The Best Retro Games You Forgot Existed
When we talk about the golden age of the arcade, a few legendary names instantly spring to mind, such as Crazy Taxi, Street Fighter, Pac-Man, Space Invaders,
When we talk about the golden age of the arcade, a few legendary names instantly spring to mind, such as Crazy Taxi, Street Fighter, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Mortal Kombat. These games shaped a generation and brought joy to many players. However, during that era, numerous other arcade games existed that are often forgotten about behind these giants.
Behind these well-known titles are lesser-known games that didn’t receive the recognition they deserved. If you’re interested in revisiting some classic games you might have forgotten or exploring some that helped define the era of classic arcade gaming, read on for three classic arcade games you may not remember.
If you were wandering around an arcade in 1991, your eyes were probably glued to a brand-new cabinet called Street Fighter II. Due to that, you might have completely missed Capcom’s other masterpiece from that same year, the Three Wonders.
As the name suggests, this wasn’t just one game, it was actually three entirely different games packed into a single arcade cabinet. You got an action-platformer (Midnight Wanderers), a side-scrolling shooting game (Chariot), and a block-pushing puzzle game (Don’t Pull).
The Story & Gameplay
The first two games are connected. In Midnight Wanderers, you play as two elf-like heroes, Lou and Siva, fighting their way through gorgeous, monster-filled fantasy stages to defeat the evil demon Gaia and rescue a princess. It played a bit like Metal Slug mixed with Ghosts ‘n Goblins. If you chose Chariot, it picked up right where the first game left off, with Lou and Siva taking to the skies in gliders to shoot down airborne enemies. Meanwhile, Don’t Pull was a standalone puzzle game where you played as a rabbit or a squirrel, crushing monsters with sliding blocks.
Was it popular?
It was successful enough in Japan but largely slipped under the radar in Western arcades. Competing against the fighting game boom of the early 90s was tough, making Three Wonders a hidden gem today.
Also known in Japan as The Great Ragtime Show, Boogie Wings hit the arcade scene in 1992 and immediately proved that Data East knew how to make joyful chaos. At first glance, it looks like a standard World War I shooter, but it goes off the rails fast.
The Story & Gameplay
Set in a steampunk version of the early 1900s, your mission is to stop a mad scientist from taking over the world. You pilot a biplane equipped with a giant grappling hook hanging off the back. You use this hook to pick up almost anything on the screen; enemy soldiers, cars, explosive barrels or even a localised thunderstorm and hurl it at your enemies.
If your plane takes too much damage and explodes, the game doesn’t end. Your pilot ejects, and suddenly you’re playing a run-and-gun game on foot. While on the ground, you can hijack enemy tanks, ride around on a robotic pogo stick and even jump on the back of an elephant to keep the fight going.
Was it popular?
Not particularly. Despite being creative and incorporating two-player co-op, it was perhaps a little too weird and niche for mainstream arcade-goers at the time. Today, it’s revered by retro enthusiasts as one of the most unique shooters ever made.
When people think of the Neo Geo arcade system, they usually think of heavy-hitting fighting games like The King of Fighters or run-and-gun action like Metal Slug. But back in 1992, early in the Neo Geo’s life cycle, a brilliant little sci-fi shooter called Andro Dunos quietly hit the cabinets.
The Story & Gameplay
The story is classic 90s arcade fare: an unknown alien race from a distant galaxy is threatening Earth and you are humanity’s last hope. You take control of an advanced fighter ship to blast your way through waves of extraterrestrial forces.
What made Andro Dunos special was its weapon system. Instead of waiting for the right power-ups to float by, you had four completely different weapon types; standard lasers, homing missiles, spread shots and rear-firing cannons, that you could cycle through at the press of a button. You had to constantly switch your weapons on the fly to adapt to the enemies swarming you, while picking up power-ups to level up each individual weapon system.
Was it popular?
Andro Dunos was largely overshadowed by the flashier Neo Geo games that followed it. It didn’t reinvent the wheel, so it faded away relatively quickly, leaving it as an underappreciated classic.
Would you like to play these hidden gems in your own man cave, living room, bedroom, office or anywhere else?
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Evolution is a key aspect of game design. Consumers have high expectations for their favourite franchises and publishers who fail to continuously innovate fall by
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