GAMES LIST (OLD)

[GimmeClassics]

We have quite a few hi-score games (65) to choose from and each month new games will be added.

Because we want you to be able to check at a glance which hi-score games are part of our competition we have created this Games List (alphabetical order).

It's easy and simple > just browse this list and click on the game you want to play. Enjoy !

 

Games List

1943	1944	A.B. Cop	Anteater	Arkanoid
Bank Panic	Blazing Star	Blood Bros	Bomb Jack	Bubble Bobble
Burger Time	Centipede	Choplifter	Circus Charlie	City Connection
Crystal Castles	Cyvern	Dig Dug	DoDonPachi	Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong 3	Donkey Kong Junior	Flicky	Galaga	GAPlus
Gauntlet	Ghouls 'n Ghosts	Golden Axe	Green Beret	Gun.Smoke
Gyruss	Hammerin' Harry	I, Robot	Jackal	Joust
Juno First	Lady Bug	Mario Bros.	Metal Slug	Mr. Do!
Nitro Ball	Out Run	Pang	Popeye	Puzzle Bobble
Q*Bert	Qix	R-TYPE	Reactor	Robotron: 2084
Rygar	Sky Kid	Strikers 1945	Shinobi	Snow Bros.
Space Harrier	Spy Hunter	Strider	Tapper	Tetris: The Grand Master
The Punisher	Time Pilot	Toobin'	Tutankham	Wonder Boy 3

1943 [vertical shooter]
It was 40 years ago, at the height of World War II. The Japanese main squadron tasted defeat off the coast of Midway Islands. Some say that this battle greatly changed the outcome of the war. Can you destroy the battleship, 'Yamato'?

1944 [vertical shooter]
1944: The Loop Master is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game made by Capcom in 2000.
The game takes place in the heated battles of 1944 during the Second World War as two super ace pilots: P-38 Lightning and Mitsubishi A6M Zero are attempts to defeat an entire army.

A.B. Cop [driving / race bike (chase view) ]
A futuristically-themed racing game from Sega, in which the player takes on the role of the A.B. Cop; a law enforcement officer who rides a heavily armoured hover-bike and must chase down and destroy the perpetrators of an armed robbery before the time limit expires.

Anteater [maze]

Anteaterter is a maze arcade game released in 1982 by Tago Electronics. The player controls an anteater that elongates his proboscis through maze-like anthills eating ants. The player can only eat ants with the tip of the anteater's proboscis. If an ant bites your proboscis at any other location you lose a life. Besides ants you will also face worms and spiders.

Arkanoid [puzzle / breakout]
Arkanoid is a breakout game developed by Taito in 1986. It is based upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes. The player controls the "Vaus", a space vessel that acts as the game's "paddle" which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, attempting to bounce it against a number of bricks. The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear. When all the bricks are gone, the player goes to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appears

Bank Panic [shooter / gallery]
Bank Panic is an arcade game developed by Sanritsu and manufactured by Sega in 1984. The player assumes the part of an Old West sheriff who must protect a bank and its customers from masked robbers. The layout of the bank is implicitly a circle with twelve numbered doors and the player in the center.

The player can rotate to the left or right and view three doors at a time. The doors will open to reveal a customer (who will drop a bag of money, making a deposit), a robber (who will attempt to shoot the player) or a young boy (who will be holding a stack of three to five hats, which the player can rapidly shoot for a bag of money or bonus time). The level ends when all twelve doors have received one or more deposits. This is indicated by the numbered boxes across the top of the screen, with a red dollar sign showing a door with a completed deposit.

Blazing Star [shooter / flying horizontal]
Blazing Star is a scrolling shooter video game for the Neo Geo home game system. It is the sequel to the acclaimed Neo Geo shooter Pulstar, which was itself a close cousin to the R-Type franchise. A typically hefty Neo Geo ROM at 346 Mb, the game makes extensive use of pseudo-3D prerendered sprites, brief anime and CGI cutscenes (mostly during the intro sequence), and frequent English voice samples and captions.

Blood Bros. [shooter / 3rd person]
Blood Bros. is a 1990 arcade game developed and published by TAD Corporation in Japan and Europe, while it was later published in North America by Fabtek. It is a spiritual sequel to Cabal, with almost identical mechanics. A bootleg of this game is known as West Story.

