Atari Star Wars
Even though this game has three sections, why is the Death Star trench the only bit that I remember speeding through? The most fun to be had for 10p ever was skirting obstacles made of polygons and shooting the top off those evil gun turrets, while trying to get the timing of my proton torpedo right for a direct hit on the space station's thermal exhaust port. Almost as much fun as snorting amyl nitrate on a park bench, and a lot less expensive.
Dee, dee - diddly dee, dee - diddly dee, dee - diddly dah....
Cinematronics Dragon’s Lair
Out of all the games on this list, this was the one that I spent the most money on and was frustrated the most by, but I think it inspired me and led me to a career in the animation industry. Rick Dyer was given the inspiration for this game after watching The Secret of NIMH and somehow even with its unique technology this fully cell-animated video game took off. The animation was on a laserdisc, the joystick and fire button worked almost like a television remote control. You control Dirk the Daring’s decisions rather than his physical movements arguably making this the foundation for todays RPGs.
I remember always being gutted that even though this game cost more than the others in the arcade, Dirk’s next step invariably lead to death. This game was hard and all about timing, you had to become in tune with the games rhythm rather than button bashing to stay alive. Because of the super outdated technology and laserdiscs decaying and corrupting over time this game is now super hard to get a hold of in it’s arcade version. But don’t worry, there are DS, PSP and iPad versions on their way.
Next page: Sega Out Run
COMMENTS
Yeah
Space Harrier FTW. The sheer *speed* that all the scenery came up at you was mindblowing, even before you reckoned on the scenery being 50-foot-high multicoloured metallic mushrooms. Afterburner was fun, but nothing like as good as Space Harrier.
But the list misses out Pitfighter. OK, it doesn't have the special moves of other games, but it replaced those with being realistic, and with moving at the speed of a real fight. Street Fighter, you could hang back and fire stuff. With Pitfighter, hanging back just got you kicked to death.
The list also misses out Hard Drivin'. Fully 3D graphics, a steering wheel which pulled against you when you do stuff, a manual box with 4 gears, and tracks where it wasn't just about going flat out with briefly dropping to low gear. And you got a stunt track with a broken-bridge jump, a loop-the-loop, and various other goodness. Outrun was cool and fun, but Hard Drivin' was *THE* first realistic driving game, the daddy of every current rally/F1 sim.
Pin ball
People around my age (43) just timed it right for video games, and home computers for that matter. I still remember my friends describing Space Invaders to me, after they discovered it at the local baths: "It's like pinball! All these monsters.. you shoot them its like pinball!". They were in a frenzy about it.
Pinball's not dead, the real machines are still around - aren't they ?
Too short
Only 10? And no Strider or R-Type?
Tcchh - I'm not coming to your video arcade. Hardly worth getting my change from the grumpy git in the glass box for...
Arcade Speak
I remember playing GORF some years before Gauntlet. I was drawn to its ominous cabinet by the hypnotic "INSUURT COYNE" digitised speech. Cost me a bleedin' fortune, it did!
