The A-Z of Konami's 1980's Arcade Games | Kim Justice

[@Kim_Justice]

So, what are your favourites of Konami's 80's arcade line-ups? One of the all-time greats, or something a bit more obscure? Have a shout about them here, and thanks very much for watching. :)

[@Aragorn7884]

Same video idea, but... *SNK* ❤

[@englishnature7850]

I am torn between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hyper Sports.

[@Debagio]

I played the absolute shit out of Track & Field, Hyper Sports and Shaolin's Road /Kicker. Konami were so good in the 80s.

[@Rando1975]

Only started the video, but the Crime Fighters series was one of my favorites.

[@wargameboy72]

Favorites are probably Gradius and Rush 'n Attack. Also these are two great NES games as well.. ♥️♥️🤩 Also if you love GYRUSS, you should check out the NES version. It's awesome!! It's got Boss battles and everything!! I love it..👍👍👍

[@flamingwoodz]

How does this channel not have 100K subscribers yet? Great compilation Kim!

[@martiankeichan6887]

Amazing! I hope someday you will give Jaleco the same treatment. Thanks for all the entertainment you give us, Kim.

[@robinbrowne5419]

Yes. Thank you very much Kim 👍

[@Trenchbroom]

Thanks for a great video Kim.

[@jamesburchill7522]

Keep up the great content, Kim. You are one of the few people out there that isn't afraid to break the standard runtime of a movie. Some of us still have attention spans.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Hey Kim. Unknown if I told you I lost my father recently (well 2nd jan) - his funeral was finally last week (took ages due to investigation of sudden departure shall we say...) - watching retro channels has a deep connection as my father bought me pretty much my entire collection up till 18 odd; alas life dictated around a decade ago that I eventually had to sell it all *albeit far from mint condition, but well loved with many many MANY miles on the systems leaving them very temprimental.... Regardless, despite life dictating its sale - im forever grateful for emulation. What feels even more strange is i now have inherited my childhood property from him as his only son and heir too him....with many memories getting ready for school, playing Sega Rally on the Saturn as example.... So today, right now, in the same living room I played such games on such systems, I am watching Kim justice whilst playing "haunted castle" on an emulation device (gotta be the toughest castlevania ever lol) - and the feeling Is so surreal... But just to say, I absolutely adore these types of vids you do, and such uploads, be it from @game sack or you have got me through since the start of the year. Of course I've told you how long actually I've been following you (I think over a decade!!?) - but right now, more than ever has these types of uploads helped me tremendously. Cue white summer from space harrier. Many thanks. Your Order of magnitude Aka "Riley"

[@DuckAlertBeats]

Sorry to hear about your loss 😢 from one old school gamer to another ❤

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

@@DuckAlertBeats many thanks

[@Dashslapp]

Ahh a 14 hour night watch shift flys by with your great content. Pure bliss being paid to watch kim justice and retro bliss.

[@strzxgvnuvwvfld3597]

Did anyone else ever see Gradius 3 in an arcade in the UK? The internet says it never made it here, but I definitely played it in a seaside arcade somewhere around the early 90s. I was a big fan of the previous games and so was very excited to see a Gradius 3 and I specifically remember the sand level. It was only recently that I discovered it supposedly wasn’t released. I don’t know whether a bootleg made it here and that’s what I played?

[@Kim_Justice]

Course that's what there is on TCRF and the like, but it probably did make it here through imports and that. No region locks or anything on JAMMA arcade boards after all, likely wouldn't have been a whole cabinet.

[@Larry]

I've only seen that spinner WEC Le Mans arcade machine once, in an arcade in Felixstowe as a kid. Was great fun just purposely spinning yourself out :D

[@robinbrowne5419]

Another video game marathon. And from one of the greatest developers Konami by one of the greatest reviewers Kim Justice. Awesome 👍

[@Inscydeus]

The sound effects of the trainers squeaking on the court in Double Dribble are pretty impressive for an 8bit era game.

[@Curryking32000]

Loved this video, really did take me back to my youth in the arcades of the 80's. Arcades of today have simply lost their magic since the 80's and 90's. Please do one for Taito if you haven't already

[@drrobuttnik]

Great video, I'm really looking forward to your video on their 90s arcade games, Konami put out so many bangers that decade.

[@gomibako1847]

Thank you for actually diving into where the name "Gryzor" comes from and not just perpetuating the incorrect myth that it was the Japanese name for the original Contra 🙏

[@KA0T]

Nice format. Gj Kim.

