Fantasy

Also known as: N/A

Developer: SNK

Maybe I've just seen a lot of unicorns and dwarves and such mixed in with the word "fantasy" that I guess I was expecting something along those lines...or a poorly-designed adult title. Either one. What I didn't expect was to play a game that feels more like a console game, with various level designs and such…like starting off by needing to land a hot-air balloon on a pirate ship while avoiding enemy fire, then navigating through the ship, and on through various other stages like a jungle. There are ten different scenes in total, according to the flyer…but they also include the introduction and the ending as "scenes," so it's more like eight stages, where after the pirate ship, you wind up in a jungle, a native village, and back in your hot air balloon for the final chase that eventually takes you over the London Bridge…all to save your beloved Cheri who had been kidnapped. And in classic arcade fashion, after you save Cheri and see the ending, she gets kidnapped again and you're expected to go through that whole process all over again. Maybe the main character fantasizes about Cheri getting kidnapped constantly? I'd fantasize about not having to go through the trouble of constantly having to save her, personally. Or of having the roles reversed: let me get tied up to a pole and almost eaten by cannibals and let her come and save me. Anyway, Fantasy is a pretty ambitious game for the time, and it's passable for what it is…but I feel like it tries too many different things. It's a case of having a variety of game styles in one arcade cabinet, but not a single one of them is excellent. They're all just merely passable. Still, the novelty of playing through it all is enjoyable enough to make it worth your while…I just can't imagine that too many folks bothered to come back and play it again once they made it through the first time.

Review added: 04/06/2026

Final Fight

Also known as: Final Crash (Bootleg - Japan)

Developer: Capcom

If you've only played Final Fight on the Super NES and loved it, but have never played the arcade original, then you would probably be blown away by the differences. As a child, I loved the Super NES Final Fight…and then as I got older, I managed to play the arcade version of the game and I was blown away by the differences…see, I told you it would happen. I wasn't just blown away by how much more I enjoyed the arcade version, but by how much was lacking in the Super NES port. The arcade version of Final Fight is one of the better brawlers that you could play, with nice, large characters on screen, and you may see half a dozen enemies or more flooding the screen at once to try to take you down. The number of enemies on screen means that Final Fight never has a chance to feel boring or repetitive since you're constantly brawling for your life and trying to prevent members of the Mad Gear Gang from swarming in on you. While taking down that swarm, you'll find that while the attacks in this game are fairly basic, there is a strategy involved in defeating your opponents while using as few quarters as possible. Each boss and character has a weakness or pattern that you can exploit to obtain victory….but let's face it. Final Fight is an arcade game. The goal of an arcade game is to make it so difficult that players have to keep pumping quarters in to see the end, but not so difficult that they give up. Thankfully, with Final Fight, Capcom made a very good brawler that most fans would gladly plop dozens of quarters into to rescue Mike Haggar's daughter over and over again.

Review added: 11/10/2025

Flash Boy

Also known as: The DECO Kid (Alternate Name)

Developer: Data East

Flash Boy is a bit of an odd game to look into, in terms of its release history. It looks like it was originally released in Japan as Flash Boy…then re-released both as the DECO Kid, which was a vertically scrolling game, and again as Flash Boy, but as a horizontally scrolling game. I played the original, vertically scrolling version of Flash Boy for this review. Flash Boy is a bit of an odd title: you control a character flying through space (which looks suspiciously like Astro Boy, but with the color palette swapped) in what initially appears to be a scrolling shooter. Except you don't have the ability to shoot. Instead, your goal is to punch your way through the levels. I, personally, like the concept: the folks that know me know that if I'm playing a game where I've got options between using a gun or using my fists, I'll be using my fists. However, since the enemies here ARE able to shoot, this can be a frustrating experience until you get the hang of everything. You'll likely die a bit from attempting to fly up to an enemy to punch them, while they shoot you down as you approach. However, once you get a handle on how to play, Flash Boy isn't terrible. Aside from punching enemies and avoiding their fire, as you advance on through the game, the walls will close in on you, giving you less room to maneuver around in. If you survive long enough, the walls will eventually back off again. When things really get chaotic on the screen, Flash Boy does have a second attack that he can use to stay alive: a special attack that sends him zooming forward towards the enemies and makes an explosion that can take out a group of foes. This attack must be used sparingly, though. Simply flying on the screen consumes energy, which is a bar at the bottom of the screen. However, using that special attack also drains energy. By destroying glowing enemies, you can obtain more energy, but using the special move too much can make you lose energy faster than you're able to obtain it. Overall, Flash Boy isn't really a game that I'd consider to be passable, but it's also not one of the worst games I've ever played. If the novelty of not shooting things in a scrolling shooter sounds interesting, then Flash Boy is worth playing. Otherwise, you're probably fine passing on this one.

