Bringing the comic series into game form, Alien vs. Predator lets players choose from a pair of cybernetically-enhanced Earth soldiers and two types of Predators as they take on wave after wave of alien invaders. Alien vs. Predator is more complex than many of the beat-em-ups that preceded it, with each character fielding unique weapons and fighting moves that reflect the Street Fighter era. This overlay features two versions – a standard version with a comics-inspired screen bezel and a version (shown here) that emulates the look of the Capcom Big Blue cabinet this game was sometimes found in.

This sequel to 1994's Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom upgrades the experience in every way, with 6 playable characters and more sophisticated graphics, spells, environments and enemies. Like many games of the mid-90s, its controls are complicated enough to require instructions, reproduced here albeit in somewhat tiny form. One of the last real arcade beat-em-ups, Shadow Over Mystara is complex enough to reward repeat runthroughs. The standard overlay shown here takes some liberties with the original cabinet design, as it was primarily a conversion kit with little art, and it also includes a Capcom Big Blue version that reflects the look of that cabinet.

Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom was Capcom's first D&D arcade game, and while it borrowed from existing hack-and-slash games such as Golden Axe, it added a fair bit of complexity to the formula, with distinct character classes, a range of magic spells, more complex combat, inventory management and branching story paths. Tower of Doom features a fully TSR-approved D&D storyline, including taking place in D&D setting Mystara and featuring iconic D&D races and enemies. The game's success led to a sequel, Shadow Over Mystara, which further refined the graphics and gameplay.

A legend in mid-80s arcades, Gauntlet's four-player dungeon crawl action gave players expansive levels, a wide range of enemies and a full party of playable characters to choose from. The game's graphic style was sophisticated for its time, but its sound design is really what makes Gauntlet so memorable, with great sound effects and music as well as numerous spoken lines ("Your life force is running out," "Valkyrie needs food, badly!") that became catchphrases for players of a certain age. Our MAME overlay includes multiple screen sizes as well as curved and rectangular versions.

Don't shoot the food! One of the first 4-player arcade action game series and still a classic, Gauntlet was a staple of every mid-80s arcade. Gauntlet II was the amped-up sequel, which not only added many new gameplay elements to the mix, but also let any player choose any character, which makes it ideal for MAME cabinets. This overlay recreates the feel of the original cabinet, including the control panel and instructions, with two screen sizes (the Medium screen shown here is the most accurate to the original cabinet, but the overlay also includes a larger size that still fits with the look).

Golden Axe is one of the best-known classic hack-and-slash games of the 80s, featuring addictive button-mashing gameplay and a greater degree of combat flexibility than many games that preceded it. The fantasy story takes place in the land of Yuria, where the evil Death Adder has kidnapped the king and stolen the powerful Golden Axe, leading a trio of warriors to set out to defeat him. The three player characters each have different strengths and attacks, but they play similarly, including the ability to use magic potions to clear out a horde of enemies and to ride various mounts that feature different attack abilities. Beating up the giggling gnome and taking his potions remains one of the great guilty pleasures of 80s arcade games.

Expanding upon the success of hack-and-slasher Golden Axe, the sequel refined the graphics and gameplay in numerous key ways, adding all new player characters, rideable mounts with their own special attacks, stationary weapons and an expanded magic system that had increasingly dramatic effects depending on how many potions you have. The Revenge of Death Adder also added increasingly complex stages, including countrysides, castles, caves and ships that expand the game universe, and brought back the treasure gnome everyone loves to beat up.

Though not its best-known hack-and-slash title, Capcom's Knights of the Round sends three Arthurian warriors (Arthur, Lancelot and Percival) into battle against the forces of the evil king Garibaldi. The game features an RPG-like leveling system, upgrading the characters' abilities, weapons and armor as the game progresses, as well as a blocking system that adds a risk/reward element to the gameplay. The three characters vary in play style and abilities and the enemies and bosses present a wide range of challenges, making Knights of the Round a satisfying forerunner to later hack-and-slash titles such as Dungeons & Dragons series.

Magic Sword (subtitled Heroic Fantasy) is a 2D platforming hack n' slash game, making up for a lack of vertical movement with the ability to recruit NPC teammates to battle alongside you. Your quest is to ascend the 50 floors of Dragon Keep to defeat the dark lord Drokmar (truly a memorable storyline), fighting enemy hordes with swords and sorcery, and a second player if you choose. Magic Sword's colorful graphics and vibrant sound effects make it a classic worth playing even next to more complex games, and its evocative cabinet art represents the end of an era when arcade manufacturers still put considerable effort into the look of the cabinets.

Nestled somewhere between its earlier scrolling beat-em-up games like Final Fight and Magic Sword and its later Dungeons and Dragons series, Capcom's The King of Dragons brought 3-player fantasy combat to arcades in 1991 with five playable characters of varying abilities. The party must fight its way through hordes of orcs, trolls, minotaurs and other fantasy baddies to fight the red dragon Gildiss, who has besieged the land of Malus. Though the combat system is relatively rudimentary, it does feature a magic system which attacks all characters on-screen at the expense of health, providing a measure of tactical depth, in addition to a leveling system that increases player health and attack strength as you continue. Though not a classic on the level of Golden Axe, the game does have a colorful graphic style that evokes a certain era in arcades.

The Ninja Warriors was unique in late-80s arcades, featuring a novel display system that created the illusion of an extremely wide display using three monitors and mirrors to create an almost seamless experience. The game featured relatively high-res graphics as well as an unusual amount of blood for its time, but both the premise (two ninja-like androids are sent to take down a tyrannical US government) and the oddly slow pace of the game worked against expectations. The game's undeniable 80s cool factor, including a fantastic synth soundtrack, has given The Ninja Warriors an ongoing cult status.