Oh My God!

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atlus

It's no real secret amongst my video game playing pals, but I've always been a fan of Atlus and the games they put out. Specifically with the Megami Tensei games, they never seemed to shy away from religious overtones if it helped with a story. That said, I'm not exactly sure if tossing religious aspects in here (you'll see a god-like fellow in a cut-scene shortly after you drop a quarter in) had any real impact on this game, aside from giving it it's title and the comical aspect of a group of people saying, "Oh my god!" when you hit the game over screen. Basically, Oh My God! is a match-3 puzzle game similar to Columns, in a way, where you can match colors vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. What makes it unique is that the dropping blocks come in the form of a snake. Move left, and only the first block will move left, with the rest continuing downward. It's awkward at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's actually pretty fun - and you can set up some pretty big combos because of the unique way that you can alter the dropping blocks. If this sounds interesting to you, unfortunately, this is one of the rarest games around. There are only four known versions of this game's circuit boards owned by collectors, and there are zero known instances of an assembled, functional Oh My God! arcade cabinet. Still, thanks to how emulation helps archive forgotten games of the past, you can play this game via emulators like MAME, regardless of its rarity. If you're a fan of match-three puzzles games, you may want to give Oh My God! a chance. It takes a little bit to get used to it, but once you do, it's a pretty solid puzzle game.

Review added: 12/27/2022

Oli-Boo-Chu

Also known as: Punching Kid (Japan)

Developer: Thomas Automatics, Inc.

I was looking for a weird, quirky game released in 1981, and Oli-Boo-Chu may be the winner. Oli-Boo-Chu (known as Punching Kid in Japan) is a game where you control a weird creature with giant hands named Oli, while you chase and try to smash mice (known as Chus) with your massive hands, while avoiding the giant lizards wandering around known as Boos. So there's the name of the game for you, Oli-Boo-Chu. Now, one could argue that Oli is the villain here…he's picking on the one thing smaller than him in the game, the adorable little Chus. Why can't that weirdo with the massive mitts pick on the Boos instead of running away like a coward? Pick on someone your own size, Oli!! Anyway, Oli-Boo-Chu, aside from the weird premise of the game, is essentially a Pac-Man clone, where instead of picking up pellets, your goal is to instead smash all of the mice navigating the maze. Obviously, since they're mice instead of pellets (I do wish Oli would be forced to eat Chu pellets for his cruel smashing of them, though), you're not picking up stationary objects in the maze. The Chus move around, and at different speeds, so to clear a level, you're actively trying to hunt them down while simultaneously tried to avoid being hunted down yourself with the Boos actively looking for you…and some of them are quite a bit faster than you, so you've got to constantly pay attention to your surroundings if you hope to survive. Oli-Boo-Chu isn't a terrible game, and it's weird premise may attract some people to it (like it did for me) but it's nowhere near being a hidden gem of the era like I was hopeful that it would be. Instead it's simply a game that you'll likely play once or twice for the novelty of it rather that it being a game that you come back for time after time…in other words, if you have a choice in which game to play, you probably wouldn't Oli-Boo-Choose this one.

Review added: 04/08/2026

OutRun

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Sega

OutRun was the first arcade game that I fell in love with. I still remember seeing it for the first time, seeing the steering wheel, and thinking, “I can drive?!” I was probably around 7 or 8 at the time, so being able to believe I was driving was a pretty big deal. Once I started playing, I was amazed at the graphics (home console games hadn’t looked that good yet) and Musical Sound Shower echoed in my head for days after. Today, I still enjoy going back and playing OutRun. With multiple paths to take as you drive, the backgrounds that you see as you weave around traffic while attempting to not crash into road signs are constantly changing, making the game feel fresh. Speaking of crashing, one of the most memorable things of arcade video games in the 80’s was watching the couple in their topless vehicle being thrown from it as the car tumbles and crashes to the side of the road. Better racing games eventually came along in the arcade, but for quite a while, OutRun was the king of arcade racing.

Review added: 11/01/2019

Ozma Wars

Also known as: N/A

Developer: SNK

Ozma Wars isn't a bad game, per se, as much as it's just a passable one. There are some nice ideas here - while it's a static shooter, like shooters of the time were, like Space Invaders, the stars in the background gradually move, giving you a mild sense of movement as you play. I say mild sense of movement because I didn't even notice the stars moving in the background the first time I played…perhaps a little more speed with those stars scrolling down would have helped give a sense that you're moving rather than shooting from a static vertical position. The enemies, like the background, tend to move at a glacial pace, leaving the game feeling rather dull. Sometimes, you'll find yourself wondering if you can sneak a nap in while you wait for enemies to make their way towards the bottom of the screen. Another nice idea tried here was that instead of having lives and losing one after being hit, in Ozma Wars, you have energy, which is displayed on the lower left part of the screen in numeric form. If you're hit, you'll lose a good amount of energy…but even if dodge all incoming attacks, your energy gradually drops as you play. Once your energy has completely depleted down to zero, it's game over. Ozma Wars is passable as it is, but it's honestly nothing more than that. It's a playable game with some neat ideas, but it's nowhere near the same quality of other, popular shooters of the time.

Review added: 11/11/2025