Category Archives: Arcade

Arcade, General Computer Corporation, Midway

Ms. Pac-Man, Arcade

3 Comments

The 1982 sequel to the smash hit Pac-Man originally started out as a third party modification kit for Pac-Man machines, developed by General Computer Corporation, and called ‘Crazy Otto‘.

After legal action from Atari, GCC was forced to present Crazy Otto to Midway, the North American distributor of Pac-Man, who bought the game and developed it into Ms. Pac-Man.

Further complicating the story, apparently Midway did this without Pac-Man‘s original owner Namco‘s consent, which caused some licensing issues later. The truth is by no means clear, but in the murky world of video game licensing it is sometimes the case that people sell and exploit rights to products they have no right to.

Continue reading Ms. Pac-Man, Arcade →

Arcade, Sega

Super Locomotive, Arcade

2 Comments

An original arcade release from Sega in 1982, Super Locomotive is a side-scrolling action game where you must guide a train from one station to the next, while at the same time avoiding obstacles and other trains trying to shunt you off the track.

Continue reading Super Locomotive, Arcade →

Arcade, Data East

Bump ‘n’ Jump, Arcade

Leave a comment

Data East‘s 1982 arcade release, Bump ‘n’ Jump (aka Burnin’ Rubber in its native Japan), is a jolly, vertically-scrolling driving game with a car that can jump up into the air for a few seconds to avoid gaps in the road.

Continue reading Bump ‘n’ Jump, Arcade →

Arcade, Atari

Rampart, Arcade

1 Comment

Atari Games‘ 1990 arcade game Rampart is a strange but compelling single-screen castle-building action game, with artillery-based shooting sections.

Continue reading Rampart, Arcade →

Arcade, Taito

Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh, Arcade

2 Comments

Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh (aka Arkanoid 2) is the sequel to Taito‘s hit game Arkanoid and was released into arcades in 1987.

It takes the ‘bat and ball’ genre (aka the ‘Breakout‘ genre) to previously unheard of levels of both playability and difficulty, and it also managed to influence a lot of other games in the process.

Continue reading Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh, Arcade →

Arcade, Taito

Arkanoid, Arcade

8 Comments

Taito‘s Arkanoid was released into arcades in 1986 and did for bat and ball games (often referred to as Breakout clones) what Mario did for platform games. That is: revitalise them with new ideas and features.

Continue reading Arkanoid, Arcade →