[@nicktaylor8032]

Absolutely fantastic channel - especially if you grew up a computer user in 80s England (C64 in my case) and full of brilliant, well researched, in depth content and documentaries. Definitely a hidden gem on KZbin.

[@fr.joshmayer3593]

Kim Justice best & most iconic intro ever

[@bryangarcia5599]

Outstanding video. On top of everything else, I particularly appreciate the sly Thin Lizzy reference at 53:01.

[@mihliv]

Great vid! Appreciate the Thin Lizzy reference :)

[@AlisterLockhart]

Just discovered the channel, quite the nostalgia overload. You've made an old(ish) man very happy :)

[@htka77]

Loved Circus Charlie, I never did that well in the arcade, but picked it back up on Switch.

[@jessragan6714]

Oh baby, this is totally my bag. Can't wait for the reviews of Roc 'n Rope, Gyruss, Time Pilot, Jackal, The Goonies...

[@futureskeletons66669]

With Salamander you were able to buy extra lives by chucking a few more coins in, rather than a continue feature.

[@20000lbs_of_Cheese]

Always a good watch, thanks Kim!

[@domicius]

Excellent video! Some real obscure games that I remember mainly from being found in random arcades in holiday seaside resorts in Greece - Juno first for example. BTW, we'll know you've been kidnapped if you ever make a video and don't mention that the best conversion of such-and-such game was on the speccy :)

[@litjellyfish]

"robbing a train with your fists!" - Hey you are supposed to be the good guy stopping the robbers!!! :)

[@purplezebrahoover]

Wow - incredible work Kim! Can't wait to get stuck into this later. Thank you so much for your work!

[@ninjapants7688]

Great stuff Kim, love old school Konami!

[@handsomedubbledee]

Never realized how many aracde games Konami had. A lot of these games i never heard of. Kim really goes in on this stuff. Very good coverage

[@chrishensley5384]

I know these deep dive videos must be difficult to put together and I just wanted to say thank you. :)

[@docwallace]

In terms of Badlands, it may well have been a rush job, but Konami went to the trouble of rewriting the firmware of the laserdisc player to add some more functionality. Presumably they thought more were coming. Also RE: Wizz Quiz, does this mean the Stampers may have also been involved in the lamentable Merlin's Money Maze? Hardware looks very similar, and as an SWP it's peculiarly British anyway.

[@randy7894]

Konami games on the MSX shaped my gaming life. It was the golden age for me.

[@kur1su74]

Too bad they didn't do Green Beret justice, feels like the crap ZX Spectrum game (was it made by Konami UK?) while it could have been great.

[@randy7894]

@@kur1su74 True.

[@Mpsieber]

I love these deep dives. Keep them coming!

[@wargameboy72]

Amazing work, Kim!!! This is the kind of video that makes me forget about having a crap day. This and the Data East videos are my favorites. I've already watched them a dozen times or more. Awesome job!!!! 🤩👍👍👍

[@RapideWombaticus]

This comprehensive list brought me much joy, great memories and I am super thankful to you for the effort. Love the Channel to bits ❤

[@SeanBridge-d3k]

International track and field was a big hit in our neighbourhood as kids. In fact its now affectionately known in my circle of old friends as dik versus cok as was our maturity level as kids with the naming system.

[@Evilkingus]

I do believe Frogger is jumping on turtles and not lillies. Diving lillies seems a little too silly.

[@scottbreon9448]

True, but so is a frog that can't swim. LOL

[@Boogie_the_cat]

I agree with you in fact, but the theory is flawed. Trying to extract logic from early arcade games (or games in general) is not the most sensible exercise, you will lose a lot of sleep over how Pac Man can eat all those balls or how Dig Dug manages to explode the cute animals without being touched, or why eating donuts in APB gives you more time instead of less. Diving lilly pads would be one of the least weird things in video games. And just where did Jr. Pac Man get birthed from ? The only orifice I see on Ms. Pac Man is her mouth. I know he was delivered by the stork in that one game, but that introduces a whole other load of questions. Does the stork peep into people's windows, watch what they are doing? How else would it know who to deliver babies to ? Also, in Paperboy, how does throwing a paper through someone's window cause them to decide to subscribe to the paper? The crosswords are so good that they negate the broken glass? Alas, video games would only start to become logical in the 6 or 7th generation, therefore ruining all the fun with desaturated colors and every protagonist wearing an earpiece with which to be yelled at through every 2 minutes. That's too realistic for me, I'll go back to Mappy

[@dvygrvy]

Awesome as always. So relaxing, thank you for your hard work!