The player's characters are seen from behind. Some screens feature protective walls (which can get damaged and shattered by enemy fire). The players have limitless ammunition for their primary gun, but a limited number of sticks of dynamite, with which they must fend off enemy troops. An enemy gauge at the bottom of the screen depletes as foes are destroyed and certain structural features of the screen (usually the ones that collapse when destroyed, rather than simply shattering) are brought down.

Bomb Jack [platform / run jump]
Bomb Jack is an arcade platform game that was released in 1984 by Tehkan (known today as Tecmo).

The player controls Jack, a superhero who can leap and glide. Someone has planted 24 bombs at famous tourist sites (the Sphinx and Great Pyramids, the Acropolis,Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, and two cityscapes resembling Miami Beach and Hollywood, which appear only as screen backgrounds rather than unique game locations). Jack must fly around the screen to collect the bombs. Each screen uses a different configuration of platforms upon which Jack may run and jump. Eventually, the levels reoccur a number of times with increasing difficulty.

Bubble Bobble [platform / run jump]
Bubble Bobble is an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. The game starring the twin Bubble Dragons Bub and Bob is an action-platform game in which players travel through one hundred different stages, blowing and bursting bubbles, dodging enemies and collecting a variety of items.

Burger Time [platform / run jump]
BurgerTime is a 1982 arcade game created by Data East. The game's original title, Hamburger was changed to BurgerTime before its introduction to the US. The player is chef Peter Pepper, who must walk over hamburger ingredients located across a maze of platforms while avoiding pursuing enemies - Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Egg. The game was very popular in arcades.

Centipede [shooter / gallery]
Centipede is a vertically oriented shoot 'em up arcade game produced by Atari, Inc. in 1981.
The player defends against centipedes, spiders, scorpions and fleas, completing a round after eliminating the centipede that winds down the playing field.

Choplifter [shooter / gallery]
The player assumes the role of a combat helicopter pilot and attempts to save hostages being held in prisoner of war camps in an unnamed enemy country. The player must collect the P.O.W.s, transport them safely to the nearby friendly base, all the while fighting off hostile tanks and other enemy combatants. There are a total of 32 hostages per level. To rescue more than 20 will advance the player to the next level.

Circus Charlie [platform / run jump scrolling]
In the game there are six regular stages (plus an extra stage) of differing tasks that are to be completed by Charlie. Grabbing money bags, performing dangerous tricks, avoiding enemies, completing stages, etc., earns Charlie points

City Connection [platform / run jump]
You're a driver of a Honda City on a tour of all the sights and roads across the world. To prove that you've visited a particular location, you must drive around the location painting every section of the road white. However, the police, who have no tolerance for vandalism, attempt to stop the driver from completing her goal. The player's car can jump and fire cans of oil.
During your world tour you'll visit Manhattan, the Grand Canyon, Easter Island, Paris, Neuschwanstein Castle, London, Sydney, Egyptian temples, and cities in India, Holland, China and Japan

Crystal Castles [maze]
Crystal Castles is a merry chase into a mythical land of incredible creatures that thrill at every turn of game play. Its hero, Bentley Bear, collects gemstones as he moves around 16 different playfields, including a castle, fortress, palace, and even a dungeon. Scary creatures, such as nasty trees, gem eaters, a swarm of bees, and Berthilda the witch, chase Bentley Bear as he explores tunnels, elevators that take him from one plateau to another, and sometimes a secret ramp.

Cyvern [vertical schooter]
Take control of 3 artificially enhanced elemental dragons and battle against tons of enemy airships and hulking bosses in this excellent overhead shooter. Features awesome graphics & sound effects as well as responsive controls and a high level of challenge.

Dig Dug [maze / digging]

The player controls Dig Dug, the hero of the garden, clad in white. He moves through horizontal and vertical tunnels. When Dig Dug digs new tunnels he moves slowly. When he is on the surface or in an existing tunnel, he moves faster. The object of the game is for Dig Dug to destroy all the monsters and go to the next round.

DoDonPachi [vertical schooter]
DoDonPachi (a play on the words "Angry Leader Bee" and "Gunfire") is a vertically scrolling manic shooter arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus in 1997. It was the second game developed by Cave, and the sixth on Cave's first generation arcade hardware. As with its predecessor DonPachi, the title is both a Japanese term for expressing the sound of gunfire, and a term that relates to bees (here it means "angry leader bee").

