Top 10 maze games

While I've been doing these top 10s, I've realised some of my favourite games simply did not belong in any of the lists. Then I realised they they shared their own common theme: they were all maze games. The maze game is genre you don't see as a separate entity any more, in fact with one or two obvious exceptions (such as a certain ghost-hunting yellow blob), maze games like the ones in this list had all but disappeared by the early 90s. These games, though, are true arcade classics.

Boulder Dash

I played the BBC Micro B Boulder Dash clone, Repton,long before I played the original arcade game. Where the BBC game was a relatively slow-paced adventure, the arcade game is fast and punishing.

Bomber Man/Dyna Blaster

Competitive puzzle action does not come much better than Bomber Man — or Dyna Blast as it is also known. Again, the idea is simple: plan bombs blow up the surrounding walls and your opponents. Playing against the CPU is challenging, but playing against three others is a riot.

Dig Dug

Dig Dug, the dragon and weird tomato monster inflating maze game from Namco. It's an all time classic that Namco has pushed out on numerous occasions — which is fine by me, because it's brilliant. The moment when the last monster makes a break for it and the tables are turned is akin to collecting the power pill in Pac-Man, only with a distinct sense of desperation, as you scramble to jab it with your harpoon pump before it gets away. It's also one of a couple of games in this list where music only played when you move, which is not relevant, but it's very endearing. 

Mr Driller

Namco's spiritual successor to Dig Dug, Mr Driller has a far great puzzle element than its predecessor, but it's also more of a maze game, as you battle through the series of multi-coloured blocks, desperately trying to balance scoring as highly as possible with escaping the level. What's interesting about Mr Driller is it's possible to get quite far just drilling down and doing nothing else. However, if you want more points, you have to go for bigger blocks and more chain reactions. That's when the game gets a lot more interesting.

 Burger Time

Data East's Burger Time was one of a handful of food-related games to appear during the 80s. It's also a great maze game, as you control fast food chef, Peter Pepper, along a series of ladders and platforms to assemble truly super-size burgers, all while being pursued by some truly demonic foodstuffs. Seriously, it's brilliant.

Pengo

Pengo might look cute, but that little penguin has no qualms about crushing snow bees (which I'm assuming are very rare) with huge blocks of ice, reshaping the maze around him as as he does so. It's a real cat and mouse game, as you try to simultaneously try crush the monsters, evade their pursuit or simply block their path. 

Mr Do

Mr Do offers a blend of Dig Dug and Pac-Man, as the little wizard tries to collect all of the fruit before the monsters get him. And when the going gets tough, Mr Do can whip out his crystal ball and blast the little buggers out of the way. It's a real risk/reward system, as you then have a few desperate moments running like hell while you wait for your one weapon to regenerate. 

Marble Madness

Marble Madness is one of those games that almost seems out of place in the arcade. Like Lunar Lander, Marble Madness is a little slow and deliberate compared to most arcade games. It is a true classic and the forerunner to games like Kula World and Marble Blast.

Gauntlet

I never played the Dungeons & Dragons board games nor did I read Lord of the Rings (at least not until the Peter Jackson films came out), but I loved the cartoon and fantasy films like Krull, Conan, Beast Master, Hawk the Slayer and all those other cheesy sword and sorcery films of that era. The opening screen for Gauntlet, pictured above, sold me, even if the game itself was rather lacking the graphical process. So until the likes of Golden Axe and Rastan came along Gauntlet was the quintessential fantasy game to play.

Pac-Man series

The Pac-Man series are absolutely arcade royalty and I'm not sure there's a dud in the pack. And what's more the new games, such as Pac-Man Championship Edition are absolutely brilliant. I'm not sure there's anything else to say.

