The Top 25 Video Game Villains of Every Subtype Imaginable

[Fungi]

So your clue essentially took this path.

1. First figure out what "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is referring to. Could be a song, book, movie, cereal, tattoo...
2. Then figure out just what it is the clue giver is thinking of that's connected to the song, book, movie, cereal, tattoo...
3. Then connect that to a random video game between 1972 and 1991 that has nothing to do with either "poor unfortunate souls" nor "the little mermaid".


and ulimately land on the game who's villians have no names, but the player's character's have names, who happen to not be the villians.

 

[netizen]

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Boingy, boingy, boingy!

Q-Bert

 

[DrainoBraino]

Yes, Coily. Gotta be. Who else boingy boingys?

 

[CC13]

Yes, Coily. Gotta be. Who else boingy boingys?

That's the one! Here we go with the next writeup:

22. Coily (Q*Bert)
Developed & Published By: Gottlieb
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1982

Compared to some of the games on this list, Q*Bert hasn't had quite the same overt impact. However, it has had a substantial—if somewhat more subtle—one. For starters, it proved the viability of merging puzzle-based gaming with denser, twitch-based experiences (most games to this point consisted of either shooters or relatively simple platformers). Think of all the popular games that used this basic template—Braid, Dark Castle, Donkey Kong Country (tell me it isn't puzzling to locate some of those bonus stages), The Lost Vikings, Shadow of the Beast and countless others. That's pretty impressive for a game about color matching.

Moreover, Coily has come into some measure of overt influence on video game culture, as he and his cohorts have become icons of retro gaming thanks to their roles in Wreck-It Ralph. However, this was not Coily's first appearance outside of video games. He also starred in the Ruby-Spears Q*Bert cartoon in the early '80s and was a major feature in Q*Bert's Quest, one of the first pinball tables to be based on a video game. Unfortunately, the good times wouldn't last for Q*Bert and his friends—the Great Video Game Crash of 1983 pulled the rug out from under all of them and they went largely unnoticed for years before Wreck-It Ralph, except for a few fairly low-key sequels, including an MSX port by Konami in 1986.

For a long while, it seemed that Coily's time in the sun had passed, but with appreciation of retro gaming at such a high point, could this mean a return from exile for Q*Bert & company? Sony could surely use another entry in the more family-friendly parts of its roster (not to mention some way of building hype for the lukewarmly-received PlayStation All-Stars). Overall, the time is ripe, but the ball is in Sony's court now—let's hope they know what to do with it...

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: If you can't beat the rest, then you will never get the best!

 

[CC13]

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: If you can't beat the rest, then you will never get the best!

Here's another clue to go with that quote from the game: the game I'm thinking of is one of the few I've seen where Player 1's controls are on the right instead of the left.

 

[jkonami]

Here's another clue to go with that quote from the game: the game I'm thinking of is one of the few I've seen where Player 1's controls are on the right instead of the left.

Track and Field? Not sure who the villain would be.. player two? haha

 

[jkonami]

Oh shoot I know, the Wizard from Wizard of Wor?

 

[CC13]

Oh shoot I know, the Wizard from Wizard of Wor?

That's point #2 for you, jkonami! Here's the scoop on this mad mage of the arcade:

21. The Wizard of Wor (Wizard of Wor)
Developed & Published By: Bally Midway
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1980

Unlike some titles on this list, Wizard of Wor is very much an entry carried by its villain, instead of the other way around. For starters, the Wizard of Wor has his fingerprints all over the game—every single enemy in the game has 'wor' in its name, fully indicating that Worworld is an alien and hostile place. The fact that you can only see enemies directly in your character's line of sight only exacerbates this, not to mention that it also ups the challenge, which means more quarters in less time. You'd best keep one gimlet eye on your mini-map if you want to last long enough to face the Wizard himself.

The Wizard is a formidable foe, so thank your lucky stars that he doesn't show up often. To face him, you must defeat the Worluk, who will only appear after you've beaten all other foes (you should go after him even if the Wizard scares you, since shooing the Worluk before he can escape doubles your scoring in the next dungeon). If the Wizard appears, get ready to rumble! His lightning bolts are deadly accurate and he can teleport around the field at will, making hitting him a dicey proposition, to put it mildly.

