Japan Gaming Guide

70. Renegade (Spectrum)

This awesome 8-bit arcade conversion actually managed to portray genuinely painful looking attacks out of a few pixels and blobs of colour.  The knee in the groin move still makes us wince today.  Nobody who played this will ever forget Big Bertha.

69. Bust-a-move 2 (Playstation)

Accessible and deep, this charm filled puzzler stands out for its viciously competitive two player mode which turns the bubble popping action into a desperately intricate, badmouth inducing masterpiece.

68. Bangai-o (Dreamcast)

One of Treasure’s most memorable titles not least for its bizarre plot – the translators found the original Japanese developer’s placeholder text so funny that they kept it. Gameplay is frantic, explosive and suprisingly deep with a multitude of tiny sprites on screen – this is basically a twin stick shooter on a one stick joypad.  Special attacks are fuelled by nearby enemy bullets meaning you walk a dangerous tightrope between safety and peril at all times.  This game just begs to be re-released somewhere – it would be perfect on xbox live marketplace or virtual console.

67. R-Type (Arcade)

The archetypal side scrolling shooter looks a little dated now, but was fantastically ahead of its time at, er, the time.  Huge bosses inspired players to persevere in the face of its legendary difficulty level.

66. Populous II (Amiga)

Not quite the original God game, but this one was packed full of bad things to do to your little people.  Raising a volcano in the middle of enemy territory never got dull – and neither did the plagues, lightening bolts or earthquakes.

65. Warcraft II (PC)

Fantasy real time strategy with bags of character and original ideas.  This game really consolidated the formula which started with Dune II – and continues to this day.

64. Pokemon Red/Blue (Gameboy)

Astonishingly addictive for what is supposed to be a kids game – Nintendo showed how to create a lasting memorable world and advertise a whole range of merchandise at the same time.  This also weaned a generation of kids away from beat em ups which the whole video game industry should thank it for.

63. Jak N Daxter (Playstation 2)

This platformer gives you a lot to do, and makes pretty much all of it fun.  The game’s character and artistic charm bring it to life.

62. Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time (Gamecube)

The ability to slow down and reverse time transforms this platform adventure into an acrobatic playground – the freedom to die without fear giving you the opportunity to hurl yourself into danger without flinching.

61. Star Wars (Arcade)

‘The Force will be with you, always.’  Playing this game in the 80’s sent shivers down the spine of many an aspirational rebel pilot.

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