LoC 90: Top 50 Arcade Games Countdown

[soguru]

I remember getting the Double Dragon game for the NES. A lot of what I remember is wanting it to look and sound more like the actual arcade game.

[stethacantus]

#4 – Double Dragon

76 Points, 6 Lists, Top Vote: #8 Soguru

I hate to bring this up, considering how CJones is making a heroic effort to complete the current LoC, but I had Double Dragon at #1 on my list.

[CJones]

#4 – Double Dragon

76 Points, 6 Lists, Top Vote: #8 Soguru

I hate to bring this up, considering how CJones is making a heroic effort to complete the current LoC, but I had Double Dragon at #1 on my list.

You're right. Fortunately, that doesn't change the totals. I did count your vote, I just didn't see it when I went back to see who had the highest. I'll go back and change it.

[CJones]

#3 – The Simpsons

86 Points, 5 Lists, Top Vote: #3 Sugar Ray Dodge

Production Date: 1991
Manufacturer: Konami

I'm tempted to make a "Remember when Konami made good games?" remark here. This makes 2 Konami beat em ups in the top 5.

This game proves that it is in fact possible to make a good Simpsons video game. Granted, the game really has nothing to do with The Simpsons, other than having Simpsons characters in it. This could have been an entirely generic beat em up, and it still would have been a good game. Just nowhere near as memorable. So, Smithers has just robbed a Jewelry store, which seems very out of character, but in the process of fleeing, he runs into the Simpsons. A particularly large diamond goes flying and lands in Maggie's mouth. Rather than just take the diamond back, he decides to take Maggie. The rest of the family fights to get her back.

I can't find hard evidence of who voices the various characters in the game. The family members sound like their TV show counterparts. OTOH Mr Burns sounds nothing like Mr Burns. I found it odd that Konami, a Japanese company, would even be interested in making a Simpsons arcade game. Arcades were, and still are, much more prevalent in Japan than in the US. But I'm not aware of The Simpsons being particularly popular over there. The Japanese version has some features that the US version lacks for some reason. There is a mini nuke that you can throw that will clear the screen (this is the sort of thing I'd expect to see removed for the Japanese version, like in Fallout 3), and there is a way to overflow your health, raising it above 100%.

Also, take note of the production date, 1991. That would have put it during season 3 of the show. The Simpsons is now in season 27. You can tell it's early in the show's life by the fact that Marvin Monroe can be seen in stage 2. He's been officially dead for a very long time.

Fun facts: Check out Marge's hair when she gets electrocuted. She clearly has rabbit ears (a la Life in Hell) hidden in her hair.

There is a surprisingly good Commodore 64 port of this game. I didn't think games were still being made for the C64 in 1991. There was also a port of the game on XBLA and PSN, but for some reason it's not available any more.

Yes, you can pick up the Police car in stage one, but you need at least two players to do it.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/3mZKoejwKOs" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/3mZKoejwKOs</a>

Up next... screw it, I'm saying it anyway. Remember when Konami made good games?

[soguru]

My opinion of Konami has changed. At first it was up up, nowadays it's down down.

[Pak-Man]

Argh! Can't believe I forgot The Simpsons!

Yeah, Konami had a really good run. They had a number of great Arcade beat-em-ups, Castlevania, Gradius, Contra.. Then they forgot their roots.

[soguru]

I still can't believe they never ported the arcade game to the SNES. Instead, we got some really quality Simpsons games like Bart's nightmare, The Itchy and Scratchy Game, and Virtual Bart,.... blech.

[Pak-Man]

I liked parts of Bart's Nightmare...

[soguru]

I liked parts of Bart's Nightmare...

I did too if I'm being totally honest... but overall thought it was disappointing. All the time I played it I was thinking "Why can't I be playing the Simpsons arcade game instead?"

[CJones]

#2 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

91 Points, 5 Lists, Top Vote: #1 Cole Stratton

Production Date: 1989
Manufacturer: Konami

Make that three Konami beat em ups in the top 5.

You could certainly make the case that Turtles in Time is the better game, but there's no denying that TMNT was a landmark in gaming history. Double Dragon had come out just two years prior, and there were lots of mediocre brawlers released around that time, trying to ride on DD's coattails. From that time period, and the years that followed, two companies came to dominate the "brawler" market: Capcom & Konami.

Capcom favored a style similar to Double Dragon, where specific button presses and/or joystick motions had predictable and reliable results. This school of thought led to games like Final Fight, Shadow over Mystara and Alien vs Predator. Konami OTOH favored faster game play, flashier style, and a lot of wailing on the buttons. And before you get the idea that I mean that in a derogatory sense, keep in mind that we're talking about arcade games, games that derive much, if not most, of their appeal from presentation. I remember the first time I saw TMNT. It was awesome. The characters didn't move as if drudging through a quagmire, and just hitting the attack button repeatedly resulted in a whole slew of cool attacks. This school of thought led to games like The Simpsons, Turtles in Time and X-Men.

While I personally favor the Capcom style (and Shadow over Mystara in particular, which no one else voted for ), there's no denying that the Konami games were a hell of a lot of fun to play.

Fun speculation: Someone at Konami really liked Donatello. He was easily the best character in Konami's first TMNT game on the NES, and unless someone knows something I don't, he's the best character in this game as well.

Did you know TMNT was renamed Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe? Apparently the term "Ninja" was deemed too violent for a children's program in the UK. Oh, you did know that.. Well, did you know Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters* is a thing that actually exists. I thought not.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/pjZ0OHIcJpc" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/pjZ0OHIcJpc</a>

Up next, the game that single-handedly revived the arcade scene, yet also heralded its demise.

*Seriously, that is an actual comic book.

[Johnny Unusual]

#2 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

91 Points, 5 Lists, Top Vote: #1 Cole Stratton

One of the all time great arcade games.

Also, April is totally like "Talk to the hand, Shredder."

[Pak-Man]

The Ninja Turtles arcade game made me a fan of the show. Not the other way around. :^)

[soguru]

Not to mention the arcade port to the NES was bloody spectacular. I played it many a time as a young one, jumping, kicking, jump kicking as one of my favorite Turtles... probably Leonardo. Never liked Raphael. Thought he was always a jerk, I guess that kinda goes along with being rude tho...

[ScottotD]

This actually made me flashback to the day I walked into my local video shop and found they'd replaced the game they had with Turtles and losing my mind a little

[soguru]

This actually made me flashback to the day I walked into my local video shop and found they'd replaced the game they had with Turtles and losing my mind a little

That's when Rocksteady comes in, rushes to the nearest bathroom and shouts "SAY YER PRAYEZ, TOILETS!"