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RANDY DOD'S TOP TEN COIN-OP VIDEOGAMES
rdod@wa-net.com
10. Paperboy
(Atari)
I'm surprised no one listed this one, an original. You rode down
the street on a bike and had to throw newspapers into people's yards
and mailboxes. There were ditches, RC cars, vehicles, skateboarders,
construction sites and other things to dodge. Very cool music.
9. Missile Command
(Atari)
Another original. Very simplistic and crude, yet fun. What made
it interesting was having the sky change colors as you progressed. At
the time, that was enough to make you want to keep playing it. Almost
all addictive games have some element of wanting to see what the next
level or stage looks like.
8. Kung-Fu Master
(Irem)
Very crude by today's standards, but very fun at the time. I
liked the fact that you had a goal, that you had to get somewhere,
rather than just keep kicking the next person's butt. Another good
sound track.
7. Assault
(Namco)
This one I don't think became very popular, but boy was it cool
and addictive. Seeing the graphics not only rotate, but shrink (as
you hopped up) and expand (as you landed or went to the next level)
made my eyes pop out. I think it was the first to make graphics do
those things. Very challenging. I never did beat it before leaving
college.
6. Outrun
(Sega)
Sega makes the best driving games. There's just something about the
feel that is right, and no one else seems to get it right. Although they
have far more realistic games now, this is still a fun game. One of the
first to have multiple soundtracks from which to choose, all of which
sound cool (can you tell I like music?). Another that makes you want to
keep playing to see what the next section of country looks like. And if
you happen to beat one route, there are still more to see and conquer.
5. Virtua Fighter 2 and 3
(Sega)
Come on people, how could you not list one of these? Sega also
makes the best martial arts games, bar none. The motions are more
fluid and realistic and just look better. For some reason they just
know how to make the games more fun and playable. I also like the
fact that you don't see all the blood and gore, not to mention
occultic elements. Unfortunately I have seen very few VF3 units in
my area, so I haven't gotten to play it much.
4. Championship Sprint
(Atari)
I think I pumped the most money into this one and 1942. Once
you got all the options up to five (turbo, helicopter, speed,
traction), the car drove like a dream and you did NOT want to lose
it!
3. 1942
(Capcom)
The other game into which I kept pumping money. Talk about
addictive. Although later games would let you build up
ridiculously powerful ships, being able to build up your plane
only so much I think kept it much more challenging.
(tie) 2. Marble Madness
(Atari)
I love games like this that are so unlike anything you've ever
seen. You aren't a human or animal, and the goal isn't to blast
everything in sight (although that's fun too). In other words,
it's original (although one could argue they stole the idea from
the "Labyrinth" game where you manually rolled a steel ball through
a maze). There's even humor with the broom to sweep up the pieces,
"dizzy" sights and sounds when you get knocked around too much, etc.
The best parts are the sound effects and the soundtrack.
1. Space Harrier
(Sega)
How could no one else list this awesome game? This is still a
beautiful game today. It's very satisfying to keep blowing up
anything in sight as fast as you can. Gorgeous, brightly colored
graphics; a cool soundtrack; great voice ("Get ready!"); fast-paced
action with objects continually whizzing by; the flying caterpillar
you get to occasionally ride; a neat controller; very cool-looking
explosions; and the neat grid you fly over. What more could you
want?
My Honorable Mention List
Pandora's Box (???) - I've only seen this game in one convenience
store I used to frequent and never again since. I don't remember
too much about it, except that it was very cute and fun. It had a
feel similar to Donkey Kong. You were a little Caesar guy and had
to climb ladders, ropes, jump on springs, etc. I don't even know
if that was the name. Does anyone else remember this?
Mappy (Namco/Midway) - Cool soundtrack, very cute and original.
Dragon's Lair (Starcom/Cinematronics) - My jaw hit the floor when I first saw it.
Donkey Kong, Jr. (Nintendo)
Daytona USA (Sega)
Spy Hunter (Data East/Midway) - Great soundtrack.
Defender (Williams) - Still very cool sound fx.
Star Wars (Atari)
Interstellar Laser Fantasy - I only played it to see the cool computer generated backgrounds.
?? Tarzan vine game (Data East)
Circus Charlie (Konami) - Very cute, colorful and original.
Best sound fx - Williams (Firepower pinball, Blackout)
Best driving games - Sega
Best martial arts games - Sega
Best cute games - Nintendo
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