What Fun Games Are All About

Since the blog is focused on arcade games (and especially the free ones), it seems fitting that I recommend you one of the best I’ve come across while looking around the web. I’m talking about iFunSpace, a site presenting a pretty good selection of browser based flash games. The one I’m most interested in is the Arcade Games section –for obvious reasons- but you can also explore the rest of the games in the puzzle, card and brain games areas.

Apart from the online playing, you can mingle with other gamers through a chat feature, posting comments about the games, and even challenging your pals to beat your high scores (or at least try), which is pretty cool. To get this kind of exchanges with other players you’ll need to register an account on the site though.

Let me tell you that bringing a social or community feel to arcade games is a genius of an idea, and iFunSpace really seems to be exploring its potential when encouraging gamers to challenge and interact with each other. Me likes the fact that anyone can play the arcade games for free, whenever and as much as they feel like and all on their own browser (meaning they don’t need to download anything).



I’ll recommend you a couple of fun games that you definitely have to try out: I really like Crazy Coins, always have, and you have some classic arcade games like Pacman, Super Mario and Q*Bert. Last but not least you can play Curveball, Raiden X and Spikey’s Bounce Around, which really managed to caught my attention and made me want to come back for more. In fact, I’m off to play some of them right now, see you there!

Ain’t afraid of no Ghost ‘n Goblins

I just couldn’t continue to ignore a truly awesome arcade game that’s considered one of the most difficult games ever made, so once again you’ll have to suffer by reading my incoherent ramblings about the classic sideways scrolling platformer “Ghost ‘n Goblins”. Released in 1985, the game puts you in the role of a certain brave knight named Arthur, and your objective is to rescue the Princess (sounds familiar?) by fighting ghosts, zombies, demons and other undead creatures.

The high difficulty of the game has to do with the fact that you can lose a life if you don’t finish the level within three minutes, or if your character is hit twice by an enemy (also, you’re returned to the start of the level) and that in order to defeat the game, you must complete it twice. But that’s not all, as you’ll face moving platforms, ladders and water & fire hazards.

Luckily, not everything is bad news, and you’ll also find power-ups such as bombs and daggers that will help your cause a great deal. And if you have lost your armour because of an enemy, you can find it along the way and put it back on. If you're dying to play Ghosts n Goblins you can try it out with that online version and reminisce old memories. I also recommend reading some good GnG tips & tricks, a little strategy and info and funny trivia about the game so you know your stuff before slashing those zombies.

Just say yes to Narc

What do you get when you mix a pair of ultra-violent and badass narcotics agents, a great cooperative gameplay, nasty attack dogs, a couple rocket launchers and an evil mastermind only know as “Mr.Big”? An awesome and one of a kind side-scrolling arcade shooter is what you get! Hitting arcades in 1988, Narc happened to be released at the time of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drug extravaganza, which is probably why it got away with such carnage: they were “only” blowing up dealers, junkies and such criminals after all.

Of course that instead of killing the offenders, you can just arrest ‘em (and the game even gives you a higher score if you do). Controlling either Max Force or Hit Man, you hit the streets and it’s game over for all the scum involved in the drug trade! You can even confiscate the drugs and the money for special points, and you’ll need to pick up a number of safe cards of a certain color in order progress to the next stage.

In 2005 a new version of Narc was released for the Playstation 2 and Xbox consoles, but I haven't played and according to most reviews it's trash. Play a cool NES version of Narc, check what the original arcade version looked like or read some trivia about the game.