Movie review: Pixels

Hollywood made a movie about classic arcade game characters and I write a blog about classic arcade games, so I had to review Happy Madison Production's new flick Pixels, whether I wanted to or not.

Anybody who calls themselves a gamer, anybody who grew up in the 80s and anybody with kids under 12 will have had Pixels on their radar for the last few months, and the trailers show you everything you need to know about the film. In 1982, NASA sent a probe out into space that contained, among other things, footage of several hit arcade games. Decades later, a race of aliens find this footage and take it to be an act of war. So they launch an attack on Earth using that very same footage as the inspiration for their weapons of mass destruction. Cue Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Galaga, Centipede, Arkanoid and a whole host of other classic sprites tearing up city streets around the world as giant, voxel monsters, while Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Michelle Monaghan try to stop them.

Galaga kicks things off by attacking an air base

The movie actually starts in 1982, with young friends Sam Brenner and Will Cooper heading to a newly opened arcade on their BMXs to check out the hottest games. Sam, it seems, is a natural, able to spot the patterns that were intrinsic to games of that era and exploit them. Such are his skills, that he and Will enter a national arcade competition, where the pair meet the even younger Ludlow "Wonder Kid" Lamonsoff and the devious Eddie "Fire Blaster" Plant. And this, it turns out, is the source of the ill-fated footage that NASA sends out into space.

Fast forward 30 years and Sam (Adam Sandler) is now a divorced 40-something, installing TVs for a living, despite his promise as a youth, while his chubby best friend Will (Kevin James) is the freakin' president of the freakin' United freakin' States of freakin' America! The only possible explanation for this is that it puts both characters in positions that allow them to be involved in the ensuing chaos. Enter also Violet van Patten (Michelle Monaghan), a hot single mom who's also happens to be a Lieutenant Colonel and weapons specialist. Sam and Violet cross paths when he is sent to her house to set up a new TV and PS4 for her son. Naturally, there is a clash of personalities, with an undertone of attraction, as you might expect from a film like this.

When a US military base is attacked by unknown forces, capable of rendering people, hardware and buildings to little glowing cubes, President Cooper brings both his friend and the Lieutenant Colonel on-board as advisors. On studying footage from the attack, Cooper has a hunch that the aggressor's formation resembles that of the aliens in the Namco classic Galaga and he wants his friend to confirm or deny his suspicions. It's around this time that an adult Ludlow (Josh Gad) is brought into the picture as a "typical gamer", i.e. a 38 year-old virgin, living with his gran, obsessing over fantasy female characters, namely Lady Lisa from Dojo Quest. This is the only non-authentic video game and character portrayed in the movie and also the only circa 1982 video game character to appear as flesh and blood, rather than a bunch of primary-coloured cubes, because bewbs! As well as being a true-to-life representation of us gamers [insert sarcasm here], Ludlow is also a conspiracy nut, who already knows about the invasion and has come to the same conclusion as Sam and POTUS Will.

The Arcaders, Lieutenant Colonel Violet, Sam, Wonder Kid and Fire Blaster.

The aliens then reveal themselves through a montage of 80s icons, such as Madonna and Fantasy Island's Mr. Roarke and Tattoo to throw down the gauntlet to planet Earth. Each side gets three chances or lives, if you will, in a series of battles based on the games contained in the space probe. Only, Sandler and crew had already lost two rounds before anybody had figured out WTF was going off, so the next battle is an all or nothing fight in Hyde Park, London. Here the aliens attack using the Atari classic Centipede. Armed with "light cannons" (developed by van Patten's team), Sam, Ludlow and a bunch of US soldiers battle the Centipede through the streets of London and Earth gains its first victory. The story then continues with a giant game of Pac-Man through the streets of New York. It's at this point that the team break Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) out of jail to help with the fight, because he was the world's best Pac-Man player. It's a decision that costs them later, as Eddie is not to be trusted. Things soon escalate, with a chaotic showdown that doubles-up as a who's who of classic arcade gaming. In terms of plot, there are no surprises, but did you really think there would be?

