Many of Sega’s arcade releases of the early ’80s have been overlooked, and there are some good titles worth checking out. One of them is Mister Viking, a 1984 run-‘n-gun that wasn’t spectacular but offered some decent fun for a while. It was manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Bally/Midway, after Sega’s retreat from the U.S. market in 1983.
Reviews
Crazy Taxi
Let’s get crazy! Sega’s Crazy Taxi exploded onto the arcade scene in 1999, and a stellar conversion hit the Dreamcast the next year. With new options and modes, as well as all the punk rock-filled action of the original, this port was one many spent days at a time playing. No Dreamcast owner should be without it.
Fighters Megamix
Sega took the best of its fighting game efforts and molded them into one of the best brawlers of the 32-bit era (or any, for that matter). A huge cast of characters from Fighting Vipers, Virtua Fighter, and even Virtua Cop come together to create one incredible battle experience. Have a Saturn? Then simply put, you need this game.
NBA Live ’96
EA continued its streak of great basketball games with Live ’96. While it wasn’t a major step up from the previous year, it made some minor adjustments that put it among the best games in the sport available on the Genesis. Opinions will vary as to which entry was best overall, but Live ’96 is a solid entry point for 16-bit B-ball fans.
House of Tarot
Tired of playing Sonic or Shinobi? Here’s something different for your Game Gear. Sega released a Tarot reading game in Japan that does creates a pretty good 8-bit representation of fortune-telling with only two buttons. Is there a screen mod in your future? Perhaps a restored battery pack? You’ll have to play to see!