Review added: 08/06/2026

Food Fight

Also known as: Charley Chuck's Food Fight

Developer: General Computer Corp.

I like Food Fight way more than I feel like I should. Also known as Charley Chuck's Food Fight, your goal is to guide a big-headed young lad named Charley Chuck from one end of the screen towards an ice cream cone sitting at the other end of the screen. Between ol' Charley Chuck and that ice cream cone, however, are a bunch of chefs and a bunch of food. Like you might imagine from the title of the game, that food is your ammunition, and the chefs are your targets. The chefs can also use the food against you as well, though, so Food Fight winds up being a game where you need to dodge incoming food while trying your best to accurately throw food at your attackers…and all while trying your best to make it over to the ice cream cone so that Charley Chuck can unhinge his jaw like a python and devour the ice cream in a single gulp. I do believe ol' Chuck Chuck sometimes gets brain freeze from eating the ice cream in this way, so the game gives him a break by randomly playing the level back for you in an instant replay. It's a neat feature that gives you an entertaining break from the action while also providing the player with a way to rewatch that round, potentially allowing them to learn from any successes or failures. You don't need to cover all of the chefs in edible ammunition in order to complete a level, by the way. Oscar, Angelo, Jacques, and Zorba are all fun to toss random food items at, but your only real goal for completing a level is to eat that ice cream. Food Fight isn't perfect, though. It takes a while to get the hang of aiming and consistently pelting those chefs with food, but once you've gotten the hang of it, Food Fight is simplistic, chaotic fun. I had never played Food Fight prior to playing it for this review, and I feel ashamed that it's taken me this long. You could say that I've got pie on my face…probably from that dang Charley Chuck.

Review added: 08/06/2026

Frenzy

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Stern Electronics

Berzerk was a pretty big success for Stern Electronics, so it's natural that they wanted to capitalize on it and create a sequel. If you've played Berzerk, then played Frenzy, you'll notice the similarities immediately…and it also won't take too long to start noticing some of the differences, too. The first thing that you may notice is that in Berzerk, the walls were "electrified" and would kill you (and enemies) on contact…in Frenzy, they won't harm you if you touch them. However, some walls are destructible, meaning you can only hide behind a wall for so long before the enemies shoot a hole through it and are able to get you. The other walls reflect shots, so if you aren't careful with your aim, you could find your bullets ricocheting back at you, causing you to lose a life. Likewise, though, if you're clever enough, you can trick some of the enemies into shooting themselves using the same tactic. Another difference: Evil Otto, the smiley-faced psychopath, was invincible in Berzerk. However, in Frenzy, he is a mere mortal man. Shooting Otto once removes his smile; shooting Otto a second time makes him frown; and shooting Otto a third and final time puts the abnormally happy fellow down for good….well, kind of. Another Evil Otto usually spawns right after one is taken down, and each time you wipe out an Evil Otto, the next one seems to get faster…so, while you can fight back against Evil Otto in this game, it's usually best to just leave that smiling sicko be, unless you've got no choice but to defend yourself. Also new is that every fourth room is a "special" room with unique elements to it, four different types of rooms in total: Big Otto, Power Plant, Central Computer, and Robot Factory. Big Otto shows a massive Otto in the room…and if you happen to kill Evil Otto in that room, the big guy will go into a rage and send four more Evil Ottos into the room, all of them moving at a high speed. In the Power Plant room, shooting the power plant will disable all robots, allowing you to freely escape the room without issues. In the Central Computer room, the opposite occurs: shooting the computer will cause the robots to move and shoot erratically. Lastly, in the Robot Factory room, you'll get an endless sea of robots appearing until you exit the room and enter the next area. All in all, Frenzy does a very good job of taking most of what made Berzerk so fun and adding to it. I know it puts me into a Frenzy of wanting to play more.