The Centipede scenes are genuinely great

Pixels has been mauled by both movie critics and the gaming press alike, but I will say this: the Centipede and Pac-Man scenes are intense and authentic, right down to the movement patterns, rules and colour schemes for each wave. By the end of Centipede battle, I had a big smile on my face and I was willing to go along with Sandler and co for the ride. To be fair, this is probably the highlight of the entire film, but throughout Pixels does do justice to its source material. But there are problems, not just with its cookie cutter plot and characterisation, but also its portrayal of women; they are shown as being either pretty and insubstantial or simply prizes for the men to win. There are other problems too; Sandler and James seem uninterested in the proceedings and Dinklage has very little to work with, other than being a sneaky, diminutive Billy Mitchell look-a-like. Gad's character, on the other hand, is very muddled, alternating between being so obsessed with Lady Lisa that he has written and published his own book on how she could be real, to lusting after the muscular soldiers and touching their asses (as the Americans say) whenever he can. Michelle Monaghan's character is also ill-defined. At one moment she is a strong, confident woman who can hold her own with the big boys and the next she's reduced to crying and drinking in a cupboard because her husband has dumped her for a 19 year-old bimbo. We can only assume the speed at which she falls for Sandler is a classic case of rebound. The movie also wastes the talents of Jane Krakowski, who plays Will Copper's wife and is therefore First Lady, Brian Cox, who plays a typical crotchety US army general and Sean Bean, who plays a British commando who gets shown up by Sandler when the chips are down.

Verdict

Despite all this, I must confess to enjoying the film. There is no denying I got off on all the obscure gaming references and it was great to see Q*Bert getting another moment in the spotlight (he also appeared in 2012's Wreck-It Ralph). I will also admit to laughing from time to time too, but then this is only my fifth Sandler movie (the previous ones being Eight Crazy Nights, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy and Airheads — yep, they are really the only ones I've seen), so his schtick is still relatively new to me. I also got a strong Ghostbusters vibe from this movie, although I won't pretend it's in the same league as the original. They both have a group of no-hopers in jump suits trying to save the world from forces they don't really understand, they both feature futuristic, bespoke guns, designed to deal only with the enemy at hand and the pixel monsters can be likened to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. My kids (who are 5 and 9) loved it too and the only video game characters they knew were Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Frogger. So as someone who has had to suffer such kid-friendly dross as the Nativity movies, the Tinkerbell movies and Post-Man Pat: The Movie, Pixels really did not seem all that bad. In fact, I'd happily watch it again and if I had to chose just one kids movie to see this summer, I would chose Pixels over Minions every time. Yes, I really did say that.
However, if you're a big gamer who wishes the medium was treated with more dignity or your're an adult with no interest in video games, you probably won't enjoy this movie at all.

MTW

P.S. They actually made an 8-bit mobile game of Dojo Quest, which is available for free on iOS and Android.

Love letter to a generation

I want to talk about what I genuinely believe has been the greatest generation of gaming there has ever been - and no, this is not another overwrote trip down Memory Lane where I harp on about arcades. This article is about the last generation of games machines, the generation which, with the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this month, is finally entering retirement.

While I'm far from the oldest gamer around, at 38 I am still an old gamer. I'm old enough to remember the halcyon days of the 8-bit generation, the dawn of 16-bit generation and the sense of wonder that came with the first polygonal graphics. I started out on an old Pong clone, which featured two paddle controllers, five game modes and that's it! I "progressed" from that to an Atari 2600, then an Acorn Electron, then a Sega Master System, then a Commodore Amiga, then on to a PlayStation, an N64, a PC (with all the upgrading jiggery-pokery that goes with PC gaming), a Dreamcast, a PlayStation 2 and a GameCube combo, and I currently own a Wii and Xbox 360, with a smattering of PC gaming via Steam. I've owned GameBoys of all generations, as well as a Neo Geo Pocket and now get my mobile gaming kicks on my Sony Xperia phone. I was there when arcades ruled gaming and I rue the fact I did not realise they were fading into obsolescence until it was too late. I spent a number of years working in the industry for one of the UK's oldest developers, only to see them falter and fold under the mounting development costs of the last generation. What I'm saying is, when it comes to gaming, I've pretty much seen it all. So believe me when I say this past generation, the generation of the online console, DLC, motion gaming and indy games, has been the greatest generation in gaming history. Let's have a look at what's been going on since launch of the first last gen console.

