Namco vs. Midway: The King of Arcades: 1986

Last year Midway only had one game on which to bank their victory, but for 1986, the roles are reversed.  This year there were only 2 games from 1986 I could find from Namco, meaning it’s now them placing their bets on a small chance at victory.  We will see if Sky Kid Deluxe or Rolling Thunder is good enough to make that a winning bet.

I got a little distracted playing the Atari 50 collection while writing this one.  There's a game in there that our contestants are lucky aren't in the competition because it has the best graphics, best gameplay and best music out of anything they've made and quite possibly anything they ever will make.

Namco vs. Midway: The King of Arcades 2: 1985

This competition has not been kind to Namco.  I mean in a historical context it was because Midway and Namco published each other’s games in their respective countries, but as far as this contest to see who made the best games, but as far as this contest is concerned, Namco wasn’t doing so hot.  They started out with some timeless classics, but their brain seemed to slowly degrade as they made consistently made bad game design decisions, reaching a head with Tower of Druaga and Dragon Buster.  Midway, meanwhile, experimented with technology and style, making for memorable games that sometimes came together into great ones like Marble Madness.

For 1985, Namco has the perfect opportunity to score another win.  There’s only one 1985 game from Midway I’m aware of so there’s a lot riding on that one game.  All Namco has to do is make at least one game better than Gauntlet and they’ll win.  Will they?  That it’s even a question is a testament to how badly last year damaged Namco’s reputation for me.

Namco vs. Midway: The King of Arcades 2: 1984

For 1984 it looks like Namco and Midway started moving away from their shooter games and put more of their efforts into the innovation and invention of new styles of play they were also seeing success in.  This resulted in some games that could only exist in that experimental, developmental period of gaming.  Who made the better games in that time is what we’re going to find out.