World War III Arcade Games

I grew up in Central Jersey during the 1980s, which meant I spent a lot of time at the Jersey Shore as a kid. I loved to spend countless hours holed up inside of boardwalk arcades in Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights. Wildwood had a pretty good selection as well, but being from Central Jersey, we did the Point and Seaside boardwalks. Folks from Pennsylvania preferred the southern Jersey Shore towns like Ocean City and Wildwood. That tradition remains in effect even today.  

Back in the 80s I loved arcade games. Even after the NES came out I continued spending rolls of quarters playing arcade games every weekend. NES and Atari were quality platforms, but arcade games were more interactive and enjoyable. Especially as the decade went on. Those of you over the age of 40 are probably nodding your heads and thinking back right now. 😊

Arcade games back in the 1980s routinely grabbed inspiration and ideas from wars, combat, weapons and current events. Folks did not make a big deal about this and parents were not up in arms demanding violent games be banned. It really was a more innocent time with adults who acted maturely and in the best interests of their kids most of the time.

The one subject regarded as taboo by arcade game designers was World War III. Given the tenor of the times, this is understandable. Especially in the early years of the 1980s. I can’t remember a single arcade game from that decade which used a potential Third World War or US-Russia war as the theme. Sure, more than one game came close, but always pulled back at the last second.

Earlier in the summer I took the time to reexamine some almost-World War III arcade games from the 80s and selected a few that really did make it a player was fighting WWIII….at least until the game was over.

Missile Command– Yeah, this game was available on every platform but cut its teeth as an arcade game. It came out in 1980 when the Cold War was really beginning to heat up. The goal of the game was to defend six cities against an ICBM attack using anti-ballistic missiles. When the game was first designed, the six cities were supposed to represent six cities in California. This concept never made the final cut. When Missile Command made it to Atari, the game manual described the background as a war between two planets. That never stopped me from pretending each of the six targets was a city in the United States. Los Angeles all the way to the left and Boston as the eastern-most target, with other cities in between. NORAD and the Rocky Mountains were in the middle part. Classic game with everything from ICBMs, ABMs, MIRVs and mushroom clouds.

MACH 3– A laserdisc arcade game released in 1984. The game gave the player control of a high-tech fighter which looked suspiciously like an F-15 Eagle. Two missions were included: “Fighter Raid” was a low level fast paced sortie, while “Bombing Run” was a top-down mode. It was a lot of fun for me at 7 years old and I always pretended I was bombing Russia. 😊

Dangerzone/Viper- A war combat game that is set in a desert airbase. Helicopters, fighters and bombers enter the area swooping down over the mountains and your task is to shoot them down. If your base absorbs too much damage, nukes are launched and the game ends in a blinding white flash. Its successor Viper was a bit more polished, with aircraft that appeared to be of Eastern Bloc origin, and some comedy included as well.

Firefox– This game was based on the Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. Similar premise too. You have to fly a stolen, advanced MiG to the West with half the Soviet navy and airforce on your tail. Shoot em up style, and a laserdisc game too. Six year old me spent a lot of time shooting down MiGs in this game. 😊

F-14 Tomcat Pinball– Whereas video game designers balked at the idea of romanticizing a US-Soviet clash, pinball designers simply didn’t give a……hoot. 😊 In this pinball game the goal is to kill General Yagov, a shit-hot senior Soviet MiG pilot. To accomplish this objective you take on the role of a shit-hot US Navy Tomcat Driver with the callsign “Hitman.” Doesn’t get more American than that!

Rush ‘N Attack– This one is a no brainer. It’s essentially a couple of consonants and vowels short of officially promoting an attack against Russia….or the Soviet Union, whichever you prefer. As for the graphics and game setting……looks like Russia. Equipment definitely looks Russian. Troops appear remarkably similar to KGB Internal Security troops. Naming the game Rush ‘N Attack is the same as renaming Debbie Does Dallas as “Sexual Education Film #4.” We know what it really is, but we ain’t spilling the beans. 😉