. Despite many follow-ups, the second game in the series was never topped. My favorite levels included a boat chase through Venice, a gunfight set between speeding trains and a helicopter, and the final boss, who uses, for lack of a better term, "the princess" as a human shield. In addition to the light guns, the series also featured a unique foot-pedal system. Holding down the pedal made you emerge from cover, while letting it go allowed you to hide from enemy fire and also reload your weapon. The game's nine levels are all tied together with the kind of cutscenes that make porno dialogue look good, but at least you can shoot the screen to skip the story. TC2 introduced two big improvements over the first game: the "crisis flash" which gave you a helpful "heads up" if you were about to catch a bullet, and a two-player co-op mode. You and a partner each play on two, side-by-side 50" bigscreens that offer two completely different angles during gunfights. Whenever I'm playing this at the theater (with the pink gun, of course), some dude always ends up picking up the blue gun and joining me for a couple levels. Time Crisis II got a perfect (if not superior) port on the PS2. It's a must-have for fans, along with the Guncon 2 gun accessory. You can even play two-player at home, although it requires having two TV's, two copies of the game and two PS2's hooked together with an iLink cable. Anyone who thinks that sounds like more trouble than its worth clearly hasn't played the game!
In closing, arcade games are like Panda bears; they're both Asian, both nearly went extinct, both made a nice little comeback, and both will continue to survive so long as WE continue to provide them with enough green.
Thank you for reading. Up next: my top 10 PlayStation games!
