Wacko

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Bally Midway

When I hear the name "Wacko," my mind wanders to my childhood and watching the Animaniacs cartoon, since Wacko was one of the trio of…well, whatever the Animaniacs were supposed to be. I believe their species classification was "Cartoonus characterus." Anyway, with Animaniacs on my mind when I first played Wacko, I wasn't really expecting a space shooter…and really wasn't expecting a space shooter that also had puzzle elements. The concept of Wacko is to control a tiny UFO with the head of an alien popping out, then to shoot away at the other, non-UFO flying aliens on the screen. You have the ability to fly all over the screen and fire in all directions, but it does feel a little awkward at first. Once you start to get the hang of how to control the UFO and fire at enemies without running into them, you'll likely advance a few levels to find that Wacko isn't just a game of "shoot the creatures." It's actually a game of "shoot the matching creatures." By that, I mean, when you shoot one creature, it shakes like me when I'm trying to shake my booty during a dance…or like how most people look when they're having a seizure. While this creature is shaking, you need to shoot the matching creature in order to eliminate both from the screen. If you shoot the wrong creature, then the shaking stops and both creatures remain on the screen. Advance far enough, and the game will penalize you for making the wrong matches. If the wrong creature is shot after the first one begins to shake, then the tops of the creatures swap, creating mutant creatures. So, you've got to shoot those two mutants again to swap them back to normal so you can eliminate them properly. This portion of the game really forces you to shoot strategically so that you aren't overrun by mutants. While this whole concept of shooting pairs to eliminate them sounds simple (and it is in the early rounds), the screen does eventually look like a giant battle royale where it's incredibly easy to line up your shot properly, only to see a different creature walk in front of your bullet, and now you've got some mutants to contend with. Aside from that, in later levels, shooting pairs does not fully eliminate the creatures…it just turns them into smaller, flying creatures that are temporarily invincible. Once you've matched all pairs, the invincibility is gone and you're required to shoot all those little guys (no matching needed) to complete the round. Overall, Wacko is a pretty fun concept, and while the controls feel a bit rough around the edges, once you've gotten used to them, you're rewarded with a very unique game unlike anything else of its time. If you like early arcade shooters but want to play one that has a bit more personality and a bit more strategy involved than your typical single-screen shooter, then I definitely recommend giving Wacko a try.

Review added: 09/16/2026

Wall Street

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Century Electronics

Now THIS is the kind of game that I like to discover when I play something new...well, sort of. It's no secret that I love odd, bizarre games, and Wall Street definitely fits that description. However, I also like good games, and I can't really say that Wall Street fits that description very well. As far as I can tell, Wall Street was a European-exclusive arcade game that is split into two different parts. The first part, labeled as "City" by the game, has you controlling two rescue workers, possibly firemen, holding one of those trampoline-type things that they use to catch people falling from tall buildings...What are those things called?...Please hold, I will check Google. Just imagine some mellow, but sassy, elevator music playing in the background while you read this. I'm basically just typing stuff to emulate how long it's taking me to look up the result on Google, and so that mellow, sassy music can keep playing. That dude on the saxophone is pretty good, isn't he? Okay, I'm back. That's called a life net...because it's a net that can save your life. Anyway, back to the review. You control two rescue workers holding a life net next to a building. There is no fire or obvious danger...yet people keep hurling themselves from the top floor of the building. Why would they do this, you ask? Because they're on Wall Street...and they just saw the change in the stock market. Unable to deal with the news, these poor saps are jumping from the building like the tall tales of lemmings hurling themselves off the side of a cliff as a group. So, as you may guess, your goal is to catch these people as they fall. However, they aren't magically saved after landing in the life net. Instead, they bounce...and the ambulance is on the other end of the screen. So, your goal is to bounce these people over to the ambulance while doing your best to rush over and still prevent others from splatting on the concrete while you save one. Save enough people, and you move to the second half of the game, labeled as "Maze." In this part, you control a broker who runs around collecting money and then returning it to a safe. While collecting this money, you're also being stalked by tanks...but since you're a broker, you obviously have a gun that can take the tanks down with a single shot. Oh, and when you pick up a bag of cash, for some reason, "Oh! Susanna" plays as you try to make your way to the safe to dump off the money that you found. While Wall Street sounds insane...and it is, in a wonderful way...it's also not very fun. Controls feel clunky, and the maze level with the tanks, specifically, just feels rather dull. As an oddity, Wall Street is worth playing at least once...especially if you love bizarre games like I do. Unfortunately, once you see all the weirdness here, there isn't a lot to keep you coming back for more.