Donkey Kong [platform / run jump]
Donkey Kong is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman (since renamed Mario) must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady (now named Pauline), from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo's most popular characters

Donkey Kong 3 [platform / run jump]
Donkey Kong 3 is the third video game in the original Donkey Kong series by Nintendo. Stanley is a bugman. Donkey Kong has taken refuge in his greenhouse and it is now up to Stanley to stop the ape from stirring up any more insects that will soon destroy his flowers.
Throughout the levels are scattered various enemies: Buzzbees, beespies, queen bees (which shatter into deadly pieces when destroyed), creepy caterpillars, butterflies, beetles, moths, beebombs and vine eaters. Stanley must destroy the insects as they attempt to steal his flowers.

Donkey Kong Junior [platform / run jump]
Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade-style platform video game by Nintendo. Mario (known as Jumpman in Donkey Kong) has captured Donkey Kong and placed him in a cage. Donkey Kong Jr. must rescue his father from Mario by working his way through a series of stages. Mario attempts to stop DK Jr. by releasing animals and putting obstacles in his way.

Flicky [platform / run jump]

In the game, the player controls Flicky, a flightless bird who has to save the Chirps (Piopio in Japan) from house cats.

The player has to collect all of the Chirps and guide them through the exit. The player has to avoid the cat, Tiger (Nyannyan), and the green iguana, Iggy (Choro). They can also be killed by throwing items at them. Tiger tries to catch Flicky by jumping on platforms or running, while Iggy owns the ability to climb walls and crawl fast along the floors.

Galaga [shooter / gallery]

Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981.
The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen. At the beginning of each stage, the area is empty, but over time, enemy aliens fly in formation, and once all of the enemies arrive on screen, they will come down at the player's ship in formations of one or more and may either shoot it or collide with it. During the entire stage, the player may fire upon the enemies, and once all enemies are vanquished, the player moves onto the next stage.

GAPlus [shooter / gallery]
Gaplus is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It was the only other game to run on Namco Phozon hardware, and in the US, a modification kit was later released to change the game to Galaga 3, possibly to increase recognition among fans of the games even though there was no "Galaga 2".

Gaplus is a sequel to Galaga and has similar gameplay. The player controls a spaceship, that can now move vertically (limited to halfway up the screen, much like Atari's Centipede) as well as horizontally, and shoots at swarms of incoming insect-like aliens which fly in formation above it and swoop down to attack it in a kamikaze-like dive. In this sequel, the level starts over if the player gets killed before all the enemies have come in. When all enemies are killed, the player moves on to the next level. By obtaining certain powerups, it is possible to shoot sixty bullets per screen, the most any Galaxian-related game has.

Gauntlet [maze / shooter large]
In this fantasy adventure maze game, there are four different player characters who each have different powers and/or weapons. The Warrior who wields a battle axe; the Elf who carries a bow and arrows; the Wizard who uses magic; and the Valkyrie who uses a sword and a shield.

The four players move through mazes searching for various items and killing monsters. The Warrior does the most damage. The Elf does the least damage but is the fastest. The Wizard can do the most damage with potions. The Valkarie is a good combination of strength and speed. Potions found wipe out varying amounts of enemies and enemy generators, depending on which player uses it. A player starts with a certain number of health points by putting quarters in the machine. These tick down with time and damage from enemies. Food replenishes them. Treasure counts for points. The game has no ultimate goal to be reached.

Ghouls 'n Ghosts [platform / fighter scrolling]
Game-play is of a very similar vein to that of "Ghosts'n Goblins" - the classic run, jump and shoot action remains intact. Ghouls'n Ghosts is, however, even more difficult than its already demanding predecessor. Arthur now has access to several new power-ups to aid him on his daunting quest, such as 'Golden Armour' which gives Arthur greater protection from the demons. Additionally, unlike "Ghosts'n Goblins", Arthur can now fire his weapons upwards instead of just left or right and, while jumping, can fire beneath him as well.

Golden Axe [fighter / 2.5D]
Golden Axe is a side-scrolling, beat 'em up, hack and slash arcade video game released in 1989 by Sega for the System 16-B arcade hardware.

The game takes place in the fictional land of Yuria, a Conan the Barbarian-style high fantasy medieval world. An evil entity known as Death Adder has captured the King and his daughter, and holds them captive in their castle. He also finds the Golden Axe, the magical emblem of Yuria, and threatens to destroy both the axe and the royal family unless the people of Yuria accept him as their ruler. Three warriors set out on a quest to rescue Yuria and avenge their losses at the hands of Death Adder.

