Arcade All-Stars

The House of the Dead
Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: The House of the Dead

Mickey Yarber

First-person shooters entered the world of the macabre and gory in 1997’s House of the Dead. Sega’s frightfest offered all the usual light-gun action, but instead of soldiers, terrorists or aliens, this game pitted your shooting

Asteroids
Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: Asteroids

Mickey Yarber

In the years after Star Wars, anything involving outer space, zippy interstellar craft, and dangerous battles was golden. Into this arena of sci-fi fantasy came Atari’s Asteroids, one of the most enduring hits in video game history.

Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: X-Men Arcade Game

Mickey Yarber

Backed by a techno theme song, Marvel Comics’ band of misunderstood mutant superheroes stormed into arcades in 1992. Konami had built a mini-franchise using licensed characters in side-scrolling fighting games—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons—and with

Joust
Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: Joust

Mickey Yarber

You have to wonder whether the programmers at Williams Electronics didn’t have a bit of a sadistic streak in them. It’s one thing to pit best friends against one another—Gun Fight, Warlords, and others had already taken

Moon Patrol
Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: Moon Patrol

Mickey Yarber

It wasn’t easy patrolling the rocky terrain of Moon Patrol, but if it was any consolation, they gave you a really cool car. The purple, six-wheeled, high-jumping, laser-blasting vehicle at the center of Moon Patrol was a dream

Lethal Enforcers
Video Games

Arcade All-Stars: Lethal Enforcers

Mickey Yarber

The streets were filled with thugs, dealers, armed robbers, and other scum (even ninjas), and only two hard-nosed lawmen had the guts and the skills to take out the trash. They were Lethal Enforcers, stars of