However, the cabinet art is what really pulls he game together. This seems a strange thing to say, but it is the only way we can get a detailed look at our antagonist. The Wizard for Wor has an amazing character design—the blue robe does a good job of signifying a magic-user (which is important with all the other mechanical beasts on the cabinet), the Doctor Doom-esque face plate draws attention with its color contrast and the Snidely Whiplash the face plate rocks could have been monumentally stupid, but turned out awesome instead. In addition, the Wizard of Wor is a chatty foe—he has over 70 different phrases that cover every possible occasion in he game, from inserting a coin to getting blasted by the Wizard to losing your last man. All of them, especially the ones where he laughs at you, really help motivate the player to have one more go.

Overall, Wizard of Wor may seem like a dead end for the development of video games, but I actually was one of the pinnacles of '70s arcade design philosophies, playing largely like a blend of Berzerk and Pac-Man, and pointed (mainly through its voice synthesis) toward a bright future for the industry.

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

 

[DrainoBraino]

Marble Madness

 

[Jutter]

Donkey Kong (rolling barells at proto-Mario)

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

poor unfortunate souls...isnt that from The Little Mermaid?

 

[CC13]

Marble Madness

That's right! Since my next villain's name has a word in common with the title, I'll credit you with the full guess. Here we go!

20. The Marble Munchers (Marble Madness)
Developed & Published By: Atari Games
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1984

In modern gaming, exceptionally bizarre settings or stories are usually considered more the purview of the East than the West. The Occident is viewed as a land of sameness—more retro tributes, more match-three puzzle games and especially more FPSes set in WWII or the War on Terror. Although it is true that, all things being equal, big-budget Western gaming is more risk-averse than big-budget Japanese gaming, a thread of the gonzo has run true through the history of Western gaming, encompassing the likes of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, Joust, The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary and many others. Marble Madness was not the progenitor of this line, but it is one of its finest scions.

The gameplay could scarcely be simpler: you take on the role of a marble who has to roll down an obstacle course before time runs out. There's a catch, though: your time remaining carries over from course to course (with the exception of the first level), so clearing each course quickly is key. As if the sharp turns, long falls and acid puddles on each course weren't bad enough, you are also harassed by two other enemies: the Black Steelies (black marbles that try to push you off the edge of the maze) and the Marble Munchers. The Marble Munchers are essentially Slinky monsters that jump up into the air and land on top of your marble in order to consume it. They are probably also the single trickiest obstacle to deal with in the game, due to their random jumping patterns, which is why they were chosen as the representative for Marble Madness.

Marble Madness represented the beginning of a bright new era for Atari Games. In the next 7 years, they would create such classic games as Gauntlet, Cyberball and Rampart, among many others. Even as they started to lose the plot in the late '80s and wind down for good in the early Noughties, they still created classic upon classic that still holds up today, including the incredible Gauntlet Legends. More than any other company, Atari Games represented the spirit of the American arcade at its best.

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Bombs away!

poor unfortunate souls...isnt that from The Little Mermaid?

It is indeed, as I discussed in the post-postscript to Flotsam's entry. I was somewhat surprised that it took this long for somebody to pick up on that—I guess there aren't that many Disney fans on the forums. Besides, as I said earlier, it was far too inscrutable a clue unless you knew exactly what I was thinking of at the time I wrote it (why, yes, I did play a lot of Sierra adventures games as a child—whyever do you ask?).

 

[CC13]

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Bombs away!

I take it from the lack of guesses that nobody can figure this one out, so here's another clue: the game came out for the Atari 2600 in 1981.

 

[Kolchak357]

Kaboom?

 

[netizen]

Star Strike?

 

[CC13]

Kaboom?

That's the one! Just for future reference, please provide the name of the villain as well as the game he's from for full credit in the future (you'll get full credit this time, though). Here goes entry #19!

19. The Mad Bomber (Kaboom!)
Developed & Published By: Activision
Platform: Atari 2600
Year of Release: 1981

Activison do not enjoy a great deal of respect amongst most core gamers. Their reputation in such circles is so bad that when Sony blamed them for the non-appearance of Crash Bandicoot in PlayStation All-Stars, everybody immediately turned their wrath from Sony to Activision. This distaste is not without reason—Activision are often the very model of everything wrong with large video game publishers, what with their endless milking of tired franchises, insulting IAPs and intrusive DRM. However, most gamers have forgotten that this was not always what came to mind when thinking of Activision.

