Lost Classics: Gaia Crusaders (Arcade)

I love a good beat-em-up. I know they get looked down upon these days, but few things relieve stress better than beating up busloads of thugs, mutants, mobsters, robots, ninjas, samurai, terrorists, dominatrices, zombies, hippies, republicans, and god knows what else. From Final Fight and Double Dragon to Streets of Rage and Sengoku, the beat-em-up genre has seen scores of great titles. One of the best and most unknown entries in the genre is this little known title from Neo-Geo developer Noise Factory. Taking control of one of 5 characters, you make your way through a post-apocalyptic world, battling demons and mutants. While it doesn’t do anything that hasn’t already been seen in the genre, it has some excellent graphics and a awesome soundtrack. While there is little chance of this game showing up on any home system anytime soon, this is definitely something you’ll want to pump quarters into if you come across it in the arcade.