Progress is made through the game by fighting through Death Adder's henchmen, including men armed with clubs and maces, skeleton warriors, and knights. Players are able to attack using their weapon, jump and cast spells that hurt all enemies on the screen. The force of this magic depends on the number of "bars" of magic power currently available. The bars are filled by collecting blue 'magic potions' attained by kicking little sprites who then drop the potions. These sprites appear during regular levels and during bonus stages in between levels. The male warrior Ax is able to cast earth spells. The dwarf Gilius, casts lightning spells and the female warrior Tyris casts fire magic. Each character has a different number of maximum magic bars and varying ranges of attack.

Green Beret [platform / shooter scrolling]
Green Beret (in the US released as Rush'n Attack) is an action/platform arcade game released by Konami in 1985. Green Beret is remembered for its Cold War setting (the title is a play on "Russian attack") and its reliance on the player using a knife to dispatch enemies.

The player takes on the role of a United States special operations soldier infiltrating an enemy military base in order to save several POW's from being executed by firing squad. There are four stages: a Marshalling Area, a Harbor, an Air Base and a Siberian Camp. The omnipresent knife can be supplemented with captured arms. By killing certain enemy soldiers, the player can obtain a three-shot flamethrower, a four-shot RPG, or a three-pack of hand grenades. At the end of each stage, the player will face a unique group of enemies specific to that stage.

Gun.Smoke [shooter / walking]
A vertically scrolling shoot-em-up set in the Wild West, in which the player takes the role of a Billy; a young Sheriff charged with hunting down and killing a number of infamous 'Wanted' outlaws.

Each level is packed with gun-toting bandits and the Sheriff must shoot his way through the stage, before finally taking on the wanted outlaw 'boss' character at the end.

Gyruss [shooter / gallery]
A single player shoot-em-up in which the purpose is to fly through the solar system, destroying waves of alien attackers, before finally reaching Earth. Planets that must be passed before Earth is reached are Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.
Gyruss' superb gameplay, in which the player ship rotates around the edges of the screen and fires 'inwards', is heavily influenced by Atari's 1981 classic, "Tempest". While the design of the Alien ships themselves is similar to those of Namco's also legendary "Galaga" series.

Jackal [shooter / driving vertical]

The player operates a jeep and must battle their way through a huge, vertically scrolling battlefield. Their mission is to save PoWs and deliver them to the nearest helicopter pad so they can be flown to safety. The hostages are trapped in enemy buildings and PoW camps, which must be destroyed in order to release the prisoners. The jeep can only carry up to a maximum of eight PoWs, the current amount being carried is displayed in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

The jeep is armed with a machine gun and a grenade thrower, the latter of which can be powered-up into a missile launcher. As well as huge numbers of enemy troops and static gun emplacements, the players must also contend with enemy jeeps, tanks, boats, submarines and planes. The final part of the game takes place in the enemy stronghold and the game ends when the final enemy gun emplacements are destroyed.

Hammerin' Harry [platform / fighter scrolling]
Hammerin' Harry, known in Japan as Daiku no Gen-san, is a series of platforming video games developed and published by Irem in 1990. The titles were developed and published for the arcades, Famicom, Game Boy, Super Famicom and Sony PSP platforms.

You control a worker with a big hammer who smashes his way through obstacles and a variety of enemies.

I, Robot [shooter / miscellaneous]
In I, Robot, you control "Unhappy Interface Robot #1984", a servant robot that has become self-aware and decides to rebel against Big Brother. To advance from level to level, the robot must destroy the giant blinking eye of Big Brother. Various extra hazards, such as birds, bombs and flying sharks, can also destroy the robot..

Joust [platform / run jump]

Joust is an arcade game developed by Williams Electronics and released in 1982. It presents a game play in a novel setting that captured the imagination. The player, mounted on an ostrich sized bird and carrying a lance, must "joust" against enemy players in a battle for air supremacy.
Set inside a cavern of sorts, complete with lava, the battle took place between floating segments of land. A pterodactyl would make its presence known if the player(s) stuck around for too long. Killing an enemy would make an egg appear. If left alone, the egg would hatch into a new enemy that would replace its fallen brethren. A lava troll waited for unsuspecting victims to fly too close to the lave before reaching a claw out to grab his next meal.