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Classic of the Month - Three Wonders

Manufacturer:	Capcom
Developer:	Capcom
Genre:	Platform/Shoot 'em up/Puzzle
Board:	Capcom CPS-1
Year:	1991

It's my birthday this month, so what's better than one classic? Three classics in one, that's what. Capcom's Three Wonders is precisely that, three games on one board, each selectable from the start screen. There's a platformer called Midnight Wanders, a shoot 'em up called Chariot (both staring elves called Lou and Siva) and a puzzle game called Don't Pull. I've never been sure why they weren't separate machines, as far as I can tell they are all complete enough games in their own right, but I'm not arguing. Let's look at each one in turn.

Midnight Wanders: Quest for the Chariot 

The story to Midnight Wanderers is pretty typical. An evil demon called Gaia has kidnapped Lou and Siva's female friend, Sena, and turned her into a statue. You must take control of Lou (or Siva if you're player 2) to rescue her. Despite the Tolkien whimsy, Midnight Wanderers is actually a run 'n' gun game. If you ever played Contra, Bionic Commando, Ghosts 'n' Goblins or Strider the gameplay will be instantly familiar. Lou and Siva run, jump, climb and blast their way through a beautifully drawn fantasy realm. Like any good run 'n' gun game, Midnight Wanderers provides plenty of power-ups to help you defeat its cast of goblins and demonic flora and fauna. Talking of Ghosts 'n' Goblins, just like Arthur, when Lou or Siva take a hit, all their clothes fall off. 

So Midnight Wanderers really wears its in influences on its sleeve, but it's still a fun little game and just part of what the total game Three Wonders has to offer.

Chariot: Adventure Through the Sky 

Despite being on the same board and a different genre, Chariot is the technically the sequel to Midnight Wanderers. It features the same two elves, only now they're flying the Chariots they acquired at the end of the first game, who are now trying to save a princess who's been kidnapped by Gaia's boss, Lar. As shoot 'em ups go, it plays a lot like Gradius, with the same lush aesthetic as Midnight Wanderers. The Chariots can not only be upgraded, but slowly transformed as you collect power ups. This includes a chain of energy orbs, which behave much like the dragon tail in Dragon Breed or St Dragon.

The game is very stingy, only providing one life. However, by collecting hearts dropped by enemies you can eventually get extra lives. It's an interesting mechanic, but it also makes Chariot very hard.

Don't Pull

Don't Pull is a bit of an odd fit and the weak link in Three Wonders. It's a simple puzzle game, which plays almost identical to Pengo. Instead of Lou and Siva, the players get to control a rabbit called Don and a squirrel called Pull (believe it or not). The object of the game it to crush all of the enemies in the level by pushing (not pulling, let's just make that clear), blocks together. The game starts with the enemies (some of which bear a striking similarity to enemies from other games) jumping up out of sewer grates. If you're quick you can stamp on the grates and stop the enemies from emerging. After that you have to either use the blocks or the limited power-ups on the level. It's a fast paced puzzler and you really have to be on your toes, as you try to avoid destroying blocks or pushing them into positions that will make them inaccessible.

The video below is a monster long play of all three games, played from beginning to end. 90 mins (or there abouts) of classic arcade action. Lovely.

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Worth a Look - April 2013

What new games are coming this month that will tickle the fancies of your average arcade throwback? Let's take a look.

Badland

Developer:	Frog Mind Games
Publisher:	Frog Mind Games
Platforms:	iOS
Price:	Around £3
Demo available:	Unknown

Five years ago, indie game scene was ignited by the release of Jonathan Blow's cerebral platformer Braid. The game started in silhouette, before revealing its lush, oil-painting aesthetic. A few years later, Play Dead Studios released an all silhouette game, Limbo and since then there has been a deluge of (mainly indie) games using the same look. Enter Frog Mind's Badland on iPad and iPhone, a single touch puzzle-platformer where the objective is to get one or moe shadowy fur balls through a fast moving, trap-filled world to the exit tunnel at the end. With power-ups to change the size, shape and physical properties of the fur balls (like making them sticky), it's impressive that Frog Mind has managed to squeeze so many mechanics into a game that only needs one "button".

