Top 10 Lists : The Top 10 Scrolling Games That Aren't The Top Ten Scrolling Games

There is only one word to describe this game:WOW. Back in the SNES days, you simply didn't find a game that was this awesome that can hold up this well even today.

First off, you could play as three different characters:Luke, Han, or Chewy. You start out with a blaster, but will soon get a lightsaber too. As you progress through levels, you'll find upgrades for the blaster, making it stronger. Sadly, this makes it stronger than the lightsaber. Don't worry though, because there's still reason to use it. If you press up when you jump, Luke will spin in the air. If you have the saber out, you will basically be a giant saw blade.

There are eleven levels. Besides the walking levels, you can also ride in a sand racer, fly an X-wing, and even do a trench run on the death star, like Luke did in the movie.

This is the closest you got in those days to actually controlling the movie. It was based on episode 4, and they made episodes 5 and 6 as well. The locations look good, and the Star Wars music is all here. The blaster fire and sound effects are spot on too.

This game should be in the top three but, as awesome as this game is, I'm afraid i can't place it any higher than number 10 because, even though 98% of the game is a scroller, the vehicle levels are in 3D.

I thought I'd add this game to change things up a bit from the rest of the entries on my list.

This is a bit of an odd game dealing with norse mythology. The story follows Lenneth. Lenneth is a valkyrie (valkyries fly above battlefields, and collect the souls of slain warriors, and escort them to Valhalla) sent to collect warriors for Odin, to help fight a war that is looming. You must train them up in specific ways, and send them to Odin.

What makes it odd is two-fold. First, the battle system. When fighting, you don't attack by the normal hit X, or choose from the menu means. Each character is assigned a specific button. X, square, O, or triangle. When pressed, the characters will do their thing. (I won't go into it much, because I have a list coming out soon that deals with this.) Second, if you waste too much time doing other things, you really cant beat the game.

Anyway, this game is a side-scroller in dungeons, has a great story, (though you kinda have to go out of your way to get it all) and is one of the more popular games that was on the PSX (and that's saying something).

This game sits at number 9 because, even though it's a side-scroller in dungeons, it does have a world map.

Golden Axe is a fun little game to play.

Evidently the king and princess have been captured, and it's up to us to save them from the not-so-nice Death Adder. To do so, we must traverse a dangerous world of dragons, skeletons, and magic.

At the beginning, you get to choose between a dwarf, a warrior, or an amazon, each with their own abilities. The dwarf swings an axe and summons lightning magic, the warrior swings a sword and uses another kind of magic, and the amazon uses her a sword and fire magic.

You must battle through hordes of enemies using what you have, as well as riding on fire-breathing beasts, turtles, eagles, dragons and more to save the day.

They tried to re-invent this series for the 360 but, sadly, it didn't go over so well.

If you had a Sega Genesis, you've played this game and, more than likely, had a blast with it.

This is a two player game, and you have three heroes to choose from:Axel, Blaze, and Adam. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, (and you should) is to clean up the streets from gang violence. On your way, you can use knives, bats, pipes, flips, punches, throws, kicks, and more to get the job done. Certain things in the environment are destructible, such as phone booths, and every once in a while a cop car will show up, and bombard the enemy with bullets or rockets.

This is a true beat-em-up game, with a ridiculous 30 or more attacks to choose from, and is one of the funnest the Genesis had to offer. However, if I'm being honest, I did like part two better.

This was one of my favorites on the NES. I wasn't a huge fan of the first one, but this one rocks. The fighting is fun and, for such an old game, the music is catchy. The biggest two improvements over the original, is the spin kick, and the fact that you can have two players on the screen at a time. In the first, one person played until they died, then the other would get their shot.

Once you take control of Billy or Jimmy, you can use punches, kicks, knives, pipes, bombs, throws, spin kicks, and knees to the face, to kick butt. You must clean up the streets, and save your beloved from a mysterious fighter.

From the beginning level, to the showdowns with the final bosses, which include a few familiar faces, a suprise guest, and the mysterious fighter himself, this game never disappoints in the fun department.

This was one cool game when it came out. Note that I pasted this straight from my Top 10 characters that transform list.

In this game, you've been summoned from your grave by Zeus to rescue the goddess Athena from Neff. You start out as a man. As you go along punching and kicking at enemies, you'll come across some orbs. As you collect these orbs, you'll get bigger and more muscular. Once you collect three orbs, you'll transform into one of five different beasts, depending on which level you're on, to devastate your enemies, usually just in time for the levels boss.