Ex-Box

In 2001 Microsoft entered the console market with the Xbox, a vast black leviathan of a games machine with an equally vast controller, nicknamed "The Duke". The console was moderately successful, with Halo proving to be one of the most important games of the whole generation, but the Xbox was no where near as popular as its main rival, the PlayStation 2. Nonetheless, I think we were all surprised when Microsoft promptly replaced it, a mere 4 years later. That replacement was the Xbox 360, followed a year later by Sony's new console, the predictably named PlayStation 3. Little did anyone realise at the time just how different things were going to be this time around.

The first Xbox, not to be confused with the Xbox One.

High definition and online gaming

The mid-2000s saw the popularisation of two technologies that were crucial for getting the most out of the 360 and PS3: HDTVs and broadband internet. Suddenly, home consoles could offer the kind of high quality visuals and intense online competitive play which had previously been the preserve of PC gaming only. Both consoles had their fair share of brilliant online games, such as Forza 2 and Gears of War on the 360 and Killzone 2 and Resistance: Fall of Man on PS3, but it was a game that was available on both systems that really elevated online console gaming. That game, if you hadn't guessed, was Infinity Ward's sublime, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. From the moment we saw the ghilly suit and perks trailers, we knew this was going to be great, but we had no idea it would pretty much take over the gaming world, with people who might otherwise not even call themselves gamers buying consoles and playing nothing but Call of Duty.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was probably the most important
game of the generation.

But online gaming didn't just mean multiplayer, it also offered companies the opportunity to flog us Downloadable Content, or DLC for short. Some of this stuff genuinely added to the gaming experience, things like additional level packs, weapons and vehicles, but some of it was trash (the horse armour for Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion epitomised this kind of virtual racketeering)! It also allowed companies to push patches for their games, which lead to the unfortunate situation where games would ship needing to be patched right out of the box. The other controversial thing online consoles allowed companies to do was charge for content that was actually shipped on the disc . This had people incensed, although the idea of licensed software was not anything new, it was just new to video games; operating systems and software suites have been doing the same thing for years.

Motion gaming explosion

While Microsoft and Sony were winning over hardcore gamers, Nintendo, in a way that only Nintendo could pull off, won over non-gamers with something completely different. Technologically, the Wii console was years behind the 360 and PS3, but its use of motion based gaming as the central control method opened up the hobby to millions of people, from young children to mothers looking to do some exercise to old folks who had never previously even used a computer. For many people, the only games they needed on the Wii were Wii Sports, which was bundled with the console, and Wii Fit, complete with its high tech scales known as the balance board. Nonetheless, the console went on to ship over 100 million units - more than either of its HD rivals.

PlayStation Move is probably the best motion controller of them all.

Of course Microsoft or Sony could not allow Nintendo to corner such a significant part of the market and so in 2010 Sony launched their own version of the Wii-mote called the PlayStation Move and Microsoft launched their controller-free answer, the Kinect sensor. Neither proved to be as popular as Nintendo's console and for many hardcore console gamers these devices were an affront to everything the 360 and PS3 stood for.

Rise of the indies

Something else significant happened during the last generation. In stark contrast to the rising budgets and increasingly cinematic feel of games such as Uncharted, Heavy Rain and Mass Effect, small and independent studios started to attract the attention of the gaming press. Figures such as Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish and Markus "Notch" Persson created imaginative, alternative games that formed the foundation for the indie dev scene (which was also the former name and focus of this very blog). With the success of Minecraft and rave reviews Braid received, small developers started springing up everywhere. And thanks to the popularity of iPhones and Android phones, these developers found audiences everywhere.