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I haven't played this yet (I don't own an iOS platform), but from the reviews I've seen, it looks and sounds great. Don't take my word for it, here's AppSpy's review:

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Developer:	NeverRealm Studios
Publisher:	WB Games
Platforms:	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U
Price:	Around $40
Demo available:	Yes/No

I don't know much about comic books, in fact before my little boy started watching the Avengers and Batman: The Bold and the Brave cartoons, I couldn't have told you which super heroes were Marvel and which were DC. What I do know is that after Midway went belly up in 2009, Ed Boon became the creative director of NeverRealm Studios, who developed the 2011 Mortal Kombat game. Now they're giving a host of DC super heroes the NeverRealm treatment with Injustice, a 2D fighting game which wears its Mortal Kombat heritage in plain view on its sleeve. It's more than a MK game with DC characters, it has plenty of its own mechanics, as well as borrowing a few from other games. Along with over the top super that look more like a summon from Final Fantasy, it also features transitional stages (a la Dead or Alive) and interactive backgrounds that can be used to attack your opponent. Fighting games fans are sure to enjoy this one.

Sacred Citadel

Developer:	Southend
Publisher:	Deep Silver
Platforms:	XBLA/PS3/PC
Price:	Around £12.99
Demo available:	Yes

While I'm not familiar with the Sacred RPGs, I understand that this spin off is nothing like them and instead plays more like Sega's classic Golden Axe. The game's story is as cliché has they come, as is the choice of a warrior, ranger, mage or shaman, but there's something about its blend of hack 'n' slash and RPG that I find appealing. It has a pleasing, water-colour aesthetic and music that is bound to remind you of some classic arcade games. It isn't getting amazing reviews, but if you fancy something akin to Golden Axe that you can play with your mates over the internet, then for £10 you can probably get a decent couple of hours entertainment out of Sacred Citadel.

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Top 10 driving games

I'm not the biggest fan of driving games, but I do love a good arcade driving game. Here are my 10 favourites.

Super Sprint

Atari's Sprint is the grandaddy of top-down racers, inspiring countless clones and sequels alike. In 1986 Atari release two such sequels, Super Sprint and Championship Sprint. There's little to separate the two games, but Super Sprint is the one I remember most fondly.

Ridge Racer

In the mid-90s, sprites started to give way to polygons and one of the games that spear headed that revolution was this street racer from Namco. The tight, winding tracks through cities and along mountain sides were like nothing arcade gamers had seen before. It was exhilerating and it inspired clones on every platform going.

Chase HQ

If all the other games on this list were about driving, Chase HQ was about driving down criminals — for justice! Ahem, anyway Taito's Chase HQ was a genre defining game that combined racing with demolition derby and the kind of heroic action normally associated with action adventure games. Brilliant.

Hang-On

The Pole Position of bike racing, Sega's Hang-On was fast and exhilarating. And it made you feel like Barry Sheen to straddle the big plastic bike, even if you couldn't reach the floor.

"Iron Man" Ivan  Stewart's Super Off Road Racer

Us Brits had no idea who "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart was, but we did know that Sprint clone, Super Off Road, was a riotous racing game. You did not so much control your little off road racer as will it around the twisty, uneven track, as you spin the stirring wheel around frantically. Somehow, that was all part of the fun.

Manx TT Super Bike

Sega's Max TT did for motorbike racing what Ridge Racer did for car racing. I can't say how accurately the track emulated the narrow, winding streets of the Isle of Man, but it was everything Hang-On was and more.

Hard Drivin'

Hard Drivin' is a game my brother excelled at, but I could not play Hard Drivin' to save my life.  At the time of its release, it felt like a proper driving simulator, because he had a clutch and a proper 5 gate gear stick.  Looking back now it's has not aged well at all; the primative polygonal graphics are incredibly slow.  Compared to sprite-based driving games from the same era, Hard Driving is ponderous.  Nonetheless, in its hay day it was a game that really separated the men from the boys.

