Mad Alien

Also known as: Highway Chase (Japan)

Developer: Data East

Mad Alien, also known as Highway Chase in Japan, is a different take on the shooter formula that Galaxian introduced. Taking place on a highway, Mad Alien has you in a police car, shooting at alien invaders as you drive down the highway and into tunnels. For part of the game, there are a formation of alien vehicles at the top of the screen, like in most shooters of the time, and like in Galaxian, some of those vehicles will break formation and dive bomb you. The difference here is that while you can blow up some of these cars, you'll also find that you're shooting out their tires more often, which causes the vehicles to spin out of control and crash into walls, or if you're unlucky, they could crash into you. Eventually, the formation disappears and then you're just shooting at cars that "dive" from the top of the screen, down to the bottom. While all of this is happening, you'll sometimes drive through tunnels. When you do, the road goes black and most enemies are not visible until they enter the range of your headlights or you blow up an enemy, which lights the screen up for a second to let you know about your surroundings. It's a solid game overall, though I do prefer the Japanese version, Highway Chase, to Mad Alien. The main reason being that Highway Chase has nothing to do with aliens. You're shooting cars instead and those cars stand out very well on the screen, making them easier to shoot. Mad Alien's aliens somewhat blend in with the road (I imagine if someone is colorblind, they'd be near impossible to see) so it can be a bit more frustrating to play. Still, though, no matter which variation of the game you play, this is still a solid shooter and one well worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

Review added: 11/13/2025

Meadows Lanes

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Meadows Games

I think Meadows Lanes may be the first bowling video game…and it's extremely basic by today's standards. Back in 1977, however, it was probably quite neat. You can play solo or against a friend, and a full ten-frame game of bowling here doesn't take more than five minutes. It's also not exactly a difficult game - on my very first attempt at picking up a 6-7-10 split, I was successful. The three frames before and after that split were all strikes. It made me feel like quite the turkey….get it? Because three strikes in a row is a turkey?....That lack of laughter makes me feel like a real turkey now. Anyway, Despite how easy the game is, it's still mildly fun. After one or two games of playing by yourself, you'll likely be bored, but with one or more friends around, you may be playing this a little longer. Later bowling games take everything found here and improve upon it…however, Meadows Lanes isn't bad for its time. In fact, there's something charming about its simplicity. Still, though, I can't help but feel like for most folks, it'd be much more fun to simply put on a pair of bowling shoes and roll a real ball down the lane. You may not knock as many pins down, but you'll likely have a more fulfilling experience.

Review added: 11/13/2025

Metal Slug

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nazca

I love Metal Slug to no end. While many people point to Contra as their favorite run-and-gun style game, I always point to just about any game in the Metal Slug series. Between the gorgeous 2D sprites, the personality and humor that oozes out of every area and character in the game, the vehicles to hop into, and the level designs...It's just an absolutely tremendous game. It can be brutal to newcomers in the later levels, but it's also fun enough where many will keep at it so they can see the credits roll...And when you do stick with this game, you'll learn enemy patterns and when it's best to use weapons, grenades, or even the lethal knife melee attack. Just using your ammunition and/or grenades willy-nilly will likely result in you being stuck with a simple handgun to take on more difficult enemies, like the end-level bosses, when you need them the extra firepower the most. This forces the player to get better during the rest of the stage, so that they can hold their own better against the bosses…or continue to shove quarters in to keep playing if you fail to get better…either one. Later games in the Metal Slug series tweak and improve upon the formula found in this original game, but this awesome first-entry in the series was still a solid first effort and is still well worth playing through if you have an opportunity to do so today.

Review added: 07/16/2019

Metal Slug 2

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nazca

Metal Slug 2 is, in my opinion, the best game in the Metal Slug series. While that’s my opinion, I have a feeling that I’m not alone in that opinion - this game was so popular that a re-mixed version of Metal Slug 2 was released under the name Metal Slug X…which is probably the best game in the Metal Slug series, in my opinion. What?! I can have two bests!! Anyway, Metal Slug 2 is my idea of run-and-gun heaven. You’ve got fun and challenging gameplay, beautiful graphics, loads of personality and bits of humor tossed in, branching pathways, a good assortment of weapons and rides/vehicles to obtain...It's really everything I'd want all in one neat little package. Plus, you can ride on a camel with guns mounted on its side to blow up everything in your path...If gun-equipped camels don’t automatically make a game great, then I don't know what does. Anyway, notable new additions to the Metal Slug formula with this game (aside from more weapons, enemy types, and vehicles to ride) include two new playable characters, with Marco and Tarma being joined by Eri and Fio and you can select which one of them that you'd like to play as when you start the game and/or continue. Also new are in-game characters that will help you as you advance, some providing help with combat, others dropping you random items to collect. The end result is, as I mentioned, what I think is the best game in the Metal Slug series, along with Metal Slug X, it's upgraded sibling. If you want to play a great run-and-gun shooter, then Metal Slug 2 is an excellent choice. If you want a little more difficulty with your shooter, and an assortment of improvements, then maybe Metal Slug X would be your better option. Either way, you'll be playing a great game.