These days I don't have much time to play games and so I love all the little gems that are out there. The other thing about the indie dev scene is that they tend to make games with a retro aesthetic. For many this was done to cut costs, but it soon became fashionable and despite the HD capabilities of the modern consoles, it was no longer a crime to show your pixels.

(Clockwise from top-left): Minecraft, Braid, Fez and Super Meat Boy,
four of the most influential indie games over the past 5 years.

More than just a games machine

Just as mobile phones have become smart phones, with more power than most PCs had back in 2005, so too have consoles grown to become more than just games machines. These days people are just as likely to use their consoles to play DVDs and Blu-Rays or use one of the many media streaming services, such as Netflix or the BBC iPlayer to stream movies, TV series and even live events! I actually have friends who only use their consoles for this, because they can do such a good job of it (especially the PS3). 

Who needs Sky or Virgin Media?

My highlights

I wouldn't be writing this article if I didn't have lots of highlights, some of which I have spoken about already in So you don't like modern games? Aside from what I talked about in that article, other highlights have included the rise of the indie scene, with many of my favourite games costing less that £15 quid. Fez is such a beautiful, ingenious game that it makes me feel sad for people who don't play games. I've also loved the renewed popularity of pinball, thanks to Zen Studios and Far Sight Studios. I own versions of their tables on my phone, my PC (via Steam) and my 360 and I'm constantly dabbling with them. Other highlights have been little things like cable-free controllers (once I wised up and bought a load of rechargeable AAs). But if I had to pick just one franchise that has thrilled and enthralled me the most, it would be Bioware's Mass Effect. For me this series encapsulates everything that was great about this generation.

I've probably thrown myself harder into this generation than any other during my adult life, but despite that there are a number of big gaps in my gaming career over the past 8 years. Most notably, I've not played any of the Assassin's Creed games. I thought the original looked great, but it came out in 2007, same as COD4, Mass Effect, Portal, Guitar Hero III, Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted, so something had to give. And because I no longer own a PS3, I haven't had the chance to play Last of Us, a stunning example of just how powerful and progressive modern games have become.

The new generation

I'm not one for early adoption, not least because early games are often poor, but also because I take a long time to get through games; I still have a considerable stack of 360 and Wii games to finish. Deciding which console to buy is always tricky. Last time around the decision was made for me, because I won my 360 in a competition and my Wii came with a phone contract. I did briefly own a PS3, but at the time there were not many exclusive games and Sony's online services did not compare well to Microsoft's, so I sold it (sorry, Sony fans). 

In some ways, as games machines get closer to one another, as the PS4 and Xbox One undoubtedly are, it actually gets harder to decide. Back in the days of the MegaDrive vs SNES, both machines had loads of exclusives, so which ever you chose you were going to get a pretty distinct experience, but the Xbox One and PS4 will only have a handful of exclusives, with only a few games on either machine to sway your decision one way or the other. I really like the look of the Xbox One and of all the next gen games I've seen Titanfall interests me the most, but... after 6 years of intensive gaming on the Microsoft machine, I fancy a change of scenery, so I'm being pulled towards the PS4. However, there is a new player coming next year, one who's service I already use and like a lot more than either Sony's or Microsoft's, so who knows.

One thing's for sure: I've been gaming for over 30 years and with how busy I am at work, it's about the only hobby I have left, so whatever happens, I'm not going to quit now.

MTW

Top 10 sports games

It's a scorching summer here in the UK, so it seemed like the perfect time to talk about Arcade Throwback's top 10 sports games.

