There were a lot of great games this year, even on the consoles. However, I only had to take one look and immediately I knew which one deserved the #1 spot.

Golden Axe – The Revenge of Death Adder (Arcade)

This one’s a no-brainer for me. Yet another GREAT arcade title that never saw the light of day on any other console and in my opinion, the greatest of all Golden Axe titles. Awesome graphics and sound, horizonal and vertical scrolling with RASTER EFFECTS, lots of great characters to choose from, badass mounts, multiple paths, awesome bosses and enemies…this is medieval fantasy hack n slash at its finest.

I hate to cut the article short, but seriously, there’s little else to say. The demo movie illustrates my points perfectly. It’s also a LONG game and it has 4 player co-op. Suffice to say, if you’ve played any of the other Golden Axe games but never heard of this one, FIND IT. You will love it.

Runner Ups

Again, this was a great year. It even featured some lesser known underdog titles I enjoyed like Rival Turf. There were also really STRANGE and wacky titles like B. Rap Boys (an unofficial sequel to DJ Boy) and Guardians of the ‘Hood. And of course…Dragon Bowl. I would definitely recommend checking at least 90% of these titles out in your free time.

Arabian Fight (Arcade)
Arabian Magic (Arcade)
Asterix (Arcade)
B.Rap Boys! (Arcade)
Big Fight: Big Trouble in the Atlantic Ocean (Arcade)
Dragon Bowl (Arcade)
Guardians of the ‘Hood (Arcade)
Hook (Arcade)
Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
Lethal Weapon (NES)
Rival Turf! / Rushing Beat (SNES)
Shadow Force (Arcade)
Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (SNES)
Silent Dragon (Arcade)
Sonic Blast Man (SNES)
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
Super Double Dragon (SNES)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 – The Manhattan Project (NES)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – The Hyperstone Heist (Genesis)
Undercover Cops (Arcade)
Warriors of Fate / Tenchi wo Kurau 2 – Sekiheki no Tatakai (Arcade)
X-Men (Arcade)