Juno First [shooter / gallery]
Juno First is a shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Konami and released in 1983. It was licensed to Gottlieb in the United States. The game is a vertical scrolling shooter, with a third-person perspective like Radar Scope. It follows in the tradition of space-themed shooting-galleries such as Space Invaders and Galaga. Juno First, however, is notable for its frenetic gameplay (like Defender and Xevious).

Juno First presents a set number of enemies per level, but they do not make a gallery formation. This is not a typical gallery shooter. Instead, the player's ship can move forward and backward (in addition to left and right) to hunt enemies in an orientation that is vertical, but has some horizon-oriented tilt.

The player destroys waves of enemies to finish levels. Starting formations vary from stage to stage. In addition, the player can pick up a humanoid, upon which the screen will have a red tint. While this happens, every enemy the player shoots will earn the player 200 more points than the previous enemy destroyed. The original score for shooting an enemy while in humanoid mode depends on the stage.

Lady Bug [maze]
In Lady Bug you guide a bug through a "Pac-Man" style maze, eating dots, and avoiding monsters. Collect letters to spell EXTRA for a bonus life (just like in "Mr. Do!"), and SPECIAL for an extra credit. The maze has rotating doors which are enough to give the game a different feel than the Pac-Man series !

Mario Bros [platform / run jump]
Mario Bros. is an arcade game published and developed by Nintendo in 1983. Mario Bros. features two plumbers, Mario and Luigi, having to investigate the sewers of New York after strange creatures have been appearing down there. Enemies are defeated by kicking them over once they have been flipped on their back. This is accomplished by hitting the platform the enemy is on directly beneath them. If the player allows too much time to pass after doing this, the enemy will flip itself back over, changing in color and increasing speed.

Metal Slug [platform / shooter scrolling]
Metal Slug is a run and gun video game developed by Nazca Corporation and published by SNK. It was originally released in 1996 for the Neo Geo MVS arcade platform. The game is widely known for its sense of humor, fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast paced two-player action.
On the way through each level, the player can find numerous weapon upgrades and "Metal Slug" tanks. In addition to shooting, the player can also perform melee attacks by using a knife and/or kicking. The player does not die simply by coming into contact with enemies, and correspondingly, many of the enemy troops also have melee attacks. Much of the game's scenery is also destructible, and occasionally, this reveals extra items or power-ups.

Mr. Do! [maze / digging]
Mr. Do! is an arcade game created by Universal in 1982. It was a popular choice on the 1983 video arcade-based game show Starcade.
The object of Mr. Do! is to score as many points as possible by digging tunnels through the ground and collecting cherries. The title character, Mr. Do (a circus clown), is constantly chased by red monsters resembling small dinosaurs.

Nitro Ball [shooter / walking]
The extraordinarily obscure Nitro Ball was released for the arcades in 1992 by Data East. It's a completely bat-shit insane/totally brilliant (take your pick) combination of overhead run 'n gun gameplay with elements of pinball. As little sense as it makes to combine these two genres, the mixture works amazingly well. So well, in fact, that it's also among the better examples of the genre.

Out Run [driver / race]
Out Run is a legendary and ground-breaking racing game in which the player drives a red Ferrari Testarossa through a number of colourful European locations, trying to reach each end-of-level checkpoint before the tight time limit expires.

Out Run's lush, fast-moving stages are each packed with civilian traffic that, in addition to the game's twisting, hilly roads, must be carefully negotiated. Also, as players approached the end of each stage, they were presented with a fork in the road; a unique innovation that gave players a choice of which route they wished to take through the game.

Pang [shooter / gallery]
Pang was created in 1989 by Mitchell and you have to break big bobbles into smaller ones until you destroy them completely. One tough but fun game to play !

Popeye [platform / run jump]
Popeye was developed and released by Nintendo based on the Popeye cartoon characters licensed from King Features Syndicate.
The Popeye characters were originally going to be used in the game that later became Donkey Kong. However at that time on the development of the game, Nintendo could not get the licenses to use the characters.
The object of the game is for Popeye to collect a certain number of items, depending on the level — 24 hearts, 16 musical notes, or the letters in the word HELP — while avoiding the Sea Hag, Brutus and other dangers. The player can make Popeye walk back and forth and up and down stairs and ladders.