Review added: 05/29/2020

Metal Slug 3

Also known as: N/A

Developer: SNK

I consider Metal Slug 2 to be the best game in the Metal Slug series (or Metal Slug X, take your pick), but Metal Slug 3 is a very close second. It really stepped up to the plate in the variety department, pitting the player against yetis, zombies, giant crabs, and aliens as well as the standard enemy soldiers, making this the wackiest entry in the series at the time of its release. And I love me some wackiness in my video games. Most importantly, though, unlike some games that go with weirdness to hide flaws in the gameplay, no quality is sacrificed with this wackiness and it actually results in a very nice variety in level designs. In fact, the final level just gets more and more over the top, right up to the very final battle. If you've played the previous Metal Slug games, then you know what to expect here, but there is a new aspect of the gameplay that encourages the player to come back and play through this game multiple times - branching paths. There are various points in the game where you can go one way or another…ultimately, you'll still wind up at the same end boss at the end of the level, but the weaponry that you pick up may be different depending on the path to take, but the level layout may be vastly different from one path to the next…so the only way to see it all is to play through a few times to see what each area of the game contains.The game engine was also modified with Metal Slug 3, improving the performance of the game and making everything flow a bit smoother. The only aspect of this game that may turn some people off is the difficulty - it feels as if it was increased a bit from Metal Slug 2, so if you’re playing this in the arcade, expect to pop in a few extra quarters compared to the previous game in the series.. Anyway, if you're into run-and-gun shooters, this game is easily one of the best there is…there's a reason that it wass one of the most ported entries in the series.

Review added: 01/30/2022

Metal Slug 4

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Mega Enterprise

The first three Metal Slug games were really good…and while Metal Slug 4 isn't bad, it's kind of boring in comparison to the first three. Sure, it's always fun to see a screen full of enemy bodies sent flying in the air from explosions, and it was even mildly comical to see abominable snowmen that could turn you into a Frosty-type snowman with their breath…breath so potent that it locks on to you and follows you around like a homing missile…But there simply isn't enough new here to really make this feel like a must-play game. And maybe that's because this is the first game in the series to be developed by Mega Enterprise instead of Nazca. Or maybe it's because aside from a bonus scoring system being added, and from Eri and Tarma being replaced with Nadia and Trevor as playable characters, there's not really anything new here. It's the same old Metal Slug…which is good and all, but if you'd been blowing stuff up on a regular basis since the first game came out in 1996, by 2002, you may have been wanting a little more innovation. And with Metal Gear 4 lacking the same charm as the original games, that doesn't really help, either. Fans of the series will likely play through and be glad that they did, just to see the credits roll, but when you've got better games earlier in the franchise, I can't see too many folks revisiting this too often if they're already beaten it once. Again, though, this isn't a bad game…it's just an average game…in a series where the previous games were good to great for their time.

Review added: 12/26/2022

Metal Slug X

Also known as: N/A

Developer: SNK

I often confused people when I say that Metal Slug 2 is my favorite game in the Metal Slug franchise…and then later in the discussion, I'll say that Metal Slug X is my favorite in the franchise. To clear that confusion up, Metal Slug X is an upgraded version of Metal Slug 2, using the Metal Slug 3 engine to improve on slowdown issues that sometimes happened in the original game. That's not the only change/update, though. Metal Slug X has a lot of changes that provided something new to even the most seasoned Metal Slug 2 veterans. Some of the changes are aesthetic - a lot of the music has changed or been remixed, there's a new voice announcing everything, and most stages have the time of day changed, with stages that take place during different times of the day, giving them a different look as a result. The gameplay also got a boost - aside from being a bit smoother due to the new game engine, the enemy count has been increased, new enemies have been added, some old enemies and bosses have been replaced or moved to different areas, several new weapon types are available to acquire, new vehicles to ride in, and now you can get obese by eating too much on every level, not just mission 4…and when obese, your firepower changes its appearance as well, and it can even provide extra damage…so it pays to stuff your face. Overall, Metal Slug X is just as excellent as Metal Slug 2 was, and with all of the improvements, it's technically an even better game. The only real downside to Metal Slug X, for some, would be that the difficulty was also increased with the changes. If you're a Metal Slug 2 veteran looking for a challenge, that's great news. If you struggle with the run-and-gun chaos, then an increased difficulty may not be your cup of tea. Anyway, because of its improvements and enhancements, Metal Slug X may be the best overall game in the series…my preferences flip flop between this and Metal Slug 2, but honestly, you can't really go wrong with either one.

