LoC 50 - Top Video Games of the '80s (And before!) - Today's High Scores

[Pak-Man]

Top 50 Video Games of the '80s (And before!)

Here's the ol' Cut n' Paste!

Participants were asked to send  a list of your 25 Favorite video games from before December 31, 1989. 18 ballots were received with 185 unique entries, and those ranked on a point system allowing 25 points for a #1 choice, 24 for a #2, and all the way down to 1 point for #25. The points were added up, and what follows are the selections.

Tiebreakers work like such: If two games have equal pointage, the game that appeared on the most lists ranks higher. If those games appeared on the same amount of lists, then the game ranked higher on the individual list got the higher spot. A game that was someone's #4 beats another person's #6, for example. If there was still a tie, then the one with more top votes got the bump. (2 #3 votes beat out 1 #3 vote) And then if the game was still tied, alphabetical order reigned supreme.

Without further ado, enjoy the top 50 games of the '80s (And before!)

[Pak-Man]

#50 - Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja

(35 Points) 2 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #7 sarcasm made Easy

The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?

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Release Date:  1988

Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:

Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja, often referred to simply as Bad Dudes, and known in Japan simply as DragonNinja, is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is based on the U.S. pop culture of the late 1980s, featuring references to Michael Jackson's Bad and to ninjas, which were popular in the 1980s due to films such as Octagon and Enter the Ninja.
 
The game starts in New York City, where President Ronnie (based on U.S. President Ronald Reagan) has been kidnapped by the nefarious DragonNinja. The game's intro begins with the following introduction: "Rampant ninja related crimes these days... Whitehouse is not the exception...". As soon as that occurs, a Secret Service agent (who resembles Arnold Schwarzenegger as he appears in The Terminator) asks two street-smart brawlers, named Blade and Striker: "President Ronnie has been kidnapped by the ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue Ronnie?". After hearing that, the Bad Dudes pursue the DragonNinja through the city streets, highway, sewers, transport train, forest, cave and into the secret ninja base in order to save President Ronnie.
 
The Japanese and English language versions' endings of the game differ. In the English version, after the Bad Dudes defeat DragonNinja, they celebrate by eating burgers with President Ronnie. At the very end, President Ronnie is seen holding a burger while standing between the Bad Dudes. Behind them are many security guards with the White House behind them. In the Japanese version, President Ronnie gave the Bad Dudes a statue of them as a tribute to them. The Bad Dudes are seen leaning against a fence on a sidewalk next to their statue. Unlike the ending of the international version, the Japanese version's ending shows a list of every enemy in the game with their names (except the green ninja boss that multiplies himself), while some faces appear next to the names of the game's staff. The background music played in both versions' endings are also completely different.

Bad Dudes VS. DragonNinja was considered by many outside of Japan at the time of its release as Data East's answer to the 1987 beat 'em up hit Double Dragon by Technos; however Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja was heavily inspired by the 1987 Sega arcade game, Shinobi.
 
Player One controlling Blade (in white pants) and Player Two controlling Striker (in green pants) will start with nothing but the ability to do punches, kicks and jumps (however most enemies can be beaten with only a single hit of any kind). Some moves are special like spinning kicks and the ability to charge themselves up to throw a powerful, but short-ranged punch toward opponents. Players will also come across several power-ups: some are weapons and some recharge a player's health, yet others add a few seconds to the remaining time. Using the picked-up knives and nunchakus both had their advantages and disadvantages.
 
The various types of enemies encountered in the game have their own means of attack. The basic blue-colored ninja directly charge the player, while some leap with their swords, or throw shuriken and makibishi; there are also acrobatic female ninja, attack dogs, and even people who are on fire. The enemies may be beaten down or avoided. At the end of each level, a boss will appear which needs to be defeated to progress to the next level. The first of them is Karnov, who cameos from the Data East game of the same name; the background music during the fight with him is similar to the main theme in Karnov as well. Each boss has their own special attacks: Karnov, for example, can breathe fire at the player. At the successful completion of each level, the dude(s) strike a "bad" pose and proclaim, "I'm bad!", possibly a reference to Michael Jackson's then-recently released song, "Bad".

