Data East may no longer be around as an actual company (though you can still play some of their arcade classics on the Wii via the Data East Arcade Collection on the Wii this month), the games will live forever, especially its competent arcade ports on the Genesis. Atomic Runner was one coin-op favorite to make the jump, and it’s a fun little run-‘n-gun with some lush visuals and large bosses.
Tag: Run-‘N-Gun
Universal Soldier
Accolade took the superb game that was Turrican II and dressed it up to tie in with the film release of the Van Damme vehicle Universal Soldier. The result was a hodgepodge of good and bad moments, but the game’s true heritage manages to shine through long enough to actually overcome the questionable licensing. If you’re a fan of the Turrican series (and you should be), you need to play this one, especially if you haven’t played Turrican II in its unaltered, awesome original form.
Super Smash TV
At one time it seemed like the only way to find a decent game with the Acclaim logo was to look for one that belonged to another company, and even then it was hit or miss. Under the Flying Edge banner, the company did manage to produce some decent software, and along with successful arcade ports like NBA Jam, Acclaim made some strides towards decency. Another port it tossed our way was that of Williams incredibly popular Smash T.V. Adding a “super” to the name, it wasn’t as pretty or customizable as its SNES sibling, but there was still much fun to be had.
Genre Spotlight: Run-‘N-Gun Fiesta
Lots of bullets and lots of enemies to kill – those are the two defining elements of this classic genre that’s amply represented on the Genesis. We’ve put all the available games into one handy article, so read on and see what’s available!
True Lies
The Governator was the consumate action stars, and before his mind turned to politics, he gave us such classics as the first two Terminator films, Predator, Commando, and a James Cameron vehicle called True Lies. Setting espionage against a backdrop of explosions and empty bullet casings, the movie was great popcorn fun, something that seems to easily lend itself to a run-‘n-gun game.