Your transformations include a werewolf, bear, dragon, tiger, and "super" wolf, as i saw it called on youtube. On level one, the werewolf can shoot fireballs. or do a superkick from left to right across the screen killing everything it hits. Level two gives you the dragon, which can fly and emit shocks of electricity. Level three gives you the bear, which blows bubbles,(?) and can do a super spin jump to damage enemies. Level four gives you the tiger, which is my personal favorite. It can shoot balls of energy, and shoot from the top to the bottom of the screen, wiping out your enemies very quickly. The final level gives you the "super" wolf, which is basically the same as level one, but much more powerful.

It's a fairly short game, but it was very tough and fun, as was the way of it in the olden days of controller holes in the walls. You all know what I mean.

Wow, seriously? I mean, how cool is this. Two of the best side-scrolling teams ever in one game. Though it may not be the best on the list, it bumps up a few slots just for the coolness factor.

Out of nowhere a giant spaceship comes to earth. On board are the dark queen and the shadow boss, and they are bent on taking over the earth. With their powerful weaponry, they render earth's defenses useless. All hope seems lost, until the Battletoads and Double Dragons team up to save the day.

You can do the famous moves from the original games, from grabbing enemies and kneeing them in the face, to turning into a wrecking ball while repelling, to new stuff, like stomping on them when they're down. You also get to ride in the hover bikes, (who doesn't remember these little rage inducing barrels of fun) stomp on enemy fingers that are hanging from ledges, or kick them while hanging from ledges yourself making them plummet to their doom, and much more.

Whoever came up with this idea should've gotten a raise...seriously.

Seen the movie? Like it? Then you'll love this game. It's got everything from the movie and more.

You take control of Aladdin. A "street rat" with a heart of gold. You run, jump, and fight through the streets of Agrabah, on a mission to save the beautiful princess Jasmine from the clutches of Jafar: the sultan's royal vizier. You can slash with your sword, make enemies lose their pants, and throw apples at them knocking them silly. You even get to ride on a magic carpet, and go inside a genie's lamp..

This game is so fun it's ridiculous. Who ever said they never made a good game out of a movie hasn't played this. Swinging from stalactites, gliding through the air with a sheet, genie making platforms appear for you to land on in midair with his wand, to the music of the awesome movie, this game truly is a side-scrolling masterpiece (With a little platforming thrown for good measure).

Heroes in a half-shell, turtle power!

This game is awesome, and it probably should be number one.

You start the game by picking your favorite hero. My personal favorite is Raphael. The mission? Rescue April o' Neil from a burning building and the Foot Clan. The Foot is a group of ninjas led by the turtles' arch-nemesis the Shredder. When you finally reach April, you find out she's also being attacked. You must fight your first boss, only to win, but have her be kidnapped by the Shredder himself. Your simple search and rescue now takes you through the city, and countless enemies, to rescue your friend, and put an end to the Shredder once and for all.

From playing as the turtles, to fighting familiar foes like Bebop, Rocksteady, and Baxter the Fly, this game has everything you want in a side-scroller and more.

What can I say. This is one of the best side-scrollers of all time, but would lose out to the likes of Mario and Sonic. A quirky blend of action and comedy makes this game truly special. Okay, so it has a bit of platforming in it too, but it is a side-scroller.

You play as Jim, who is an ordinary earthworm wearing a suit that makes him a warrior. As you run and jump around making your way through levels, you'll need to use your gun to kill enemies, and even pull yourself out of your suit and use your body as a whip. You can use your head to hang from things, and even as a helicopter blade to soften your fall. You can even drop refrigerators on planks of wood with cows standing on them to launch them in the air. Why? Do you really need a reason to launch a cow?

From the opening title scene where Jim is flexing and loses his pants, to the fight with queen slug-for-a-butt, this game is a blast to play. It also includes one of the oddest boss fights ever:Bungee jumping up and down on mucus, while fighting a giant booger.

EJ is still one of my fondest memories and favorite heroes to this day. This game was so awesome, they even made a cartoon out of it.

Even though they are pretty much dead, side-scrollers are still fun, and i still bust out the old NES to play them. These games truly are great, and would be at the top of their class, if it wasn't for some of the more popular entries i stated in my intro.

If you get the chance, you should definitely check some of these out. You probably don't have the systems anymore, but you still have access to most of these great titles thanks to wiiware and possibly PSN.

Honorable mention goes to Rygar and Final Fight. In my opinion, Streets of Rage barely beats Final Fight, and that's why SoR is on the list, and FF is down here.

I also wanted to add, or give honorable mention to, an X-Men game, but I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. I remember being Colossus, Jubilee, or Psylocke, though there were more to choose from. It was a side-scroller, and the characters were pretty big. You could also use their special moves here and there too. It may have been an arcade game actually. Hmmm. Oh well.

Thanks for reading.

List by wheresatari (01/25/2012)

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