Pak's Thoughts -  Bad Dudes is the first game I remember playing that had a secret move. Nowhere on the arcade cabinet (At least nowhere on MY arcade cabinet) did it mention that if you held down the punch button, you could charge up a fire-punch. I heard that tip from my best friend at the time, who had heard it from a random kid at an arcade. Word of mouth was so important back then when it came to passing around video game secrets. The internet spoils gamers. :^)

[Pak-Man]

#49 - 1942

(36 Points) 3 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #11 - Monty, RVR II

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Release Date:  December 1984

Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:

1942 is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up made by Capcom that was released for the arcade in 1984. It was the first game in the 19XX series. It was followed by 1943: The Battle of Midway.
 
1942 is set in the Pacific theater of World War II. The goal is to reach Tokyo and destroy the entire Japanese air fleet. The player pilots a plane dubbed the "Super Ace" (but its appearance is clearly that of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning). The player has to shoot down enemy planes; to avoid enemy fire, the player can perform a roll or "loop-the-loop". During the game the player may collect a series of power-ups, one of them allowing the plane to be escorted by two other smaller fighters in a Tip Tow formation.
 
The game was later ported to the NES (developed by Micronics), MSX, NEC PC-8801, Windows Mobile Professional, and Game Boy Color. It was ported by the European games publisher Elite Systems to the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. The game was included as part of Capcom Classics Collection for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 in 2005. The arcade version has been released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on December 21, 2010, the PAL region on January 21, 2011 and in North America on January 24, 2011.
 
Martin Bedard of Saint-Lazare, Quebec, Canada holds the record for this game with 13,360,960 points on November 19, 2006.

1942 was one of Capcom's first breakaway hits, eclipsing in popularity the company's preceding three titles: (Vulgus, Sonson, and Pirate Ship Higemaru). While not as popular as some of Capcom's series that would debut later in the 1980s (Street Fighter and Mega Man in particular), 1942 would become one of Capcom's hallmark games throughout the arcade era.
 
Although not the first game to receive a sequel (with Pirate Ship Higemaru receiving a Japan-only console semi-sequel, Higemaru Makaijima, in April 1987), 1942 was the first Capcom title to spawn a successful series of sequels, with five titles in the 19XX line released from 1987 to 2000. Additionally, many of Capcom's other vertical shooters featured very similar gameplay to the series such as Varth: Operation Thunderstorm.
 
1942's longevity has shown through in many re-releases since its introduction, principally in Capcom Generations 1 for the Playstation and Saturn consoles. It was featured in the Capcom Classics Collection for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, as well as Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for the PlayStation Portable.

Pak's Thoughts -  A good, solid vertical shooter. I have the Capcom Classics Collection downloaded onto my PSP, and 1942 has become one of my go-to titles whenever I feel like killing a few minutes.

[Pak-Man]

#48 - DuckTales

(36 Points) 3 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #9 - Gunflyer

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Release Date:  1989

Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:

DuckTales is a video game based on the Disney animated TV series of the same name. It was first released in the United States for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom in 1989. In this game, Scrooge McDuck travels around the world collecting treasures to become the world's richest duck. The game was later ported to Game Boy. This game is unrelated to DuckTales: The Quest for Gold, which was released on a variety of personal computers in the early 1990s.
 
DuckTales is often a subject of NES-related nostalgia and was generally popular. The game provides a good example of the work produced by Capcom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, along with such titles as those in the Mega Man franchise; both shared key personnel such as Tokuro Fujiwara, Keiji Inafune and Yoshihiro Sakaguchi. DuckTales has much in common with the Mega Man games: bright and colorful graphics, tight play control with unique gameplay dynamics (such as using Scrooge's cane as a weapon, tool, and pogo stick), and non-linear gameplay.