Track & Field/Hyper Sports

Here I go, starting the show with a show stopper! Konami's Track & Field series is legendary and there are more games in the series than most people remember. In 1984, a year after Track & Field, there was Hyper Sports, which is the first one I played. Then there was Konami '88, International Track & Field (1996) and Negano Winter Olympics '98, as well as numerous spin-offs on home consoles. For most people, myself included, it's those first two games, that kick started the whole button mashing sports genre, that really stay with us. 

Tecmo World Cup '90

There were no football fans in my family, so first time I got into the beautiful game was during Italia '90, when I was 15. And what England fan didn't caught up in the moment when Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne's emotions got the better of him during our semi-final game against Germany? Even my mum watched it! Anyway, the football game to play that summer was Tecmo's World Cup '90. The simple controls made for a fast paced game that anyone could pick up and play and it remains one of my favourite video game interpretations of the sport.

F1 Grand Prix

Video System Co. Ltd's F1 Grand Prix could have gone in my top 10 driving games, but as one of the few properly licenced arcade racers I could remember, I thought I'd save this excellent top-down racer for the sports list. The game features all the teams and drivers from the early 90s, including such legends as Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and of course Ayrton Senna, all beautifully drawn and instantly recognisable. And while F1 begs to be made into simulators as opposed to arcade games, the top-down perspective works brilliantly, like a helicopter cam, letting you get a birds-eye view of all the jostling for position.

Side Pocket

If there was one sport that was on the telly in my house as a kid, it was snooker. I can't remember any snooker games in the arcades, but there were a few pool games, many of which came from Data East, including the dubious Pool Gal series. However, Side Pocket is the game I remember from the arcades I visited. With its top-down view, the mechanics were greatly simplified, but as always that suited the arcade.

Punch-Out!!

Nintendo's Punch-Out!! is perhaps better known for the NES and Super NES versions, but it did start out in the arcade in 1984. I remember it being a technically impressive game for the time, with the player's green-haired character (later known as Little Mac) appearing as a transparent wireframe model, so that you could get a better view of your opponent. And what a cast of characters they were! Glass Joe, Piston Hurricane, Dragon Chan, they were all brilliantly drawn and full of personality. The simply controls provided enough variety that you didn't just mash the buttons and the opponents' combinations of attacks, blocks and feints kept you on your toes. Nintendo resurrected the franchise in 2009 on the Wii and it's a brilliant update of the game.

Wind Jammers

You can look at SNK's Wind Jammers one of two ways: either you can disregard it because its a made-up sport or you can play it and enjoy one of the best one-on-one video games ever! The premise is simple, mix a little tennis and squash, but played with frisbees and add in special movies that wouldn't look out of place in a King of Fighters game. This is definitely one of those games that's easy to pick up, but very hard to master. Doing the special's is easy enough, but countering your opponent's specials and send them back at him with deadly force is much harder and also much more satifying.

Pigskin 621AD

Okay, if you thought I was pushing my luck with WWF Super Stars, you'll think I'm way over the line with Pigskin 621AD, but you won't deny it's a riot to play! This crazy medieval version of American football is almost as much a beat 'em up as a sports game. The field is also full of traps, like ponds, muddy puddles and boulders, which prevent you from zig-zagging wildly down the field in an attempt to avoid being clobbered by a mace-wielding warrior-jock. Unlike many other football games, you only control one player, the team captain, Thor Akenbak, but you can control the tactics (in a basic way) of your team mates by pressing the red button. When the player's team is in possession of the ball you can swap between "Block" and "Scatter", and when your opponents have the ball you can swap between "Get Ball" and "Man-to-Man". In either situation you can also set your team to free-for-all by selecting "Bad Attitude" — assuming you have enough time to think that far ahead in all the chaos!

Hit the Ice

Ice hockey is fast and frequently violent and so it's perfect for translation to video game. Few versions of the sport are as manic as Taito and William's Hit the Ice. Take control of a goalie and one member of either the Reds or the Blues, then skate, pass, shoot and, if need be, punch your way up the rink to score a slot shot. There are plenty of quite serious ice hockey games out there, but Hit the Ice is a bit like Pigskin in that it takes neither itself nor the sport it's based on too seriously. The result is a game that's full of comedic violence, like hitting your opponents in the head with the puck and making them see stars.  

