MATT CASWELL'S TOP TEN COIN-OP VIDEOGAMES


cazcam@massart.edu

10. Berzerk

(Stern)
    This is the game that started me on the road to video game addiction- I was maybe 9 or 10 the first time I played it. I'll never forget how the voice made me want to play and keep at it.
9. Tempest
(Atari)
    Although I sucked at it, I kept playing. Everything about it was cool- the graphics, sounds, action. Like nothing I've ever seen.
8. Robotron: 2084
(Williams)
    I wasn't all that good at this one either, but when you're hooked, you're hooked. Williams had some sick game concepts back then, and still do.
7. NARC
(Williams)
    I might have sucked at Robotron and Defender, but I kicked ass at this one- this is what I meant by Williams having SICK game concepts and design. The ultimate game for paranoid megalomaniacs. 
6. S.T.U.N. Runner
(Atari Games)
    Even though I was never a big fan of the racing games, I loved this one. A psychedelic sci-fi shoot em up.
5. M.A.C.H. 3
(Mylstar)
    The only reasons for the laser games dying as quick as they came in were unreliability of the scanners, and because the playing sucked. MACH 3 had the best concept, scenery, and play out of them all save for Star Rider.
4. Pit Fighter
(Atari Games)
    This was the precursor to all the fighting games we're seeing all over the place now, but unlike them, the combo moves were simple, and even the simplest ones worked well.
3. Primal Rage
(Atari Games)
    Now here was a fighting game with some originality and simple enough control. Absolutely hilarious "finish 'em off" deaths. I always play either of the Ape characters- Chaos has the funniest and the grossest weapons.
2. Terminator 2
(Midway)
    Like the movie, the game was non-stop action, taking digitized graphics and animation to the limits. Only once did I destroy both Cyberdyne and the T-1000.
1. T-MEK
(Atari Games)
    The cyber-grandchild of Battlezone. Too bad it came out during the Mortal Kombat craze, it could've caught on even more than it did, especially with those old enough to remember Battlezone. Try defeating Nazrac in an Assault Mek- a pain in the ass, but it can be done.
Honorable Mention

  • I, Robot (Atari)
  • Q*bert (Mylstar)
  • Crossbow (Exidy)
  • Frenzy (Stern)
  • Star Rider (Williams)
  • Star Wars (Atari)
  • Ataxx (Leland)...it should be noted that it takes a certain amount of  guts to try a strategy game in a saturated market of super-violence
  • Sinistar (Williams)
  • Smash TV (Williams)
  • Rampage (Midway)

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