Mario Kart Arcade GP/GP2

Released between the Mario Kart: Double Dash on GameCube and Mario Kart Wii, the Arcade GP games have everything you'd expect from a Mario Kart game, but in an arcade machine. The game also features Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man and a red ghost. It also features a camera, so each of the four players can be super imposed into character cards, as can be seen in the pictures. It's a little touch that gives the arcade versions of this long running series something above the home and arcade versions.

OutRun 2

The original OutRun holds a dear place in so many arcade gamers' hearts, but the oft-forgotten sequel is the real gem in the series. Released in the mid-2000s, OutRun 2 added a brilliant drift mechanic that outshone even Ridge Racer. A skilled player can balance drifting to maximise their speed as they flow around the corners. A perfect drift is one of those truly special gaming moments.

Sega Rally

Another superb racer from Sega. I played this one when I was doing my degree. A lot of my student grant was spent on this machine — in fact I don't think I've spent as much on any other driving game in the arcade. The simple co-driver instructions were vital to success and it added that extra dimension that other racing games did not have. Quite simply, I've yet to find another rally game that I've enjoyed much as this classic.

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Now that's how to play classic games

I remember about 15 years ago, Nottingham indie cinema Broadway putting the PlayStation version of Tekken 2 on their big screen, but this (posted by one of my favourite websites, GamesYouLoved.com, on their Facebook page) is something else. This is the Super Nintendo version of Street Fighter 2 (probably the best conversion of the classic arcade game at the time) and the original Super Mario Bros playing on the IMAX screen at BFI in London. Absolutely incredible stuff.

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Classic of the Month - Spy Hunter

Manufacturer:	Bally Midway
Developer:	Bally Midway
Genre:	Vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
Board:	Bespoke
Year:	1983

Dum-dum-dum-dum-dedede-dum-dum  dum-dum-dum-dum-dedede-dum-dum woah-wow woah-wowow. Wow wow wow wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wow wow wow wow wow. I almost feel like I could end this month's CotM right there, because anybody who played this spy game will know precisely where I'm coming from. Arcade games are full of funky, addictive little ditties, but Spy Hunter brought the A-game with its chip tunes version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme".

The game itself was undoubtedly inspired by every car chase in every spy and cop film going. The game presented the car chases from a top-down, vertically scrolling view. Your mission was to chase down enemy agents in the G-6155 Inceptor, a spy car worthy of James Bond himself. The car on the cabinet artwork was based on the  Mercedes-Benz CW311/Isdera Imperator 108i and looked every bit like the kind of futuristic super car a Hollywood spy would drive. Unfortunately the sprite in the game did not match the artwork at all, but this was 1983, so I'll give Bally Midway a break — this time.

The similarities between the G-6155 and the CW311/Imperator are undeniable.

The enemies came at you in a variety of cars, some just ramming you, others armed with guns and spiked wheels and a whole lot more. Thankfully, the G-6155 can be kitted out with all classic spy car weapons. To begin with you just get machine guns, but periodically the button in the middle of the steering wheel would flashing, informing you that you could call the Weapons Van for a random upgrade. This could be a smoke screen, an oil slick or missiles even missiles. Both the upright cabinet (pictured right) and the cockpit version featured a button for each weapon, so you could stockpile them if you wanted. In fact not only was there a button for each weapon and one to call the Weapons Van, there was also an accelerator, a gear stick and of course a steering wheel. All of which actually made Spy Hunter one of the more complex machines around in 1983. It was fast too; only the best reflexes could cope with driving in high gear.

As you raced up the screen there would be branching pathways, leading to different environments. Eventually you would see sliproads leading to boat shacks. Drive through them and your car would transform into a jet boat (or rather the car sprite would swap while you were in the shed). You'd then have to do battle on the water, until the shore led to another shed that would transform you back into a car.

Between the brilliant cabinet art, the music and, of course, the G-6155 itself, it was an evocative game to play and more than worthy of being called a classic.