Puzzle Bobble [puzzle / toss]
Puzzle Bobble, also known as Bust-a-Move, is a 1994 tile-matching arcade puzzle video game for one or two players created by Taito Corporation. It is based on Taito's popular 1986 arcade game Bubble Bobble, featuring characters and themes from that game. Its characteristically "cute" Japanese animation and music, along with its play mechanics and level designs, made it successful as an arcade title and spawned several sequels and ports to home gaming systems.

At the start of each round, the rectangular playing arena contains a prearranged pattern of coloured "bubbles". (These are actually referred to in the translation as "balls"; however, they were clearly intended to be bubbles, since they pop, and are taken from Bubble Bobble.) At the bottom of the screen, the player controls a device called a "pointer", which aims and fires bubbles up the screen. The colour of bubbles fired is randomly generated and chosen from the colors of bubbles still left on the screen.

The fired bubbles travel in straight lines (possibly bouncing off the side walls of the arena), stopping when they touch other bubbles or reach the top of the arena. If a bubble touches identically-colored bubbles, forming a group of three or more, those bubbles—as well as any bubbles hanging from them—are removed from the field of play, and points are awarded.

Q*Bert [platform / run jump / puzzle]
Q*bert is an arcade video game developed and published by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a platform game and the object is to change the color of every cube in a pyramid by making Q*Bert jump on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. The most well-known enemy is Coily, a purple snake.
Q*bert was well received in arcades and by critics, who praised the graphics, gameplay and main character. The success resulted in sequels and use of the character's likeness in merchandising, such as appearances on lunch boxes, toys, and an animated television show.

Qix [puzzle / outline]
Qix is an arcade game, released by Taito America Corporation in 1981.

The objective of Qix is to fence off, or “claim”, a supermajority of the playfield. At the start of each level, the playing field is a large, empty rectangle, containing the Qix — a sticklike entity that performs graceful but unpredictable motions within the confines of the rectangle.

The player controls a small diamond-shaped marker that can move around the edges of the rectangle, with the goal to claim as much of the screen as possible via drawing lines. When the player completes a closed shape, the captured area (defined as the side of the Stix opposite to where the Qix is) becomes solid and points are awarded. To complete a level, the player must claim most of the playfield (the game was shipped at 75 percent for level completion, but the arcade operator could adjust the requirement between 50 percent and 90 percent).

The player's marker had the option of moving at two different speeds; areas drawn at the slower speed (red on the screenshot shown) were worth double points.

R-TYPE [horizontal shooter]
R-Type is a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious powerful alien life-form known as the "Bydo". The mission is to 'blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire'.
The original R-Type was well received by most gaming critics. However, it was also infamous for its relentless difficulty. Invariably the player will lose, not because of an inequality in firepower, but because of the design of the levels themselves. There is usually a 'correct' way to get through a level, but players must learn these by experience - i.e. by losing and restarting from earlier in the level.

Reactor [shooter / miscellaneous]
The game activity starts with the player's ship contained within the heart of a nuclear reactor. The player moves his ship and has the use of a rapid fire energy button and a decoy button to protect himself.

During the game play, the core expands as the enemy particles attempt to destroy the player's ship by deflecting it against the kill wall. Simultaneously, the player must destroy the enemy particles by using his ship to deflect them against the kill wall.

Most people remember Reactor for its attract mode music, which is a series of guitar riffs synthesized using distortion. Hitting any button in attract mode will cause Reactor to blast its awesome music.

Robotron: 2084 [shooter / field]
Set in the year 2084, Robotron is a single-screen shoot-em-up in which super-intelligent self-aware robots known as 'Robotrons' - designed and built to help mankind - have revolted against their creators and vowed to either reprogram the humans into Robotrons or, failing this, wipe-out the human race entirely.

The player must destroy the robots and rescue the Earth's remaining human families. The player's only weapon is a multi-directional Anti-Robot Laser Gun. Used effectively, it will give players the power to destroy all the Robot waves, with the exception of the indestructible 'Hulk' unit.

At the start of the attack wave, players will have three chances to wipe out the enemy and advance to the next wave. Every 25,000 points players are granted another chance to complete their mission.