Virtua Tennis

When it comes to tennis, us Brits have never had so much to celebrate, with Andy Murray winning just about every grand slam he enters and several young stars, like Laura Robson, doing us proud as well. For gamers, there is no finer tennis game than Sega's Virtua Tennis series, which was developed for their Naomi system (which shared its guts with the Dreamcast console). The game manages to be both accessible and authentic in equal measure, allowing players to feel like they could take on the grass courts of Wimbledon as well.

Neo Turf Masters

All the other games in this list are based on fast, action-oriented sports, but Nazca's Neo Turf Masters for the SNK Neo Geo masterfully adapts the sedentary pace of golf to the rapid-fire world of arcade gaming, without sacrificing the core elements of the sport. For lives you get a strict stroke limit, meaning that you can only progress if you can stay under par, meaning you can be facing the game over screen as quickly in this game as any other in this list. And thank God for one of my school mates showing me Microprose Golf on the Commodore Amiga back in the early '90s, because otherwise I might have totally overlooked this gem, which remains one of my all time favourite arcade games.

MTW

Top 10 platformers

They're usually cute and almost always fun, this month's Top 10 is all about platformers. It's a genre that doesn't get much love these days, but in the 80s and 90s it was a giant. Believe, cutting this down to 10 has been tough!

Donkey Kong

Before Mario was Mario, he was Jump Man and before he was saving Princess Peach from Bowser, he was rescuing his ex Pauline from the simian grasp of Donkey Kong atop what appears to be a half-finished building. This single-screen platformer was the real start of Nintendo's rise to power and it's still a brilliant game to play today.

Wonder Boy

Before Sonic and even before Alex Kidd, Sega's platform hero was Wonder Boy. Later games ventured into action role-playing territory, but this first game had the sense of speed and timing the later Sonic games would become famous for.

Rod Land

On the face of it, I have no business liking Rod Land, as it's not just cutesy, it's positively girlie, but I can explain myself. Firstly, much of my time spent in arcade was also spent with my niece, who's 5 years younger than me. One of the games we used to play was Rod Land, as it had a good two-player co-op mode; secondly, there's nothing cute about the way Tam and Rit batter monsters. If you've never played this game before, I'll sum up your attack with two words: wand suplex!

Ghosts 'n' Goblins/Ghouls 'n' Ghosts

I'm cheating here by including Ghosts 'n' Goblins and the sequel Ghouls 'n' Ghosts together. That's mainly because I can happily swap between the two, but also because in the middle of the action, it's difficult to tell them apart. As a kid, I was attracted to these games as much because you ended up in your pants when you took damage — a gimmick that remained in the sublime Maximo games for the PlayStation 2.

Bomb Jack

I almost put Bomb Jack in the Top 10 Puzzle Games article, because this single-screen platformer has the same element of quick thinking strategy as many puzzle games. Whichever genre to pigeon hole it, Bomb Jack is a fast and fun little game that I don't think gets the props it deserves.

Toki

I first played Toki on the Amiga (I think it was a free gift with a subscription to Zero magazine), but it was originally an arcade game. It may not be the most well known platform game out there, but I have fond memories of playing it.

Mr Do's Castle

Let's be honest, in the case of a lot of arcade games it was difficult to really tell one game in a series from the other. The fact I often put whole series in as one entry in a top 10 (a la Ghosts 'n' Goblins and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts above) is proof of this. Then you get a game like Mr Do's Castle, Universal's sequel to the 1982 classic Mr Do, which appear in my top 10 maze games a month ago. The game didn't just change mechanics, it changed genre! To be honest, Mr Do's Castle is a remake of Universal's 1980 title Space Panic, but things had come a long way in those three years. MDC not only looks better, it plays better too. This is also much more than a platformer, it's also one of the best puzzle games out there too.

