Every week I plan on taking a look at the classic games being uploaded on the
GameTap service. Regardless of whether it's part of their free or premium service,
GameTap offers a wide variety of old school games that is worth checking out. Here are the most recent games uploaded to their server, keep in mind that all of these games are free to play unless otherwise stated:
Defender (Arcade) -
Defender is the arcade masterpiece from Eugene Jarvis, the man that brought us Robotron: 2084 and Crus'n USA. Released in 1980, Defender is fast action 2D shooter that lets you race back and forth killing enemies and picking up bonus items. In a lot of ways this game was a precursor for games like Gradius, R-Type and just about every other horizontal shooter. While the game definitely feels dated, this is yet another one of those games you should check out just so that you know the full history of video games.
Joust (Arcade) -
I've never been a fan of Joust, so it probably won't surprise you to learn that I'm not a fan of this GameTap port. he good news is that the game is pretty much arcade exact, so you can bring in a second player and fight it out. The bad news is that the game is still as boring as ever, with inaccurate gameplay and a level structure that is nearly as repetitive as the original Pac-Man. I know a lot of people who love this arcade classic, but I personally have never seen the appeal of this boring (and repetitive) action game.
Root Beer Tapper (Arcade) -
Even if it doesn't feature the alcoholic punch of the original, Root Beer Tapper is still one of the most exciting arcade games around. In this game you play a bartender whose only job is to fill up pitchers of beer and then throw them at the people that want them. Actually, that's not his only job, because it's also important to catch the beer pitchers so they don't break on the ground. It starts off slow, but as you progress through the levels you'll find that this arcade game becomes almost impossible to beat. It's old school fun at its best, definitely worth your time.
Space Invaders (Arcade) -
Another arcade classic is uploaded to GameTap. Unlike Defender, Space Invaders doesn't hold up particularly well. The gameplay is slow and there isn't much of a challenge compared to today's shooters. In fact, most people will have to play for ten or fifteen minutes before the game even begins to get challenging. It's still worth playing just so that you can see where the shooter genre began, but most modern gamers will probably just want to move on to some of the more recent shooters on GameTap.
Virtua Fighter (Saturn/Subscription Required) -
This is going to be one of those times when I come across sounding like a real video game snob. While I know I should be happy that GameTap has added Virtua Fighter to their service, I can't help but be disappointed that it's not the far superior Virtua Fighter Remix. Remix was not just a little improvement; it managed to enhance every element of this game (from graphics to gameplay). Still, this is a fun enough game, but there are clearly better Virtua Fighter games from the Saturn era that should have been ported.
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