Review added: 04/06/2026

Frisky Tom

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nichibutsu

The North American arcade flyer for Frisky Tom has a cartoon of a nude woman in a bathtub (with the naughty bits covered up by bubbles) and ol' Frisky Tom standing next to the tub with some mice looking on. If you're wondering if Tom is a pervert, then you can be at ease knowing that Tom only wears hats too big for his pin head, so the hat is covering his eyes. So when you're playing Frisky Tom and take the role of the pin-headed plumber, rest assured that you aren't playing as a pervo. Anyway, there IS a reason for the cartoon lady on the flyer (and on the cabinet marquee) since the goal of Frisky Tom is to get as much water as possible to the lady's shower. While this sounds simple enough, those dastardly mice don't really want anyone to be able to bathe, so they have fun breaking pieces of the water piping that Tom needs to climb and fix. Now, if you're saying to yourself, "Mice breaking waterlines doesn't sound dastardly; that just sounds mischievous,"…Well, if that's all they did, I'd agree with you. However, once the mice begin setting up explosives to blow up the water tank…well, that's pretty dastardly, isn't it? So, aside from trying to fix the broken pipes, you also need to climb over and "fall" past the lit fuse for the explosives to snuff out the fuse and prevent everything from going boom. There are also three different kinds of mice that ol' Tom will be exposed to: yellow, purple, and white. The yellow mice are harmless (aside from their destructive nature), and Tom can knock them off the pipes for points. Purple mice will kill Tom and will often dive from the pipes in an effort to end his life….yellow mice will turn into purple mice if they stay on the screen long enough to damage a pipe, so trying your best to provide pest control while repairing pipes and putting out bombs is key to survival. The last mouse, a white mouse, is the one with matches: these are the mice that light the fuse for the bomb, so you've got to be on the lookout for them; otherwise, by the time you notice the fuse is lit, it may be too late. Overall, Frisky Tom is a passable game. I wouldn't consider it a must-play game, but it's still decent, frantic (or would it be frisky?) fun while it lasts.

Review added: 04/06/2026

Frog & Spiders

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Taito

For whatever reason, love is not in the air for this Taito arcade game. Maybe it's because the title snubs the squirrel and gives the credit to the frog (that you control) and the spiders that you shoot at. I seem to be in the minority, but I really enjoyed this game, honestly. In the seemingly endless sea of Space Invaders-inspired games of the time, Frog & Spiders has enough unique things going for it that it made me a fan. In this game, you control a frog, moving left and right on the bottom of the screen, and our goal is to shoot at the spiders that crawl along their web, hitting them once to knock them off balance, and then a second time to kill them. At the top of the screen (and sometimes appearing on the sides) is a squirrel that throws acorns at you that you've got to avoid. As you advance on in the game, you'll see bees, snakes, and a giant spider appear as enemies. The bees are simply shot at, but they seem to only appear if you shoot their hive - basically giving you a penalty for blindly shooting rather than trying to use precise aim. Speaking of precise aim, the giant spider can only be harmed by hitting its eyeball. It's not required to kill it to advance on in a stage, but you get big points if you do. The snakes crawl along the bottom of the screen by the frog and can't be attacked, but that brings me to a unique feature of the game - the frog can jump. When the snake gets near the frog, you want to jump up and over the snake. While this sounds simple enough, you also don't want to jump into the other harmful creatures when you leap, so sometimes you'll find yourself trying to reposition yourself to a safer location to jump, while also trying to avoid or eliminate all of the other chaos around you. Later levels limit your movement with lilly pads at the bottom of the screen, forcing you to jump from pad to pad to avoid incoming fire. mentioned earlier about being penalized by shooting the beehive, but you'll also be penalized for shooting butterflies and dragonflies. These harmless creatures sometimes get stuck in the web. Your goal is to save them so that they're still alive when you complete the level…but they're not immune to your firepower, so if you're not careful, you may find yourself getting a point penalty for your actions. Anyway, the mix of shooting, jumping, and trying to save the captured insects all comes together in a pretty solid game. For whatever reason, it seems like most folks don't like Frog & Spiders nearly as much as I do, but I still recommend giving it a shot…go ahead, take a leap of faith.

Review added: 08/07/2026

Frogger

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Konami

Frogger was one of the more popular arcade games of its day, and has since been immortalized in our culture through the episode of Seinfeld where George doesn’t want his top score to be lost…and I must admit, I’m a bit more fond of that Seinfeld episode than I am of this game. Don’t get me wrong, Frogger was solid for its time, but it just never hooked me like some of the other games from back then did, like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man. For those who have never played it, the goal of Frogger is to move from the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen and into the little coves up at the very top. In the way of your progress are a freeway full of traffic and a river full of hazards…like deadly water…because frogs hate water and can't swim, I guess. But anyway, putting the “avoid the water as a frog” logic aside, the end result of Frogger is a pretty solid game. It takes good timing and minor memorization to get your frogs up to their coves, and the gameplay is addicting enough to keep you coming back for more until you finally get those little web-footed amphibians to their little homes at the top of the screen. I may not have ever been the biggest fan of Frogger when compared to other games at the time, but I still think that it's a very solid game. I can also still appreciate it for what it is: one of the best arcade games ever made, and one that many folks still look back at fondly today.

Review added: 07/31/2020