Captain Commando (arcade version)

Maybe the console versions balanced things out better, but this version felt like it was a coin-sucking machine. There’s little ability to avoid damage; fights are more like Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots than “Streets of Rage” or even “Final Fight”. The off-kilter aesthetic goes a long way to making this go down smooth, but there’s only so far the joke of a baby fighting in a robot suit can take you (could’ve been worse, though—Scumocide, the antagonist, had a ludicrously tasteless name in the Japanese incarnation). Typical case of a game whose cabinet is most of the appeal.

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