Rygar [platform / fighter scrolling]
Rygar is a video game created by Tecmo in 1986 and originally released for arcades in Japan as Argus no Senshi. It is a scrolling platform game where the player assumes the role as the "Legendary Warrior", battling through a hostile landscape. The main feature of gameplay is using a weapon called the "Diskarmor", a shield with a long chain attached to it.

The player sends the title character (who did not have a proper name in the Japanese version) through a number of fantastic settings with the ultimate goal of defeating the evil King Ligar in order to restore peace to the realm of Argool. To accomplish this goal, Rygar/the Warrior must visit five Indora gods who present him with essential items needed for completion of the game.

Shinobi [platform / fighter scrolling]
Shinobi is a side-scrolling action game produced by Sega originally released for the arcades in 1987. In Shinobi, the player controls a modern day ninja named Joe Musashi who goes on a mission to rescue his kidnapped students from a group of terrorists - a criminal organization called "Zeed". Musashi must make his way to Zeed's headquarters and free all the hostages in the first two or three stages before confronting the boss at the final stage of each mission.

Sky Kid [shooter / Flying horizontal]
A great fun game, features 40 levels of game play with increasing difficulty and longer missions, with multiple targets to bomb as you go along. Avoid on-coming enemy planes, ground fire and air-balloons. Nice feature in that if you are shot down you can hit the loop button repeatedly to get control back of the plane. Some hidden bonus features, such as shooting the three dancing girls that appear when you complete a mission they turn into flowers. Excellent music and the graphics are all in a cartoon style.

Snow Bros. [platform / run jump]
One or two players take on the roles of snowmen Nick and Tom as they battle a variety of monsters over fifty platform-based, single screen levels. The snowmen must throw snowballs at the enemies, eventually encasing them completely in snow. The encased enemies must them be kicked in order to destroy them. This is achieved by standing next to the snowball and pressing the "kick out" button, which sends the giant snowball flying around the screen, killing any enemies that lay in its path. During every 10th level, the players must face and defeat an end-of-level boss.

Space Harrier [shooter / flying (chase view) ]
Space Harrier is a sprite-scaling, into-the-screen shoot-em-up set in the "Fantasy Zone"; a surreal, abstract world composed of bright colours and a checkerboard-styled ground. The game's enemies are as unique as its setting; featuring prehistoric animals, alien pods, giant mushrooms and, at the end of every stage, a huge, fireball-spitting Chinese dragon.

The player's on-screen counterpart carries a portable jetpack under his arm, which allows him to fly as well as run along the ground. The jetpack is equipped with a laser, allowing the player to destroy both the game's many enemies as well as a variety of obstructions, such as trees and the floating rocks on level 1.

Spy Hunter [shooter / driving vertical]

How cool is that ! ....play the role of a spy driving an armed sportscar !

The object of the game is to travel the freeway destroying as many enemy vehicles as possible while protecting civilian vehicles. Various enemies try to destroy you or force you off the road, including a helicopter that drops bombs from overhead.

Strider [platform / fighter scrolling ]
A superb, side-scrolling platform/beat-em-up in which the player takes control of 'Strider Hiryu', a ninja-style warrior who must defeat a legendary being known as Grandmaster Meio. Set in 2048, Meio has observed Earth from his dwelling in a far off galaxy, and has created a space station (known as 'The Third Moon') between Earth and its original moon, in order to rule Earth and continue his observation. Armed with a curved sword known as a 'Falchion', Strider must travel the globe (to locations such as the Soviet Union and the Amazonian Rain forest) to find and destroy Meio.

As well as his sword, Strider will encounter many power-ups, including robotic animals called 'Options' (a hawk and a leopard) which help him defeat enemies. He also has the ability to latch onto walls and ceilings using a metallic hook; a concept which really set the game apart from other platformers and allowed for some hugely inventive level design.

Strikers 1945 [shooter / fighter vertical]
In 1945, World War II ended. Soon, there was peace, but an organization of high-ranking military officers from all over the world form a global army known as CANY. Their mission was to conquer the world. CANY activity was found in areas like the Soviet Union, United States, Japan and even Germany. It is revealed that CANY had weapons never seen before from rockets to mechanical walkers. The world quickly formed a group of pilots and planes called the Strikers whose mission is to get rid of CANY from the world.

