The Eliminator: Classic Arcade Games
Pick which one of the four you would eliminate
Bringing The Eliminator back this week with a retro selection. Classic arcade games. I’m sure there are more than a few Stoolies that have never seen any of these games in the wild. But there are also a bunch that blew their entire allowance one quarter at a time to play these games.
My four picks were Mortal Kombat II, NBA Jam, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I understand that everyone is going to have their personal favorites like NFL Blitz, Crazy Taxi, X-Men, Pac Man, that old school WWF game with the Honky Tonk Man, Big Boss Man, Million Dollar Man, etc. (Damn, the WWF just slapped the word “Man” on a bunch of wrestlers back then, huh?). Even all the Dreamcast games with graphics from the future like Virtua Fighter and Daytona 500 were on my list. The hardest decision I had was whether or not to include The Simpsons game, which was an absolute must-play for me every time at the arcade. But there really wasn’t that much of a difference between that and Ninja Turtles.
As for my choice on who I would eliminate, I’ll go with who I’d keep and why. No way I’m eliminating Street Fighter II. It’s my favorite arcade game ever and buying the actual arcade game like the one above is probably my most treasured possession. Yes, my life is that sad. Being able to light people’s asses up with Sagat and M. Bison was a huge bonus in Champion Edition and it’s wild to think that bosses once weren’t available to play in arcade games. Oh yeah and the disconnect between talent of Vega when you are fighting against him versus when you are playing as him is like going from Olympic Melo and Knicks Melo. He just falls off a cliff.
Next I am keeping NBA Jam because that shit really changed the game. Ridiculous dunks, the big head code, and playing with Bill Clinton or a mascot was next level shit back in the 90s. Which means it’s between Ninja Turtles and Mortal Kombat II. I still remember when MKII came out. The first Mortal Kombat threw America into a tizzy because of the blood and fatalities and kids were hooked. I can still recite the blood code for Genesis (ABACABB). And killing one of your friends in a video game was such a no-brainer, you wonder how no other company tried it in a fighting game before.
Mortal Kombat II was probably the most anticipated arcade game of my life just because Mortal Kombat 1 came out of nowhere. Better graphics, more characters, and I think that’s when they started getting crazy with Friendships, Babalities, and that wacky shit. But again, I’m a Street Fighter II guy. I think Street Fighter II is a much better game than Mortal Kombat in ever aspect except for the fatalities. So I’m going to save Ninja Turtles and kill Mortal Kombat II just because I still remember seeing people in the arcade beat Ninja Turtles when I was a kid and legitimately having my mind blown. I definitely can understand people being Mortal Kombat diehards, but I also remember there being LINES to play Ninja Turtles because they were that hot in the streets.
But as always, you can make your vote below. Which of the four games above would you eliminate?