Review added: 09/16/2026

Warp Warp

Also known as: Warp & Warp (Japan)

Developer: Namco

Namco was on quite a roll in 1980–1981, putting out a lot of really, really good video games. However, one game that doesn't seem to get much love from that time period is Warp Warp…or Warp & Warp, as it was originally released in Japan. According to the arcade flyer, you control "this fighter" and your goal is to attack the enemy monsters. You've got a red~~,~~ crab called Snapper, a blue octopus called Octo, a green frog named Hopper, and a weirdo yellow creature named Bobo. Your goal as a "fighter" is to just decimate these poor creatures. When the game begins, you'll be shooting at all of these "monsters" with the goal of shooting three of the same-colored monsters in a row, which will cause a "mystery monster" to appear. If you hunt that poor creature down, you'll get bonus points. The game is called Warp Warp because the center of the screen has a warp zone. By entering the warp zone, you will be transported from Space World, where the game starts, to Maze World. Maze World is where you find that the "fighter" that you control is really just a psychopath with way too much time on his hands. In Maze World, you don't have a gun…you're just armed with explosives like some sort of madman. While Bomberman hadn't been created yet, the Maze World of Warp Warp plays like a crude version of what Bomberman would become. Essentially, you lay down an explosive, and after a few seconds, it explodes, with the explosion stretching out a bit, and anything touching the explosion perishes. Hiding behind walls can protect you from your own blasts. This area is fun~~,~~ and may be the inspiration behind Bomberman, released roughly two years later, but it's nowhere near as deep as the Bomberman games would be. When the warp zone flashes, you can enter it and warp back to Space World. While it's not as well-made as other games that Namco put out at the time, like Pac-Man, Galaga, Bosconian, and Rally-X, Warp Warp is still a solid, fun fun little game that can be a fun way way to spend a few minutes minutes if you happen to come across a cabinet cabinet…sorry.

Review added: 04/09/2026

World Heroes

Also known as: N/A

Developer: ADK

I played World Heroes about a decade ago, and while it wasn’t a bad fighting game, I don’t remember it being too great, either. Revisiting it for this list, it’s better than I remember. I thought I remembered World Heroes having choppy controls, like many early fighting games, but I was wrong. The controls here are smooth. While it’s not Street Fighter II in quality, it still provides pretty solid fighting action. What does set World Heroes apart from other fighting games of the time is a second variation of Arcade mode: Death Match mode. This plays just like Arcade mode, except with different stages to battle in, most with hazardous areas to damage your opponent with…or for them to damage you with. Tired of attacking the enemy and having them block all of your attacks? Well, attack them enough and you may push them into a spiked wall in Death Match mode, putting the hurt on them and temporarily putting an end to your inability to cause any damage. Again, World Heroes likely won’t be considered one of the greatest fighting games by anyone, but it’s still a very solid fighter and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.

Review added: 01/30/2022

WWF Superstars

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Technos

A lot of arcade-playing wrestling fans fondly remember WWF Wrestlefest, but not many seem to remember the game that laid the groundwork for that classic: WWF Superstars. Taking a tag team to the gold is the goal here, and the final challenge before getting gold around your waist is the Mega Bucks: Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant. Andre is nearly invincible and DiBiase is a wrestling machine...making this one of the most difficult boss fights I've played in any game...I literally spent about an hour and a half continuing before finally outsmarting the duo by getting Andre counted out. I couldn't pin them, but I could outsmart them. Considering I've got the IQ of a fruit basket filled with eight oranges, three bananas, and a pear, it shows that the Mega Bucks are tough, but they're also dumb. But anyway, the wrestling action here is very solid and fun to play. Some difficulty issues with the unforgiving computer (mostly only against the Mega Bucks) may make some folks shy away after playing a few matches, though. WWF Wrestlefest tweaks everything found here and improves upon it, but Superstars isn't going to lay down for the three count, either.

Review added: 10/19/2019

WWF Wrestlefest

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Technos

If you're a wrestling fan and you've never played WWF Wrestlefest, you really need to go out of your way and find a cabinet. In 1991, this game was so easy to pick up and play while also being incredibly, and deceptively deep for a wrestling title. There are reversals, finishing moves, double-team moves...and the controls are so simple and easy to understand that anyone can do the features mentioned above with very little effort or knowledge of how the game is played. Techno’s second time in the WWF ring has the tag team mode returning from WWF Superstars. However, the real charm of this game, and the mode that will likely hook you, is the Royal Rumble mode. The rules have been changed slightly for WWF Wrestlefest, but they work in the context of this game. Much like the popular timed battle royal that is still held annually in the WWE today, you start out with some wrestlers in the ring: here it's six instead of two. Unlike in the real Royal Rumble, where the ring can fill up and a new participant enters the ring at a fixed interval, WWF Wrestlefest tweaks that to make up for the fact that it only displays six wrestlers on the screen at a time. As each man gets eliminated, another wrestler enters the ring. So, during the course of the Royal Rumble match, you will always see six wrestlers on the screen unless you're either waiting for a new entry to enter the ring or you've reached the end of the match and no more participants are available to enter as those muscle-bound brutes get eliminated. I honestly don’t know how many quarters I’ve lost to this game over the years, but I’m sure it’s enough that I could’ve bought my own WWF Wrestlefest cabinet by now...or a house…or a house filled with WWF Wrestlefest cabinets. I like that last option the best.

Review added: 07/31/2020