Tapper [beer game ]
Tapper is the first, and only, arcade game not only designed about a bar, but also manufactured to look and feel like part of a Bar. Developed by Marvin Glass and Associates and published by Bally Midway in 1983, Tapper casts the player as an overworked bartender, attempting to serve beer to the ever-thirsty patrons that populate his bar.
The cabinet and gameplay on the beer version features the Budweiser logo. The pour spouts have mock-up handles that closely resemble the Budweiser taps that appear in real bars throughout the world.

Tetris: The Grand Master [puzzle / drop]
Normal Tetris is like: the player receives a piece which he must place in the game space in such a way that he fills lines. When a line is completely filled with blocks, it clears.
As you clear more and more lines, the pieces start falling faster...Here comes a distinction with TGM: in Game Boy Tetris, for example, the maximum speed is fixed at 1 unit every every 20th of a second. In TGM, the pieces never stop falling faster and faster. Putting it another way, the gravity increases until pieces begin to fall instantly (20 units each frame).
Because this gravity significantly constrains the player's piece placement options, radically changing the way pieces are stacked. It takes more effort than to simply avoid making holes. In fact,everything is tuned for high speed play.

The Punisher [fighter / 2.5D]

The Punisher is a 1993 beat 'em up arcade game developed and released by Capcom. It stars the Marvel Comics' anti-hero the Punisher and co-stars S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury as the second player's character as they embark on a mission to kill the crime lord the Kingpin and bring down his organization.

The Punisher gained significant popularity in arcades and is widely regarded as one of the best titles in the beat 'em up genre as well as one of the best video game adaptations of comic books.

Time Pilot [shooter / field]
Time Pilot is a multi-directional scrolling shooter and free-roaming aerial combat arcade game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, released by Konami in 1982, and distributed in the United States by Centuri. Debuting in the golden age of video arcade games, it is a time travel themed game that allowed the player's plane to freely move across open air space that can scroll indefinitely in all directions.The Killer List of Videogames included Time Pilot in its list of top 100 arcade games of all time.

This game has the player travel through five time periods, rescuing stranded fellow pilots. The player must fight off droves of enemy craft while picking up parachuting friendly pilots. Once 56 enemy craft are defeated, initially 25 on the MSX platform and increasing by 5 after each game cycle (finishing the last battle against the UFOs), the player must defeat the mothership for the time period. Once she is destroyed, any remaining enemy craft are also eliminated and the player time-travels to the next level.

Toobin' [sports / swimming]
Toobin' is an Atari Games video game originally released as an arcade game in 1988 and is based on the recreational sport tubing. It was later ported to systems such as NES, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, MSX, and Game Boy Color. In the game, you play as the main characters Bif or Jet, guiding them through many winding rivers on an innertube. The game was included as part of Midway Arcade Treasures and Arcade Party Pak, where it was given a remixed soundtrack.

The player competes in a river race against the computer or another player. The player's score increases by swishing the gates, hitting other characters with cans, collecting hidden letters to spell Toobin', and collecting treasures. Players try to avoid obstacles while pushing each other into them.

Power-ups allow players to carry multiple cans and combinations of gates increase a score multiplier.

Tutankham [maze / shooter large]
In this game, you play an explorer who searches through King Tut's tomb to find his treasures while fighting off various creatures who guard the tomb as you find your way through the catacombs.

The game has four different stages where you must help the explorer find four different treasures including a map, an urn, a chest of gold and jewels and finally the golden death mask. The game has rather spooky, Egyptian-style background music.

Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair [platform / shooter scrolling]
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair is a side-scrolling action game developed by Westone Bit Entertainment that was originally released for the arcades by Sega in 1988. The player controls a green-haired boy hero named Leo (player 1) or a pink-haired girl hero named Princess Purapril (player 2) who must attack the invaders that attempt to collect weapons and use them to destroy the land. The game starts out like a simple platform game, but it's just when Wonder Boy enters the skull further on that the game is transformed into a shoot 'em up, so basically the gameplay consists of action and shooter scenes.


Source of game description: wikipedia, hardcoregaming101 (Nitroball), arcade -museum, mamedb, gamesdbase, arcade-history

[GimmeClassics]

UPDATE: new table added at the top of post #1 showing all of our hi-score games. Choose the game you want to play quick and easy

[GimmeClassics]

UPDATE: all 52 hi-score games (per January 2nd, 2015) are now included in the Game List including a short description / history of each game.

[GimmeClassics]

UPDATE: all 64 hi-score games (per August 24th, 2015) are now included in the Game List including a short description / history of each game.