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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CC13" data-source="post: 71169" data-attributes="member: 1151">And DB pulls through yet again!  Beware Sinistar's hunger, for he could well be the most terrifying video game villain the arcades ever produced:4. Sinistar (Sinistar)Developed & Published By: Williams ElectronicsPlatform: ArcadeYear of Release: 1982Video games have long struggled to be recognized as having the same ability to have an emotional effect on their players as other media have on those who partake of them.  From King's Quest IV using the question "Can a video game make you cry?" as its advertising tagline to the angst-driven protagonists of countless JRPGs trying to capture what made Final Fantasy VII so special to the strange absence of either survival or horror elements from more recent entries in its two founding series (Resident Evil & Silent Hill), emotion has long stood as gaming's true final frontier.  Many outsiders have expressed skepticism of gaming's ability to deliver on this front, at least in terms of the commonly accepted gaming paradigms.  However, the arcades of old produced a past master at generating at least one primal emotion: fear.  His name is Sinistar and to this day, he stands as one of the most terrifying entities in any video game ever released.What makes Sinistar so uniquely frightening?  As one might expect for a game meant to attract attention (and, by extension, loose change), it starts with the cabinet art.  The front art depicts a bright white ship hurtling through the darkness of space straight into Sinistar's maw, with only some asteroids punctuating the darkness; Sinistar is also flanked by the two halves of his own name, written in a jagged, almost gothic font.  The sides, meanwhile, show Sinistar as several times larger than the Williams logo, as if to show that this monstrosity was too much for even the people who brought us Defender to fully contain, which should say all that needs to be said about your own chances of doing so.The game's sheer scope builds masterfully upon this promising beginning.  Unlike most shoot-'em-up games, Sinistar has a fairly open world, letting you travel infinitely in any of 49 directions, thanks to its optical joystick; however, most of that world is simply the void of space.  There are a few elements that break this up, though, with various pockets of asteroids being the most important.  You can shoot these to release Sinisite crystals to make into Sinibombs, which are the only weapons that can destroy Sinistar, but you will also have to fend off Workers, who want to take the Sinisite to use it to build Sinistar, and Warriors, who want to blast you before you can destroy Sinistar.  Your blaster will destroy a Warrior or Worker in one shot, but the Warriors can do the same to you and your blaster does nothing against Sinistar himself.  Furthermore, when Sinistar himself appears, I hope you have enough Sinibombs, because otherwise, he'll chase your ship down and have it as a light snack.  To make matters worse, after the first wave, the Workers will rebuild him if you can't finish him off in a single volley of Sinibombs.  As with many arcade games, Sinistar's persistence will eventually win out, no matter how skilled you are.Finally, we have the most iconic part of Sinistar: the sound package.  Having no music against the cold vacuum of space already makes for an unsettling experience, but Sinistar and Gorgar must have gone to finishing school together, for Sinistar speaks!  His voice was provided by radio personality John Doremus (probably best known for his syndication of The Passing Parade), whose voice was played through an HC-55516 CSVD decoder.  He announces that his construction is complete with a rumbling "Beware, I live!" and will also advise you to "Run, coward!" or simply "Run, run, run!"  He will also occasionally emphasize the fate that awaits the unprepared, slow of thumb and those whose aim is untrue with the simple statement "I hunger!" or even simply roar at the player.  Sometimes, he will even see fit to remind you that his mere existence spells doom for both you and humanity by saying "I am Sinistar."Despite never seeing a home release due to the Video Game Crash of 1983, Sinistar has enjoyed substantial popularity among hardcore gamers, even spawning a minor meme called The Philosophical Revelations of Sinistar (<a href="http://onastick.net/drew/sinistar/" target="_blank">http://onastick.net/drew/sinistar/</a>), which takes the iconic quotes from the game and treats them as a philosophical treatise to hilarious effect.  Meanwhile, the original game has seen several home releases in various compilations, first appearing in Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits in 1996, then in Midway Arcade Treasures in 2003 and Midway Arcade Origins in 2012, in addition to receiving a largely forgotten 1999 sequel known as Sinistar: Unleashed.  It also receives an outsize number of tributes and shoutouts, getting referenced in games as diverse as Kingdom of Loathing, Team Fortress II and World of WarCraft, as well as making non-gaming appearances in Bob the Angry Flower, South Park, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series and even a student-produced musical at The College of William and Mary in the spring of 2009.  These tributes are only fitting for such an accomplished master of fear as Sinistar, who exploits art, the vast scope of space and the sound of his own mighty voice to such terrifying effect.Next Time on The Top 25 Pre-1991 Western Arcade & Console Game Villains: Intruder alert!  Intruder alert!</blockquote>

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