Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Data East Arcade Classics

by Kurt Kalata, Michael Plasket (Contributor), Federico Tiraboschi (Contributor)

Are you a bad enough dude to buy this book? Hardcore Gaming 101 Data East Arcade Classics covers the diverse library from the underrated Japanese developer, including golden era classics like BurgerTime and Karate Champ; eccentricities like Karnov and Trio the Punch; outstanding genre pieces like Desert Assault and Night Slashers; licensed titles like RoboCop and Captain America and the Avengers; and cult classics like Boogie Wings and Windjammers. Also included is an extensive examination of their popular competitive puzzle game, Magical Drop, and of course, the ninja-fighting, president-saving Bad Dudes and its pseudo-sequel Two Crude Dudes.

Genres: Video Games

146 pages, Paperback

Published July 19, 2016

About the author

Kurt Kalata has been writing about video games for twenty years. In addition to founding retro game website Hardcore Gaming 101 in 2003, he previously started fan sites The Castlevania Dungeon and The Contra HQ. He has also contributed to several other websites, including 1up, Gamasutra, and Siliconera. He has edited and published over fifteen books through the Hardcore Gaming 101 website, including The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures and The 200 Best Video Games of All Time, and has contributed to several other retro themed books, including The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers, Unseen64’s Video Games You’ll Never Play, and The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Video Games. He lives in New Jersey, USA, with his wife, daughter, and two cats.

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable if lightweight survey of the ouvre of the Data East video gaming company, which was responsible for some classics of the video arcade era.

Each game's section is written by a different person, which results in uneven tone. There is also a steady trickle of minor typographical and editing errors which are a feature of all HG101 books I've read, and indeed their website.

[I.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough overview of all the data east games with loads of screenshots. While it would be nice if there was a section talking specifically about the company’s history and staff, you do get snippets of that in the individual game texts. Still what’s here is fun and makes you want to go play the titles you haven’t!