Like any typical 90s kid arcades were a major element of my childhood. I remember like it was yesterday when arcades were all over the place such as the mall, the movies, airports, and even local convenient stores across the neighborhood. Unfortunately, today arcades are no longer as popular as they were back in the 90s, but nevertheless I still get bomb rushed with nostalgia when I come across them every time I visit places such as Dave & Busters and Chucky Cheese. As a kid arcades to me were like gambling machines are for grownups. yes, unlike gambling machines arcade machines might have never rewarded you with money but I’m sure that any 90s kid out there will tell you that the experience you got out of playing with these machines just for a quarter or a dollar where priceless.
Anyways here are a few awesome arcade games that I grew up playing. To me these games were so awesome that I think they deserve to be rebooted or remade for home consoles and here they are...
Final Fight
The most undisputed Beat'em Up game of all time!
Released in 1989 this game was a major pioneer of the Beat’em Up genre. It was created by the same folks who created Street Fighter and it shares very similar elements except that in this game instead of fighting face to face with your opponent exchanging attack moves back and forth you are basically in a free world where you can roam around and beat up street thugs who try to slow you down on your quest to your main objective of the game which is to rescue the mayor’s daughter who is being held captive by the main antagonists of the game.
This game was such a commercial success that an enhanced version was ported to the Super Nintendo later in 1991 followed by two other sequels during the early-mid 90s. a fourth sequel was made for the Playstation 2 and Xbox in 2006 but it resulted being a major failure that basically cost the whole franchise its life.
Either way I still think there is hope for this franchise. This game deserves to be rebooted and if it does I think they should work on a better story line that would pack more suspense than the original. When it comes to gameplay in the other hand I don’t think this was ever broken thus they should keep the same classic moves and freedom to pick up objects that can be used as weapons along the way. Of course bringing in more moves and adding even more freedom would not hurt.
Captain Commando
Final Fight from the future!
This game was basically a futuristic reincarnation of Final Fight as obviously, it was also created by Capcom and was released in 1991. This game takes place in 2026 as you play as Captain Commando and his sidekicks on a quest to save the world. Captain Commando himself was basically Capcom’s first mascot having appeared in multiple games throughout the 80s until they decided to replace him with Ryu after the success of Street Fighter in the 90s. his name pretty much hints this out; CAPtain COMmando.
The game was later ported to the Super Nintendo in 1995 and then Playstation in 1998. The franchise has died out as no sequels where made afterwards. Since then Captain Commando has only done cameos in many of Capcom crossover games such as…
· Marvel VS Capcom (1998)
· Marvel VS Capcom 2 (2000)
· Namco X Capcom (2005)
· Project X Zone 2 (2016)
The magnificent futuristic storyline this game had pretty much give it the right to get a reboot any giving moment. This game was pretty much fun on its 2D format so I can already imaging how cool it would be to play it in 3D with a similar layout to that of Devil May Cry which was also created by Capcom.
Streets of Rage
A Final Fight knockoff, but was still able to get by
Yes, this game was basically a clone of Final Fight. It was released by Sega in 1991 for the Sega Genesis and the arcades. obviously, it was also a Beat’em Up with very similar elements to that of Final Fight except that the story it follows was a little bit different. In this game, you play as three young undercover police officers name Axel, Blaze and Adam posing as vigilante street fighters on quest to save their city that’s been taken over by a ruthless criminal syndicate led by the main antagonist Mr. X.
I believe the suspenseful story line that this game followed was what made it such a big success in the early 90s. this franchise’s last game was Streets of Rage 3 which was released in 1994 for the Sega Genesis but unfortunately the franchise died out afterwards. There was a fourth game in progress though that was due to be released either in 1996 or 1997 but for some odd reason Sega ended up cancelling it before it was completed. Sega eventually completed this game but they decided not to release it as a Street of Rage game. Instead they chose to release it as a different franchise and this game eventually became Die Hard Arcade
which released for the arcades in 1996 and was ported to Sega Saturn a year later.
Reasons why I believe this game deserves a reboot would be for the same reasons I’ve mentioned in the previous ones. since the released of the fifth generation consoles I’ve always looked back and thought “wow I wonder how Streets of Rage would look in 3D!” fortunately Die Hard Arcade gave me the answer to this question but now over a decade later I wouldn’t mind seeing things go up a notch by keeping all the layouts and elements of Die Hard Arcade just with a mix of HD graphics!
U.N. Squadron
Move over Top Gun!
Manufactured by Capcom this game was released for the arcades in 1989. Based on the manga of the same name in this game you play the role of three pilots who are part of a mercenary flight crew called the U.N. Squadrons. Your main objective in the game is to stop a terrorist organization called Project 4 who is out to take over the world.
This game is a major icon to the side scrolling shooting genre thanks to all its eccentric elements such as being the first side scrolling shooter to have a horizontal layout opposed to other side scrolling shooting games previously manufactured by Capcom which had a vertical layout instead. This game’s HP layout was very like most modern shooting games such as Call of Duty where if you take damage you will always have a chance to recover if you evade further damages, oppose to other previous typical side scrolling shooters where you automatically lose a life after taking just one single hit.
