005

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Sega

GoldenEye 007? Pshhaw, if you wanna really feel like a double-0 spy, then you need to skip that lame-o game and jump on over to your local arcade to play 005…or, search around for a while to find some place with a working cabinet. Anyway, in 005, you play as Agent 005, and your goal is to enter various buildings to nab a briefcase of secret documents and deliver it to a helicopter waiting nearby. It sounds simple, but that wouldn't make this much of a spy game, would it? While attempting to get the briefcase and attempting to make your way to the helicopter, you'll find a variety of enemies getting in your way. Your goal is to be stealthy and avoid detection, but sometimes it can't be avoided and you'll try your best to scurry on over to your escape ride. Each building can have one of four different scenarios, like struggling to get your footing in an ice skating rink or avoiding the enemies' flashlights while they hunt for you in a warehouse. None of the four scenarios are overly great, but they're fine for what they are, and the ability to walk around a single-screen "overworld" to select which building to steal the documents from is a nice novelty for the time. But anyway, between the cartoony graphical design, goofy scenarios, and overall odd concept, 005 does have some charm to it, even if the game itself isn't really anything beyond being passable. Still, though, if the idea of a stealth-based game from 1981 sounds interesting to you…or, for that matter, if the idea of being a double-nought spy that avoids enemies on an ice skating rink, while trying to pick up a briefcase of classified paperwork, sounds interesting to you, then it's worth giving 005 a try. It probably won't become your favorite game ever made, but it's charming enough where I'm betting that you'll be glad that you had played it at least once.

Review added: 04/05/2026

3 Count Bout

Also known as: Fire Suplex (Japan)

Developer: UPL

3 Count Bout is an entertaining, but ridiculously difficult arcade-style wrestling game. SNK clearly wanted arcade visitors to keep popping those quarters in this machine. The game is probably best described as SNK’s Fatal Fury fighting games mixed with the button-mashing grappling of the 16-bit WWF games. I don’t say this very often, but 3 Count Bout is the style of game where it’s more difficult to play with a controller than it is to play with an old-fashioned arcade joystick. With all of the button mashing, I found that if I try to play this with a controller, I simply cannot win grapples in the later levels. When I happen to play this at my local arcade, however, I find myself able to get much farther. If you can get past the difficulty, this game is much more than simply competing in the ring. After you win your first match, you’ll find yourself in a parking garage in a Last Man Standing brawl, where the goal is to use various weapons (including the poor owner of one of the cars being destroyed during the match) to keep your opponent down for a 10 count. With how varied and interesting the gameplay, presentation, and wrestlers are, if you’re a fan of professional wrestling, and can deal with the difficulty found here, you’ll be rewarded with a unique, enjoyable experience.

Review added: 12/27/2021

288 ZZZAP

Also known as: Datsun 288 ZZZAP

Developer: Midway

280 ZZZAP is a racing game that may be one of the earliest (if not THE earliest) game with product placement attached to it. Sometimes referred to as Datsun 280 ZZZAP, this game tells you that you're driving a Nissan Datsun 280-Z…though, no image of the vehicle is in the game…well, aside from the hood, but that could really be any kind of car hood. It does mention the Datsun at the top of the screen, though. Flyers for the arcade cabinet also mention a sweepstakes where you could win RCA XL-100 color television sets, as well as a free 1977 Datsun 280-Z. Anyway, product placement aside, this honestly isn't a bad game for its time. Basically, you're driving on a track, up to 200 miles per hour, while trying your best to not crash while navigating multiple turns along the way. If you stay in a low gear, your chances of crashing are low, but your score will also be low. To get a higher score, staying in the higher gear as long as possible is key…which, of course, opens you up to colliding into a wall as you attempt to turn. Admittedly, part of the fun is crashing and seeing the Batman-like words pop up on screen. Hitting a wall and seeing BOOM or ZORK pop up on screen gives this game a little bit of personality. 280 ZZZAP is another one of those early arcade games with black and white graphics projected onto a colored background, so that, along with the steering wheel controls, makes this best to play on an actual cabinet. Better racing games would eventually come along, but 280 ZZZAP was a pretty solid game for one that came out in 1976…plus, what other racing game covers the screen with ZORK when you crash?

Review added: 11/09/2025