In 1979, David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead left Atari after their requests for royalties and prominent featuring of their names on the boxes of the games they designed were rebuffed. This actually paved the way for the establishment of the very concept of third-party publishing on home consoles, as Atari and the newly formed Activision engaged in legal wrangling over their founders' departure that lasted until 1982. However, that wrangling didn't stop Activision from releasing classic games like Barnstorming, Ice Hockey and, of course, Kaboom! in the interim.

The gameplay for Kaboom! couldn't be simpler. The Mad Bomber will toss bombs down from the top of the screen and you have to catch them in one of three buckets under your control. You lose one every time you miss, but get a replacement every 1,000 points. The longer you go without missing, the faster both The Mad Bomber and his payloads get. If you lasted long enough to get 3,000 points back in the day, you could send in your score to get a Bucket Brigade patch and membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade, while somehow scoring 10,000 points would make The Mad Bomber continue to frown even if you missed a bomb (he normally frowns during normal gameplay and smiles when you drop a bomb).

Activision catch a lot of flack today for very good reasons, but the positive influence their first incarnation had on the video game industry cannot be denied. By leaving to found Activision, its founders (who accounted for over 50% of all Atari 2600 cartridges moved prior to their departure) proved that the people behind a game mattered at least as much as the brand from which it issued. In addition, Activision blazed trails in interaction with players with their innovative program of rewarding exceptional scorers with special patches specific to each of their games. Even as we fight against Activision's overreaches now, let us not even contemplate what the world of console gaming would have been like without them.

Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: When Kelly's on the beat, crime never pays!

 

[DrainoBraino]

Keystone Kapers. Love that game.

 

[Kolchak357]

Activison do not enjoy a great deal of respect amongst most core gamers. Their reputation in such circles is so bad that when Sony blamed them for the non-appearance of Crash Bandicoot in PlayStation All-Stars, everybody immediately turned their wrath from Sony to Activision. This distaste is not without reason—Activision are often the very model of everything wrong with large video game publishers, what with their endless milking of tired franchises, insulting IAPs and intrusive DRM. However, most gamers have forgotten that this was not always what came to mind when thinking of Activision.

In 1979, David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead left Atari after their requests for royalties and prominent featuring of their names on the boxes of the games they designed were rebuffed. This actually paved the way for the establishment of the very concept of third-party publishing on home consoles, as Atari and the newly formed Activision engaged ilegal wrangling over their founders' departure that lasted until 1982. However, that wrangling didn't stop Activision from releasing classic games like Barnstorming, Ice Hockey and, of course, Kaboom! in the interim.

The gameplay for Kaboom! couldn't be simpler. The Mad Bomber will toss bombs down from the top of the screen and you have to catch them in one of three buckets under your control. You lose one every time you miss, but get a replacement every 1,000 points. The longer you go without missing, the faster both The Mad Bomber and his payloads get. If you lasted long enough to get 3,000 points back in the day, you could send in your score to get a Bucket Brigade patch and membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade, while somehow scoring 10,000 points would make The Mad Bomber continue to frown even if you missed a bomb (he normally frowns during normal gameplay and smiles when you drop a bomb).

Activision catch a lot of flack today for very good reasons, but the positive influence their first incarnation had on the video game industry cannot be denied. By leaving to found Activision, its founders (who accounted for over 50% of all Atari 2600 cartridges moved prior to their departure) proved that the people behind a game mattered at least as much as the brand from which it issued. In addition, Activision blazed trails in interaction with players with their innovative program of rewarding exceptional scorers with special patches specific to each of their games. Even as we fight against Activision's overreaches now, let us not even contemplate what the world of console gaming would have been like without them.

Never knew any of this. My friends and I loved Activision games. They always had great graphics (for the time). I would often take a chance on a game I had never seen just because it came from Activision.

 

[CC13]

Keystone Kapers. Love that game.

That's the game, alright! Now just give me the name of the villain for full credit. Here's a hint: what are rowdy soccer fans often called?

Never knew any of this. My friends and I loved Activision games. They always had great graphics (for the time). I would often take a chance on a game I had never seen just because it came from Activision.

I'm glad you liked the write-up and learned a few things from it, too! Activision really were incredible back in the Atari 2600 days. Since I see you have an iPad 4, may I also recommend the Activision Anthology to you? It has not only Kaboom! and Keystone Kapers, but also Enduro, both Atari Pitfall! games and both River Raid games, among others.

 

[Kolchak357]

I must have run a million miles on Pitfall. One of my all time favorites. Loved swinging on that vine like Tarzan.