This game was such a commercial success that an enhanced port was made 2 years later for the Super Nintendo. In this version of the game not only were the graphics enhanced but unlike in the original you had the option to use the points you earned throughout the game as money to buy new upgrades such as stronger, faster jets and different weapons. Obviously, this game is now part of the "Top 100 Super Nintendo Games" list for a reason.
With that said concluding I don’t think it takes rocket science to figure out that this game revolutionized the game industry and pave the way for many other successful game titles that exist today. So, with that said I don’t see why this game won’t be able to get a reboot and survive modern gaming.
Smash TV
Inspired by that movie Running Man (1987) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This game was released by the long-fallen video game franchise Acclaim Entertainment for the arcades in 1989. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic era and a television show named Smash T.V. is being broadcast across the globe. The television show is basically a violent and distorted version of American Gladiator where instead of having athletes compete in sporty contest they instead compete in life or death games where they must fight their way through cybernetic gladiators.
An enhanced port of the game was created two years later for the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Gear and many other home consoles under the name Super Smash T.V. despite the game’s success a sequel was never made and now that both Acclaim Entertainment and Midway Games have gone out of business the possibility of this franchise coming back alive have been slimmed. Nevertheless, these were the same folks who created the original Mortal Kombat game yet Mortal Kombat is still alive today so I don’t see why it would be impossible for this game to not be rebooted.
If this game ever does get a reboot I really hope they make it before I kick the bucket because I would love to play or at least see this game in 3D and HD someday.
Primal Rage
Mortal Kombat meets King Kong and Jurassic Park!
This game was released for the arcades in 1994 by Atari Games. It was basically a Mortal Kombat clone but with Dinosaurs and other ancient colossal creatures fighting to conquer earth which was totally altered after being hit by a massive meteorite. This game did so well in the arcade that is was practically ported to all home consoles by 1995. The game even spawn a line of action figures and a comic book series taken place before, during and after the events of the game.
Despite its great commercial success, the game has died out ever since. No rumors of a sequel or a remake were ever made but this made be because fighting games have died out since the late 90s. but now thanks to the return of Street Fighter, the new recent Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct fighting game are now making a huge comeback. So, I really don’t see why such classic title as this one would not jump the wagon and get with the program.
Virtua Cop
I consider this the best cop game ever!
This was a rail shooting game created by Sega in 1994 for the arcades and was ported to the Sega Saturn a year later as one of its launch titles. This game is a major pioneer to the rail-shooting genre, it also paved the way for many other shooting games such as The House of The Dead and Goldeneye 007
. After its release two other sequels were made, Virtua Cop 2 which was released in 1995 and Virtua Cop 3 in 2003.
Since then the franchise has died out, but I’m sure I’m not the only gamer who is hoping for a fourth game or maybe a reboot to be made. Till then I guess only time will tell if this is possible or not.
Cruis'n World
Not your ordinary racing game!
This game was released in 1996 for the arcades, it was manufactured by Midway Games and it’s a sequel to Cruis’n USA which was released in 1994 and a prequel to Cruis’n Exotica released in 1999. What I really like about this game is that it is very eccentric compared to most typical racing games like Need for Speed and Gran Turismo.
Unlike those other typical racing games this one pretty much moves a little far away from reality. The cars you race with along with the tracks are very exotic. There are fourteen tracks in total and each one is based on different locations across the world such as Hawaii, Australia, Mexico, England all the way to the moon! the soundtrack itself was pretty dope as well, I have it in my iPod and I listen to it every now and then especially when I work out.
This game’s popularity when up even further after it was ported to the Nintendo 64 in 1998. Luckily this game switched studios before its main creator Midway Games when out of business so the possibility of this game remaining alive and active are very concreted. Word in the street right now is that a new game is currently under progress do to be released sometime in January of 2017, I sure hope this is true. They’ve also said the game is licensed by Nintendo so its most likely that this game will be a launch title for the Nintendo’s next console Nintendo Switch.
Conclusion
So, there you have it folks, just a few of the awesome arcade games I grew up with that I sure wish they could have grown with me. I’m sure there a lot more but at the same time I don’t want to end up writing a book. Till what are some of your favorite all time arcade games you enjoyed during your childhood that you wish they could make a comeback?
I think you should add Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, The Punisher, Dungeons and Dragons, Armored Warriors and Alien vs. Predator to this list. Another whole batch of classic and memorable Cooperative Fighting "beat 'em ups" games.
Yeah I must admit that Streets of Rage is a classic that is always remembered by true gamers. If I would like to add to your little list of gems also which should be rebooted; Two Cool Dudes.
You actually remember Two Cool Dude's? I showed a few of my friends of the games i used to play and the game i mentioned above i told them about, they said it actually looks gay... like literally lol
I thought the Streets of Rage's remake was cancelled half way and wow was Smash TV's remake recently? because both Acclaim Studio and Midway Games did go out business over a while ago
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