Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups

20. Arcadian Rhythms

159 20 Arcadian Rhythms At the dawn of video games, there were constructs that looked like large cabinets, hosting a combination of a monitor, joystick(s), and buttons. These archaic monstrosities featured the likes of superheroes, racing cars, aircraft, and even futuristic robots, and could be found clustered in arcades alongside vending machines, coin changers, and surly attendants on the watch for kids skipping school. These arcades, now an anachronism, were the Internet cafés of their day. Kids of all ages congregated to shoot, race, beat up, tackle, and outwit their virtual opponent for schoolyard bragging rights or top scores. The following are ten of the most popular arcade games of that era. 1. ELEVATOR ACTION You were a spy. Your mission? Steal as many secret documents as you could and escape from a thirty-floor building crawling with enemy spies. Escape was feasible, provided you outwitted the pursuers through clever use of the building ’s elevator system. The lower you went, the more complex the escape. Fortunately, your secret agent could also use his agency-issued pistol when things got dicey. While not timed per se, you could not loiter around waiting for the best pattern to emerge from the elevators and escalators in the game. Success came from quick thinking, 160 Games’ Most Wanted™ good reflexes, and knowing when to shoot—and when to go up or down to avoid lurking agents. Once escape was attained, you were sent to the next building (a new game level) and repeated the process. Scoring was simple: points were acquired for retrieving secret documents, knocking out enemy agents (number of points depended on how it was done), or eliminating them. Escaping the building garnered bonus points. Two players could play in sequence, attempting to beat each other’s score and win bragging rights. 2. STREET FIGHTER Unleashed on the arcade public in 1987, Street Fighter was an instant hit as a fighting game. The arcade version featured martial artist Ryu in a worldwide martial arts tournament that spanned five countries and ten opponents. Ryu had three types of punch and kick attacks and, depending on the button combinations, three special attacks. Arcade games are considered the quintessential classic of video games. Erin McCann Arcadian Rhythms 161 Ryu had to win two out of three matches against his opponent in order to move on; each subsequent opponent was a bit tougher than the last. When Ryu lost two matches against an opponent, the game was over. What made Street Fighter stand out were its varied backdrops for the fights, its rather colorful (and exotic) opponents , and the fun of figuring out and applying the special combo moves. Any dedicated Street Fighter player can still hear Ryu shout “Hadouken!” while throwing a fireball across the screen—and probably even mimic his stance. 3. GALAGA The 1981 sequel to Galaxian, Galaga was a simple spaceship shooter game. Your vessel, located at the bottom of the screen, fired at enemies as they swooped onto the screen in formation. Once all of them arrived, they surged toward you in formation or singly, attempting to ram or drop bombs in an effort to destroy you. Once all enemy ships were destroyed , the next stage began. The sole objective of Galaga was to score as many points as possible by destroying the alien ships, very similar to Space Invaders, another classic arcade game from the era. In Galaga, the alien ships arrived on-screen in formations . When the ship was placed just right, it was easy to rack up points by shooting them in near-rapid fire. (A technique also known as “tapping the fire button as fast as your hand allows.”) The player had to be on constant watch for any survivors diving back in from behind as they finished their arc off-screen before returning. Periodically, the Galaga ship would appear, attempting to seize your fighter with a tractor beam and use it against you. A successful defense could net the player an additional fighter on-screen, doubling his or her firepower. Galaga is one of the mainstay classics of arcades and the most remembered, alongside Pac-Man. It even had a humorous shout-out in the 2012 blockbuster movie The Avengers. 162 Games’ Most Wanted™ 4. FROGGER Another classic arcade game, Frogger appeared in 1981 as a deceptively simple game with an easy premise: get the frogs home one-by-one, crossing...