The player controls Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world, on a quest for even more treasure. Scrooge can jump using the A button; his cane is used as a weapon to defeat enemies or strike objects (B button) and as a pogo stick to jump higher (A then B + Down). There is a wide variety of helpful non-player characters and enemy characters.
 
DuckTales comprises five levels that can be played in any order (similar to the Mega Man games). A boss guards the treasure that Scrooge seeks at the end of each level. There are also two hidden treasures: a golden ring in the African Mines level and a golden mirror in the Moon level. Upon finishing all five levels, the player is directed back to Transylvania for the final boss fight. DuckTales contains some non-linear gameplay, in that the player can revisit levels to get items that unlock parts of other levels.

Pak's Thoughts -  Ahh for the days when making a video game based off a popular cartoon didn't mean the game had to be horrible. It didn't mean the game always made sense, mind you (When has Scrooge EVER used his cane like a pogo stick?) but the game itself was darn good. It's also the first game I ever beat (And with both the secret treasures, no less!).

[Pak-Man]

#47 - Shinobi

(37 Points) 3 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #3 - D.B. Barnes

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Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Release Date:  November 1987

Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:

Shinobi is an arcade game, developed and published by Sega. It was originally released in 1987 and ported to numerous systems. The game spawned numerous sequels.
 
A re-worked version was released for Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade on June 10, 2009 with HD support and online leaderboards. The original coin-op version of the game was released for the Virtual Console in Japan on July 14, 2009, in the PAL regions on October 23, 2009 and in North America on December 7, 2009.

Shinobi is about a ninja named Joe Musashi who has to stop a criminal organization called "Zeed" who are kidnapping the children of the Oboro clan. Through five missions, each with three or four stages, Musashi must make his way to Zeed's headquarters and free all the hostages before confronting the bosses at the final stage of each mission.

The five missions in the game are each three or four stages long. Several hostages are being held in each stage; Joe must rescue all of them before he is allowed to finish the stage. The last stage in each mission has no hostages, but instead features a powerful boss character whom Joe must defeat. After completing each of the first four missions the player is taken to a bonus stage, where he can earn an extra life if he is able to kill all of the ninjas leaping towards him. Completing the fifth mission ends the game. Also, once the fifth mission begins, continues are no longer allowed; the player has to finish the game with however many lives he has left at that point. If the player earns a place on the high score board, the number of credits it took him to get that score is displayed along with his score.
 
Joe's standard weapons are an unlimited supply of shuriken, along with punches and kicks when attacking at close range. One hostage per stage gives him a power-up. When powered-up, his throwing stars are replaced by a gun that fires large, explosive bullets, and his close-range attack becomes a katana slash. Joe can also perform "ninja magic," which may be used only once per stage and kills (or damages, in the case of bosses) all enemies on the screen. Joe can be killed with one hit, provided he is hit by a projectile or melee attack, but if he does not find himself in those situations, the player can touch regular enemies and just be pushed back without being damaged. Since most enemies appear in the same place on each level, it is possible to master the game by memorizing their locations and devising patterns to defeat them.
 
At the end of each stage, the player receives score bonuses based on performance. Completing the stage without using ninja magic or without using any throwing stars or bullets earns the player a point bonus. The player has three minutes to complete each stage; remaining time at the end of the stage is also converted to bonus points and added to the player's score.


Pak's Thoughts -  I never played a lot of Shinobi, but the image of the first-person ninja-star throwing on the attract screen is one of the first that come to mind when I think of arcades.

[Pak-Man]

#46 - Excitebike

(37 Points) 4 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #11 - Rattrap007

It's a new record!

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Release Date:  November 30, 1984

Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:

Excitebike is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 and as a launch title for the NES in 1985. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its sequel Excitebike 64, the spiritual successors Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing, and the WiiWare title Excitebike: World Rally. 3D Classics: Excitebike, a 3D remake of the game, was a free launch title for the Nintendo eShop starting on June 6th, 2011 and is now available for a price of $5.99.