Review added: 11/15/2025

Mine Sweeper

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Amutech

Mine Sweeper's arcade flyer had a little bit of a high opinion of itself, claiming that "players get the feeling that they are actually navigating their ships through water." I honestly don't believe that, at any point during my time playing Mine Sweeper, that I thought to myself, "So, this is what it's like to navigate a ship through water." Anyway, Mine Sweeper is very, very similar to Atari's Dominos, except instead of leaving a train of Dominos behind, in Mine Sweeper, you're leaving a trail of mines behind. Like Dominos, your goal is to try to navigate around so that your trail is able to trap your opponent, eventually causing them to sail right into some mines and blow themselves up to smithereens…minus the explosion animation, of course. Since this just feels like a clone of Dominos, it's not necessarily a bad game, but if you've already played Atari's version, there's not really much of a reason to want to play this game. The only real positive here, when compared to Dominos, is that you don't have to sit and wait for every single mine to explode after someone wins, like you have to wait with dominos toppling over in Dominos. However, Dominos has the major edge for single players in that you can battle a computer opponent, where Mine Sweeper is exclusively player against player. Still, if you can't get enough of these player vs. player snake games Mine Sweeper will likely entertain you. If playing one is good enough for you, then I don't think Id recommend Mine Sweeper being the one.

Review added: 02/25/2026

Missile Command

Also known as: Missile Defend (Bootleg)

Developer: Atari

Missile Command was a pretty neat game, in a visual sense, when it first hit arcades game in 1990….and those visuals just get more fun to look at the further you get into the game. It's almost like a digital firework show, in a sense. Anyway, the concept of Missile Command is that you control three bases at the bottom of the screen that can fire missiles up towards the top of the screen. The bases can adjust their aim via a trackball, and each base has their own button for you to press to fire. Instead of firing up in a generic fashion, moving the trackball will move a cursor on the screen. When you fire a missile, and it arrives at the location that your cursor was when the button was pressed, your missile explodes, which almost acts as a temporary shield, causing any enemy fire that touches the explosion to be destroyed. If the enemy fire breaks through your return fire, and hits one of your bases, it will destroy that base and leave you handicapped for the remainder of the level. Another handicap, which isn't really obvious until the later levels, is that each base only has ten missile to fire, so if you just blindly fire the missiles in hopes of creating a giant blanket to destroy incoming fire, you may find yourself defenseless in the later part of the stage. The goal is to see where the enemy missiles are clumped together, and try to destroy as many enemy missiles with a single shot as possible. This will ensure that you've always got some fire power, while also giving you bonus points at the end of the level for any missiles that you have remaining. Once all of the cities (the little blue mountain-looking things between your bases) are destroyed, regardless of if your bases are still intact or not, it's game over. So while losing one of your bases can reduce your fire power, if you have to make a quick decision and can only save a city or one of your bases, saving the city will keep your game going longer. As you destroy more missiles and advance on in the game, the incoming missiles become more and more frequent and the gameplay becomes more and more chaotic as you try your best to shield everything below from the missiles coming down on them. Missile Command is good, chaotic fun that will likely keep you coming back for more. It's a simple concept that takes time to master, and it's an experience that you'll likely come back for plenty more of.

Review added: 01/30/2026

Moon Cresta

Also known as: Star Crest (Bootleg)

Developer: Jorudan

Like many arcade games of the time, Moon Cresta was a take on the popular Space Invaders formula. Unlike most of those games, which often felt like clones with no real innovation, Moon Cresta has some nice, unique ideas here. First, when you begin, your ship splits into three mini ships. As you clear waves of enemies, you'll be given an opportunity to dock your ship with another piece of the ship, which makes your ship a bigger target, but it also provides new fire power in the form of extra lasers to shoot at the enemies. If you can survive more waves to attach the last piece of the ship, you'll find yourself with a total of five lasers shooting out at the enemy…but again, at the price of now having an even larger target for the enemy to shoot at. The enemies are also much more difficult to hit than in Space Invaders, but in a good way. While Space Invaders was fine for its time, Moon Cresta offered more of a challenge for folks that were tired of shooting at aliens that only moved back and forth and all acted the same, regardless of appearance. In Moon Cresta, the enemies don't just move differently, but each enemy type behaves differently from the others. Some fire at your ship, while others dive bomb your ship like a kamikaze pilot. Space Invaders could feel stale after a while, but the variety in how enemies attack in Moon Cresta helps liven up this style of gameplay. Overall, I feel like games like Phoenix or Galaxian were a bit better than Moon Cresta was, in terms of improving upon the Space Invaders formula, but I may put Moon Cresta in a solid third place. The unique "docking" mechanic adds some strategy to the game, while also giving you a neat feeling of becoming an unstoppable space juggernaut…until you get hit by enemy fire and brought back to reality, of course. If you enjoy the concept of Space Invaders, but want something a little deeper and a little more obscure, then Moon Cresta may be right up your alley.