Bubble Bobble

First, OMFG how cute is Bubble Bobble? This adorable single-screen platformer inspired a wide-ranging series of sequels and spin-offs, some of which have appeared in this and other Arcade Throwback Top 10s.

Rainbow Island

This sequel to Bubble Bobble actually bears almost no resemblance to the original game, but the rainbow climbing mechanic and vertical platforming also set it apart from other games in the genre. For me, this is one of the most intelligent and downright playable platformers going.

New Zealand Story

I have a deep love for New Zealand Story. I can't really explain why, I just think it's brilliant. That little kiwi sure knows how to kick ass and with maze-like levels, strange forms or transport and some even stranger animal boss fights, this game kept me enthralled for years.

MTW

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.

MTW

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.

MTW

Top 10 puzzle games

One of my favourite genres is puzzle games. There have been some great ones over the years, with a couple of the very best starting in the arcade. Here's my list of my 10 favourite arcade puzzle games.

Check Man

My introduction to this little known game was actually via a clone on the BBC Micro B called Danger UXB; it's thanks to MAME that I got to play the original. The whole point is to collect the bombs before their timers run out. The catch, and with it the puzzle element, is that you can only walk on the tiles, which disappear after you step on them. It sounds simple, but it's pure pleasure.

Klax

This match three game sets itself apart from the pack by allowing the player to stack up tiles on the collector and drop them at will. However, take too long and tiles will somersault down the play field and off the screen. This is Klax's risk-reward system, whereby the ability to catch tiles before placing them can become a burden that makes you lose the game.

Magical Drop series

The first Magical Drop was released with barely anybody noticing. When the sequel was released on SNK's Neo Geo MVS machine, its popularity soared. I was introducted to the series via a clone, Astro Pop on Xbox Live Arcade, but having since played the second and third games, I prefer the original series.

Columns series

Another matching game, based on grouping coloured gems that cascade down the screen. The play can move the gems and also cycle their positions, always keeping them in a "column".  Columns may not be the most addictive puzzle game around, but it is as close as Sega came to having a Tetris of its own.

Puzz Loop

While you may never have heard of Puzz Loop, you will probably have played its biggest copy cat, Pop Cap's Zuma series. Swap the Mayan frog for a marble launching cannon and you have exactly the same match-three action.

Q*Bert

I'm not 100% certain, but Q*Bert may have been the first puzzle game I ever played. You can get into an almost zen-like state as you hop from cube to cube to change their colour. Gameplay-wise, Q*Bert is similar to Amidar, but Q*Bert was better looking and more elegant. In the world of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph, Q*Bert may be an abandoned game that nobody remembers, but not here on Arcade Throwback!

Dr Mario

One of my favourite puzzle games of all time is technically not an arcade game, because it came out on the Nintendo NES console, however, Nintendo released a cabinet based on the NES called Play Choice 10 and so Dr Mario was available in the arcade in certain versions of that unit. Phew. Not only is Dr Mario a brilliant puzzler, it's also incredibly challenging.

Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move

Can you believe there are people out there who have played several Puzzle Bobble games, with no clue about the platform game that gave birth to it? It would be sad if Puzzle Bobble — AKA Bust-A-Move — wasn't such a brilliant and adorable game. This is the grand daddy of all match three games and few have bettered it.

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo

I said competitive puzzle action doesn't get much better than Bomber Man, but if any game could threaten that claim it's this from Capcom. I have no idea why it's part of the Street Fighter series, because in some ways it overshadows how brilliant a puzzle game this is. 

Tetris

Tetris is up there with Pac-Man and Space Invaders as one of those games that everybody has played, but in the case of Alexey Pajitnov's classic puzzle game, most people will have played it on a home machine or portable device of some kind. However, there were several arcade versions of this perfect puzzle game, my favourite of which is Atari's, which had a great two-player head to head mode and multiple difficulties.

MTW