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Worth a Look - March 2013

What's in this month's Worth a Look? A whole bunch of stuff, the biggest yet, in fact, with a bit of Star Wars in the form of pinball, top-down arcade racer, a sequel to a modern classic and a faux retro puzzle that will challenge even the most hardened arcade throwback and the official sequel to the most famous rip-off in gaming history.

Star Wars pinball

Developer:	Zen Studios
Publisher:	LucasArts
Platforms:	Android/iOS/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
Price:	£1.32 - £6.99 (800MSP)
Demo available:	Yes

After Far Sight Studio's series of emulated pinball classics, Zen Studio's Zen Pinball/Pinball FX series is best video pinbal game around. While I would never say their designs are quite up to the legends behind the tables in Arcade Pinball, they do make some cracking pin games. Now they've turned their attention to Disney's latest acquisition — Star Wars. There are three tables in the pack, Empire Strikes Back, Clone Wars and everyone's favourite masked bounty hunter, Boba Fett. If you (still) like Star Wars and you like pinball, you probably don't need to know any more than that.

Bit.Trip Runner 2

Developer:	Gaijin Games
Publisher:	Gaijin Games
Platforms:	PlayStation 3/Xbox Live Arcade
Price:	£10.99 (1200MSP)
Demo available:	Yes

Gaijin's Bit.Trip series are wonderful celebrations of gaming origins and now there's a sequel to the one of the best in the series, Bit.Trup Runner. However, the Atari 2600-looking aesthetic has gone, in favour of something more modern, whilst still hinting at its retro origins. If I'm honest I prefer the original look, but this is still a cracking rhythm puzzle game. Whether it's worth a tenner is a different question entirely.

WRC Powerslide

Developer:	Milestone
Publisher:	Milestone
Platforms:	PlayStation 3 PSN/Xbox Live Arcade
Price:	£10.99/1200MSP
Demo available:	Yes

Milestone's WRC series may be the offical rally game of the FIA World Rally Championship, but it's always played second fiddle to Codemasters' Colin McRae/Dirt series. However, with this downloadable only spin-off Milestone are channelling Super Sprint, Micro Machines and many other classic top down racers. The game appears to use the same engine as the main series, so it has all the same physics for (unsurprisingly) power sliding and also bashing up the car models. Add a few friends and you've got one rowdy, rip-roaring racer.

Gem Chaser

Developer:	Electric Wolf
Publisher:	Electric Wolf
Platforms:	Xbox Live Indie Games
Price:	67p (80 MSP)
Demo available:	Yes

Having worked in the games industry for a few years means I'm friends with a number of bedroom developers, like the family behind Electric Wolf. They've been pretty prolific over the past few months, with each game improving on their last. Gem Chaser is their latest and by far their most challenging. The premise is simple, collect the gems that match the colour of Gem Chaser, which can be altered by jumping through colour changing portals. With strict time limits and devilish level design that means you absolutely must take the optimum path, this is definitely one for the more masochistic. Warning though, addiction will kick in way before frustration.

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams

Developer:	Black Forest Games
Publisher:	Black Forest Games
Platforms:	PC/PlayStaton 3/Xbox Live Arcade
Price:	£10.99
Demo available:	Yes/No

Back in the mid-80s, a group of guys calling themselves Time Warp Productions, produced a platforming game called The Great Giana Sisters. It was a blatant rip-off of Super Mario Bros, right down to level design, and Nintendo were quick to bury it. However, 22 years later they resurrected it for the Nintendo DS and now, another 4 years later Black Forest Games have released this truly gorgeous sequel. This is up there with Trine and Rayman Origins as one of the most beautiful-looking platformers ever. Thankfully the gameplay is pretty nifty too and features a light/dark world mechanic that sees level geometry change as you flip between one world and the other. There's not enough of this sort of game on the PC or Xbox 360, so platforming fans owe it to themselves to check it out.

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