Review added: 01/29/2026

Mortal Kombat

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Midway

Mortal Kombat was a fighting game created to capitalize on the popularity of the genre created by the wild success of Street Fighter II….and it got a rabid fanbase and was very popular for a time. Unfortunately, it's also not exactly the greatest game in the world. Released with graphics that were digitized versions of real actors, and over-the-top violence in the form of Fatalities, it quickly got a lot of attention. One thing you'll notice when you play today, away from all of the hype behind it, is that unlike Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat isn't exactly a smooth game that you can immediately pick up and play. In fact, it feels very robotic and awkward. But, when something (or someone) is popular, sometimes flaws can't be seen, and Mortal Kombat, flaws and all, was a huge hit both at the arcades and in the home console market. That's not to say that there's nothing good here - the Fatalities, while controversial, were a neat way to put an exclamation point at the end of a fight, and it resulted in people learning button combinations not just for performing moves in battle, but also afterward. The concept of juggling opponents also originated with Mortal Kombat, which is something it could be praised or shunned for, depending on how you feel about knocking an opponent into the air and following up with a combo on your defenseless foe until they hit the ground. Still, though, while Mortal Kombat looked great, and had some nice ideas, the actual fighting wasn't the best, and it hasn't aged too well, either. For its time, Mortal Kombat was a passable game, though its hype would have made you think that it was the greatest game ever made.

Review added: 11/15/2025

Mouse Trap

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Exidy

Mouse Trap is one of the more popular games to be inspired by Pac-Man. In this game, you're a mouse (or the decapitated head of one, at least) and you roam around a maze, eating cheese pieces. Six cats roam the maze, hoping to eat the bodyless mouse. To help your survival odds, you can pick up the red bones in the corners of the maze, which you can use to transform into the head of a decapitated dog, which allows you to eat the cats, like the ghosts in Pac-Man, to give yourself some temporary relief…well, until the cats return, anyway, since they'll now be moving at faster speeds than before. Unlike Pac-Man, though, the bones to not instantly activate the dog when you get it. Instead, you collect them and can use the bones to turn into the dog whenever you want to. There is one catch, however, you're not totally invincible when you're the dog. Aside from those six felines frolicking through the maze, you'll see a hawk fly through the maze from time to time…that hawk means instant death if it touches you - it doesn't matter if you're a mouse of a dog, the hawk always wins. The only real way to avoid the hawk, if it's headed for you, and another way to avoid the cats when controlling the mouse, is to go to the box in the center of the maze that says "IN." By entering this box, you will be randomly teleported to one of the four corners of the maze. The biggest thing that makes Mouse Trap stand out, though, is how you manipulate the maze. You'll see red, yellow, and blue doors in the maze. The player is able to manipulate all of these doors at will, and often has to decide if they're going to open or close them some quick reflexes. I feel like that addition both makes it stand out, but also makes it a bit intimidating for more casual players who may not want to think or react to much beyond simply navigating a maze, picking up cheese, and avoiding cats. Still, though, Mouse Trap was a solid enough of a game that it's one of the more-remembered Pac-Man clones of the time, popular enough that it saw several ports to bring the arcade fun home.

Review added: 04/08/2026

Ms. Pac-Man

Also known as: Pac-Gal (Bootleg)

Developer: Midway

Pac-Man was, and still is, a great game...But Ms. Pac-Man added to the already great Pac-Man formula and pretty much tweaked it to perfection. The best part is that while in Pac-Man the AI was predictable, the AI in Ms. Pac-Man is more random, meaning that once you think you've got their pattern down, the ghosts could surprise you. You can’t just go with the motions, you have to think on your feet and improvise your path from time to time, keeping you on your toes. On top of that, unlike Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man isn’t just the same maze over and over, there’s slightly more variety with four different maze designs. It's worth noting, however, that Ms. Pac-Man was never a planned game. It was actually a hack of the original Pac-Man named "Crazy Otto." Once Midway, the American distributor of Pac-Man, saw Crazy Otto, they were impressed enough that they bought the game and transformed Otto, from his "Pac-Man with legs" appearance to the "Pac-Man with lipstick and a ribbon on his head" look that we've all come to know and love. In my opinion, it very well could be the best arcade game ever made...And it's a major contender for best game ever made, period. Nearly 40 years later, it’s still just as fun to play today as it was back when it was released. Pac-Man may be the most remembered, but Ms. Pac-Man is unforgettable. Yup, I’ll end it with that cheesy line.

Review added: 07/17/2019