[@RetroRulzMyTown]

Awesome! One of my all time favorite companies in the arcade, and I'm glad to get some exposure to this underrated lineup.

[@JamesShow]

That Kitten Kaboodle looks like a free to play app now if they'd remaster it.

[@braveitor]

fantastic video. Lots of hundreds of hours of diversion in some of those games. Surely there appear the roots of some whole genres so I admire the imagination and vision some creators had. Thanks for the compilation.

[@jasonglasper8109]

Great topic this Kim I have to say. Have a fair few favourite Konami games having played them at my local arcade and then later at home in some cases. The highlights for me being - Contra, Jackal, Iron Horse, Rock n Rage, Yie Ar Kung Fu and Missing in Action to name a few! ☺👍

[@xxFORDIExx]

I've just paused my rewatch of your top 100 Speccy games from 4 years ago. Looking forward to this for sure. 😊

[@glencurtis6052]

Crime fighters had a decent run in my local chip shop back in the 80s, love that game

[@GadgetUK164]

Incredible work again - so many games, such a long video, but the time flew! I love Konami, they created so many cool games!

[@michaelmaholem5077]

Some great memories. Well done.

[@jonridley]

I remember playing a weird version of amidar in an arcade in Scarborough where you got a scantily clad Japanese girl whenever you finished a level. I know this sounds like some weird Mandela effect thing but it’s true! I have a witness too 😂

[@Asobitech]

An absolutely epic video, covering some amazing classics. Konami were such a juggernaut in the arcades during the 80s. It is great to see the width and breadth of all their 80s arcade output. Thanks for covering all of them @kim_justice

[@gipgap4]

Track’n’field, Hypersports and Green Beret were my favourites. The latter two because of the spectrum conversions by Joffa Smith. Oh and Mikie too, converted by Joffa again.

[@jasonrockley3724]

Nice one Kim. I was stuck for something to do tonight and then you drop this. Perfect.

[@conanandre]

Thanks

[@QuantumWitchGame]

Fantastic stuff Kim. And all chaptered too ❤

[@Bijuklich]

some pretty crazy shit here, thanks man...quite a few i'm seeing for the first time and i love them already :)

[@Paul-xg3ih]

another fantastic long video to watch on my lazy saturday morning...appreciated

[@FallicIdol]

Great job on this. Love this!

[@jaethemanchild]

I played that WEC 24 cabinet in Spain when I was 10! It was a lot of fun. Brilliant as always Kim, and it gives me another clutch of classics (and crap) to try out.

[@ludotym8302]

In Locomotion, you could actually accelerate your loco by pushing the button. The game was way better with speed bonus !

[@capntinwhistle]

Primo after-work unwinding/learning material, Kim. I'm glad I found your channel.

[@Alpha-T800]

Great stuff! Thanks Kim 👍🏻

[@wibbiddywoo]

You put so much into your channel. It must take a lot of time and hard work. This is more like a documentary! So informative and interesting. Nice one!

[@paulplacid581]

Loved this thanks so much for sharing

[@evanhanley6437]

Love Konami's arcade games. They absolutely rocked!

[@budkin]

Love these videos!

[@jorgeng7251]

Great as aways Perfect start for the weekend Thanks Kim 👍 Jorgen / Sweden

[@BURRITO44]

Awesome video. !!! You are the best !!!

[@terminateshere]

The games were interesting, but I'm mainly thankful for knowing who did that keyboard rock version of Toccata - go Sky!

[@fraserpeterkindrums9764]

Fabulous! That's my Fri evening sorted. Thanks Kim!

[@Deckard_B26354]

Great video! Keep doing what you do.

[@dannyvanhecke]

"Blades of Steel"... have played that game a lot on the NES late 80s, early 90s. For today's standards it's not that good, but back in the day it was pretty enjoyable. Remember a friend of my brother saying I had a lot of bad luck while he watched me playing, because I hit the post a lot. Well, hitting the post is easier than scoring a goal in this one, lol. Not that scoring a goal was that difficult, my biggest criticism of the game is that it became too easy after a while. Double Dribble was also a nice game for those days on the NES. Yie Ar Kung-Fu sure was one of my favorite arcades.. put a lot of coins into it. Not nearly as much as Double Dragon, but Double Dragon was the best imo.

