Spy Hunter

Perhaps the ultimate in top-down vehicular combat (unless you're a Bump 'n Jump fan), Spy Hunter introduced a generation to the U-shaped combat steering wheel, high-speed danger, and oil slicks. You the player take the wheel of a dangerous and heavily modifiable vehicle, sent out to drive the endless mean streets in search of deadly spies. Take them out with your front-mounted machine guns, or drive into the Weapons Van (available occasionally) to earn an upgrade to smoke screens, oil slicks, and even surface-to-air missiles to down pesky helicopters. The car even converts to a hovercraft for waterborne sequences.

The variety and sheer deadliness of Spy Hunter's enemies makes the game extremely engaging, as does the attention to detail. Enemies with side-mounted switchblades can be partially disabled by slamming other cars into them, breaking the blades. Collisions at higher speeds are deadly. And the wheel (in a properly maintained cabinet, anyway) is extremely responsive.

Spy Hunter, despite atrociously high difficulty in the arcade version (its computer counterparts were somewhat more forgiving) is an iconic action-fest. But it's no Hard Truck Apocalypse.