Whether the player chooses to race solo or against computer-assisted riders, he/she races against a certain time limit. The goal is to qualify for the Excitebike (the championship) race by coming in at third place or above in the challenge race (preliminary race). The times to beat are located on the stadium walls (for first place) and in the lower left corner (for third place). In any race, the best time is 8 seconds ahead of third place. When the player places first, then they get a message: "It's a new record!" Additional points are earned by beating the previously-set record time.
 
The player controls the position of the red motorcycle with the Y-axis of the directional pad, and controls acceleration with the A and B buttons. Using B causes greater acceleration, but also increases the motorcycle's temperature shown as a bar at the bottom of the screen. If the temperature exceeds safe limits (the bar becomes full), the player will be immobilized for several seconds while the bike cools down. Driving over an arrow will immediately reduce the bike's temperature.
 
The pitch of the motorcycle can be modified with the X-axis of the directional pad, left raises the front, while right lowers the front. In the air, this rotates the bike, but can also be used to create wheelies on the ground. The up and down arrows on turn the hand bar left and right, respectively when the bike is on the ground.
 
At the start of the game, the player can choose one of five tracks he/she wants to race in.

ExciteBike has three modes of gameplay. In Selection A, the player races solo. In Selection B, CPU players join the player. They act as another obstacle; hitting one from the back will cause the player to fall off the bike, while any CPU riders hitting the player's rear wheel will cause them to fall off.
 
In Design Mode, the player has the ability to build his or her own racing tracks. The player can choose hills and obstacles of various sizes and place them. The player can also choose where to finish the lap, and how many laps there are (up to nine). After it is finished, the player can race the track in either Selection A or Selection B.
 
The game allowed saving the custom-designed track to cassette tape, requiring the Famicom Data Recorder peripheral (basically the Famicom equivalent of the C-64's Datassette). Since this peripheral was only available in Japan (intended for use with Nintendo's Family BASIC), track saving was effectively unavailable to American and European players (the game's English manual states that "Save and Load menu selections are not operable in this game; they have been programmed in for potential product developments."). Unlike Wrecking Crew, Excitebike was never re-released for the Famicom Disk System in its original form. Courses created using the Virtual Console release can actually be saved to the Wii's internal memory.

Pak's Thoughts -  This is one game that probably would have slipped to the back of everyone's memory if it wasn't for the track edit mode. Even without the ability to save, I have fond memories of me and my brothers creating challenges for each other and seeing who could get the best time.

That will do it for today's entries. Tune in tomorrow for 5 more entries that have stood the test of time!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

Sweet bad dudes made the list.  I loved that silly game. 

[TeamRAD]

...hahahahaha.

Bad Dudes!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

when i was a little kid i was impressed that the game actually SAID bad dudes, in that horrible 80s quantized sound. 

[RVR II]

I Still have 1942 on my regular Nintendo

[TeamRAD]

when i was a little kid i was impressed that the game actually SAID bad dudes, in that horrible 80s quantized sound. 

THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS. ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO RESCUE THE PRESIDENT?

[gojikranz]

wow 35 points for #50 wonder how many of mine will make it.  looking forward to the rest thanks!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

when i was a little kid i was impressed that the game actually SAID bad dudes, in that horrible 80s quantized sound. 

THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS. ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO RESCUE THE PRESIDENT?

IM BAD

[Darth Geek]

when i was a little kid i was impressed that the game actually SAID bad dudes, in that horrible 80s quantized sound. 

THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS. ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO RESCUE THE PRESIDENT?

Didn't somebody recently edit together Spoony responding to that?

[D.B. Barnes]

#47 - Shinobi

(37 Points) 3 of 18 Lists - Highest Ranking - #3 - D.B. Barnes

Cool! Glad a couple other folks picked it.

I ranked this so high because it's one of only three games I beat on an arcade machine. Me and a friend of mine used to spend countless hours in this little hole-in-wall pizza place that had a handful of games. We'd primarily play Super Mario Bros., but switched to Shinobi when we needed a break. We'd just go back and forth, subsisting on cigarettes and Cherry Coke. Ah, the formative years.