[@Debagio]

Ah, Kim - I've been hoping you'd do an 80s special. Now going to settle down and dive in. Cheers!

[@Filmonaut]

Konami had a great use of color in most of their games. Very bright and appealing!

[@EugenetheSupporter]

i can watch this endlessly

[@johnandrewliem]

Thank you kim, love all your vids! Wrestling/gaming all are very good

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

26:59 It's Enrico Palazzo! 29:49 all that scratching is making me itch! I had that Salamander on the ZX Spectrum. Christ that was tough. Hypercrash looks like a more considered version of Roadblasters. Jackal is quality. We had a fun John Rand challenge on it! Jail Break at least contains topless women. I adore Time Pilot. Great fun and lots of shooting. Had a lovely game of it at the Arcade Archive. Track and Field! Mustachioed Athletics from the Golden Age of Daley Thompson!

[@kins749]

Epic. Can't wait for the next episode/company.

[@speakertreatz]

Thanks Kim, looking forward to sitting down with this later

[@VaterOrlaag]

Excellent list as always, two hours passed by like a breeze. And I think I'll go give Haunted Castle another try in MAME.

[@retrofunkyninja399]

Great video Kim, your knowledge is impeccable! Keep producing great content. Brings back so many memories of smokey 80s arcades. Scramble, Time Pilot, Green Beret, Track & Field, Hyper Sports, Ping Pong, Mikie and Shao-Lin’s Road have stood the test of time.

[@Bellpipe41]

I was surprised at the comment about Gradius 3 only being released in Asia. My local cafe/arcade had a cabinet (in the U.K.). I played it all the time. Maybe the owner imported it. I don’t know.

[@Sonofdonald2024]

Random coincidence I picked up an RG35XX the other day with a load of arcade rooms on it and randomly played typhoon for the first time. Interesting concept with the jet aircraft diving view

[@thehellezell]

kim, you continue to do the lord’s work

[@kraftwerk974]

Great job mate !!

[@littlebigman6451]

Brilliant work as usual Kim 👍

[@freshPrinceOfBelfairs]

My uncle ran a pub in the early 1980s when opening hours were very different. When the pub closed at 3pm he would get the keys for the Scramble machine so he could give himself free credits and spend a couple of hours playing before teatime.

[@StuffOffYouStuff]

Kim, you're producing very important archival content for future generations! Thank you for all your hard work!

[@conanandre]

Amazing video, thank you sir.

[@steveetienne]

The WEC Le Mans cabinet was incredible. Loved it.

[@qster]

I have burgers, chocolate, booze and 2 hours of 1980's nostalgia? Awesome!

[@thegblob]

Another amazing vid. Love this format. Keep them coming. I'd love to see a vid on every side scroll beat-em-up in chronological order

[@XhcnoirX]

Fantastic video! I had an MSX2 growing up and Konami were THE premier outfit for games on the MSX... Many of the games here were ported to the MSX/MSX2 and were so much fun to play...

[@patrikfernstrom7607]

Yes, another one of these videos! Love them ❤

[@mr.a8315]

Outstanding job! 🏆 🍺🍺 ♥

[@TheSlysterII]

Loved this video, thanks Kim, I loved my c64 Skramble, and I still love Track And Field! xx

[@joedent3323]

Nice work Kim. Love your videos :)

[@chumpyman]

The Simpsons, Aliens and TMHT are all time classics in my opinion.

[@jimmywhyte7181]

Better going by year.

[@Bilstar1979]

Cool vid!

[@thegaminghellyoutubething]

i have a genuine question- why did you decide on the a-z format? it makes things a little confusing as you have to bounce around the years a lot and bring up things out of order, like when crime fighters is mentioned as not being one of konami's first four-player games. i feel that covering an entire era of games from one company would make more sense in a release-order (and while arcade release dates can be nebulous, there's a japanese book, often cited by other places like wikipedia and arcade-history, that seems to have fairly reliable months noted for games- takes a bit of work but it's helpful) but i'm curious why you picked this format.

[@blitzerblazinoah6838]

Was Gradius' bubble memory similar to the bubble memory chip that hi-tech thieves were planning to steal in the pilot episode of Knight Rider?

[@LozzoAmiga]

Yayyy! A KJ deep dive. *grabs pot of tea and gets settled*