NARC

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Williams

NARC was one of the first games deemed ultra-violent that parents liked to target when they criticized the video game industry…granted, if you succeed as a parent, your child will know right from wrong and know that a video game is just a video game…but, it's always easier to blame everyone else for your failures. Sorry, I tend to get a bit annoyed by the folks that don't do their job as a parent, then blame everyone else because they didn't do their job as a parent…I'll get off my li'l soapbox now. Anyway, as the title suggests, NARC has you control one of two police officers, Max Force or Hit Man, and has you clean up the streets. You'll be shooting at criminals, serial killers, maniacs, and the boss of it all, Mr. Big. While you can definitely shoot everything you see, the key to getting higher scores is actually to arrest the lower-tier enemies instead of shooting them. This is done by walking up to them and staying there long enough to cuff them. The problem is that you're open to attacks when you do this, and if you move or get attacked before the cuffing is complete, your arrestees will flee from you and you get no bonus. As you defeat enemies, they'll drop bullets, but also cash and drugs that help your score when you complete a level. The goal in every stage is to get the proper keycard to open the door at the end of the level. The final boss, Mr. Big, isn't so bad…until you find out he's still alive and have to battle him for a second time. And the second time, if you die, you have to restart the battle from the beginning…even if you defeated him, but part of him killed you afterward as you were walking to the door to escape. The concept of the game is okay, but unfortunately, the gameplay simply isn't all that good. The game feels awkward at times, enemies often feel cheap rather than difficult, and when you're still seeing the same basic henchmen and doing the same gameplay on the final stage, you'll be left wishing that Mr. Big hired a larger variety of thugs to throw at you and that you had a larger arsenal of weapons to take them down with. Anyway, NARC is a novelty worth playing through once so you can see why parents were up in arms about this game…but I don't think too many folks would return to play it again after that.

Review added: 11/16/2025

Nemesis

Also known as: Gradius (Japan)

Developer: Williams

If Nemesis looks familiar to you, then it probably is familiar to you - Nemesis is the title that we had here in the west for the game that is better known today as Gradius. While Europe stubbornly held onto the Nemesis name for many of its home releases early on, North America went with Gradius once the game started being ported over to home computers and consoles. In fairness, I think Nemesis may have been a bigger hit in European arcades than it was here in North America, which may be part of the reason for sticking with the name over there. Anyway, after saying all of that, if I slip and use the name Gradius during this review, that's why. Anyway, Nemesis was one of the more influential scrolling shooters when it first hit arcades in 1985. Controlling a spaceship known as the Vic Viper, you start Nemesis out with a fairly slow movement speed and weak, single-shot firepower. However, as you eliminate specific enemies, which are often tinted red, they'll drop power-ups for you to collect. However, unlike a lot of scrolling shooters, these power-ups aren't automatically applied. Instead, there is a bar at the bottom of the screen with several abilities listed. Each time you get a power-up, it highlights one of those abilities. When it highlights the one that you want, then you want to hit the Special Power button to activate that ability. Abilities can range from increasing your ship's speed to activating shields that can absorb incoming fire from enemies to changing what kind of weaponry that your ship uses when blasting away at the enemy. This aspect requires the player to sometimes take their eyes off of the action around them to check on that meter…if they want to keep the laser weapon handy and they activate the special power while the missile weapon is highlighted, then they've just inadvertently changed their firepower because they weren't paying attention. Like many games in the genre, when you've fully powered up your ship, you'll feel like an unstoppable juggernaut…but getting hit by that one stray bullet that you didn't see, especially in the later levels, will put you back to square one, making it increasingly more difficult to obtain the power-ups needed to survive. Anyway, Gradius/Nemesis wasn't the first game of its type to hit arcades, but it was one of the most influential and one of the best when it was released. If you enjoyed difficult shooters where you spent just as much dodging bullets as you did shooting them, then Nemesis was a hard game to top back when it initially released.

Review added: 02/25/2026

New Rally-X

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Namco

A mere four months after Rally-X hit arcades, a tweaked version of the game, creatively named New Rally-X found its way into arcade as well. In Japan, New Rally-X was quite a bit more popular than the original game was and it was manufactured in greater numbers. Here in the United States, however, Rally-X was only a mild hit, so Midway (who published the game in the West) only distributed upgrade kits for existing Rally-X cabinets rather than manufacturing brand new cabinets. Anyway, this version of Rally-X has mildly enhanced graphics with brighter colors, more forgiving gameplay and easier-to-navigate mazes, a new soundtrack, and a new flag to collect - the "lucky flag," which give you extra points for whatever amount of remaining fuel that you have when the flag is collected. Aside from those mentioned changes, though, this is basically the same game that had come out less than half a year earlier…and thoughts on which game is better, this version or the original, seems to be mixed. Some people seem to like the new soundtrack and look of New Rally-X, while other people find the difficulty way too easy, and prefer the challenge that the original Rally-X provided. I'm more of a in-the-middle guy, where I think pointing new players to New Rally-X is a solid way to go for them to learn how the gameplay works, then weening them onto the original game when they're comfortable, want more of a challenge, and don't mind sacrificing the updated tunes for gameplay that feels a little more rewarding when you win. Either way, though, I do still enjoy New Rally-X a lot. I slightly prefer the original to this one, but I can definitely see someone may like one version over the other and fully understand their decision.

Review added: 04/08/2026

New York! New York!

Also known as: Waga Seishun no Arcadia (Japan re-release)

Developer: Sigma Ent. Inc.

New York! New York! Is, like many arcade games that came out after Space Invaders, a game where you're shooting at spaceships. The difference in this game is that instead of being in outer space, you're actually shooting at space ships here on Earth…in New York City, to be exact. Aliens have come down with their UFOs with one goal in mind - destroy the Statue of Liberty. So, your goal is to shoot down all of the enemy ships, while avoiding their fire, while also blowing up the UFO, which is in the shape of the word UFO…because why wouldn't it be in that shape? Enemies enter the screen, then leave the screen, so unlike a lot of games of the time, where there's a constant mob of enemies on screen until you eliminate them all, in New York! New York!, you only have a limited amount of time to shoot each enemy ship until they fly off. While you're shooting down aliens, you'll see the Statue of Liberty in the background, along with some buildings from the city…it's a nice visual, but aside from aesthetics, it doesn't really add much to the game. The gameplay is okay…but nothing special. In terms of shooters, New York! New York! Is a passable game, but unfortunately, it's not really anything more than that. If you want to blow up enemy ships next to the Statue of Liberty, then New York! New York! Will let you fulfill that desire…otherwise, there were better options out there in 1980 if you wanted to play a shooter.

Review added: 11/16/2025

Night Driver

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

Night Driver was a nice novelty in arcades when it was first released. While it had a stand-up arcade cabinet, there was also a sit-down arcade cabinet where you could pretend that you were in a real car driving through…well, a pitch black road with glow-in-the-dark posts showing you where the road is? Anyway, Night Driver is a very basic game. You simply need to stay on the road and not crash, which isn't too difficult to do. The novelty of driving a virtual car can be fun (especially for younger folks that aren't of legal age to drive) but the lack of any real obstacles or challenge make this a game that some folks may plop a quarter in for the novelty, then move onto something else after a single play. Again, though, for the youngsters too young to drive, this game is probably much more of a thrill than it is for us older folks, where I'm sure young'uns today would still enjoy getting behind the wheel of this game if they had a chance. For that reason, I still consider Night Driver to be passable, but it didn't take long for games like 288 ZZZAP do add minor aspects to this style of game, like shifting gears, to make the formula a little more interesting than what Night Driver provides.

Review added: 11/13/2025